Crocodile (''Dexter'')

"Crocodile"
Dexter episode
Dexter opens the fridge to look at his doll parts.
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 2
Directed by Michael Cuesta
Written by Clyde Phillips
Original air date October 8, 2006 (2006-10-08)
Guest appearance(s)

"Crocodile" is the 2nd episode of season one of Showtime TV series Dexter. The episode centers on the death of a cop, Ricky Simmons, and the Miami Metro Police Department's attempt at bringing in the killer, while Dexter stalks another victim, Matt Chambers, a man who, drunkenly, kills people by running them over.

Plot

While taking time off work on his boat, Dexter observes some teenagers and notes that playing comes easier to them than to him. Debra visits his apartment to deliver bagels and talk about the Ice Truck Killer case. After she leaves, Dexter looks over the doll parts that the killer gave him and notices that the hands have differently painted fingernails. After giving evidence at a trial, he notices a crying family and sees what he describes as an "opportunity". He enters a courtroom where Matt Chambers (Sam Trammell) is being tried for manslaughter after drunkenly running over a teenager with his car. The court is adjourned and Dexter travels to a crime scene just outside Miami.

Dexter tells LaGuerta that the body originated from the Westbound Causeway, after which he notices something in the victim's mouth. After a death rattle spurts blood into his face, Dexter removes a piece of human flesh from the mouth. Back at the station, Debra tells him about her new boyfriend, a mechanic named Sean, and Dexter offers to meet them for lunch along with Rita, which Debra skeptically agrees to. After finding out that the causeway victim was a police officer named Ricky Simmons, LaGuerta and Doakes go to make a next-of-kin notification only to find his wife Kara shot in her home. Dexter takes snapshots of the scene, where he notices an inconsistency in the blood and finds a cell phone.

Dexter tells Rita about his double date plan, saying it's Debra's idea. Debra phones Dexter to inform him that she has found a refrigerated truck, where an ice block containing human fingertips are discovered. Later, when the ice is melted, the fingertips are found to have differently colored fingernails. The skin found in Simmons' mouth is linked to Norberto Cervantes, who is apprehended by Doakes after meeting with drug lord Carlos Guerrero. Under questioning, Cervantes claims that Kara was sleeping with another man, prompting Doakes to punch him. LaGuerta takes a blood sample from his arm to confirm that it was him. Meanwhile, Chambers testifies that his car was stolen hours before the teenager's death and that he has been sober for several months.

Reconstructing Kara's shooting, Dexter and Batista find Cervantes' blood far from the actual scene. LaGuerta stops Doakes from doing anything about it, telling him to focus on Guerrero. Dexter approaches Chambers in a bar and lifts his fingerprint off a whiskey glass. Running the print through a database, Dexter discovers that Chambers has killed people while driving drunk in Santa Fe and South Boston. Having the evidence he needs, Dexter prepares his kill room before going on the double date. When Rita notices the apparent ease of Debra and Sean's relationship, she starts to feel insecure and Dexter realizes that he is lost for words to comfort her with. Meanwhile, Cervantes is killed in jail by a man impersonating a police officer.

Later, Rita kisses Dexter but pulls away from him when it starts getting too sexual. He tells her that he is fine with them not having sex until she is ready, which she appreciates. Debra is informed that she is being promoted to Homicide. Elsewhere, LaGuerta informs Doakes that Kara has died of heart failure and confronts him with her suspicions that they were sleeping together. Doakes confirms it, telling LaGuerta that Kara was going to ask Ricky for a divorce. As a personal favor to him, LaGuerta keeps Doakes on the case because he tells her that no one is more motivated than him to get justice.

While stalking Chambers, Dexter gets a text message from Debra celebrating her promotion and stating that she has dumped Sean because he was already married. Dexter thinks back to the time when Harry was late picking him up because he was angry at the decision to let the man who killed his partner walk. He sees Guerrero and contemplates killing him, but decides against it. Dexter kidnaps Chambers, gets him to confess to killing the teenager, then stabs him in the heart. He empties the man's remains into trash bags and returns home after throwing the body parts into the ocean. He finds the doll head back on his fridge again and the doll parts missing from his freezer, signifying that the Ice Truck Killer has broken into his apartment for a second time.

Reception

"Crocodile" received mixed to positive reviews with much appraisal going to the opening sequence, which was first aired in this episode. IGN gave it a "Good" rating of 7.8,[1] and stated that it was "...not as tightly constructed as the pilot, "Crocodile" still was solid and Michael C. Hall's performance as Dexter continues to be a wonderful one, deftly portraying all of the aspects of this complicated (to say the least) man, who has some unbelievable darkness hiding underneath his friendly exterior. And kudos to the excellent opening credits sequence, which consists of shots of Dexter going about several mundane activities that are made unsettling due to our knowledge that he's a serial killer".[1]

TVSquad gave it a very positive review and said that "Two episodes in and I really can't say anything bad about this show. It's wonderful. You shouldn't feel satisfied after watching a show about this subject matter, but you do and that's because it's done well." and also praised the opening sequence for being "slick".[2]

The review from DenofGeek was considerably worse however, with Sarah Dobbs summing up the episode by saying "Dexter goes on a double date, eats some doughnuts, and, oh yeah, kills some more people. Meanwhile, the writers go batshit insane and rattle through a million and one ideas at once."[3]

The writer, Clyde Phillips was nominated for an Edgar Award for Best Television Episode Teleplay, but lost to Matthew Graham, writer of the first episode of the police drama Life on Mars.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Goldman, Eric (2006-10-09). "IGN Crocodile review". IGN. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  2. ↑ Toomey, Jonathan (2006-10-09). "TVSquad- Dexter- Crocodile review". TVSquad. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  3. ↑ Dobbs, Sarah (2007-07-16). "DenofGeek- Episode 2: Crocodile review". DenOfGeek. Retrieved 2011-02-05.
  4. ↑ "The Edgar Award Winners And Nominees Database". Mystery Writers of America. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
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