Not everyone in the Dexter viewer-verse shared Alex’s notion that Hannah McKay just might survive Season 7. Commenter fenngibbon thinks the scorching plant whisperer is toast because she seems headed for a showdown with Deb—and no one, not even Dexter’s biological brother, threatens Deb and gets away with it. OedipussyRex takes an even harsher line:
“Hannah’s not surviving the season,” he writes flatly. “She’s been systematically manipulating Dexter … getting him to put aside his ‘Dark Rider’ and code.” Oedipussy thinks Hannah will ask or try to provoke Dexter into eliminating the one witness who might still put her in jail—Arlene Shram—and that Dexter will destroy her when he understands how deftly he’s been played. “Likely the realization will come as the knife is being held over a Saran-wrapped Arlene,” he adds.
Then, over at Vulture, Slate TV Club alum Richard Rys repeats, “Hannah seems destined for a bad ending.” That the couple has already traded “I love yous” strikes him as a black omen: Could Hannah’s downfall be a plot device that accomplishes the goal of “sending Dexter over the edge,” thus setting the stage for a “very ugly” close to the series next year?
I’m not so sure. To fenngibbon’s point, the people who menace Hannah McKay hardly fare better than those who squeeze Deb, especially now that Dexter has allowed his own protective impulses to supplant Harry’s rules. And would the show truly give Season 7 the exact same arc it created for Season 1—with Dexter being lured away from the code by a magnetic but sinister arrival, only to be brought to his senses when his sister’s life is on the line?
Maybe I’m bamboozled by her charms, but as the Hannah McKay PR campaign that has been the past few episodes unfurls, I get the sense that she does actually care for Dexter—even love him. Preyed on by Clint and Yurg, harassed by Deb, she’s become more like one of her vulnerable hothouse flowers than a poison thorn. I’d be surprised to see the show shunt her into the irredeemable-villain-who-must-be-slain-no-matter-how-much-it-sucks-for-Dexter box. But who knows? Commenter Josh Miller makes the intriguing point that Dexter may not have killed Clint “solely for Hannah’s benefit. Clint threatened Harrison. In the past, threatening the family (Cody and Astor) was enough to get the dark passenger’s attention.” If the Papa McKay hit doesn’t represent a huge departure from the traditional Dexter MO, then maybe Hannah should be worried. On the other hand, Slate reader Good Eric thinks “Hannah will sacrifice herself in some way, rather than Dexter having to take her out.” It’s all very murky, which is great news for a series as ambivalent about its lead players as Dexter.
But guess what exactly no one who watches this show is ambivalent about! The annoyingness of the Quinn subplot. “Quinn plot line needs to die. I’m not sure if Quinn needs to die, but he should go away,” gripes Miller. “How many times now has Quinn made Batista an unwilling accomplice? Will the Miami PD ever solve more crimes than they commit?” sighs Zap2It’s Drusilla Moorhouse. Viewers showed a bit more love for Tom Matthews and Maria LaGuerta, who enjoy a prickly chemistry and get to lob some delicious zingers at each other while circling a target neither seems particularly eager to catch. Rys thinks the two have “leapfrogged Dexter and Hannah to become the show’s best odd couple.”
Most out-of-left-field-but-oddly-trenchant observation goes to Cassandra Berube at the Baltimore Sun, who is confused about why Jamie, Harrison’s nanny, never wears any clothes.
Best forehead slap goes to commenter Wheelersucks, who wonders what will happen when the Phantom Arsonist regains consciousness and “blabs about being wrapped up in plastic by some guy, Bay Harbor Butcher style.” Hopefully Debra has some refills left on that Xanax.
