I don't think anyone has argued that the show should forfeit its moral ambiguity, I think the argument has been more that the show needs to resist the urge to make Dexter whoever the story needs him to be from one week to the next. And while I don't mind the idea of Brian's return, to reintroduce him now only serves…

You're right, and the degree to which it's irritating depends on how charmed you are by Mos Def. I'm very, very charmed, so I've learned to live with how painfully didactic the writing is.

This is totally valid, but if Gellar is a figment of Travis's imagination, and Travis is acting alone, the character is going to have to sack up at some point, and we'll see then how Hanks does with it.

I'd maybe sort of cotton to the way they've written Quinn this season if there's some upcoming pay off to his post-break-up tailspin. And I get that the character is in a weird state of mind, but having him sleep with Porter took it way too far, and was just a clumsy way of having Batista uncover Gellar's drawings.

I've never understood the decision to keep Harry around after Dexter started to formulate his own code.

If anyone wants an indication of Todd's dedication to his craft, look no further than the fact that he's still watching Dexter even though he doesn't cover it anymore.

Yup. All of this too. I totally hated that scene.

Nuh uh.

Agreed on the Bible. I get that Dexter is conscientious or whatever, but this was pretty goofy.

I can walk through the paces of the decision to let Travis go in order to find Gellar, but I wish that scene had been shaded with some kind of doubt or uncertainty. The way it played, Dexter just seemed suddenly, conveniently gullible.

I don't have the vocabulary to describe how much I hated this. Batista tries to talk him out of it, and Quinn uses the rationale that sleeping with a college professor is on his bucket list. So lemme see if I've got this right, Joey, you're a fratty douchebag, an incompetent cop, AND you have the world's stupidest…

We should try to avoid preview discussions if we can.

I liked the Brother Sam monologue, but I understand how someone could be thrown by it. I don't think he's a Magic Negro though, and I'm really, really sensitive to that particular trope.

I sort of understand this point, and I'd absolutely agree that Dexter is engaging on the police side of the investigation in a way we haven't really seen before. But it baffles me that he hasn't been busier on the Dexter side of the investigation. That Dexter would devote so much time to tracking down and eliminating…

There's no third way. At this point, a large chunk of the audience will be pissed off either way they go with it. But I'm still going with Gellar as a real person, because Travis by himself is a pitiful villain, and the ridiculous elaborateness of the tableaus will be even more ridiculous if it's suggested he did all…

Yes. All of this. I'm sticking with Mos Def. Even the change to Mos irked me.

I'm not sure they've dropped this thread entirely. But that I've even considered they might drop it so quickly and unceremoniously reinforces how little faith I have in the writing these days. But Brother Sam has nice things to say about faith, so I'm giving the writers some slack.

I did find it odd that Travis was at the crime scene beaming over his handiwork just after begging Gellar to leave her alone. At the end of the day, Travis is a bros-before-hoes type of dude.

Honestly, I forgot too. I just assumed that I had forgotten and let it slide, but while I remember Deb finding out about it, I still don't remember any other time when Deb has acknowledged it to Dexter. Any superfans want to clear this point up? I'd be curious to know at what point they discussed it.

Suspension of disbelief and investment in a story are directly related. Either you're so engaged you barely notice the fudging or you're bored and have plenty of energy for nitpicking.