Season four of Dexter was by far one of the most complicated, and compelling seasons of any show I have seen in a long time. There is so much taking place from week to week that it is sometimes hard, but enjoyable to keep up. Often times; I found myself on the edge of my seat, or barely unable to make it to the next episode. When a show is done this good, it makes it difficult to wait for the next episode. But the faithful viewers do, even though they are craving more. So we usually end up watching re-runs to hold us over. I know the show is not for everyone, but season four was brilliant. Of course if you have not watched Dexter before; it would be a good idea to watch the first three seasons, or else you are really not going to fully understand what I am about to say.
Season four finds Dexter trying to balance everything in his life. Before he really only had to worry about dealing with work, and dealing with his after hour activities. In seasons past he had his own space. Dexter still has his apartment in season four, but he has kept it a secret from Rita. That is until a pipe burst in his apartment. Of course Rita gets the call and the cat is out of the bag. So, Dexter moves his personal belongings, along with his very (extremely) personal belongings to his house; that he shares with Rita and his new family. Dexter's sister ends up taking over Dexter's apartment for him so that works out. Having lost his personal space, the season also has him getting into a car accident, losing his temper, framing another killer so he can have trinity all to himself, and all the while he is questioning whether or not he can pull off the family man routine. Unfortunately Dexter turns to the Trinity killer's life to hopefully find some answers.
What makes Dexter such a likable character is the fact that he only hunts and kills other serial killers. Let's face it, that is the only way you are really going to get the audience to accept and root for a character like this. On top of that, it is interesting to get to see how things might be for those types of people. So little is truly understood or known about the inner workings of a serial killers. This show at least paints a picture of possibility. I also think that up until this point in the series we really have not been introduced to a truly sick and messed up individual. Yes, all of the other serial killers up until this point in the show have been sick and twisted in some way. They all deserved to die, but Trinity takes the cake. His character was a brilliant addition to the show, and John Lithgow was the only man that could have pulled that part of. Other actors might of done all right, but you need someone of his caliber if you really want to sell it.
When we are first introduced to the Trinity killer, we know right away that he is a bad guy. The people he has killed are all innocent, and he has killed a lot of them. I think that is why Dexter is so fascinated by him at first. That this man could have done these things for so long and not been caught. Ad to this the fact that he is a family man, and Dexter sees in Trinity the hope of having a mentor...at least until it is time to kill him. We also find out, in later episodes, that he is a child murderer. That added little fact makes you want to hate his character even more. That is probably why they waited towards the end to have that little fact come out. That is the way it is with this character's progression through the series. We first see him as a calm and collected fellow that shares many of the same qualities that Dexter has. Arthur Mitchell (Trinity) is a family man, pastor at a church, school teacher, and he builds homes for the homeless. All of this makes it very easy to see how he got away with it for as long as he did. Dexter calls it his mask. "The mask that hides the monster". Then we get to see him perform one of his cycles. This is when you start to dislike his character. Especially when he makes the mother of two jump to her death after threatening her family. That is the start of it all. Layer after layer of Arthur Mitchell is peeled away to reveal a true monster.
At first we get to see him in his life and everything seems normal. You start to realize something is up when he wont kill a deer, but he will kill a person easy enough. He loses some respect with Dexter on that one. The fact that he leaves a small amount of human remains behind at each of his crime scenes also puts a dent in the calm and collected persona. When Dexter confesses to him that he killed an innocent man, that is when we really start to see the insanity of this character. Dexter makes the mistake of stopping him from jumping to his death, and that re- invigorates his personal sense of purpose. All the while that this is going on, we get to see that the perfect little family image is nothing more than a front. This, to me, was the moment I really could not stand the Trinity character any longer. Once you find out that he locks his daughter in his room, beats his son, and has his wife fearing for her life; any stock he had as somewhat decent is gone. Factor in the fact that he used to take his oldest daughter with him on his kills when she was only 5, and you find yourself rooting for Dex to kill this guy soon and in the worst way possible. Personally, I thought a hammer was too good for him. Poetic maybe, but still too good.
By seasons end we find out just how much damage the Arthur Mitchel character really has done. Not only to the general public, but to Dexter as well. The sad fact is that there are monsters out there that exist like this in the real world. They have gone their whole lives killing, never having been caught, and with no Dexter out there to bring them down. Trinity paints a very good picture of what such a man might actually be like. We find out, in the end, that he really should be called the Quadity killer. I know it does not have the same ring to it. He liked to include ten year old boys to start his killing cycle. We start out believing that he was only responsible for sixty some odd murders, but in reality it is more like ninety or a hundred.
This character really helped drive season four to its finality, and I have to say it was a shame to see him go. The monster that he was, it still made for good entertainment. It was most enjoyable watching Dexter square of against the most dangerous adversary he had yet to encounter. And yet, I was still left feeling somewhat let down. Don't get me wrong, season four was by far the best. I loved it. It is just that when Trinity is introduced you find yourself thinking that here was a worthy adversary for Dexter. Kind of like King Kong squaring of against Godzilla. Instead, it turned out to be more like King Kong vs a whack job monkey. Yes, this character was a monster. Yes, he deserved to go. I just wish they could have drawn out this story line for two full seasons rather than just one. I would have like to have had a bit more depth and calculatedness on the part of Arthur Mitchell's character. Here is a guy that we are supposed to believe has gotten away with murder for over thirty years, and yet he was caught of off his guard; not once, but twice. You would think that after Dexter stuck him in the neck the first time he would have been more on his guard. Shoot, you would have thought that after he wrapped a belt around his neck; back when he thought he was still Kyle Butler, that he would have been more careful.
As much as I love this show, and as much as I enjoyed season four; I still think they could have done a better job. They could have gotten two seasons out of the Trinity character. There was so much more that could have happened there during the chess match between Dexter and Arthur Mitchell. Instead of chess, it was more like checkers. The writers get an A for effort, and the casting was perfect. They get an A- for the Trinity character's usage and development. They succeeded in creating a monster that we all could eventually hate and root against. As much as I was disappointed with the conclusion of season four, it was brilliant. The only conclusion that made the most sense and with the most shock value. I did not see it coming. Especially since he did not succeed in killing the boy, and yet he was able to move on to the next phase in his cycle. It was a lucky punch that had an unfortunate and unforeseen conclusion. I can not wait for season five. Because I have no idea how Dexter is going to react to the loss of the light that kept his darkness at bay.
