Dexter Season 6 Episode 10 - Ricochet Rabbit

Backsliding Heathens

This episode (and probably the next) are the darkest chapters of the story, when everything comes crashing down, just before the climax. We see both Travis and Dexter abandoning the journeys of redemption they've been on. Travis has had to face the fact that Gellar is dead, which in turn brings him face-to-face with the truth about himself. In a final delusional episode, we finally learned what happened between Travis and Gellar. Gellar was an eccentric professor, but he didn't have any apocalyptic delusions. Travis, who has a long history of mental illness, believed he and Gellar were called to be the Two Witnesses. He brought Gellar the Sword, which got Gellar fired. Gellar refused to join Travis' delusion, so Travis decided to prove it to him. Since the Two Witnesses can't be killed, Travis stabbed Gellar with the Sword, killing him.

Travis could not accept that Gellar was not a Witness, or that Travis had killed him. Thus began his delusions. And Travis still can't accept this reality. He rejects this again, blaming Gellar's death on Dexter:

That didn't happen. It was him, the false prophet. He killed you. He's trying to stop what God has commanded us to do. And I will carry on without you. I will finish what we started. I will make new disciples that will help me.

Travis recruits Steven and Beth Dorsey, both of whom are obsessed with Gellar. He uses Holly Benson - the original Whore of Babylon, to initiate them into his unholy army. They then prepare Wormwood, the sixth tableau.

Because he cannot accept the truth about himself, Travis blames Dexter for killing Gellar. His inability to accept the truth about himself has forced him to reject Dexter's Good Shepherd guidance.

Because Travis cannot recognize the Evil in himself, he must vilify those who challenge him.

Dexter falls similarly. He has been committed to rescuing Travis from Gellar. But now that he knows the truth about Travis, he's abandoned all hope of rescuing Travis:

Travis' Dark Passenger is inside of him. He can't be saved from it any more than I can… I should've never listened to Brother Sam… It was a mistake to put my faith in Travis. From now on I'm only putting my faith in myself.

But Dexter is abandoning more than just Travis. By giving up on Travis and the way of Brother Sam, Dexter has given up on religion as a path of salvation:

It was a mistake to think that any of this religious garbage could be an answer to my Dark Passenger.

Dexter decides to revert - just like Travis - to his old ways. Which in this case means killing Travis. Unfortunately, he doesn't get to Travis in time. He finds and kills Steven Dorsey, but not before Travis and Beth have escaped with Wormwood. Dexter thought he could save the day by himself:

Dexter: This was supposed to set things right… I have to fix this.

Dexter realizes that his old way - relying only on himself - just won't work. He's insufficient to stop Travis, much less save him.

More than any time other than perhaps Rita's death, we see that Dexter really is a tortured soul. He doesn't want to be the way he is. But he doesn't believe that he has a choice. He has put all of his hope for salvation in his ability to follow Harry's code. And this season he's been trying to find a way to be better than Harry, so that he can be a better father to Harrison than Harry was to him. He had hoped that religion offered him a way to do this, a path of salvation, but his failure to save Travis has cast him back onto himself.

The question begged in this episode is whether or not Dexter is actually free to choose salvation.

Though he's been flirting with being free all season, in this episode, Dexter roundly rejects the possibility that he's free. He says repeatedly that he must kill Travis. That he is who he is because this is who Harry made him. Nowhere is this more clear than when Louis finally reveals to Dexter the nature of his video game, Homicidal Tendencies, in which the player actually becomes a famous serial killer. Dexter's outrage is palpable when he asks Louis

This is offensive. Who would choose to be a serial killer? How could you possibly know what it's like to take a life? Why would you even want to?

In blaming Harry for making him who he is, Dexter is the foil to Travis. He is just as blind to the potential for Light in himself as Travis is his own Darkness. But Dexter finally realizes that he does have a choice:

Harry: Travis is gone and you killed the wrong guy. When are you going to let this go? Dexter: When I kill Travis. Harry: Are you sure you can make that happen? Dexter: Isn't that what you taught me to do? Harry: I didn't have a choice. Dexter: According to you, I don't have one either. Harry: You have a choice to make right now. Maybe you should call the police. Dexter: I don't call the police. Travis is mine… Why would I listen to you? I'm only here because of you. Now I'm supposed to trust your judgment? I'll make my own decision.

Dexter finally accepts that he can work with the police for a greater good. This means that he won't be able to kill Travis, but he will save who knows how many lives:

Brother Sam said it… sometimes you have to surrender to something greater than yourself.

Predictions and Resolutions

I called wormwood! They're not constructing a meteor, and it doesn't look like they're planning to poison a water supply. Instead, they're going to detonate a bomb full of poisoned gas at the police station. That's a point for me.

Gellar's gone and Travis embraces his role as the Witness. True, Gellar's gone because he was never really there, but I nailed the basic plot. Another point for me.

We learned what happened between Travis and Gellar. But that was sort of a gimme, so I'm not awarding myself any points.

The score now stands at Writers 6 and JR. 6. With only two episodes left, we're neck and neck!

Here's what I think we have to look forward to:

1. Wormwood is going to go off, but because of Dexter's intervention, it will kill many fewer than it would have otherwise - possibly only Beth, maybe some stock cop characters. But because Dexter asked for help, he will spare Deb. This will be a contrast to season 4, where because he hid Trinity's identity from the police, Rita died.
2. Both Dexter and Travis have abandoned their changes and mentors. They will both discover salvation in each other. Yes, that's right. I think that they're both going to have to recognize the truth about themselves. And once Travis sees himself for who he is, he'll come apart. He'll recognize that he killed his parents, his sister and Gellar. He may beg for death from Dexter, who will spare him the way he spared Jonah.

Some questions for you:

1. What's going to happen with Deb and Matthews?
2. Will Louis discover Dexter's dark secret? Is he Brian's son?!
3. Will Angel be a part of the final tableau?

How is this all going to end? Do you think Dexter and Travis will find salvation?