wouldn't likening someone to Mitchell not humanise so much as woobify them?

Ah, well, it wasn't entirely likening - and this was the point in S2 when Mitchell had gone Very Very Dark (on a serious slaughter spree, basically), so the comparison was as much in Mitchell's disfavour as anything.

Good point about Lolita - I suppose I was thinking more about mainstream TV/media etc, rather than 'literature'. Of course, I don't know anything about Dexter either.