The Damage a Man Can Do
Encyclopedia
"The Damage a Man Can Do" is the eighth episode of the third season
of the American television drama series Dexter
, which first aired on November 16, 2008 on Showtime in the United States
. The episode was written by Scott Buck
and directed by Marcos Siega
. In the episode, assistant district attorney Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits
) asks Dexter Morgan
(Michael C. Hall
) for his assistance in killing a murderous gambler. Meanwhile, Dexter's sister Ofr. Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter
) finds her boyfriend and informant
Anton Briggs (David Ramsey) to be missing after she tells him that he is no longer legally obligated to work for her.
The episode marked the first time that another character had joined Dexter with a victim in one of his murder scenes. While filming this scene during October 2008, Smits accidentally stabbed stunt man
Jeff Chase
with a real knife rather than the scene's prop knife. The knife struck a small piece of plastic on Chase's chest and he was unharmed. "The Damage a Man Can Do" received generally positive reviews from critics.
) "code" to Miguel. They later break into Fleeter's house and, although they find the murder weapon, Dexter says that they need evidence proving that Fleeter has the incentive to kill again. Dexter finds a ledger recording each of Fleeter's bets and he returns with Miguel to the casino where they prepare an unused storeroom for the murder. They arrange to kill Fleeter that night, but somebody recognizes Miguel in the casino and Dexter calls off the plan. Dexter is angered when Miguel criticizes Harry's code, but he agrees to go ahead with Fleeter's murder. They drug Fleeter and take him to the casino storeroom. Miguel stabs and kills Fleeter, telling Dexter afterwards that he feels "fantastic". While cleaning up the crime scene, Dexter has a vision in which his father tells him that sharing the code was a mistake and that Dexter is now responsible for Miguel's actions.
Debra finds a bag of marijuana hidden in a cereal box in Anton's apartment and asks her partner Det. Joey Quinn (Desmond Harrington
) about Anton's previous charges for drug possession. Quinn tells her vaguely that it can be found on file, but when she asks Anton for his informant number, he tells her that he has none. She discovers that he had been working for Quinn unofficially and that he is not legally obligated to disclose any information to the police. After she tells him that he no longer has to work as an informant due to a "clerical error" in the filing of his report, he disappears. Debra and Quinn continue to work on the case of serial killer "The Skinner". Believing that The Skinner may be a tree-trimmer, they bring in a number of them for questioning; one contractor, George King (Jesse Borrego
), tells Debra about one of his suspicious workers, Mario (Jerry Zatarain). When Mario tries to run from them, Debra and Quinn arrest him and he pleads to be sent back to Nicaragua
at the mention of King's name. Debra later visits Anton's apartment and realizes that he has been taken by The Skinner, who recently trimmed the trees.
Dexter's fiancée Rita Bennett (Julie Benz
) is unusually temperamental due to her pregnancy hormones. She complains to Miguel's wife Syl (Valerie Cruz
) that Dexter refuses to help with the organization of their upcoming wedding. Despite having told Dexter that she did not want an engagement ring, Debra and Dexter choose a ring for Rita, and she apologizes for her behavior. Meanwhile, defense attorney Ellen Wolf (Anne Ramsay
) tells her friend Lt. María LaGuerta
(Lauren Vélez
) that she thinks that Miguel is going out of his way to make her job harder. At the end of the episode, after killing Fleeter, Miguel makes an unannounced visit to Ellen's house.
"The Damage a Man Can Do" was filmed in early October 2008. On playing Harry as a figment of Dexter's imagination, James Remar told Vanity Fair
that "it's challenging to play a specter in somebody’s current existence." He said: "In my own life, I find myself doing some task [...] and having a conversation with my mother or father, who are both deceased. [...] I suspect lots of people do it. And when I hold that conversation, different images of my parents appear to me. And so it's my job to do my best to be that image in Dexter's mind." When asked about playing the only character to join Dexter in his "kill room," Jimmy Smits said: "The crew has a great respect for what they are doing in those scenes. They are energized because those moments are the staple of the show, but at the same time they are very somber. Michael doesn't really like to interface with a lot of people on those days, because it's such a serious subject matter."
Filming one take of the scene in which Miguel kills Fleeter, Smits accidentally picked up a real knife instead of a prop knife and stabbed Jeff Chase in the chest. Though he was not wearing "a metal breastplate like a lot of actors do in a scene like that," Chase had a piece of plastic "the size of a Post-it note
" over his heart which was struck by the knife. He was unable to stop Smits when he picked up the knife as he was bound in Saran wrap
and had his mouth taped shut with duct tape
for the scene. Chase said that in rehearsals Smits had missed the plastic with the prop knife "eight out of ten times."
thought that "The Damage a Man Can Do" had "some major foundational problems", but he said that both Michael C. Hall and Jimmy Smits' performances were "wonderful". Paste
magazine's Jeffrey Bloomer likened the episode simply to pulp and felt that Dexter's voice overs lacked their usual "dry, dark humor and gonzo wisdom". IGN
critic Matt Fowler believed that Dexter and Miguel's conversations contained "traces of overly awkward dialogue all over" and that the pairings of Debra and Quinn, and LaGuerta and Ellen were "forced" while Miguel's desire to kill seemed "unnatural". Writing for TV Guide
, Paula Paige said that her favorite part of the episode was Dexter's spinning Fleeter on the table like a roulette wheel and also she enjoyed Rita's storyline, calling her a "hormonal hoot". TV Squad's Debra McDuffee thought that Angel and Barbara's romance was "painfully awkward" to watch and Rita's storyline was "lame and stereotypical". The A.V. Club
's Scott Tobias believed the episode to be "awesome" and said that he was "more anxious than usual to see what Dexter was up to, and equally anxious to get away from the peripheral dramas". BuddyTV
critic John Kubicek named "The Damage a Man Can Do" the sixty-fourth best television episode of 2008.
Dexter (season 3)
The third season of Dexter premiered on September 28, 2008, and ended on December 14, 2008. "Our Father", the season premiere, attracted 1.22 million viewers in the United States, making it Showtime's highest-rated drama season premiere since Nielsen Media Research began compiling ratings in...
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 November 16, 2008 on Showtime in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The episode was written by Scott Buck
Scott Buck
Scott Buck is an American television writer. Buck has written for several television series including HBO's Six Feet Under, Rome, Showtime's Dexter, Everybody Loves Raymond, Coach and The Oblongs.-Biography:...
and directed by Marcos Siega
Marcos Siega
Marcos Siega is a film, television, commercial, and music video director. He has also worked as a producer and a musician....
. In the episode, assistant district attorney Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits
Jimmy Smits
Jimmy Smits is an American actor. Smits is perhaps best known for his roles as attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law, as NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue, and as Congressman Matt Santos on The West Wing...
) asks 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...
) for his assistance in killing a murderous gambler. Meanwhile, Dexter's sister Ofr. Debra Morgan (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:...
) finds her boyfriend and informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
Anton Briggs (David Ramsey) to be missing after she tells him that he is no longer legally obligated to work for her.
The episode marked the first time that another character had joined Dexter with a victim in one of his murder scenes. While filming this scene during October 2008, Smits accidentally stabbed stunt man
Stunt performer
A stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be...
Jeff Chase
Jeff Chase
Jeff Chase is an American film and television actor.Chase was born Jeffrey L. Sniffen in Paterson, New Jersey. He married Kimberly Chase on January 5, 1991, and now lives in Clermont, Florida. Chase has one son, Cory Chase, born in 1998...
with a real knife rather than the scene's prop knife. The knife struck a small piece of plastic on Chase's chest and he was unharmed. "The Damage a Man Can Do" received generally positive reviews from critics.
Plot
Miguel introduces Dexter to former football player Billy Fleeter (Jeff Chase), a debt enforcer who kills other gamblers to pay off his own debts. Dexter is initially hesitant when Miguel suggests that Dexter teach him how to murder Fleeter, but the two go to a casino where Dexter tries to explain his deceased father Harry's (James RemarJames Remar
James Remar is an American actor and voice artist. He has appeared in movies, video games, and TV shows. He is perhaps best known as Richard, the on-off tycoon boyfriend of Kim Cattrall's character in Sex and the City, as Ajax in The Warriors, as the homicidal maniac Albert Ganz in the 1982...
) "code" to Miguel. They later break into Fleeter's house and, although they find the murder weapon, Dexter says that they need evidence proving that Fleeter has the incentive to kill again. Dexter finds a ledger recording each of Fleeter's bets and he returns with Miguel to the casino where they prepare an unused storeroom for the murder. They arrange to kill Fleeter that night, but somebody recognizes Miguel in the casino and Dexter calls off the plan. Dexter is angered when Miguel criticizes Harry's code, but he agrees to go ahead with Fleeter's murder. They drug Fleeter and take him to the casino storeroom. Miguel stabs and kills Fleeter, telling Dexter afterwards that he feels "fantastic". While cleaning up the crime scene, Dexter has a vision in which his father tells him that sharing the code was a mistake and that Dexter is now responsible for Miguel's actions.
Debra finds a bag of marijuana hidden in a cereal box in Anton's apartment and asks her partner Det. Joey Quinn (Desmond Harrington
Desmond Harrington
Desmond Harrington is an American actor. He is known for movies such as The Hole, Wrong Turn and Ghost Ship. He joined the cast of the Showtime series Dexter in its third season as Det. Joseph Quinn.-Life and career:...
) about Anton's previous charges for drug possession. Quinn tells her vaguely that it can be found on file, but when she asks Anton for his informant number, he tells her that he has none. She discovers that he had been working for Quinn unofficially and that he is not legally obligated to disclose any information to the police. After she tells him that he no longer has to work as an informant due to a "clerical error" in the filing of his report, he disappears. Debra and Quinn continue to work on the case of serial killer "The Skinner". Believing that The Skinner may be a tree-trimmer, they bring in a number of them for questioning; one contractor, George King (Jesse Borrego
Jesse Borrego
Jesse Borrego is an American actor. Better knownfor playing Cruz Candelaria in Blood in, Blood out and later guest starring as George King in Dexter. Borrego, a Mexican American, was born in San Antonio, Texas. He considered going into the US Air Force to become a pilot...
), tells Debra about one of his suspicious workers, Mario (Jerry Zatarain). When Mario tries to run from them, Debra and Quinn arrest him and he pleads to be sent back to Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
at the mention of King's name. Debra later visits Anton's apartment and realizes that he has been taken by The Skinner, who recently trimmed the trees.
Dexter's fiancée 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...
) is unusually temperamental due to her pregnancy hormones. She complains to Miguel's wife Syl (Valerie Cruz
Valerie Cruz
Valerie Cruz is an American actress.Cruz was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey of Cuban ancestry. She attended Florida State University and received a BFA theatre degree....
) that Dexter refuses to help with the organization of their upcoming wedding. Despite having told Dexter that she did not want an engagement ring, Debra and Dexter choose a ring for Rita, and she apologizes for her behavior. Meanwhile, defense attorney Ellen Wolf (Anne Ramsay
Anne Ramsay
Anne Elizabeth Ramsay is an American actress best known for her role as Lisa Stemple on Mad About You, for which she shared a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Ensemble in a Comedy series.- Early life :...
) tells her friend Lt. 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...
) that she thinks that Miguel is going out of his way to make her job harder. At the end of the episode, after killing Fleeter, Miguel makes an unannounced visit to Ellen's house.
Production
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
that "it's challenging to play a specter in somebody’s current existence." He said: "In my own life, I find myself doing some task [...] and having a conversation with my mother or father, who are both deceased. [...] I suspect lots of people do it. And when I hold that conversation, different images of my parents appear to me. And so it's my job to do my best to be that image in Dexter's mind." When asked about playing the only character to join Dexter in his "kill room," Jimmy Smits said: "The crew has a great respect for what they are doing in those scenes. They are energized because those moments are the staple of the show, but at the same time they are very somber. Michael doesn't really like to interface with a lot of people on those days, because it's such a serious subject matter."
Filming one take of the scene in which Miguel kills Fleeter, Smits accidentally picked up a real knife instead of a prop knife and stabbed Jeff Chase in the chest. Though he was not wearing "a metal breastplate like a lot of actors do in a scene like that," Chase had a piece of plastic "the size of a Post-it note
Post-it note
A Post-it note is a piece of stationery with a re-adherable strip of adhesive on the back, designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. Although now available in a wide range of colours, shapes, and sizes, Post-it notes are most commonly a square, canary yellow in colour...
" over his heart which was struck by the knife. He was unable to stop Smits when he picked up the knife as he was bound in Saran wrap
Saran (plastic)
Saran is the trade name for a number of polymers made from vinylidene chloride , along with other monomers. The main advantage of Saran film is its very low permeability to water vapor, flavor and aroma molecules, and oxygen compared with other plastics...
and had his mouth taped shut with duct tape
Duct tape
Duct tape, or duck tape, is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure sensitive tape often sealed with polyethylene. It is very similar to gaffer tape but differs in that gaffer tape was designed to be cleanly removed, while duct tape was not. It has a standard width of and is generally silver or black...
for the scene. Chase said that in rehearsals Smits had missed the plastic with the prop knife "eight out of ten times."
Reception
Overall, the episode was received well by critics. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-LedgerThe Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
thought that "The Damage a Man Can Do" had "some major foundational problems", but he said that both Michael C. Hall and Jimmy Smits' performances were "wonderful". Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
magazine's Jeffrey Bloomer likened the episode simply to pulp and felt that Dexter's voice overs lacked their usual "dry, dark humor and gonzo wisdom". 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...
critic Matt Fowler believed that Dexter and Miguel's conversations contained "traces of overly awkward dialogue all over" and that the pairings of Debra and Quinn, and LaGuerta and Ellen were "forced" while Miguel's desire to kill seemed "unnatural". 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...
, Paula Paige said that her favorite part of the episode was Dexter's spinning Fleeter on the table like a roulette wheel and also she enjoyed Rita's storyline, calling her a "hormonal hoot". TV Squad's Debra McDuffee thought that Angel and Barbara's romance was "painfully awkward" to watch and Rita's storyline was "lame and stereotypical". 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...
's Scott Tobias believed the episode to be "awesome" and said that he was "more anxious than usual to see what Dexter was up to, and equally anxious to get away from the peripheral dramas". BuddyTV
BuddyTV
BuddyTV is an entertainment-based website based in Seattle, Washington, which generates content about television programs and sporting events. The website publishes information about celebrity and related entertainment news through a series of articles, entertainment profiles, actor biographies and...
critic John Kubicek named "The Damage a Man Can Do" the sixty-fourth best television episode of 2008.