Hop a Freighter

"Hop a Freighter" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the American crime drama television series Dexter. It is the 59th overall episode of the series and was written by executive producer Scott Buck and co-executive producer Tim Schlattmann from a story by Karen Campbell, and was directed by John Dahl. It originally aired on Showtime on December 5, 2010.

"Hop a Freighter"
Dexter episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 11
Directed by	John Dahl
Story by	Karen Campbell
Teleplay by	Scott Buck Tim Schlattmann
Cinematography by	Romeo Tirone
Editing by	Louis Cioffi
Original release date	December 5, 2010 (2010-12-05)
Running time	47 minutes
Guest appearances
Julia Stiles as Lumen Pierce (special guest star) Jonny Lee Miller as Jordan Chase Peter Weller as Stan Liddy Maria Doyle Kennedy as Sonya Angela Bettis as Emily Birch Leslie Grossman as Laura Mendell

Set in Miami, the series centers on Dexter Morgan, a forensic technician specializing in bloodstain pattern analysis for the fictional Miami Metro Police Department, who leads a secret parallel life as a vigilante serial killer, hunting down murderers who have not been adequately punished by the justice system due to corruption or legal technicalities. In the episode, Dexter and Lumen set out to kill Jordan Chase, while Liddy prepares to catch Dexter to recoup his career.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 2.26 million household viewers and gained a 1.1/3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised its cliffhanger ending, although some considered the episode rushed.

Plot

Dexter (Michael C. Hall) and Lumen (Julia Stiles) begin planning their strategy in killing Jordan Chase (Jonny Lee Miller), but his level of security will make it difficult. Suddenly, Dexter notes there are surveillance cameras in the apartment and vans parked outside.

Liddy (Peter Weller) asks Quinn (Desmond Harrington) to help him in his case against Dexter to salvage his career, but Quinn refuses to get involved. During this, Dexter checks the equipment room, discovering Quinn's signature. The Barrel Girls case gains traction when Masuka (C. S. Lee) notes a vigilante killed Tilden and cleaned the area in time. Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) and Quinn question Dan Mendell's wife Laura (Leslie Grossman), informing her that her husband was involved in rape. She reveals that Mendell was a close friend of Chase, revealing his real name was Eugene Greer. During this, Angel (David Zayas) finds a connection between Chase and the rest of the rape gang, worrying Dexter that they might get too close.

Nearing one of the vans, Dexter prepares to sedate the owner, whom he believes to be Quinn. However, Liddy anticipates him, and tasers him to get him into the van. He drives him to Bayfront Park, while calling Quinn to meet him, which he reluctantly agrees to. As Liddy operated illegally, he will need Dexter's confession to make it legitimate, and he promises to let Lumen off the hook if he cooperates. Instead, Dexter fights him back and manages to kill him. However, Quinn has arrived at the scene and approaches the van while calling Liddy. When he fails to answer, he simply leaves, unaware that a drop of Liddy's blood fell in his shoe. During this, Lumen is called by Emily (Angela Bettis), who wants her to come to her house to help her. Lumen agrees, unaware that Chase forced Emily into doing it.

After arguing with Debra, LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez) gets her a court order to prevent Chase from leaving the country. She goes to the airport to arrest him, but discovers that he never boarded his plane. After destroying Liddy's evidence, Dexter realizes that Lumen went to Emily's house. Lumen is captured by Chase, who wants to know everything Dexter told to anyone. When he turns abusive, Emily protests, causing Chase to beat her to death. By the time Dexter reaches the house, Chase and Lumen have already left. He discovers a blood trail and Lumen's knife outside, and he leaves to find her.

Production

Development

The episode was written by executive producer Scott Buck and co-executive producer Tim Schlattmann from a story by Karen Campbell, and was directed by John Dahl. This was Buck's 12th writing credit, Schlattmann's tenth writing credit, Campbell's first writing credit, and Dahl's seventh directing credit.

Reception

Viewers

In its original American broadcast, "Hop a Freighter" was seen by an estimated 2.26 million household viewers with a 1.1/3 in the 18–49 demographics. This means that 1.1 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 3 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast watched it. This was a 12% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by an estimated 2.54 million household viewers with a 1.1/3 in the 18–49 demographics.

Critical reviews

"Hop a Freighter" received positive reviews. Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode an "amazing" 9 out of 10, and wrote, "The scene, where Dexter was stuck in the van, having to be dead quiet, locking the doors because Quinn was right outside was perfectly done, and having Dexter slow-knife Liddy just seconds before Quinn walked up was even better. Man, there's nothing worse than a slow-knifing. I still have trouble watching that scene in Saving Private Ryan where Adam Goldberg gets skewered."

Emily St. James of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "C+" grade and wrote, "the Dexter and Lumen relationship has been the most fascinating thing in the show this season, but now that the two are in love, there's a definite sapping of tension out of the relationship. We've always known Lumen would need to leave one way or another; the question has stopped being who Dexter would be to her when she left and has boiled down to something far less interesting: How will she leave?" Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "Season five had found itself a nice little groove in the last few weeks, but “Hop a Freighter” erased a lot of the goodwill that recent episodes had generated. It's not that it was bad, but rather that it was predictable in that way that Dexter seasons always are. And it dashed any hope that the slightly tweaked format of the season would lead to a significantly different ending."

Lizzy Goodman of Vulture wrote, "The details of Harrison's party remain woefully underplanned but Dexter is also breaking the code left and right. Killing people in broad daylight in parked cars? Disposing of damning evidence by tossing it casually into the water three feet from where you committed the murder? Harry would so not be pleased. But he's not around right now to say anything. And the central questions about who Dexter really is and what kind of life he can reasonably sustain remain as unanswered as ever." Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "We've seen the weave of Jordan Chase's troubled psyche fraying at the edges in recent episodes. As Lumen and Dexter and the Miami police have threatened to crumble the house of crazy cards he's built so carefully, he's become agitated, annoyed, and on edge."

Gina DiNunno of TV Guide wrote, "Dexter arrives to find blood everywhere, and is somewhat relieved to discover Emily's body instead of Lumen's. He follows another trail of blood, and finds the knife he gave Lumen. A look of rage on Dexter's face is absolutely bone-chilling." Billy Grifter of Den of Geek wrote, "This was the key narrative thread that connected events in "Hop A Freighter", which brought many plot lines to an end and moved the story into a whole new phase for next week's season end."

Claire Zulkey of Los Angeles Times wrote, "After Sunday night's strong episode, I have high hopes for the finale. I think the straightforward, rather predictable plot would be for Dexter to kill Jordan and then for Lumen to finally head home, but my fingers are crossed that the season will end on a much more twisted note." Television Without Pity gave the episode an "A" grade.

External links

• "Hop a Freighter" at IMDb