"Resistance Is Futile" is the ninth episode of the second season and twenty-first overall episode of the American

television drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...

'', which first aired on 25 November 2007 on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

in the United States. The episode was written by

Melissa Rosenberg Melissa Anne Rosenberg is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She has worked in both film and television and has won a Peabody Award. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two Writers Guild of A ...

and was directed by

Marcos Siega Marcos Siega (born June 8, 1969, in New York City) is a film, television, commercial and music video director. He has also worked as a producer, a musician and an artist. In the late 1980s, he helped to form the New York-based punk band Bad Trip, ...

Title

The phrase is a common

Sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

quote, prevalent in popular culture. It was frequently used by the Borg of the ''Star Trek'' franchise.

Plot

Under constant surveillance by federal agents, Dexter is unable to dispose of his latest victim's remains. He apologizes to Rita, admitting that his affair with Lila was a mistake, but she is still hesitant to forgive him, as Lila retaliates by pursuing Angel. After finding Dexter's collection of

blood slide A blood smear, peripheral blood smear or blood film is a thin layer of blood smeared on a glass microscope slide and then stained in such a way as to allow the various blood cells to be examined microscopically. Blood smears are examined in the ...

s, Doakes seeks the advice of an old friend in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

to analyze them. The department begins to suspect Doakes's involvement in the Bay Harbor Butcher case, but cannot find him for questions. Debra and Lundy spend the night together and contemplate making their relationship public. Dexter is eventually caught by Doakes with the remains of Jiminez, the man who killed his mother. Doakes attempts to arrest Dexter but Dexter manages to choke him unconscious despite taking a bullet in the leg. He locks Doakes in Jiminez's house and leaves as Doakes screams that Dexter will have to kill him to stop his pursuit.

Production

Filming locations for the episode included

Palos Verdes Estates Palos Verdes Estates (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The city was master-planned by the noted American landscape architect and ...

, and

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

Reception

The episode was positively received.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

's Eric Goldman gave the episode a rating of 9.5 out of 10, and commented "Wow. Dexter's second season has just gotten better and better and this week's episode was a true jaw-dropper, moving the plot along at an incredibly fast rate. ..This is truly an excellent and nailbiting scenario the writers have crafted, leaving the show in a wonderfully suspenseful situation. In fact, it was so thrilling, it felt like the penultimate episode of the season, and it's hard to believe there's still three more weeks left. Either way, the show has certainly proved it can continue to grab the audience and I'm sure I'm not alone by far when I say I can't wait to see what happens next." ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' critic Scott Tobias gave the episode a B+ grade and stated that "I'm having trouble figuring out what to write about the episode because so much of it involved the gears of the plot doing a lot of grinding, while leaving Dexter's characterization on the back burner. And yet I still found it a riveting hour, partly because the thriller mechanics were mostly very satisfying and partly because the writers found ways to make them illuminate character. In his distress and scramble to tie up numerous incriminating loose ends, Dexter is still telling us a lot about who he is."

References

External links

*
"Resistance Is Futile"
at

's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Resistance Is Futile 2007 American television episodes Dexter (TV series) episodes Television episodes directed by Marcos Siega