Teenage Wasteland (Dexter)

"Teenage Wasteland" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the American crime drama television series Dexter. It is the 57th overall episode of the series and was written by supervising producer Lauren Gussis, and was directed by Ernest Dickerson. It originally aired on Showtime on November 21, 2010.

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 target Chase, while receiving visitors, while Debra seeks to re-open the Barrel Girls investigation.

According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 2.11 million household viewers and gained a 1.0/2 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received mostly positive reviews from critics, although many were critical of the Astor storyline. For the episode, Michael C. Hall received a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards.

While alone at the house, Lumen (Julia Stiles) finds someone trying to sneak into the house and calls Dexter (Michael C. Hall) for help. However, it is actually Astor (Christina Robinson), alongside her friend Olivia (Tabitha Morella), who stole alcohol. Astor is not content with Lumen staying, as she believes she is Dexter's girlfriend, and gets even more upset when Harrison refers to Lumen as his mother.

In the aftermath of the shootout, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) is demoted to the file room. She uses this to investigate the Barrel Girls, and once again re-opens the case to investigate Cole Harmon's possible involvement. Despite Angel (David Zayas) advocating, LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez) refuses to re-open it. An angered Debra confronts LaGuerta for her recent behavior, and she agrees to re-open it. LaGuerta reveals that she helped Dexter by suspending Quinn (Desmond Harrington), leaving Debra confused as Quinn said he was taking vacations. She confronts him, and he confesses he suspected Dexter of being Kyle Butler, prompting her to leave him.

Dexter trains with Chase (Jonny Lee Miller), noticing that he has a blood vial. He retrieves some of the vial and leaves, but Chase realizes he took from the vial. His work is cut short when Lumen calls to report that Astor and Olivia are missing, with Elliot (Rick Peters) saying he saw a van near the house. The police arrests the van's owner, Barry Kurt (Daniel Travis), who is Olivia's father and is also searching for her. The girls are later found when they are arrested for shoplifting. After bailing them, Dexter allows Olivia to stay with them when she asks. As Dexter confronts Astor for her behavior, Lumen realizes that Barry is abusing Olivia.

Liddy (Peter Weller) visits Quinn to give him photographs of Dexter and Lumen, but Quinn instead just ends their job, warning him to leave him and Debra alone. Dexter brutally beats Barry, and threatens him to leave Olivia and her mother. Dexter then drives them back home, telling Astor he will not tell her grandparents about the events. When she once again asks about Lumen, Dexter says she is a friend he is helping. Dexter tests Chase's vial, which belongs to a woman named Emily Birch, who is actually alive. Chase calls Lumen, claiming he wants a new appointment with Dexter, but uses this to taunt Lumen.

The episode was written by supervising producer Lauren Gussis, and was directed by Ernest Dickerson. This was Gussis' seventh writing credit, and Dickerson's fourth directing credit.^[1]

In its original American broadcast, "Teenage Wasteland" was seen by an estimated 2.11 million household viewers with a 1.0/2 in the 18–49 demographics. This means that 1 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 2 percent of all of those watching television at the time of the broadcast watched it.^[2] This was a 8% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by an estimated 1.94 million household viewers with a 0.9/2 in the 18–49 demographics.^[3]

"Teenage Wasteland" received mostly positive reviews from critics. Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8.5 out of 10, and wrote, ""Teenage Wasteland," the follow up to the outrageously good "Take It," was jam-packed with goodness. At times it felt a little overly-busy, but at the same time it managed to put a ton of things in motion. Not only did Deb learn about Quinn's suspicions that Dexter was actually the mysterious Kyle Butler, but she also got closer to picking up his trail regarding the dead barrel girls. Dammit, sometimes Deb's great detective is hella frustrating. In a good "creates suspense" kind of way, of course."^[4]

Emily St. James of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "C" grade and wrote, "Dexter has staked so much this season on forward momentum and keeping the plot churning along that it can't really afford an hour like this, especially this late in the game. In fact, ask yourself this: What's really changed from the beginning of this episode to the end of it? Even on the most superficial of levels, barely anything, and that's a problem. Sharks gotta keep moving forward."^[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "“Teenage Wasteland” felt very typical of season five as a whole: weird and kind of all over the place, but with enough redeeming features that I was mostly able to shrug off the parts that didn't work."^[6] Lizzy Goodman of Vulture wrote, "It's genuinely chilling. And it means Dexter no longer has to pretend he's just a lost manchild looking for direction, and Chase no longer has to sell the holier-than-thou, enlightened-guru act. They can both act as they are: two fractured souls in search of their complete selves."^[7]

Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "We always knew there would be a time this season when Jonny Lee Miller's Jordan Chase would move out of "quiet looming threat" status into a full-fledged villain. At the end of episode 9, here we are - has the color returned to anyone's knuckles yet? (Probably not.)"^[8] Billy Grifter of Den of Geek wrote, "With three stories left to run, the good ship Dexter is on a dramatic collision course with nobody at the wheel. Based on what we've seen before, I can't imagine that we've got much chance in second-guessing where this might be going for any of the main characters."^[9]

Claire Zulkey of Los Angeles Times wrote, "The most intriguing part of the episode for me was Deb meeting Lumen. Deb knows something's up, that Lumen's not just Dexter's renter, but what I ultimately want to know is where their mutual acquaintanceship will take them."^[10] Television Without Pity gave the episode an "A" grade.^[11]

Michael C. Hall submitted this episode to support his nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards.^[12] He would lose to Kyle Chandler for Friday Night Lights.^[13]

• "Teenage Wasteland" at IMDb