Episode Report Card Mr. Stupidhead: B | 1 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Dex And Redemption
By Mr. Stupidhead | Season 2 | Episode 5 | Aired on 10.27.2007
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.This week's episode contains lots of mother-y references. While sleeping during a particularly boring NA meeting, Dexter dreams that he's actually the "Dark Defender," a comic book character by the same name based on himself that he recently discovered at a crime scene. In the dream, he's able to save Laura Moser, his biological mother, from being slain in the shipping container. The dream inspires Dexter to look deeper into what really happened with her, and he discovers that she was actually a police informant, and that she and Harry actually knew each other. Interesting. He also discovers that one of the three men who killed her is still alive and working in Naples, only a couple hours away. Also interesting.
Rita's mom essentially tells Dexter to fuck off, because after Paul, she doesn't really trust anyone who's in NA with her daughter. Dexter takes the opportunity to take a trip to Naples...with Lila, who's inspired Dexter to confront his mother's killer, because she thinks it will help with his recovery. Dex does indeed confront the guy, but doesn't kill him because Lila talks him out of it, thinking, of course, that she's talking him out of using again. Dexter returns to the motel room where he left Lila, and she's happy she helped him avert a crisis. She confides that she actually killed her ex-boyfriend/smack dealer via arson, and Dexter buries his chin securely in her vagina as he passes out for the evening. It's like she's the mother he never had. Very Oedipal. When he gets back, Rita has told her mother to back off, and she in turn announces she's moving to Miami, into Rita's house. Yikes.
On other fronts, Doakes tells LaGuerta what he thinks of her boinking Pascal's fiancé to get her job back (he's not that cool with it), and Deb and Lundy are getting closer, to each other and to discovering who the BHB is. Things with Deb and Gabe are going well, until Deb reads his email "sent" folder, which reveals that he is shopping around a book called "The Ice Princess," which Deb immediately thinks is about her. She flips out on him and takes off. Lundy, being the good buddy that he is, shows Deb a background check he ran on the guy, and it turns out that Gabe aspires to be a children's writer, and Deb feels like an asshole. Which she is.
It was a totally Masuka-free episode, which make Baby Jesus cry, but what are you gonna do? Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Previously: Masuka had a "big break" in the BHB case: algae. On rocks. From the body bags. October 3, 1973 was an important day, because that's the day Laura Moser, Dexter's bio-mom, got chopped to bits in a drug deal gone bad. Dexter met Rita's mother, who expressed her belief that he was hiding something, but not to Dexter, of course. Doakes blasted some ex-special-ops guy after he killed his wife and refused to come downtown. Deb took home her boxing buddy, and boinked him after tying him up to the headboard. Dexter pointed out Lila (new spelling, y'all! Thanks, IMDb!) to Rita, who instantly hated her for how hot she was. Lila took Dexter on a soul-searching adventure, and Dexter showed her his work. "This woman sees me. She doesn't know it, but she's looking behind the mask and she's not turning away."
Dexter's on line at a coffee shop, VOing, "Most people hate long lines. The bank, grocery store, coffee bar. Not me." He looks around at the other patrons, some of whom are reading the paper with BHB headlines. The woman in front of him shifts forward, and the guy behind Dexter says, "Buddy, you mind?" implying that he'd like Dexter to take a step forward. "Want a real glimpse of human nature? Stand in the way of someone's mocha latté. It also reminds me that the good people of Miami and I aren't so different. They have no more idea of what I am than I do." A couple of guys are discussing Dexter's work. "All I'm saying is these guys had it coming." "So what, just chop them all up?" "As far as I'm concerned, whoever's doing this shit deserves a goddamned medal." Dexter has a "whaddya know?" look on his face as the woman at the counter realizes she doesn't have enough cash to pay for her stuff. Dexter insists that he's got it covered, and the woman thanks him. "You're a godsend." Oh, brother. He just smiles.
Dexter takes two café con leches out to the veranda, where Deb is sitting. She takes a sip and says, "Oh, sweet Mary mother of fuck, that's good," and something about the way she says it really rubs me the wrong way. Dexter observes that she's been working a lot recently: "Burning the midnight oil with the task force?" "Hardly. Until we get the report back on the algae, it's just one big reach-around." "The rocks I used to submerge my victims may eventually sink me, too," he VOs. "But if I'm learning anything in recovery, it's one day at a time." He watches another woman pass by holding a paper with his victims on the cover. "Bay Harbor Butcher," says Deb. "Gimme one shot, I'll put a bullet in the fucker's head." Yeah, okay. "You really feel that way?" asks Dex. "He's killing people, Dex," she replies, as if there's no other answer. "If Dad taught us one thing, it's the value of human life." "Yeah, but I think we had different homework assignments," he VOs. Heh, true. Dex's phone rings, and it's dispatch. "See you tonight?" he asks, and Deb says she might be staying at Gabe's. Dex thought they were taking it slow, and Deb confirms that they are: "No sex, just cuddling." Dexter makes fun of her, and she threatens him with her "scalding hot beverage," so he takes off.
Apparently, there's been a murder at a comic-book shop, and there are some action figures with blood spatter on them. As Dexter processes the evidence, he VOs, "I never really understood the whole superhero thing, but lately, it does seem we have a lot in common: tragic beginnings, secret identities, part human, part mutant" -- and, sharing a moment with Doakes, "arch-enemies." LaGuerta comes up, and says, "Great way to start the day, huh?" "Shouldn't you be movin' back into your office, boss?" Dex replies with a mock salute. Heh. LaGuerta asserts that she'd "rather be here. What can you tell me?" Dexter thinks it was a blunt-force trauma, and explains the blood patterns. None of this really matters, trust me. This is all just a big thematic setup. They ascertain that there was no robbery, and the murder was probably personal, because of the brutality of it. It seems the guy, Denny Foster, was bludgeoned with an Aquaman snow-globe. Dexter looks up and sees a poster for The Dark Defender, a comic that features a ninja-dressed guy holding a bloody blade, standing in front of the moon and some palm trees on top of a pile of bodies. The only visible feature of the guy is his chin, which looks a lot like Dexter's. Dex asks a guy that Doakes is interviewing where the poster came from. "Denny had this great idea to put a spin on that vigilante serial killer we got running around." "Definitely has a nicer ring to it than the 'Bay Harbor Butcher,'" opines Dex. Doakes gets pissy at Dexter for interrupting his interview, but the guy, apparently another employee at the comic place, doesn't seem to mind: "Denny was trying to set up The Dark Defender as a graphic novel. 'Stalker of the night, his blade of vengeance turns wrong into right.' I need some air." The guy goes outside, and Doakes gives Dex a sarcastic "Thanks a lot," and follows the guy. Dexter goes back to look at the poster, and behind him we see Doakes talking to the guy again. See, Doakes? He's right there! No need to be so pissed. "The Dark Defender," VOs Dex. "Nah, Miami's too hot for all that leather." Word. You'd get caught in a second just from sweating all over the crime scene.