The episode we’re studying is Season 7 Episode 7 – CHEMISTRY – (by Manny Coto & Karen Campbell).
Read the scene here.
This is the longest scene of the episode (approx. 3 mins) and is the ‘climax’.
First, we see that it breaks into 5 major beats.
We also see a clear ‘to and fro’ of power.
Here’s a summary:
Beat 1.
Dexter enters annoyed at the fact that Hannah’s latest victim died in his apartment. He’s angry with her and asks her how she killed him. Hannah disarms Dexter by answering his question.
We could say the power holder at the start of the beat is Dexter, but at the end of the beat, Hannah.
Beat 2.
Dexter confesses he got rid of some evidence which would have incriminated Hannah. Hannah thanks him.
Power holder:
start of beat – Hannah.
end of beat – Shared.
Beat 3.
Hannah says she could ‘feel’ Dexter watching her when she was being interviewed by the police. She tries to draw him into an awareness of a spiritual, supernatural bond. Dexter refuses to go there.
Power holder:
start of beat – Shared.
end of beat – Dexter.
Beat 4.
Dexter needs to know if the story he heard about Hannah is true. Did she kill her husband because he wanted a family? Hannah again disarms him.
Power holder:
start of beat – Dexter.
end of beat – Hannah.
Beat 5.
Hannah tries again to draw Dexter in to an awareness of their deep, spiritual connection. This time she succeeds. Dexter is overwhelmed by her intoxicating power and the sexual ‘chemistry’ between them reaches its inevitable climax.
Power holder:
start of beat – Hannah
end of beat – Shared.
The shared power at the climax of this scene is echoed in Hannah’s line: ‘We were looking out for each other.’
So, the to and fro of power goes like this:
Dexter – Hannah – Shared / Dexter – Hannah – Shared
Two equal halves of the same sequence.
Interesting.
Do you agree? What else do you notice about this scene?
For a scene-by-scene breakdown of the entire, episode click here.
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