14 DAY TRIAL // The seventh season of Showtime’s “Dexter” is officially on, with the premiere episode airing just hours ago. First reactions to it are positively raving: finally, we have an answer to that long-standing question of what Deb will do when she finds out about Dex.
Though the first episode, “Are You…?” touched on other topics as well, it mainly dealt with the issue of Deb’s reaction to learning that her foster brother Dexter was a cold-hearted, possibly serial killer.
*Fans who have not seen the season premiere yet are encouraged not to read any further than this – major spoilers ahead.*
As fans must know, season 6 ended with the biggest cliffhanger in the entire series (yes, even bigger than Rita’s death at the end of season 4), when Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) walked in on Dexter (Michael C. Hall) during one of his killing rituals.
It was then only to be expected that this season would deal with the ardent question: would Deb still love Dex if she knew him as he really was, the soulless monster he never ceased to be?
Even so, the way “Are You…?” did it still surprised, as both E! News and TV.com point out.
After the rather lackluster season 6, the season 7 premiere showed lots of promise, a return to “Dexter” form, by being creative, original and, just as important, smart.
It tackled the question head-on and left no room for silly guesses. It put Dexter and Deb on the spot, showing how heavily her new find would weigh in the balance of their already-delicate relationship.
“With one word, ‘Yes,’ which Dexter says to Deb at episode's end when she searches his apartment and finds his blood sides and asks if he's a serial killer, Dexter once again left us with our jaws in the floor,” E! writes.
TV.com agrees: with only 2 more seasons to go, “Dexter” is finally on the right path. Whether our favorite (anti-)hero will be able to survive this new crisis, which is bigger than anything he’s ever been confronted with, is still a guess.
“This is the episode that the show needed. There was still a lot of fluff, but the only people who really matter right now are Dexter and Deb, and ‘Are You…?’ suggested that finally, the show is willing to play the one card it has left. We might be in for great final run,” the e-zine says.
If you’ve seen the season premiere already, drop us a line in the comments section to tell us what you made of it.