"Left Turn Ahead" is the eleventh episode of the second season and twenty-third 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-g ...

'' Dexter'', which first aired on 9 December 2007 on Showtime in the United States. The episode was written by

Scott Buck Scott Randall Buck is an American television writer. Buck has written for several television series including '' Six Feet Under'', ''Rome'', Showtime's ''Dexter'', ''Everybody Loves Raymond'', ''Coach'', ''Inhumans'', '' The Oblongs'' and '' Iro ...

and

Tim Schlattmann Timothy (Tim) Schlattmann is a three-time Emmy award nominee television writer and producer. Nebraska born and raised, this former disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for 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, ...

Plot

Dexter contemplates admitting to the Bay Harbor Butcher killings. Doakes escapes from his cell but is captured by two

drug smuggler The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

s. They force him to go back to the cabin and carry the cocaine to their boat. Dexter shows up while they are at the boat and discovers that Doakes has escaped, but then hears voices coming up the path. He sees Doakes with the drug dealers and manages to kill them both with the help of Doakes. He then puts Doakes back into the cage and decides that he is going to turn himself in, but needs one last day to sort his affairs, so he leaves Doakes in the cage with some fruit and water. The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

is displeased with the lack of progress in the Bay Harbor Butcher case and assigns a deputy director to take over Lundy's role in the investigation. Angel is arrested for the sexual assault of Lila, who offers to drop the charges if Dexter will resume their relationship. Debra investigates Lila's past with Lundy and discovers she is using an alias, eventually discovering that she is an illegal immigrant by fingerprinting Angel's microwave. Meanwhile, using Dexter's

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

navigation which she stole from the van while Dexter was taking Rita and the kids out for one last day of freedom, Lila discovers the cabin in the swamp, where Doakes is being held. La Guerta is in Haiti and finds out that Doakes was there to get slides analyzed. She calls Lundy and he is interested in getting the details. Dexter changes his mind on turning himself in after having steaks with his sister who tells him he just needs to accept who he is and move on.

Production

Filming locations for the episode included Palos Verdes Estates,

Long Beach 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 ...

Marina del Rey Marina del Rey (Spanish language, Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated area, unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination ...

, and

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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 out of 10, and commented that " u know a show is doing a great job when it has you thinking that maybe they should end it now, simply because it seems so impossible to top what is currently happening. Such is the case with ''Dexter'', where the penultimate episode of the season truly felt like the penultimate episode of the entire series." ''

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 " ter the major character revelations last week, "Left Turn Ahead" does a lot of table-setting for next week's big finale, but the plotting is mostly strong (as it's been all season, really) and not entirely at the expense of character, either."

References

External links

*
"Left Turn Ahead"
at Showtime's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Left Turn Ahead 2007 American television episodes Dexter (TV series) episodes Television episodes directed by Marcos Siega Television episodes written by Scott Buck