Hungry Man

What a fascinating example of how characters familiar to us can transcend a series formula and become three dimensional, able to surprise and excite us through a remarkable screenplay and fine direction. The cast is superb and part of the appeal is recognizing ourselves in the characters. This episode plays on that particularly to jolt us upright with a blade to the chest and a twist of the blade for good measure. We expect certain things from a series we are involved with; but, the mark of greatness is when we get what we expect from episodic TV along with something wonderfully cinematic, something thought provoking that enriches the characters and the audience. This episode does all that and more. It is a masters class in acting (David Zayas is brilliant and Brando Eaton has real star power) and full of surprises. The perfect Dexter episode.

A tour de force episode for all involved, but especially for Michael Hall and John Lithgow. The scenes in the Mitchell household are frighteningly intense, turning the traditional Thanksgiving feast into psychological warfare.

Great work in this episode from the supporting cast with an unexpected and well written turn from C. S. Lee's Masuka, and another superb job from James Remar's Harry who's constant questioning dialog serves to shape Dexter's motives and actions in new and evolving ways.

Dexter is clearly the best thing on television and about the only reason to subscribe to Showtime.

I gave up on season 4 after watching Remains to Be Seen. However I decided to give this episode a chance after reading it was special. Indeed it was but some elements were disappointing too. In the first two episodes the relationship between Batista and LaGuerta was already boring and I can't believe the writers have apparently decided to cover it during the whole season. So many precious minutes were wasted and their arc didn't bring anything interesting to the story. I'm also not convinced by the tension between Rita and Dex because I was expecting something more creative and unexpected. However it didn't ruin the episode, far from it.

The writers used Thanksgiving as an excuse to cover family issues. In the one hand we had Dexter's and in the other was Trinity's. Like in American Beauty things are not like what they seem. In the past season Dexter learned how hard it is to be a good friend. In this one it's all about being the perfect husband and father. Learning more about Trinity's family was fascinating. John Lithgow's performance was impressive and the actor playing his son did a great job too. There's also something very intriguing going on with the daughter and in fact she reminded me of Zoe from Meadowlands. But I'm not sure the writers will dare to cover controversial topics like Nabokov did in Lolita. However we got a glimpse at some possible upcoming events in this episode so I really hope we'll learn more about them. The writers should focus on these elements instead of wasting our time with Batista and LaGuerta.

Beside the family issues there were also other great elements. Deb is such a great character and watching her investigating was really entertaining even if I found her scenes too short. Let's hope things will get intense so Jennifer Carpenter can amaze us with her talent. The other arc I enjoyed was the one involving Quinn and the female reporter. Masuka saw something he wasn't supposed to so I wonder how he'll deal with it. Last but not least the relationship between Dex and Trinity is interesting because it seems he always find a way to learn from the other monsters he meets. As often his daydreams with his father were well used and helped us to better understand the man behind the mask. However I don't really like the visual effects used to render them and think a more realistic and less intrusive technique like in Six Feet Under would be more appropriate.

The episode ended on a cliffhanger and it should surprise most viewers. Overall the episode wasn't flawless but it should be good enough to satisfy the angry viewer. So stay tuned if you don't mind watching disturbed characters because I'm sure things will get even worse

we find in the previous episodes that Dexter's character foil isn't who Dexter makes him out to be. trinity is not the family man we see but actually an abusive parent making his picture perfect family into reality. Though his kids don't seem to think so. This episode can reflect onto any parent with a picture perfect family so they can realize that everything isn't what it seems. That their daughter might be miserable from a harsh break up or that his son doesn't want to be involved in sports he was forced to in the first place.

this episode was scary fun though i think the laguerta and i forget his name homicide detective's side story is boring. and I've been noticing that every episode's ending gives a juicy cliffhanger. i like that unlike season 3. season 3 was really bad in my opinion

Around the time of season 3, I honestly felt like Dexter had kind of grown soft. This may have been due to my continued exposure to it, but the tension and horror just wasn't there anymore. As season 4 began to unfold, I felt that the character of Trinity (John Lithgow) was a possible attempt at recapturing that horrific power of the first season (and to an extent, the second season). This episode fulfilled it, and took it up about 6 notches. While the Angel/LaGuerta scenes, the Masuka/Rita/Debra/Elliot/Kids scenes, and the Quinn/Hill scenes (including the huge reveal at the end) were nice for character development, the true core of the episode came from the scenes involving Dexter getting to the bottom of the Mitchell family. The way that Arthur uses his family takes Dexter's season 1 "cover" ideas, and twists them into a strange psychological world that is easily the most terrifying element of the entire series thus far. Mitchell's wife and daughter are practically puppets bent to serve his will, while his son retains an independent spirit that can only be quelled by brutal beatings and injuries inflicted by his father. Dexter himself becomes so disturbed by the events in the house that he almost kills Trinity right then and there. True standout performances from Michael C. Hall, John Lithgow, and Brando Eaton only increase the power of this episode. Easily the most frightening and psychologically powerful episode of Dexter, and the best episode since the epic season 1 finale.