Dexter Season 5 Episode 2 Uses Dark Passenger to Deal with Grief

Dexter season 5 episode 2., 'Hello, Bandit,' is the beginning of America's favorite serial killer turning to his Dark Passenger to deal with his grief. The murder of his wife Rita has shaken Dexter's link to humanity and human emotions. While Dexter thinks the kids would benefit from grief counseling, he continues to use human prey to deal with his problems.

Dexter's History of Murdering Through Problems

Killing to cope with problems is nothing new for Dexter. Brother is the Ice Truck Killer? Girlfriend a maniac? Deal with it and them on the killing table.

In season one, Dexter kills his brother/ Ice Truck Killer . They could have possibly had an interesting and supportive relationship, but Rudy had to mess with Deb.

Season two leads Dexter to murder then girlfriend Rita's drug-addicted and abusive ex-husband, Paul.

Dexter outdoes himself in season three, beginning with hunting down British ex-girlfriend and deadly pyromaniac Lila. He then discovers his new friend Miguel is out of control and can't follow the rules. So of course he has to die.

In season 4, Dexter again finds a friend/mentor, from afar, in the Arthur Mitchell aka the Trinity Killer. When Dexter discovers Mitchell doesn't have killing and life balanced, that he is abusive to his family, then Dex takes him out. But not before Mitchell kills Rita, destroying the foundation of Dexter's stable home life.

By Season 5, Dexter Should Know Killing Won't Help

Dexter is a serial killer of habit, but by now he should figure out that killing doesn't always help. In fact, Dexter should be questioning if he still has the skills to keep from being sloppy.

Killing Paul led to trouble with Rita and the eventual false admission that he was a drug addict. Locking up Doakes and Lila subsequently discovering him led to a whole fiery ball of crazy and put Rita's kids in danger.

Things really started to unravel when Dexter started stalking Miguel, who in turn threatened everything Dexter loved. Not to mentioned tried to kill him.

Last season's disillusionment over the Trinity Killer added to Dexter's struggle of balancing fatherhood, work and his dark Passenger. Dex really cracked around the edges and got sloppy with his work--he even forgot where he hid a body.

Dexter Finds a Target on Episode 2

As much as Dexter tries to ignore his dark urges, he can't resist the urge to hunt. He can't resist renting the too big moving van with a blood stain. Testing the blood and discovering it's human leads Dex to hack the moving companies records. He discovers the truck was rented by a Boyd Fowler, who disposes of dead animals for a living.

Dexter puts a dead raccoon in the road and calls Fowler to pick it up. Fowler treats the situation like a crime scene analyst, noting that the dead animal had been killed somewhere else and placed. He mentions living in the same home for 20 years, causing Dexter to wonder why he needed a moving van. Perhaps seeing something of himself in his prey, Dexter decides the man is suspicious enough to follow up on.

Arriving at Fowler's home, Dex discovers dead animals in the trash. Lined up soups and padlocked attic are hinky, but it's the numbered lock of block hair that intrigues Dexter. Possibly a sign of many victims?

He follows the sanitation worker as he dumps off a barrel, but is called away by Deb. Coming back later, Dexter opens the barrel and finds a dead blonde inside. A quick sweep of the flashlight over the water reveals many more barrels.

Perhaps Dexter briefly realizes in episode two that killing won't help him. He does mention to Harry that having a target didn't mean anything to him and he didn't know what would make him feel better. A brief realization, since the previews for Dexter season five episode three show him trying get a sedative needle in Fowler's neck.

Sources:

Dexter, 10/3/10 airdate, Showtime
Showtime: Dexter, Sho.com