Seeing Red (Dexter)

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Seeing Red"
Dexter episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 10
Directed byMichael Cuesta
Written byKevin R. Maynard
Production code110[1]
Original air dateDecember 3, 2006 (2006-12-03)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Father Knows Best" 		Next →
"Truth Be Told"
Dexter (season 1)
List of episodes

"Seeing Red" is the tenth

television drama series Dexter, which first aired on December 3, 2006 on Showtime in the United States.[1] The episode was written by Kevin R. Maynard and was directed by Michael Cuesta. In the episode, the Miami Metro Homicide Department team investigate a blood-soaked crime scene, where blood spatter analyst Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is confronted by a repressed memory of a traumatic incident from his childhood. Meanwhile, Dexter's girlfriend Rita Bennett (Julie Benz) is charged with assaulting her ex-husband Paul Bennett (Mark Pellegrino) and risks losing custody of their children, while Det. Angel Batista (David Zayas
) investigates a hunch that the Ice Truck Killer has an amputee fetish.

Scenes for "Seeing Red" were shot at several locations around Long Beach, California. Particular attention was paid to the cinematography and filming of the sequence of Dexter's flashbacks to make them feel like "fragments of memory". The episode received positive reviews from critics, with particular mention made to the scene in which Dexter hits Rita's ex-husband, Paul, in the head with a frying pan because of his threats about the lengths he will go to in order to protect his children.

Plot

When a key to a hotel room is delivered to

Ice Truck Killer
, who has had five bloodless victims, may have been responsible.

While dating a woman in a bar,

prostitute with a prosthetic hand and fingernails painted in the same way as the Ice Truck Killer's first victim. Working on a hunch that the killer is an acrotomophiliac, he speaks to Debra's boyfriend Rudy
, who he doesn't realize is the actual Ice Truck Killer. Rudy cooperates upon realizing that Batista does not know his identity. Later, Batista is stabbed in a parking lot by a masked man; he manages to elbow him in the face before two men scare the attacker off. Minutes later, Rudy—who had earlier fallen out with Debra due to secretly having dinner with Dexter—arrives with flowers. They kiss, but Rudy backs away complaining of a cut lip, suggesting that he was Angel's attacker.

Rita finds out that Paul is pressing charges against her for assault. She talks with a lawyer, who tells her that since she invited Paul into her house, she cannot prove that her intent was to defuse the situation. At a hearing, it is revealed that Rita violated her and Paul's custody agreement, making his case against her even stronger. When Paul drops by Rita's house to return their children, he threatens Dexter when the two are alone in the kitchen. Dexter responds by hitting him with a frying pan. Paul loses consciousness, so Dexter drives him back to his hotel and frames him for drug abuse. Dexter alerts the police and Paul is sent back to prison. With encouragement from Rudy, Dexter returns to the bloody hotel room, where he relives his repressed memory: the murder of his mother with a chainsaw when he was three.

Production

Since Dexter's producers try to shield the child actors as much as possible from the show's dark subject matter, executive producer

shutter angle when filming these scenes to make them "feel like fragments of memory - subjective, with tight close-ups against an indistinct background. You don't see all the details of the environment."[4] Series director Keith Gordon found these flashbacks "incredible" because he thought they were "like a Stanley Kubrick movie".[5]

Several scenes from the episode were filmed on September 28, 2006 with a crew of 200 people in Long Beach, California at the Seaport Marina Hotel, along the Pacific Coast Highway, and on San Anseline Avenue.[6] The Seaport Marina Hotel was used as the setting for Paul's motel,[7] while a house on San Anseline Avenue was used as Rita's house.[8]

Reception

The episode received positive reviews from critics. Eric Goldman of

TV Squad wrote that he was "in awe" of the episode. He was particularly impressed with Dexter's choice to frame Paul rather than kill him, and a minor storyline involving Lt. María LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez) and her betrayal of her superior, Capt. Tom Matthews (Geoff Pierson).[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c Goldman, Eric (December 6, 2006). "Dexter: "Seeing Red" Review". IGN. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  2. ^ Hanh, Nguyen (March 8, 2007). "Paley: Blood will tell in upcoming season of 'Dexter'". Zap2it. Archived from the original on 2012-10-09. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  3. ^ Bergstrom, Elaine (October 2007). "Erik King Loves Being The "Bad" Guy". Channel Guide Magazine. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  4. ^ Holben, Jay; Oppenheimer, Jean; Stasukevich, Iain; Thomson, Patricia (March 2009). "Cutting-Edge Camerawork". American Cinematographer. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  5. Shock Till You Drop. November 28, 2009. Archived from the original
    on 2010-12-28. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  6. ^ "City Report For Week Ending September 29, 2006" (Press release). City of Long Beach. October 2, 2006. Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  7. ^ Wayne, Gary. "Dexter Filming Locations, Season 1: Paul Bennett's Motel". Seeing-Stars.com. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  8. ^ Wayne, Gary. "Dexter Filming Locations, Season 1: Rita's House". Seeing-Stars.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  9. ^ Paige, Paula (December 3, 2006). "Dexter Episode: "Seeing Red"". TV Guide. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  10. TV Squad
    . Retrieved December 22, 2010.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Seeing Red.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seeing_Red_(Dexter)&oldid=1088857634"