It's Alive! (Dexter)
Encyclopedia
"It's Alive!" is the second season
premiere
and thirteenth overall episode of the American television drama series Dexter
, which first aired on September 30, 2007 on Showtime in the United States. The episode was written by Daniel Cerone
and was directed by Tony Goldwyn
. In the episode, which takes place five weeks after the first season finale
, Sgt. James Doakes (Erik King
) is following Dexter Morgan
(Michael C. Hall
) at all times, but when he gets his first opportunity Dexter finds himself unable to kill. Meanwhile, his sister Debra
(Jennifer Carpenter
) returns to work after her ex-fiancé Brian tried to kill her, and his girlfriend Rita Bennett (Julie Benz
) refuses to believe that Dexter sent her ex-husband Paul (Mark Pellegrino
) to prison in spite of the evidence in front of her.
Although Dexters first season was adapted from Jeff Lindsay
's novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter
, the show's writers decided not to follow Lindsay's second novel, Dearly Devoted Dexter
, in the second season. Filming of the episode began in May in Los Angeles
, California
, marking the show's permanent move from Miami, Florida
, where the show takes place. A small crew flew to Miami to film short pieces of Dexter which were integrated into "It's Alive!" and other episodes, but the bulk of filming took place in San Pedro
and Long Beach
. With 1.09 million viewers, Dexter became the first Showtime series to attract over a million viewers with a season premiere. The episode received mostly positive reviews.
almost nightly with his co-workers. He is finally left alone when Doakes gives up and takes a night off; Dexter pursues a blind
voodoo priest
, Jimmy (Glenn Plummer
), but finds himself uneasy and ultimately unable to kill the man, and lets him go. At a homicide scene, the victim's mother (Anna Maganini) pleads with Dexter to kill her son's murderer, gang lord "Little Chino" (Matthew Willig). He sees the woman's young daughter, Marissa (Jillian Bruno), and is reminded of himself as a boy, having witnessed his mother's brutal death. He leads Doakes to believe that he is bowling for the night but instead brings Chino to Jimmy's killing room. Chino wakes up in the middle of Dexter's procedure and manages to break out of the duct tape and escape.
Debra, who is staying at Dexter's apartment, is exercising incessantly and barely able to sleep as she struggles with memories of Brian, her ex-fiancé, trying to kill her. She returns to work at the police station; Sgt. María LaGuerta
(Lauren Vélez
) expresses concern about her emotional stability, but Debra is determined to resume a normal lifestyle. When she takes Rita out to a bar, a man recognizes Debra as the fiancée of the Ice Truck Killer. He touches her on the shoulder and she instinctively punches him in the nose, certain that he was trying to grab her.
Rita takes her children Astor (Christina Robinson
) and Cody (Preston Bailey
) to see Paul (Mark Pellegrino
) in prison. He insists that he was framed by Dexter—that Dexter dragged him out of Rita's house before drugging him and tipping off the police—and that if she could find his missing shoe it would prove his innocence. Rita tells him that there is no shoe, despite having found it over a month ago. She later admits that she found the shoe, but refuses to acknowledge that Dexter is involved. That night, she receives a call from Paul's prison and learns that he was killed in an inmate altercation.
Flashbacks throughout the episode show the attempts of a teenage Dexter (Devon Graye
) to feel his heart pound. At the end of the episode, Debra turns on the television in Dexter's apartment and shows him the news: a team of scuba divers in Biscayne Bay
has uncovered over 30 garbage bags, each containing parts of Dexter's mutilated victims. As he watches, his heart races.
's novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter
, the first in the series of novels on which the television show is based, albeit with many additional elements and altered characters. When writing the second season, Daniel Cerone
said that the writers "didn't see the opportunity in the second book" to continue on the path that they hoped to go down and chose to depart from Lindsay's second Dexter novel, Dearly Devoted Dexter
. Instead, they chose "to turn our biggest card up - "What if Dexter's bodies were discovered?" - and just chart that course throughout the season." According to executive producer Clyde Phillips
, they decided to resume the second season storyline five weeks after season one's finale
"so all of the emotional resonance of what each [character] went through [...] will continue as if that were the actual passage of time, so they're still dented and rocked by what has happened." Cerone added that "The nice thing with Dexter is it's actually the lack of emotional resonance." Speaking about Dexter's situation at the beginning of the second season, Hall said, "I think his world is pretty rocked. He encountered [his brother], a person he never anticipated encountering, someone who sees him for who he is, accepts him as such, and he really has no choice but to do him in ... he's still reeling from that, and any footing he's able to establish for himself is pretty much immediately pulled out from under him."
With filming beginning on May 21, 2007, "It's Alive!" marked the permanent relocation of production from Miami to Los Angeles
. Five episodes of the first season were shot on location in Miami, which Cerone said was "a bigger hassle than it was worth". Showtime programming chief Robert Greenblatt said that "It just became impossible, production-wise, to shoot the whole show [in Miami]", because of the overlap between Dexters production window and Florida's hurricane season, making property insurance
costly. A small crew flew to Miami with Hall and filmed, according to producer Sara Colleton
, "a lot of pieces—not just Dexter walking in and out of his door or car, but also scenes that we know we'll need and can use", which the writers then worked into the episode and others. For the episode, Biscayne Bay
was substituted with a set
in Los Angeles, while most on location
scenes were filmed in and around San Pedro
and Long Beach
, California
.
, while an additional 414,000 people watched the late-night encore. The ratings were 67 percent higher than the series pilot
and 40 percent above the first season's average. The episode attracted 471,000 Australian viewers on its first free-to-air
broadcast. In the United Kingdom, the episode drew 348,000 viewers, an increase of 50,000 from the pilot. Production sound mixer
Patrick Hanson and re-recording sound mixer
s Elmo Ponsdomenech and Joe Earle, received a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Award nomination, in the category Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One-Hour), but lost to the sound mixers of the Lost
episode "Meet Kevin Johnson
". Stewart Schill, the editor of "It's Alive!", received an Eddie Award
nomination for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television. However, the eventual recipient of the award was Sidney Wolinsky, for The Sopranos
.
The episode was positively received. Writing for Variety
, Brian Lowry called the second season's opening "a bloody winner" and said that Hall's performance "remains a towering achievement". IGN
's Eric Goldman thought that the episode's biggest problem was "having to follow up such a great first season", but called "It's Alive!" "a solid episode". He praised Dexter's flashbacks and Dexter and Debra's storylines, though he said that Doakes' following Dexter was "ridiculous" and that LaGuerta's overhearing Lt. Esmee Pascal's private conversation was "a bit contrived". Keith McDuffee of TV Squad "love[d] the flashbacks to a young Dexter and living Harry". Regarding the episode's end, he wrote that "just as Dexter's heart beats out of his chest, as does ours." Paula Paige, writing for TV Guide
, said that the episode "made for some exciting, heart-pounding fear" and called the discovery of Dexter's corpses "a fantastic storyline". She commended Benz for "develop[ing] her character, Rita, into a person instead of just the shell of one she appeared to be". Blogcritics
Ray Ellis commented, "If ['It's Alive!'] is any indication, Dexters second season looks to delve deeper into the psyches of its characters. It certainly sets up a number of plot complexities [...] and new devices that offer a myriad of new developments." The A.V. Club
critic Scott Tobias stated that "the writers have done a solid job setting the table for season two".
Dexter (season 2)
The second season of Dexter premiered on September 30, 2007, and ended on December 16, 2007. "It's Alive", the season premiere, attracted 1.09 million viewers in the United States, making Dexter the first Showtime series to attract more than a million viewers with a season premiere...
premiere
Season premiere
In North America, a season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a given television show. It often airs in September or October, after several months of reruns.-Evaluating the changes:...
and thirteenth overall episode of the American television drama series Dexter
Dexter (TV series)
Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
, which first aired on September 30, 2007 on Showtime in the United States. The episode was written by Daniel Cerone
Daniel Cerone
Daniel Howard Cerone is a television writer and producer. He wrote and produced episodes for the series Dexter, Charmed and The Mentalist. He created and produced the short-lived Dean Cain drama Clubhouse.-Biography:...
and was directed by Tony Goldwyn
Tony Goldwyn
Anthony Howard "Tony" Goldwyn is an American actor and director. He portrayed the villain Carl Bruner in Ghost, Colonel Bagley in The Last Samurai, and the voice of the title character of the Disney animated Tarzan.-Early life:...
. In the episode, which takes place five weeks after the first season finale
Born Free (Dexter)
"Born Free" is the twelfth episode of season one and first season finale of the American television drama series Dexter, which aired on December 17, 2006 on Showtime in the United States. The episode also aired on May 4, 2008 on CTV in Canada; on May 14, 2008 on FX in the UK; on September 28, 2008...
, Sgt. James Doakes (Erik King
Erik King
Erik King is an American actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sgt. Doakes on Showtime's television series Dexter.-Early life:King attended Morehouse College, where he won a varsity letter in track and field and graduated summa cum laude. For his honors thesis, he adapted the 1985 film...
) is following Dexter Morgan
Dexter Morgan
Dexter Morgan is a fictional character in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay, including Darkly Dreaming Dexter , Dearly Devoted Dexter , Dexter in the Dark , Dexter by Design , Dexter is Delicious and Double Dexter...
(Michael C. Hall
Michael C. Hall
Michael Carlyle Hall is an American actor whose television roles include David Fisher on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and Dexter Morgan on the Showtime series Dexter. In 2009, Hall won a Golden Globe award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in Dexter.-Early life:Hall was born in...
) at all times, but when he gets his first opportunity Dexter finds himself unable to kill. Meanwhile, his sister Debra
Debra Morgan
Debra Morgan is a fictional character created by Jeff Lindsay for his Dexter book series. She also appears in the television series, based on Lindsay's books, portrayed by Jennifer Carpenter. In Lindsay's novels, she first appeared in Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and has featured in every novel...
(Jennifer Carpenter
Jennifer Carpenter
Jennifer Leann Carpenter is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Emily Rose in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Debra Morgan on Dexter, and the lead role in the 2008 horror movie Quarantine.-Early life:...
) returns to work after her ex-fiancé Brian tried to kill her, and his girlfriend Rita Bennett (Julie Benz
Julie Benz
Julie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...
) refuses to believe that Dexter sent her ex-husband Paul (Mark Pellegrino
Mark Pellegrino
Mark Ross Pellegrino is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work on Lost as Jacob and for playing Lucifer on Supernatural.-Career:...
) to prison in spite of the evidence in front of her.
Although Dexters first season was adapted from Jeff Lindsay
Jeff Lindsay (writer)
Jeff Lindsay is the pen name of American playwright and crime novelist Jeffry P. Freundlich , best known for his novels about sociopathic vigilante Dexter Morgan. Many of his earlier published works include his wife Hilary Hemingway as a co-author. His wife is the niece of Ernest Hemingway and an...
's novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is a 2004 novel by Jeff Lindsay, the first in his series about serial killer Dexter Morgan. It has formed the basis of the Showtime television series Dexter and won the 2005 Dilys Award and the 2007 'Book to TV' award....
, the show's writers decided not to follow Lindsay's second novel, Dearly Devoted Dexter
Dearly Devoted Dexter
Dearly Devoted Dexter is a crime/horror novel by Jeff Lindsay, the second in his series about psychopathic vigilante Dexter Morgan, which has been adapted into a television series.-Plot:...
, in the second season. Filming of the episode began in May in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, marking the show's permanent move from Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where the show takes place. A small crew flew to Miami to film short pieces of Dexter which were integrated into "It's Alive!" and other episodes, but the bulk of filming took place in San Pedro
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...
and Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
. With 1.09 million viewers, Dexter became the first Showtime series to attract over a million viewers with a season premiere. The episode received mostly positive reviews.
Plot
In the five weeks after murdering his brother Brian, the "Ice Truck Killer", Dexter has been followed by suspicious Sgt. Doakes and thus cannot quell his urge to kill. Trying to act "relentlessly normal", Dexter goes bowlingBowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
almost nightly with his co-workers. He is finally left alone when Doakes gives up and takes a night off; Dexter pursues a blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
voodoo priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, Jimmy (Glenn Plummer
Glenn Plummer
Glenn E. Plummer is an American film and television actor.Plummer was born in Richmond, California. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, primarily in supporting roles or small bit parts, such as High Top in Colors. His prominent roles came in the films Menace II Society, Speed,...
), but finds himself uneasy and ultimately unable to kill the man, and lets him go. At a homicide scene, the victim's mother (Anna Maganini) pleads with Dexter to kill her son's murderer, gang lord "Little Chino" (Matthew Willig). He sees the woman's young daughter, Marissa (Jillian Bruno), and is reminded of himself as a boy, having witnessed his mother's brutal death. He leads Doakes to believe that he is bowling for the night but instead brings Chino to Jimmy's killing room. Chino wakes up in the middle of Dexter's procedure and manages to break out of the duct tape and escape.
Debra, who is staying at Dexter's apartment, is exercising incessantly and barely able to sleep as she struggles with memories of Brian, her ex-fiancé, trying to kill her. She returns to work at the police station; Sgt. María LaGuerta
Maria LaGuerta
Captain María Esperanza del Alma LaGuerta , known in the books as Migdia LaGuerta, is a fictional character in the Showtime television series Dexter and the novels by Jeff Lindsay upon which it is based. She is portrayed by Lauren Vélez in the television series...
(Lauren Vélez
Lauren Vélez
Lauren Vélez is an American actress of Puerto Rican descent and the twin sister of actress Loraine Vélez. Her most notable roles are as María LaGuerta on Dexter, Detective Nina Moreno on Fox's New York Undercover, and Dr...
) expresses concern about her emotional stability, but Debra is determined to resume a normal lifestyle. When she takes Rita out to a bar, a man recognizes Debra as the fiancée of the Ice Truck Killer. He touches her on the shoulder and she instinctively punches him in the nose, certain that he was trying to grab her.
Rita takes her children Astor (Christina Robinson
Christina Robinson (actress)
Christina Robinson is an American child actress, best known for playing Astor Bennett in Showtime TV series, Dexter. Twin sister of Courtney Robinson.-Career:...
) and Cody (Preston Bailey
Preston Bailey
Preston Bailey is an American child actor who started acting at the age of two. He is probably most known for appearing in the Showtime TV series Dexter and for starring in such as films Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, Children of the Corn, and The Crazies.-Biography:Bailey was born in...
) to see Paul (Mark Pellegrino
Mark Pellegrino
Mark Ross Pellegrino is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work on Lost as Jacob and for playing Lucifer on Supernatural.-Career:...
) in prison. He insists that he was framed by Dexter—that Dexter dragged him out of Rita's house before drugging him and tipping off the police—and that if she could find his missing shoe it would prove his innocence. Rita tells him that there is no shoe, despite having found it over a month ago. She later admits that she found the shoe, but refuses to acknowledge that Dexter is involved. That night, she receives a call from Paul's prison and learns that he was killed in an inmate altercation.
Flashbacks throughout the episode show the attempts of a teenage Dexter (Devon Graye
Devon Graye
Devon Graye is an American actor.-Biography:He is best known for his role as Teenage Dexter in the American television drama series Dexter airing on Showtime and the lead role Scott in After Dark Original's Husk.and as the role of Marco in the movie adaption of Meg Cabot's Avalon...
) to feel his heart pound. At the end of the episode, Debra turns on the television in Dexter's apartment and shows him the news: a team of scuba divers in Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...
has uncovered over 30 garbage bags, each containing parts of Dexter's mutilated victims. As he watches, his heart races.
Production
The first season of Dexter followed the same storyline of Jeff LindsayJeff Lindsay (writer)
Jeff Lindsay is the pen name of American playwright and crime novelist Jeffry P. Freundlich , best known for his novels about sociopathic vigilante Dexter Morgan. Many of his earlier published works include his wife Hilary Hemingway as a co-author. His wife is the niece of Ernest Hemingway and an...
's novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is a 2004 novel by Jeff Lindsay, the first in his series about serial killer Dexter Morgan. It has formed the basis of the Showtime television series Dexter and won the 2005 Dilys Award and the 2007 'Book to TV' award....
, the first in the series of novels on which the television show is based, albeit with many additional elements and altered characters. When writing the second season, Daniel Cerone
Daniel Cerone
Daniel Howard Cerone is a television writer and producer. He wrote and produced episodes for the series Dexter, Charmed and The Mentalist. He created and produced the short-lived Dean Cain drama Clubhouse.-Biography:...
said that the writers "didn't see the opportunity in the second book" to continue on the path that they hoped to go down and chose to depart from Lindsay's second Dexter novel, Dearly Devoted Dexter
Dearly Devoted Dexter
Dearly Devoted Dexter is a crime/horror novel by Jeff Lindsay, the second in his series about psychopathic vigilante Dexter Morgan, which has been adapted into a television series.-Plot:...
. Instead, they chose "to turn our biggest card up - "What if Dexter's bodies were discovered?" - and just chart that course throughout the season." According to executive producer Clyde Phillips
Clyde Phillips
Clyde B. Phillips is a writer and producer for television and film. He has written for the shows Dexter, Shout About Movies, Suddenly Susan, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Midas Valley, and Trapper John, M.D....
, they decided to resume the second season storyline five weeks after season one's finale
Born Free (Dexter)
"Born Free" is the twelfth episode of season one and first season finale of the American television drama series Dexter, which aired on December 17, 2006 on Showtime in the United States. The episode also aired on May 4, 2008 on CTV in Canada; on May 14, 2008 on FX in the UK; on September 28, 2008...
"so all of the emotional resonance of what each [character] went through [...] will continue as if that were the actual passage of time, so they're still dented and rocked by what has happened." Cerone added that "The nice thing with Dexter is it's actually the lack of emotional resonance." Speaking about Dexter's situation at the beginning of the second season, Hall said, "I think his world is pretty rocked. He encountered [his brother], a person he never anticipated encountering, someone who sees him for who he is, accepts him as such, and he really has no choice but to do him in ... he's still reeling from that, and any footing he's able to establish for himself is pretty much immediately pulled out from under him."
With filming beginning on May 21, 2007, "It's Alive!" marked the permanent relocation of production from Miami to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Five episodes of the first season were shot on location in Miami, which Cerone said was "a bigger hassle than it was worth". Showtime programming chief Robert Greenblatt said that "It just became impossible, production-wise, to shoot the whole show [in Miami]", because of the overlap between Dexters production window and Florida's hurricane season, making property insurance
Property insurance
Property insurance provides protection against most risks to property, such as fire, theft and some weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance or boiler insurance. Property is insured in two main...
costly. A small crew flew to Miami with Hall and filmed, according to producer Sara Colleton
Sara Colleton
Sara Colleton is an American television and film producer. She has worked as an executive producer on the Showtime drama series Dexter since 2006 and has received several Emmy nominations for her work on the series.-Biography:...
, "a lot of pieces—not just Dexter walking in and out of his door or car, but also scenes that we know we'll need and can use", which the writers then worked into the episode and others. For the episode, Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...
was substituted with a set
Set construction
Set construction is the process by which a set designer works in collaboration with the director of a production to create the set for a theatrical, film or television production...
in Los Angeles, while most on location
Filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
scenes were filmed in and around San Pedro
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...
and Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Reception
"It's Alive!" brought in 1.09 million viewers in the United States, making Dexter the first Showtime series to attract over a million viewers with a season premiereSeason premiere
In North America, a season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a given television show. It often airs in September or October, after several months of reruns.-Evaluating the changes:...
, while an additional 414,000 people watched the late-night encore. The ratings were 67 percent higher than the series pilot
Dexter (episode)
"Dexter", or "Pilot", is the pilot and first episode of the first season of American television drama series Dexter, which premiered on October 1, 2006 on Showtime in the United States. The episode was written by developer James Manos, Jr. and directed by Michael Cuesta. It was based on the opening...
and 40 percent above the first season's average. The episode attracted 471,000 Australian viewers on its first free-to-air
Free-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
broadcast. In the United Kingdom, the episode drew 348,000 viewers, an increase of 50,000 from the pilot. Production sound mixer
Production sound mixer
A production sound mixer, location sound recordist, location sound engineer or simply sound mixer is the member of a film crew or television crew responsible for recording all sound recording on set during the filmmaking or television production using professional audio equipment, for later...
Patrick Hanson and re-recording sound mixer
Re-recording mixer
A re-recording mixer, formerly known as a dubbing mixer, is a person who is part of a post-production sound team and works specifically with dialog, music and sound effects to create the final soundtrack for a production...
s Elmo Ponsdomenech and Joe Earle, received a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Award nomination, in the category Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One-Hour), but lost to the sound mixers of the Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
episode "Meet Kevin Johnson
Meet Kevin Johnson
"Meet Kevin Johnson" is the 80th television episode of the American Broadcasting Company's Lost and the eighth episode of the fourth season. It was written in October and November 2007 by supervising producer Elizabeth Sarnoff and co-producer Brian K. Vaughan, and directed in November by...
". Stewart Schill, the editor of "It's Alive!", received an Eddie Award
American Cinema Editors
Founded in 1950, American Cinema Editors is an honorary society of film editors that are voted in based on the qualities of professional achievements, their education of others, and their dedication to editing itself. The society is not to be confused with an industry union, such as the I.A.T.S.E...
nomination for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television. However, the eventual recipient of the award was Sidney Wolinsky, for The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
.
The episode was positively received. Writing for Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Brian Lowry called the second season's opening "a bloody winner" and said that Hall's performance "remains a towering achievement". IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Eric Goldman thought that the episode's biggest problem was "having to follow up such a great first season", but called "It's Alive!" "a solid episode". He praised Dexter's flashbacks and Dexter and Debra's storylines, though he said that Doakes' following Dexter was "ridiculous" and that LaGuerta's overhearing Lt. Esmee Pascal's private conversation was "a bit contrived". Keith McDuffee of TV Squad "love[d] the flashbacks to a young Dexter and living Harry". Regarding the episode's end, he wrote that "just as Dexter's heart beats out of his chest, as does ours." Paula Paige, writing for TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
, said that the episode "made for some exciting, heart-pounding fear" and called the discovery of Dexter's corpses "a fantastic storyline". She commended Benz for "develop[ing] her character, Rita, into a person instead of just the shell of one she appeared to be". Blogcritics
Blogcritics
Blogcritics is a blog network and online magazine of news and opinion. The site—a self-proclaimed "sinister cabal of superior writers"—was founded in 2002 by Eric Olsen and Phillip Winn...
Ray Ellis commented, "If ['It's Alive!'] is any indication, Dexters second season looks to delve deeper into the psyches of its characters. It certainly sets up a number of plot complexities [...] and new devices that offer a myriad of new developments." The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
critic Scott Tobias stated that "the writers have done a solid job setting the table for season two".