Deb calls Dexter with the bad news that Brother Sam has been shot, which totally puts a crimp in Dexter's stalking of Colin Hanks. He and EJO are on a shopping trip buying some whorish clothing and talking about tramp stamps. It's practically a spa day, except for the whole murderous spiteful plots and whatnot. Anyway, at the Brother Sam crime scene, Dex wants to jump into the blood spatter examination, but Deb tries to tell him this is a bad idea because of conflicts of interest. He promptly ignores her and tells her that she needs his help so she doesn't look bad at her job. He's not exactly wrong. This, compounded with the fact that Angel and Quinn won't play with her because she's lieutenant, causes he to go crying to her therapist who suggests that she have a party to make herself feel better.
Dexter wants to exact vengeance immediately on the person responsible for shooting up the most interesting character on the show of late (and we can't say that we blame him), but he discovers it’s a dude named Leo and has a lovely conversation with Leo's baby mommy that cracked me up. Anderson, who is competent at his job (somewhat), takes out Leo in a firestorm of bullets before Dexter gets the chance.
But, because of a DVD with some surveillance footage on it, Dexter puts together that Leo didn't shoot brother Sam, Nick did. Nick, the dog whisperer, is a friend of Sam's who even got baptized and pulled into Brother Sam's whole "light" nonsense. Dexter figures this out and promises Brother Sam on his deathbed that he will kill Nick dead, no problem. But all Brother Sam wants is for Dexter to forgive Nick and find the light that's inside of him, and embrace the goodness. After Sam dies (boo!), Dexter takes Nick for a long walk on the beach. It's not romantic, but Dexter tries his best to understand why Nick would kill the guy who saved him from a life of awful crime. Turns out Nick didn't really buy the whole goodness thing and was trying to get back into his gang by shooting Sam. Dexter says that Brother Sam forgave him, and then Nick starts giggling about getting away with murder. Naturally, Dexter doesn't take too kindly to this and goes off book and kills him in the water. Not exactly seeing the light there. Instead he sees his very dark and twisted ghost brother Brian hovering over him asking him if he misses him. Welcome back, Bri.
On the Doomsday front, Deb gets an update from Batista and Quinn, who have finally realized there might be some religious significance to all of this, and learned about a controversial art installation based on these prophesies. They've even got a picture, which is of a naked woman with the same tattoo as Clarissa. Quinn panics because he doesn't want things to be awkward when his boss/ex-girlfriend finds out that he banged a potential witness. But Clarissa outs Quinn about the sex in the middle of an interrogation, and things get pretty bad from there. Deb almost fires him and then he gets drunk and shows up at her party with a random blonde, before hitting on Jamie in the most disgusting way possible. At least he gets punched in the face by Angel for his gross actions and Deb gets a bottle of tequila out of the deal. They still are no closer to finding the doomsday killer, though.
But that's OK, because Travis has developed a bit of a conscience. He wants to give their latest "whore" some painkillers. Gellar objects, so instead he makes her a sandwich. Then after a visit to see his sister teach some elementary school aged children, he decides to free the victim instead of branding her. It doesn't seem like this is going to go all that well for him, as EJO wasn't altogether pleased with his faltering emotions earlier in the episode. -- Angel Cohn
Okay, I lied, although not intentionally -- Jeff Long is having ongoing issues with his cable service, so I'm here again this week. Yay?
Dexter is tailing Colin Hanks (a) in broad daylight, (b) with no sort of disguise, and (c) at a distance from which Colin Hanks would feel it if he sneezed. I mean, it's not usually a problem because Dexter's victims aren't often familiar with him, but given that Colin Hanks has seen Dexter's face at length and under extreme duress, I'd think Dexter might incorporate, say, a hat into his stalking outfit. That, however, may prove to be irrelevant, as DVO is babbling so hard about free will that he has trouble keeping his eye on Colin Hanks even at this distance, although the fact that they've entered a crowded outdoor marketplace may be a contributing factor. As he rushes to keep up, possibly impeded by a horribly on-the-nose VO about choosing paths, his phone rings - it's Deb, with the bad news that Mos Def has been shot. Dexter tells her he'll be right there and SO CONVENIENTLY has to rush off right before Colin Hanks joins EJO, like, this reveal is so not going to be worth the time the writers apparently think they're putting into it. I suppose it's touching that Dexter feels so strongly about Mos Def that he's abandoning this chase, but I hate the show for so obviously stalling here. As usual, it doesn't have nearly enough story to justify the seasonal quest lasting as long as it does, so it throws obstacles in Dexter's path in the most blatant and ham-handed manner possible. Either let him see EJO, or let us see that he doesn't see EJO, and be done with it, because this is getting unbelievably boring.
Anyway, EJO points out a scarf or something he deems "sufficiently tawdry," so I guess they're clothes shopping for their Whore, which I'm sure she appreciates, and of course EJO doesn't interact with the saleswoman. Once Colin Hanks has secured the Babylonian attire, he tells EJO he'd like to get their poor Whore some painkillers, as her arm is broken and she's in agony, but EJO thinks that she's an unrepentant sinner, and as such doesn't deserve any easing of her pain. Speaking of which, EJO asks if he's given her the "mark" yet, and since the previews from last week showed Colin Hanks brandishing a, well, brand, there's no need to beat around the bush, EJO. When he hears that Colin Hanks hasn't, in fact, seared the girl's flesh off in some ornate religious pattern, EJO is most displeased, and tells Colin Hanks to stop questioning God and get his ass in gear, adding that if he doesn't, he'll get washed away along with "the rest of the scum." Well!
...and then he's at his computer telling us he's got a match - "Leo Hernandez." Seeing that the guy has been in trouble for failing to pay child support, Dexter calls his last known address and, when a woman answers, says he's from the Department of Social Services. Actually, if Dexter wanted to find a new crop of victims, he could do worse than working there.
Masuka finds Deb and says there were twelve sets of prints around the garage, all of them belonging to people who work for Mos Def, and Deb sighs that maybe one of them got tired of working for a living. Or, and this is an even crazier theory, THE SHOOTER MIGHT HAVE WORN GLOVES. Meanwhile, Dexter is, somewhat amusingly, getting way more than he bargained for as the woman is chattering on about how terrible a baby daddy Leo is, but when Dexter sees Deb appear through his window, he hangs up on the woman, which surely isn't going to help her disillusionment with the state's concern for single mothers who were knocked up by deadbeats. Dexter asks Deb if she has any news on Mos Def's condition, like I don't know why he'd need to get it from her, but last she knew he was still in surgery. Anderson then appears and informs them that Julio's gang apparently blames Mos Def for Julio's disappearance, and if that were true you'd think they might have ASKED HIM WHERE HE IS, so after Deb dispatches Anderson to see if he can discover the trigger man, Dexter asks for and is granted leave to go to the hospital and check on Mos Def. Deb then sees Batista and Masuka giggling about something, and why that would make her approach them instead of running away I'll never know, but this is all to set up Deb's Crisis of the Week, apparently, as when Deb joins the two idiots they clam up and get all awkward, and even though she assures them she just wanted to shoot the shit, they're all stiff and formal, or at least as stiff and formal as two slackjawed cretins get.
When they're gone, LaGuerta sniffs out her weakness like a jungle cat with absolutely nothing better to do and materializes, saying she's taking a lot of "heat" for the Doomsday investigation (like I believe anyone gives a shit about LaGuerta at this point one way or the other), so she'd like a briefing on Deb's progress later that day. Apropos of absolutely nothing that she saw, she tells Deb to remember she isn't one of the gang anymore, and instead of telling her to fuck off Deb sullenly says that she's realizing that, and then LaGuerta leaves Deb alone with her Coffee Mug of Newfound Loneliness in the Break Room of Sudden Despair.
Dexter watches Mos Def, who's apparently not just out of surgery but also the ICU, and babbles about his Dark Passenger before he sees a sign on the wall about a candlelight vigil for Mos Def at the garage, because there are so many people unaffiliated with the garage likely to be stopping by the hospital for Mos Def.
Dexter enters the packed garage and finds an apparently distraught Nick on the sidelines, and after the dog once again barks a bit, Dexter asks Nick if Leo Hernandez is the guy calling the shots with his old gang now. Nick is reluctant to give any information up, but Dexter assures him that if he doesn't, the cops will drag it out of him, because, as we'll see, Miami Metro never fucks up an interrogation. Apparently convinced, Nick tells Dexter where to find Leo, and Nick, if you want to be a power player in Miami, you should go see a tailor, because your cuffs are so high you practically look like you're in short pants. The prayer leader asks everyone to join hands at that moment, but when Dexter goes to take Nick's hand, the dog barks again, but apparently Dexter never watched Lassie, as he continues not to pay the dog any mind.
Having gone through all the boxes Porter gave them last week, Batista explains to Deb that the Enesserette he mentioned last week was a cult from the early AD years that believed the Book of Revelations was an actual code to bring about the end of the world, and there are seven steps, each involving a human sacrifice, outlined in EJO's books. Also, EJO apparently did an art installation at the university depicting all this, which shockingly got him in trouble. Quinn produces a news article about it, and when Deb takes a close look at the attendant photo of a woman lying face down in a depiction of sinfulness, or something. Deb points out the tattoo on her back, and Quinn nearly swallows his tongue when he sees that it's a match with Porter's. I only hope he observed it while she was, say, walking to the shower, and not, say, some other time. He frantically signals to Batista to wrap this up, so when Deb offers to help them, they tell her it's cool and they've got it handled. This time, the tone isn't so awkward, but Deb's got it in her head now that she's a social pariah, even though in this place I'd take that as a compliment, and she lingers like the kid in elementary school who didn't get an invitation to the birthday party, like, GET IT TOGETHER, WOMAN. When she's finally shuffled all the way away, Quinn tells Batista that the woman in the photo is Porter, and shatters my hopes of not being scarred for life by adding that he recognizes the tattoo because he was "in the vicinity." Anyway, this leads to a predictable spat between lovers, with Batista saying he's not going to lie to Deb in the process of finding out what else Porter knows, and Quinn playing the partner card, in the process saying "partner card" enough times to wear the expression out for good.
In the darkened church, Colin Hanks is putting the finishing touches on the brand as nearby, the blindfolded girl cowers in terror. If, a la Archer, you were to walk in and ask, "So how's this going?" the look on Colin Hanks's face would easily convey the desired response of "Not great."
When Deb wanders by - she certainly does appear to be amazingly busy these days -- Batista catches her and gingerly informs her about Porter being the woman in the photo. Deb's like, awesome - but I can't spare you and Quinn for a trip to Tallahassee, so have her come down here. Batista hems and haws, and who can blame him, because whoever heard of a material witness coming into a police station to give a statement? On the other hand, you'd think they'd at least give her bus fare from Tallahassee, but Deb's expression and dialogue proclaim otherwise - she even says she'll have Porter hauled in in handcuffs if she doesn't cooperate. Sure, that'll help. She does at least backtrack and suggest Batista try it nicely first, not knowing that Quinn already tried really nicely, or at least you hope so for his sake. When Deb's gone, Batista tells Quinn he'll handle the situation - Quinn just needs to stay the hell away from Porter. I don't really have the energy to speculate how the bunch of them are going to fuck this one up.
Dexter checks out Leo's house, which doesn't seem to be in too terrible a neighborhood, I have to say. Not that anyone cares, but still.
Dexter then arrives home and greets Jamie. Noting that she's packing Deb's stuff up, Dexter tells her she doesn't have to do that, but Jamie easily says she doesn't mind. "All folded and packed with very little hostility." Hee. I like this girl. She gets ready to go, but noting him sitting down forlornly and heavily on the couch, she steps forward and offers that she heard about his friend, and wonders how he's doing. Dexter reflexively says he didn't know Mos Def that well, but there's little conviction behind the words, and admits that he's in a coma and it doesn't look good. Jamie says that Mos Def seemed like a really nice guy, which given that he visited Harrison in the hospital seems justified, but Dexter gives her the "was there anything else" raised eyebrows, so she beats a retreat. When she's gone, Dexter takes out his frustration on a sticky silverware drawer, and I know this is meant to show how much he cares about Mos Def but this still feels like a fairly impotent display given that he's a SERIAL KILLER. Also, this is Season Six; is anyone still clinging to the notion that Dexter doesn't have any emotions? Harry, appearing out of nowhere, wonders why it's so hard for Dexter to admit he cares about Mos Def, and points out that Mos Def understood the darkness in Dexter and still saw the light. Harry goes on that he wishes he had, as maybe things would have been different, to which Dexter replies that what-ifs are a waste of time. Hardly the only thing around here that qualifies, but sure, we can start there.
In no way is it more apparent that this show doesn't have close to the amount of story to fill its airtime as it, currently in the middle of Season Six, continually giving us establishing shots of one of its only interior locations. It'd be like Mad Men showing us a Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce nameplate before every other scene. It will shock you to learn that we are at MIAMI METRO, and apparently, the show doesn't have the money or wherewithal to construct a therapist's office set, as Deb's shrink has apparently decided to come see her in her office again, like, once was one thing but she's got windows with latticed treatments and her door swung invitingly open. How is this a serious session? Anyway, the therapist asks if there's anything else she wants to talk about, and she says no in a less subtle manner than would a precocious four-year-old. The therapist tells her she's all good with the shooting so they don't have to meet again, and I'm not sure why they couldn't have come to that conclusion last time, but this is enough for Deb to admit that yes, there is one more thing - the other kids won't play with her anymore. She speculates that Quinn is of the opinion that she dumped him because she thinks she's better than him now, and I suppose it's not worth pointing out that actually, he dumped her, and also, I don't know that he even realizes she'd gotten the promotion before he did so. God, this show. She adds that it's awkward with Batista because she took his promotion, and I'll let that one pass even though he's mostly been cheerleading for her, and adds that even being Dexter's boss is weird. The therapist kindly suggests that she's overthinking the situation, and should just focus on doing her job and let the social issues sort themselves out. I mean, this isn't therapy, really, but it's decent enough advice; however, Deb says she's not sure if she knows how to do that. The therapist asks what she'd want to do if she weren't stressing over so much stuff, and Deb smiles that she'd love to be throwing a rocking housewarming party in her HOUSE OF MURDER-SUICIDE. The therapist is like great, do that, and Deb likes the idea; she even takes the woman's card and doesn't, like, shred it. Everything's so positive you can't help but know for sure that the party's going to be an utter disaster.
Dexter stakes out Leo's house in broad daylight. Booo-ring.
Anderson, however, is doing something more interesting, as he catches some junkie and, when he's not forthcoming as to the name of his supplier, "flamingoes" him by cuffing one of his wrists to one of his ankles. Can we get more Anderson and less of all the chuckleheads? Anderson makes to leave him there, but the guy calls for him to wait, and without turning around, Anderson smiles. God, it's nice to have a character around who's enjoying himself.
And just like that, Anderson is reporting to Deb that one Leo Hernandez is the leader of Julio's gang, the one that's running the local drugs or whatever. Deb says she'll send backup...
...and then, right when Leo emerges from his house, Anderson pulls up, immediately followed by the promised additional officers. Dexter's all How? What? How? but I suppose he kind of deserves this for his remarks about Deb's unsolved mysteries. Leo is dumb enough to try for a shootout with five cars full of cops and gets the fate he deserves in return, and Dexter looks super-sad that he didn't get to cut him up on his table or whatever...
...and later, Dexter "turns up" to the scene, and given that Masuka and his intern are already there I wonder how long he sat in his car. Maybe he took a quick trip home to yank that sticky drawer out again. Greene asks Dexter if he can watch him do the blood work, which on this show probably means he's a serial killer as well, but Masuka tells him they've got fingerprints to worry about so he can just leave Dexter alone...
...and then inside, Dexter is asking Anderson if he thinks he got the right guy, and Anderson's like, considering that he tried to blow my head off, yeah, I'm pretty happy with my police work. He adds, however, that he'll check the slugs Leo used against the ones removed, I suppose, from Mos Def. Dexter then notices that the DVD player is on, and when he pops it open, he finds a DVD labeled "Security Footage From Garage." I doubt the shooter would have labeled it as such, but it's not like they wouldn't have checked it out anyway...
...and at the station, they see the shooting play out, but the assailant's face is never shown, which, given the purpose for which this all turns out to have been done, makes little enough sense, but I suppose you could spin it. Anderson thinks the shooter looks like Leo, even down to his wardrobe, and Deb's like, great work, and speaking of grisly death, I'm having a party at Casa Murder-Suicide tonight, and it's BYOB, as with all my busy aimless wandering around the office, I don't have time to stop by the liquor store. As usual with this show, I'm barely paraphrasing. Anderson's face looks like he can't think of many places he'd be less likely to show up, and after he and Masuka clear out of there, Deb tells Dexter she knows this doesn't make up for Mos Def, but at least they got the bad guy. When she's gone, however, Dexter thinks something's not right, and upon rewatch of the DVD, sees that the dog isn't barking, and decides that the only person the dog didn't bark at besides Mos Def is Nick. I doubt that's true, and it certainly doesn't seem logical (why is Nick so special compared to the other converts?), but I don't have the energy to contest it. Which has been the show's MO for a good long time, I feel I must at least add. Not to mention the fact that regardless of the identity of the assailant, you'd think LOUD GUNSHOTS EMPTIED INTO HIS MASTER would be enough to get at least a yip from the stupid thing. I mean, as a guard dog, he could not be more fired.
As that girl continues to moan and gasp in pain in the background, Colin Hanks drains a not-insignificant amount of his own blood into a Mason jar, which is always a sterile environment I'm sure, and puts it in the refrigerator with several similar jars before removing a paper bag and some Oscar Meyer? I'm starting to wonder about Colin Hanks's mental age here. He brings a sandwich and a bottle of water to the girl and apologizes as he tells her the professor forbade any painkillers, but she skips over that topic and begs him to let her go, adding that she has a son who needs his mother. This looks like it hits Colin Hanks where he lives, but despite his pause, he leaves her, not even removing the cap in her bottled water, which given that she has a BROKEN ARM is cold.
Apparently inspired by that little incident to seek out some familial bonding, Colin Hanks shows up to an outdoor painting class of young children, who are being taught by none other than his sister. She's delighted to see him even as she informs us he's never visited her at school before, and, over his protests, tells the class that Colin Hanks is a talented artist and gets him to agree to join them before punching him in the nose with a bit about how the kids have so many dreams and all the time in the world to make them come true. She then walks away, and I'm probably giving the show too much credit but hopefully she's getting him the promised painting supplies rather then leaving him to consider that One To Grow On moment?
Dexter breaks into Nick's apartment, which I'm sure is super-easy for a nerdy-looking white guy to do in a drug dealer's neighborhood, and, recalling that Nick fired a shot at Mos Def when Mos Def first entered Nick's apartment, locates the bullet in question. DVO IDs the bullet and wonders if it came from the same gun that shot Mos Def, like THAT IS THE FUCKING QUESTION, ISN'T IT...
...and hey, guess what? It is. DVO calls Nick "the ultimate Judas," and DVO, maybe leave those references to people who aren't Biblically illiterate?
Porter's in an interrogation room with Batista as Deb watches through the one-way window; Porter's not exactly psyched to be there, but when she sees the picture, she smiles in abashed recognition and admits that it's her. She goes on that if it got out that it was she in the photo, it would make her look bad to the faculty; meanwhile, Deb finds Quinn and wonders why he isn't in there with "his" witness, and if it's such standard procedure for him to be present I don't know how he and Batista thought any of this would fly. Come clean to Deb about banging a material witness - it's not like you haven't done it before with John Lithgow's daughter. Instead, he lamely tries to use paperwork as an excuse, like, why not STAY OUT OF THE OFFICE ON SOME PRETEXT, IDIOT? But apparently he's left with no choice but to enter, and he and Porter are both super-awkward before Porter denies any belief in apocalyptic prophecies - she was young and was just trying to impress her professor. Batista ups the pressure, getting closer and closer to flat-out calling her a liar, while Quinn literally won't make eye contact, looking off to the side like he's Bart Simpson with Principal Skinner standing in front of him. How do they think this is going to end? Well, I'll tell you; in response to Batista's continued badgering, Porter asks if she'd have "slept with Mr. Warmth over here" if she and EJO were still an item, prompting Deb's jaw to hit the floor and the two guys to be all "Whoa, whoa, whoa" about it, like COULDN'T HAVE SEEN THAT ONE COMING, HUH? Amazingly, Batista asks if they can just "stay on the subject here," but Porter, knowing she's got the upper hand now, says no, they can't - she's leaving, and if they bother her again, she'll get a lawyer. She stalks out, at which point Deb comes in and in no uncertain terms tells Batista to leave them, even turning off the room's camera. Oh, Joey. Deb tries to tell him how royally he's screwed them, as Porter was the key to interpreting all the EJO evidence. I would point out that if that's true, maybe they shouldn't have interrogated her like a hostile witness, but Quinn chooses to be an ass and a half, starting off flippant and then accusing Deb of being jealous, like, pretty sure Deb's had about a million other things on her mind more important than your bitter ass, Quinn. And who even cares about these two, seriously? Deb uses the word "fuck" no less than four times in conveying the idea that she does not give a fuck, at which point Quinn storms out. Deb then emerges and sees Batista with a hangdog look on his face, but if she chews him out as well, we at least don't have to see it.
Dexter sends a reluctant Jamie and Harrison on ahead to Deb's party (great environment for a young kid, but I guess he's a bit stuck here) before heading to get his kill chest out. However, his phone rings, and it's apparently the hospital with news about Mos Def, which again kind of underscores how ridiculous it was for him to ask Deb for news about Mos Def's condition earlier...
...but anyway, here's Dexter turning up to the hospital and being told by one of Mos Def's crew he doesn't have long - it's just that sometimes people come out of comas when they have important advice to give to fictional characters before they're written off their shows. I mean, again, I'm hardly even paraphrasing here, and how fucking labored and obvious is it for Mos Def to have survived surgery only to wake up and then patiently wait for Dexter to make it over to the hospital so he can tell Dexter not to abandon his light before he goes up to that Great Big Garage In The Sky. I mean, this is actually the first time I'm watching it, but I'd bet money on that. Sure enough, Dexter leans in close and tells Mos Def that he knows it was Nick that shot him, and he's going to make sure he pays, but Mos Def weakly counters that instead, he wants Dexter to give Nick a message for him - tell him he forgives him. I...okay? He says that he doesn't trust any of the boys from the shop with this, I guess because he thinks they'd kill Nick if they knew, but given Dexter's confession about his darkness I wonder why he thinks this is any better a choice. Why not have Nick come to the hospital and forgive him directly? Oh, because he wants Dexter to embrace his light, even though Dexter does not look ready to do that at all. Mos Def, however, tells him to forgive Nick and "just let it go," for his own sake - it's the only way Dexter will find any peace. Mos Def does not then appear to expire on the spot, which frankly is more than I expected from this scene.
Batista turns up to Casa Murder-Suicide with an apparently-expensive bottle of something and an apology for keeping the Quinn and Porter thing from her. They have a long-winded discussion that's not worth recounting, but he does assure her it won't happen again, she forgives him, and things seem normalized between them in the larger scheme of things. Jamie then appears and is awkward with Deb for a bit, and it's probably too much to expect that these people all are going to take cabs when they're drinking, but if not, it seems a bit irresponsible from both a liability and propriety standpoint for a police lieutenant to be serving booze here (especially to interns, right?), but regardless, I give her a little credit for telling Jamie, who's obviously nervously trying for this result, that she knows they got off on the wrong foot, and could they start over? Jamie is only too happy to accept the proffered olive branch, so Deb goes... to open the bottle, I think, which apparently has to take place elsewhere, leaving Greene the opportunity to approach Jamie and ask her if Dexter is as cool at home as he is at work. Oh, I see, instead of him being a serial killer, he's just going to serve to make Masuka jealous of Dexter. If I yawned in proportion to what I think of that development I think I might break my jaw. I still do like Greene, though. This show needs some - you know what I'm going to say - new blood. As if to prove my point, a completely ripshit Quinn shows up with some blonde on his arm and starts giving Deb attitude before he's even through the door. To her credit, when the blonde learns that Deb is Quinn's ex, she's out of there in two seconds flat, but why Deb doesn't send him out the door (and really, out of the department - given how he's handling things, he needs to be transferred) I have no effing idea.
As Dexter and several of Mos Def's disciples wait for the end, DVO wonders how he's supposed to forgive. I'm not sensing that's going to end up being a particularly relevant issue.
EJO tells Colin Hanks that he has to go "to do further preparation," whatever the hell that may constitute for a figment of Colin Hanks's imagination, and when he returns, he expects the Whore to be marked. He leaves, and with the conflict etched all over his face, Colin Hanks pulls the brand out of the fire and makes his way to the girl, who gets even more terrified once she figures out, presumably from the heat she feels, what he's got in store...
...but the thing you see is him letting her out from his car and telling her she's free, despite her broken arm and the fact that she's still blindfolded. I'm assuming that means he didn't brand her, but this show is usually so expository the lack of a clear statement on the matter makes me wonder.
Greene and Jamie are having a nice little chat about how he's developing a new video game about homicide, and he's doing the internship as a way of conducting research. Shout-out to the Dexter game? Quinn then staggers up and starts grossly hitting on Jamie while being rude to Greene, but Batista appears and tells him to knock it off. Quinn, however, gets even more disgusting in response, which leads to Batista's meat hook of a fist come flying forward with surprising speed. And while that was awesome, I only wish it had come with an accompanying intonation of "There's your partner card." Deb isn't overly fazed by any of this, which I guess makes sense from someone who's chosen to reside in Casa Murder-Suicide, and she kneels down and says she thinks it's time to call Quinn a cab, as if she shouldn't have done it before he even turned up at this little shindig. Quinn slurrily asks her if she ever loved him, and her face reacts like this is the most unexpected development in the world, which I guess means she's never heard of TV, movies, dating, or any of several other common ways she might have anticipated this question. She stares slackjawed for ages, which I'll grant to Quinn is a pretty gutless way of answering "no," and he pulls himself up off the floor. Quinn, if you're going to puke, aim for the big bloodstain, would you?
At the hospital, the doctor appears, and we get to see some shitty acting from the non-speaking extras as DVO notes that Mos Def has cashed his last check from this show. Harry appears to Dexter and asks if he'll honor Mos Def's dying wish, and Dexter at least concedes that he wants to. Harry encourages him to show Nick the light, and all I'll say is that I have a feeling that he might regret his phrasing here. Dexter gets up and conveniently runs into Nick, whom he asks to take a ride with him...
...while Deb sits alone in Casa Murder-Suicide, the party apparently having failed to withstand the awkwardness of her not having been able to tell her live-in boyfriend that she ever gave a shit about him. After leaving a message for Dexter ("Where are you, bro?"), she picks up the shrink's card, which we saw her deliberately place in her office; did she anticipate the need to call her tonight? Then again, we at least can clearly see her name is "Michelle Ross," so we'll be on a first-name basis when we start with their regularly unbearable sessions.
Dexter and Nick are walking on the beach where Mos Def baptized Nick when the latter asks what this is about, because gang members are always patient about getting to the point, and also, given that he was turning on the waterworks earlier, you'd think he'd at least pretend to be a little sniffly here, especially if he's going to act like he has no idea what Dexter's talking about when he asks Nick to explain himself. Dexter, however, informs Nick that Mos Def regained consciousness and told him what happened, and he wants to know why he did it. Nick replies that he doesn't know, which isn't what Dexter wants to hear; his voice starting to tremble with emotion, he asks how he could do that to someone who sacrificed for him and just wanted to help him. Nick, however, suddenly yells that Mos Def was full of shit - he told him his life would get better, and it didn't. Guess he never did build that "bomb website," then. He adds that his "homies" never lied to him like that, but they wouldn't take him back - not unless he proved himself. Dexter looks like he's made his peace with all this as he tells Nick that Mos Def loved him, and sent him there to forgive him. Nick looks worried as he says he has to talk to him, so Dexter tells him he's dead, and I'm sorry, WHAT? I thought Nick was staying away from the hospital until he heard Mos Def was dead, which would be logical. But he just happened to show up right after he passed? None of the crew called him earlier? This show, I swear. Horrible.
Anyway, when Nick processes this, he starts giggling and twirling his mustache about how the police can't touch him now - the disk proves nothing, and the only witness is dead. Not true, Nick - WHITHER THE DOG? Anyway, of course anyone with half a brain would feign contrition toward the guy whose blood pressure you can actually see rising before your very eyes, but no, Nick continues to crow about how awesomely this all worked out for him until Dexter charges and bowls him into the water, and soon his righteous anger and jujitsu grip of DEATH DEATH DEATH have combined forces and drowned this asshole. And I'll acknowledge a certain appeal to Nick dying a grisly death in the water that supposedly cleansed his sins, but this whole plotline was a total mess and now Mos Def is gone, so I'm not inclined to give it more than the merest amount of credit. Dexter, aloud, says there's no light in Nick (well, not now, that's for sure) and there's no light in him, and then he steps out of the water to find his dead brother the Ice Truck Killer applauding and asking if he missed him, and Dexter looks pretty psyched to see him and...well, I'll reserve judgment on whether this is the dumbest thing the show has ever done because I do like this actor, but it doesn't help this episode's grade any. Ugh.
John Ramos is a writer and film producer living in Los Angeles. Believe it or not, he's worked with Michael C. Hall, as well as Lucy Liu and Peter Fonda, on his film "The Trouble With Bliss," (formerly "East Fifth Bliss") which will be in theaters in March 2012 and about which you can get information here.
Also, he writes about film and television on his blog "Pull Up A Chair," which he would just love for you to visit. And you can follow him on Twitter here.