Dexter's Killer Meal

Time and again, we’ve seen Thanksgiving used as a backdrop for bringing up all the dysfunction that lays dormant in a family. But how many of those holiday meals have culminated in one serial killer being strangled with the belt of another? So it was on Showtime's Dexter last night, where Turkey Day was about as messed up as it could get.

Worried about the rage he’s seen bubbling under the surface of Arthur Mitchell’s (John Lithgow)—aka the Trinity Killer—home life, Dexter insinuates himself into the family’s Thanksgiving plans, at the cost of spending less time at his own home, where wife Rita (Julie Benz) is being hit on by a neighbor and sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter, doing better work than ever this season) is still grappling with the loss of her lover and the fallout from being shot herself. Dex originally thought he had something to learn from Arthur, who seemed to mirror Dexter’s own outwardly idyllic existence while harboring dark secrets to which the world is oblivious. It didn’t take long for Dex to figure out that Arthur is actually very different from him, an abusive husband and father willing to lock his daughter in her room and break his son’s finger if it means proving who’s boss. The moral quandary that Dexter has always presented—how do you feel sympathy for a killer?—is amplified here as we get a glimpse of the monster that Dex could easily have devolved into were it not for the code he was taught by his father Harry.

Everything comes to a head when Arthur is rejected at the dinner table, none of his brood bothering to say they’re thankful for him. Son Jonah erupts, smashing his father's prized urn, and is then hunted down by Arthur, prompting Dexter to react. He drags Arthur into the kitchen, belt around neck, butcher knife in hand, stopping only when he remembers that this is not how his work is done. Few moments on the show have ever been more heartpoundingly terrifying, perhaps no death more deserved, and yet you know it can’t happen like this, with Arthur's family registering a hint of relief under their horror. Arthur Mitchell will get his comeuppance, but is has to be on Dexter’s terms.

Arriving home from this nightmarish scenario to be with his own family, Dexter tries to avoid having anyone give thanks. Ineffectual, young Cody quickly chirps, “I’m thankful for Dexter,” a sentiment that I couldn’t help but second, especially after the episode-ending revelation that the female reporter Deb now suspects is the one who shot her is also the Trinity Killer’s daughter. Boy, am I ever thankful for Dexter.