Dexter marathon done

Spent an hour yesterday upside down in the dentist chair while the dentist dug out an old crown, filled a cavity that had crept in beneath it, and installed a temporary replacement. (They must have used the good cement that day, he commented while trying to remove the old gold.) He hit a good nerve with the local anaesthetic—even my eyeball felt numb. Have to go back in three weeks to get the permanent crown installed.

So, the new Indiana Jones movie doesn’t rock. It’s not terrible, but it’s a tad disappointing. I went into it prepared for a roller coaster ride, ready to be rocked out of my seat, and there were moments when it came close, but there was something missing. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what. Perhaps all the gimmicks and traps and near-lethal moments of the first movies. All the clever problems that had to be solved to get to the prize. In this movie, the translation of the clue is trivial, and there’s John Hurt along to solve everything else. Some good, thrilling chase scenes (though both the motorcycle and the duck scenes went on a bit too long), and Cate Blanchett was okay in a fairly bland role. I liked all the nods to age and passing time, and the sense of pervasive government interference. The kid Mutt rolls into the movie like Marlon Brando and he isn’t as off-putting as many naysayers worried he would be, though he certainly doesn’t have the presence to hold an Indy movie on his own, as has been rumored. All in all, a banal finale that doesn’t embarrass the franchise but didn’t elevate it, either, the way the third movie did. David Koepp’s Stephen King influences are showing, too (he penned the Secret Window, Secret Garden adaptation) with Tommyknocker-like scenes and talk of stuff from between dimensions.

I finished my Dexter season 2 marathon last night. Once I got to episode nine, there was no way I could stop without finishing. More behind the cut, with spoilers.

What had me more curious than anything else was how they were going to resolve the Doakes situation without breaking the magic. Audience support for Dexter relies heavily on his code—that he only kills people who have slipped through the legal system and who deserve to go. As hard as Dexter tried to make Doakes seem like he was that sort of person, and as generally unlikable as Doakes was as a character, that wasn’t going to be a satisfactory resolution. I don’t think anyone seriously believed Dexter was going to turn himself in, so that wasn’t the way out, either. It seemed like a stalemate. Dexter was never going to turn Doakes into an ally or a silent partner, either. Enter the wild card: Lila. From a plotting perspective, sheer brilliance. (In the second novel, Doakes meets with a far worse fate.)

Season two had a lot going for it. I enjoyed the way Deb evolved from a diffident dishrag into someone with personal strength. Not too much, though—she’s still lacking in self confidence to a certain degree, because this is all new to her. It seems a very natural evolution. I liked the FBI guy a lot, too, and thought the subplot with La Guerta and her replacement, though slight, worked well, too.

And then there’s the way Dexter came to terms with Harry. The whole anger-denial-guilt-acceptance arc. Interesting revelations, and perhaps the most realistic vomit scene I’ve ever seen on film. There was a point when I thought Lila was going to be simply annoying, but then she escalated and we got to see what Deb perceived from the very beginning, though no one in the audience (not the guys at least) understood where she was coming from. The resolution of that arc was gratifying, too.

All-in-all, a brilliant piece of work. I hope they can come up with something new and equally as creative for season three.

Congratulations to Detroit on their Stanley Cup win. Desperate to maintain a hold on the Canadian-ness of hockey, the north-of-the-border headlines touted the fact that it’s the first time a Newfoundlander (Newfie, we would say) has been on a cup-winning team. (Also the first winning team captained by a European.)