"Are You…A Serial Killer"?

S07E01

Having left off last season with the prospect of some actual interesting character development, we of course do not pick up there. Instead, Dexter is frantically driving to the airport; when he has to stop for gas, all his cards are declined, so he fishes some cash out from the handy-dandy Escape The Country Travel-Pak he's had warming up in the wall since he moved into his current place. At the airport, Dexter buys a ticket to Budapest…

…and then we're back in the church, with Dexter literally being caught red-handed. Dexter tells Deb in his earnest-yet-creepy voice that he encountered Colin Hanks on that last forensics sweep, fought off his sword attack, and then snapped, keeping the serial nature of his killing to himself. Her world shattered, Deb succumbs to Dexter's emotional manipulation and conspires with him to make Colin Hanks' death look like a fiery suicidal tableau, and it says something about the state of mind Deb is in that she doesn't really bat an eye at destroying a house of worship.

Eventually, they of course get called back to the scene of the crime, and after Deb gives Dexter an assist in covering up a bit of evidence, she gives a statement to the press, and she lies quite a bit better than I would have expected. But there's a loose end – LaGuerta finds Dexter's broken blood slide, and as much as I've complained about Dexter's sloppiness, given what happened I suppose I can forgive him this one time. At home, Dexter realizes his error, while Anderson wonders how Colin Hanks got to the church, given that his car wasn't found at the scene, but this latter problem is solved when Dollhouse's Enver Gjokaj murders Anderson by the side of the road. The department discovers that his other victim is a Ukrainian stripper, but Dexter is the only one who actually finds the murderer's fingerprint and IDs Gjokaj, or "Viktor Baskov."

Dexter breaks into his place and discovers he's going to be on an imminent flight back to the Ukraine, so the race to the airport was a big fake-out, which was actually rather well done. The fact that Dexter is planning to commit a murder while surrounded by TSA agents is pretty hilarious, but sure enough, when Baskov goes to the can, Dexter's right in there to drug him, even bringing along a handy wheelchair so he can get Baskov to a more private place. You'd think Dexter would have learned his lesson and ditched the whole table setup, but he does off Baskov, unbeknownst at this point to his apparent boss, Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo from Rome).

While all this is going on, Deb keeps trying to unpack Dexter's lies, and even though he has a ready answer to everything, she's starting to see him for what he is, given his lack of affect and her willingness to do some actual investigation – and by the end, Dexter walks into his place to find that Deb has laid bare all his killing equipment, even his blood slides. She calmly asks him if he's a serial killer – and he admits it. I'm not going to get my hopes up, but this was undoubtedly the best episode they've done in a long time -- not only is Deb's moral dilemma actually shaping up to be interesting, it seems to have burned any creepy attraction she had to Dexter right out of her. Win-win!

Welcome back! So I’m not gonna lie, I really wondered whether this assignment would be worth it, but there was more good stuff in this episode than in like the last two seasons combined, so I’m feeling pretty happy to get back into it. So:

As you know, we left off with Dexter FINALLY sending Colin Hanks to The Great Tableau In The Sky and Deb witnessing it. That is not where we start back up, however. Instead, we get dramatic chase music as Dexter urgently drives on the highway. A quick look at a sign lets us know that his destination is the airport; unfortunately, he’s too low on gas to make it without filling up. He runs into another obstacle when his credit cards are declined and given what we learn later, it’s surprising that he doesn’t look surprised, but I suppose I could chalk it up to him being one hundred percent focused on the task at hand. (See, I’m giving the show the benefit of the doubt! It’s been a while!) Luckily, Dexter has another option in the form of a bag packed with all sorts of escape-the-country materials: A Canadian passport (h/t to my Canuck buddy “Pull Up A Chair >Daniel for pointing that out), some practical clothing for the serial killer on the go and plenty of cash (not all of it American, either). He yoinks out forty bucks, which certainly is not going to be enough to fill that behemoth up even at Florida prices, but given that time seems to be of the essence, it’s just as well. Soon, he’s pulling into MIA and I just realized part of what made that sequence effectively tense: No opening DVO. It’s coming right here, but I like the shake-up of the format. (There are no Imaginary Harry scenes either, another development of which I approve.) DVO tells us that it’s human nature to keep secrets; for example, he dyes his hair (!) and watches Internet porn (!!). “But what if your whole life is a secret? A lie?” After a quick look at the board, Dexter heads up to the ticket counter of Aero Fictionalsk and books a ticket to anywhere (it’s actually Budapest, but since his reaction shows that wasn’t the flight he intended, it seems like he’s not too particular about the destination). And with that rather taut, effective opening…

…we’re back in the church where we left off (minus the “Oh, God” reaction, for which I’m thankful). Deb immediately draws her gun, which good on her, and tells Dexter to get away from the body. He replies that it’s him and then admits that it’s Colin Hanks on the table; thinking fast, he then does the best he can at looking upset, which is not super-convincing, but at least at this moment Deb’s too freaked out to notice. He prevails on her to lower her gun, whereupon he spins this tale: He came to do the forensics sweep she requested from him and Colin Hanks was there and came at him with his sword; Dexter fought him off and knocked him out. The underlying cues here are effective; Dexter’s typically affectless tone (he manages to make a singsong rhythm sound flat, which is not easy) is obviously not putting Deb at ease and as he approaches her, she takes a few involuntary steps backward. She asks how Colin Hanks came to be wrapped in plastic, so Dexter tries to sell the idea that he snapped, since there’s been a lot of anger in him since Rita died and wherever she is, Rita has to be thinking that’s pretty effing rich. Anyway, Dexter half-truths that after everything Colin Hanks did, he wanted him dead, so he killed him. Deb, looking like she’s barely able to control her own body at this point — excellent work from Carpenter in this scene — points out that that still doesn’t explain how he got wrapped up in plastic. So Dexter, after a moment to consider, says he didn’t even think about it — he’s a forensics expert, so it was second nature for him not to leave a trace. It’s never explicitly verbalized, but even if you were to buy this cock-and-bull explanation, he’s admitting to the difference between premeditated and unpremeditated murder, which has to be an extra layer of unsettling for Deb.

She wonders why he didn’t call her, but he admits that he wasn’t exactly in a great state of mind. Casting about for a direction here, she asks if Dexter is hurt and he fakes a little emotion as he tells her that physically, he’s okay. Deb finally puts her gun away, to Dexter’s relief. What is decidedly not to his relief is the fact that she takes out her phone to call the scene in. He involuntarily lurches toward her and she recoils; he asks her how she thinks the situation looks, and her hands shake and her voice breaks as she admits that it’s “pretty fuckin’ weird!” He intones that an investigation could complicate their lives beyond acceptable levels and it’s nice of him to include her in that; if you look over his dialogue from the whole scene, it’s apparent he’ll invoke anyone to save his own ass, even Harrison (that’s coming). Deb notes that it was self-defense and she’s doing a good job here of showing us that there’s something deep inside her that no longer trusts her brother. They take a moment, and Deb reiterates her need to call it in, adding that Dexter had a moment of temporary insanity, but Dexter says the best-case scenario is that he’ll end up in a psych ward with no job and probably no — ding ding ding — Harrison. Deb, her voice starting to rasp, asks what, then, they do. Dexter points out they can’t bring Colin Hanks back, but maybe they could, say, dump his body? Deb is not having that and not just because she can’t stomach it, but also because if he gets caught with the body, things really are over. If only she knew what an old hand he is at this. The alligators start licking their chops when they see his car pull up. Not being able to tell her all this, though, Dexter considers for a moment and then comes up with the idea of making it look like a suicide — Colin Hanks set the church on fire and then offed himself after realizing that the world was not going to end as he predicted. “Fire. It’s Biblical.” Can’t argue with that. Deb realizes that this dog will hunt: “One last tableau.” Dexter says they’ll need gasoline for the fire to burn quickly enough to meet their needs, and Deb, after pausing to get her head on straight, says she’ll get it. Dexter tells her she should go home, adding that he knows what he’s doing and I think he was just trying to convey that he feels like he’s got the situation in hand, but that wording will come back to haunt him. For now, though, Deb merely stalks out…

…at which point Dexter has a flashback to his childhood. He looks about eight or nine and he and Harry return home to find Deb playing with a puppy. Harry concernedly asks his wife what’s up, so she tells him that a neighbor’s dog had a litter and she couldn’t resist. Harry becomes the “No! Dogs! Allowed!” sign in that Peanuts special, to his wife’s dismay and then heads over to Dexter and whispers, “Don’t even think about it.” Have to admire his approach, considering this situation probably isn’t in any parenting handbook.

She wonders why he didn't call her, but he admits that he wasn't exactly in a great state of mind. Casting about for a direction here, she asks if Dexter is hurt and he fakes a little emotion as he tells her that physically, he's okay. Deb finally puts her gun away, to Dexter's relief. What is decidedly not to his relief is the fact that she takes out her phone to call the scene in. He involuntarily lurches toward her and she recoils; he asks her how she thinks the situation looks, and her hands shake and her voice breaks as she admits that it's "pretty fuckin' weird!" He intones that an investigation could complicate their lives beyond acceptable levels and it's nice of him to include her in that; if you look over his dialogue from the whole scene, it's apparent he'll invoke anyone to save his own ass, even Harrison (that's coming). Deb notes that it was self-defense and she's doing a good job here of showing us that there's something deep inside her that no longer trusts her brother. They take a moment, and Deb reiterates her need to call it in, adding that Dexter had a moment of temporary insanity, but Dexter says the best-case scenario is that he'll end up in a psych ward with no job and probably no -- ding ding ding -- Harrison. Deb, her voice starting to rasp, asks what, then, they do. Dexter points out they can't bring Colin Hanks back, but maybe they could, say, dump his body? Deb is not having that and not just because she can't stomach it, but also because if he gets caught with the body, things really are over. If only she knew what an old hand he is at this. The alligators start licking their chops when they see his car pull up. Not being able to tell her all this, though, Dexter considers for a moment and then comes up with the idea of making it look like a suicide -- Colin Hanks set the church on fire and then offed himself after realizing that the world was not going to end as he predicted. "Fire. It's Biblical." Can't argue with that. Deb realizes that this dog will hunt: "One last tableau." Dexter says they'll need gasoline for the fire to burn quickly enough to meet their needs, and Deb, after pausing to get her head on straight, says she'll get it. Dexter tells her she should go home, adding that he knows what he's doing and I think he was just trying to convey that he feels like he's got the situation in hand, but that wording will come back to haunt him. For now, though, Deb merely stalks out...

...at which point Dexter has a flashback to his childhood. He looks about eight or nine and he and Harry return home to find Deb playing with a puppy. Harry concernedly asks his wife what's up, so she tells him that a neighbor's dog had a litter and she couldn't resist. Harry becomes the "No! Dogs! Allowed!" sign in that Peanuts special, to his wife's dismay and then heads over to Dexter and whispers, "Don't even think about it." Have to admire his approach, considering this situation probably isn't in any parenting handbook.

DVO tells us that he has to keep Deb from the full truth as Dexter bustles around breaking down the plastic and other Colin Hanks-killing accessories. Unfortunately, in his haste, he fails to notice the blood slide, which goes up into the air like a Junior Mint before settling in one of the church's floor grates. Dexter takes Colin Hanks' sword and plunges it into the, I'm assuming, same spot as he stuck his knife so very recently, not that such details are going to be particularly discernible once Deb gets back with the damn gasoline.

Oh look -- she's filling up now! She's looking pensive, which is probably good, since the show already put it in my head. I hope she didn't pay with a credit card. Can't be too careful.

But no time to worry about that now, as we cut to Dexter tossing the match onto a liberal stream of gasoline. You'll notice that they did not spend extra time on the two of them laying out the gas or going to the bathroom first or whatever else they might have done last season, because at least in this episode they actually have a sufficient amount of story required for the airtime. I certainly didn't shut up about this point last season, so it's only fair that I notice when they keep things tight. They don't even give lip service to the fact that they're destroying a house of worship, although that I admit I would have forgiven, if you'll pardon the expression. Deb's kind of hypnotized by the spreading fire, but Dexter says they need to go home before they get called back to the scene. Deb says she neither wants to be alone nor wants Dexter to be alone...

...so we cut to a riverbank, where they sit in silence facing away from each other while the sun comes up, which is another effective, subtle-enough choice. DVO laments the fact that he's not on currently on his boat dumping the pieces of Colin Hanks (that sounds like it could be a Hole song) into the ocean, but before he can dwell on that, their phones ring simultaneously, as they knew they would. Deb takes the call, while Dexter's notification looks like it's a text, which he regards with a furrowed brow...

...and then the team has assembled outside the church as fire-department personnel work in the background. Anderson tells everyone that they know their jobs, "so let's do this." I wonder if he would have said something more profound if he'd known what's coming in about ten minutes.

Inside, Masuka and Dexter alternate giving information that shows Dexter and Deb's plan is playing; Dexter even quotes Deb's "one final tableau" line, which I'm sure she's thrilled about. Deb also looks a bit sickened at Dexter's light tone, but that is how he normally is at crime scenes. Maybe that's her realization. Seeing the look on her face, Dexter drops the levity and says Colin Hanks died instantly, prompting Quinn to ask Dexter to tell him he at least felt a little pain. Sorry, Quinn, but I suspect the animal-level-tranqs didn't allow for much of that. Batista congratulates Deb on the win, but Deb double-meanings that it would have been better to catch Colin Hanks alive. By the way, they're not shying away from showing Colin Hanks' charred remains here, which is hardly the grossest thing I've seen on this show, but maybe don't need to be in the foreground of so many shots. Anyway, just then, Dexter notices a bit of plastic on Colin Hanks' toe (for some reason, the feet aren't as crispy as the rest of him). Thinking quickly, he gestures with his eyes to Deb, who distracts Masuka with a question about harakiri while Dexter sneaks over and removes the offending evidence and for someone who didn't want Deb involved, he certainly doesn't seem to mind putting her to work. Deb gets a fractional nod from Dexter once his errand is finished and then LaGuerta, wearing an outfit of which I cannot make sense -- yellow floral dress with a tight, short, cream-colored-with-tan-trim jacket over it -- appears and congratulates Deb, adding that there's quite the press corps gathering outside waiting for her to make a statement. Deb, obviously and understandably uncomfortable at the thought, points out that there's still a lot to be done inside and DVO points out that Deb isn't as comfortable lying to the world as he is. Like wow Dexter -- way to shove her in with 99.% of the population there. Masuka tells Deb that they're wrapping up anyway, so Deb can go talk to the world and they'll be right behind her. Everyone heads off, but LaGuerta lingers for a moment to take in the grisly scene -- and from her angle, she catches a glint from that telltale grate. She starts to call after Masuka, but he's already out of earshot, so she kneels down to open the grate and takes off her hair clip so she can pick the slide up without contaminating it. Of course, she might still get oil from her hair on it, but I'll give her props for the easy field innovation regardless. When she sees the slide (a small piece missing but otherwise intact), it looks like it stirs something in the back of her mind, but she pushes the thought aside and gives the thing to some forensics non-speaking background player with instructions to make sure it gets logged. I'm not wholly convinced that one of the other analysts wouldn't have opened up the grate as a matter of course, but this storyline has the potential to be far more interesting than anything LaGuerta's done in years, so no argument here.

By Couch Baron

At home, Deb pops open a beer, and if anyone's justified in two-fisting, it'd be her after the day she's had. She flips on the TV and catches her own statement, and she actually sells the idea that Colin Hanks felt the pressure of Tempe Metro zeroing in on him, which is why he decided to end his life. Deb looks a bit nauseated at how convincing she sounded and then the newsman asks if she's ruling out the possibility it was a murder, but we don't get to hear her answer, as her phone rings. It's Anderson, who just had a thought -- where was Colin Hanks' car? It wasn't at the scene, so how did he get to the church? Well, maybe on that stupid bicycle he used to ride around? Deb looks uncomfortable at this good question, but after coming up with an unconvincing theory, tells Anderson sure, he should check it out. Anderson says he will, but he sees a car pulled over in front of him, so he decides to check it out and see if he can help. And I have to say, they did a good job overall with this episode, but the idea that a cop, particularly one of Anderson's experience, would pull over in this scenario without being wary that all might not be as it seems is pretty bothersome. Regardless, Anderson pulls over to find Enver Gjokaj -- who was one of the best things about Dollhouse -- apparently in the middle of changing one of his front tires. Anderson asks if he wants help, and Gjokaj is like, nope, I'm great, absolutely nothing to see here! Anderson, however, tells him to relax, unnecessarily adding that he's a cop, which I wouldn't think really would make a difference to his tire-changing ability. He asks where Gjokaj's lug wrench is before opening the trunk, and is probably more surprised than the rest of us to find a woman's corpse therein. He doesn't have much time to contemplate this, though, before Gjokaj shoots him in the chest, following up with an execution-style shot for good measure once Anderson is laid out. And while I think that scene was ridiculous, I can't say much bad about the purging of Season 6 associations. Sorry, Billy Brown. Gjokaj curses in a foreign tongue, but after a moment of contemplation, removes a bracelet or something from the girl's wrist and puts it on his own. After a quick montage of him wiping the prints from the car, he gets into Anderson's ride and drives away. And if this road is deserted enough for him to do all this without another car coming by, it just makes Anderson's failure to take precautions look all the dumber.

In the morning, Dexter's just finishing getting dressed when Deb stops by and, without preamble, asks him how he was "so perfectly prepared" to kill Colin Hanks. Dexter tells her he found the plastic wrap in the storeroom (churches have lots of call for it, don't you know), and the knives belonged to Colin Hanks. Neither of those is particularly believable, but when Deb goes on that he wasn't in his work clothes (remember he said he came to do a forensics sweep) and had an apron and plastic sleeves, he at first doesn't even bother to try to explain, merely saying he's sorry he put her in this situation and somewhat condescendingly adding that she looks "stressed." She's like, duh, so then, having had time to invent another alibi, he says that his job can get messy, so he always keeps a change of clothes in the car, and everything else she saw was part of his kit. I have to say, though, as lame as his explanations may sound to us, the viewers, I think it's fair to conclude that if Deb one hundred percent wanted to believe him, she would. But something has changed within her and no matter what words are passing between them, it's clear her trust in him has been broken. I mean, better late than never. After bringing up the "I know what I'm doing" quote, she tells him this whole thing doesn't feel right and he replies with the first honest thing his said in this conversation: "I know it doesn't." They regard each other for a moment, the air thick with mistrust, until he gets up and then turns back to tell her he never meant for her to be involved. She points out that irrespective of his wishes, she is, and he regards her sadly for a moment before saying they need to go to work. He heads into his bedroom...

...whereupon he sits down a bit before entering another flashback in which he enters the house to find Young Deb inconsolable in the arms of their mother, who explains that they had to give the dog back. She apologizes for getting the dog without talking to Harry, saying it's all her fault, but Young Dexter looks a bit heartbroken himself...

...and in the present, DVO admits that everything is his fault. Looking purposeful, he heads back out to Deb and apologizes again, but Deb's phone rings and she gets the news of Anderson having been shot. With a "Jesus fuck," she tries to get Dexter to go with her immediately, but he lingers with a lame excuse about his keys. She clearly doesn't buy it, but neither does she have time to argue, so she bolts, whereupon Dexter heads back into his bedroom, kicks in a hollow section of the wall, and retrieves the bag we saw in the earlier scene. DVO says that he doesn't want to run, but if Deb doesn't let up, it may be his only option. I see now that he's got a couple extra cell phones in there as well, in case it becomes relevant. Dexter gives the photo on his desk of him and Harrison a meaningful look, probably thinking that if things go back to normal, he'll get Deb and Harrison a puppy.

By Couch Baron

Back at the station, Dexter catches Deb staring intently at him with a look that can't be good, and the thing you know, she's checking out the files on the Ice Truck Killer case. In the storage room, she finds the correct box and pauses for a moment, and then opens it up and starts looking as dissonant music plays. I think we have to assume that her memories of the incident have been hazy, probably due to both the drugs with which Brian dosed her and the attendant emotional trauma, but the pictures she sees seem to be unlocking those memories. At the very least, the photos of the plastic wrap Brian used are telling, as Deb's sharp intake of breath confirms. More creepy flashbacks, including one of a knife Brian had at the scene, threaten to overwhelm her, but she replaces the box, but not without taking the file with the photos with her.

Time for a little informational stripper meeting! She worked at some strip club owned by a concern that also operates five other similar venues in the city. Quinn offers that when he was with Narcotics, the department investigated the places under the suspicion of laundering money, but failed to turn up anything. Batista gives a bunch of non-speaking background players their marching orders and it's nice for him that they can't, you know, talk back.

In his office, Dexter has had no luck matching the turn-signal fingerprint to anything in any domestic database, so he turns his attention to Interpol. Deb enters without knocking and Dexter looks uncomfortably at his screen, but realizes that it's too late to cover what he's doing. Deb gets to the point: In her flashbacks, she was set up on Brian's table in exactly the same way Colin Hanks was set up on the altar, and how can Dexter account for that? Dexter shiftily says he was there too, so maybe he just copied the setup from memory, but Deb points out that she was the one that almost died on the table, so you'd think she'd remember every detail a little better than Dexter, yet Dexter replicated the scene down to every last detail. DVO lets the new viewers know that's because Brian was imitating Dexter's MO before Dexter says a bunch of words are intended to obfuscate, but since they're completely meaningless, they're not really so effective. He unwittingly has better luck when he asks what Deb was doing in the church anyway, as Deb stammers a bit, since the reason is that plotline that makes us all uncomfortable even to think of, and lies that she was just checking up on Dexter. Deb apologizes for all the questions and says she's just trying to make sense of it, but Dexter tells her it's not going to make sense. The way he says it almost seems like he's trying to suggest there's something deeper there, but whether or not that's true, they've reached an impasse in the conversation. So Deb asks if he found anything in the car, and Dexter, looking at his computer screen that still reads "Searching," half-truths that he hasn't yet. In frustration, Deb leaves, whereupon DVO, no less frustrated, begs her to give up and leave this alone. Just then, however, his computer beeps with a positive match -- Enver Gjokaj is a "Viktor Baskov" (I'll take his first name as a shout-out to Dollhouse), and DVO gloats that even though things are falling apart, now he can focus on what he's good at. Unfortunately, he is not good at leaving the station without being observed by his ever-more-vigilant and mistrustful sister, who, once he's gone, heads into his office, presumably to look for a clue to where he's going. However, when she sees his screensaver, which is a photo of him, Harrison and herself, she pauses, probably wondering how far she's ready to take this.

In his car, DVO does admit that he shouldn't be doing a kill now, as we get a shot of a building that looks like it's modeled on the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Maybe it's a metaphor for how askew Dexter's life has turned! Or maybe it's just the angle from which they shot it, but it sure looks weird. Inside, Dexter notes that someone packed in a hurry, and finds a shirt flecked with blood and gunshot residue. Dexter then wonders how careless Viktor might have been in his haste, and opens his laptop to see he booked a first-class ticket to Kiev on a flight leaving in two hours. Well, I hope Dexter kills him in time for someone else to get an upgrade.

So, now Dexter is speeding toward the airport, but we know it's not because he's fleeing the country one step ahead of the law. And although I didn't think he'd actually leave, the first scene did leave enough doubt that I thought he might at least be intending to leave, so I found this a pretty well-done fake-out, although if you were looking for something to label as lame, the part about stupid Greene canceling his credit cards would probably be at the top of the list. They don't show the race to the airport again (because as I said, the episode is pretty full), but we do see him buying the ticket once more under the name "Hartwell," and the woman does raise an eyebrow at him paying for the almost-two-grand fare in cash, but he explains, "Dog track." Heh. This is a fairly expensive kill, though. Couldn't you have bought a ticket to the Bahamas, Dexter? Dexter goes through security, getting the TSA agent to approve the needles in his bag by explaining they're for diabetes. It'd certainly be hilarious if the agent asked him to demonstrate one on himself, but given that he claims to have a prescription, I could buy Dexter being prepared enough actually to have one filled with insulin for just such an occasion. Inside, Dexter quickly catches sight of his prey and DVO intones "Hello, Viktor." Not quite as intimidating as when John Lithgow said it out loud.

Okay, with all the good stuff going on with Deb and Dexter, I'm not going to cheapen it by pretending to care about what the rest of the department is up to, so here's the bare-tits version: Batista, Quinn and some other officers enter the strip club and announce that they're investigating Soroka's murder and also that of one of their own. Quinn has the employees line up against one wall "and the rest of you perverts" against the other, like he doesn't have a platinum membership at his local gentleman's club. Batista then calls out the manager and it's Jason Gedrick, who is not looking as good as he did in the days of Backdraft and other '90s offerings, although the stupid animal-pelt hair he's sporting sure isn't helping. Jason Gedrick is appropriately oily in telling Batista he sure is sorry about Soroka and Anderson, but they had nothing to do with their deaths. Batista asks for a list of Jason Gedrick's employees...

By Couch Baron

As everyone's heading to leave, Deb gets in her car, and seeing Dexter nearby, she has creepy flashes, first of Dexter killing Colin Hanks, but then of her on Brian's table all the way back at the end of Season 1. She looks about to have a panic attack, until some dude tells her the road is clear. She laughs off her apparent distress in front of him, but she's falling apart and she knows it.

Dexter, in his element, is amusingly spinning around in the wheelchair when Viktor finally comes to. Dexter informs him that he's in a place "where things are forgotten, never to be used or seen or touched again." Viktor cautions Dexter that he has very dangerous friends, but Dexter gives his own version of Buffy Summers' line "That threat gets more frightening every time I hear it," so Viktor asks why he's doing this. Dexter asks if he'd like the long version, which could take a couple hours. Viktor: "Short version." Hee. I love Enver, even in a limited role. Dexter, his eyes hollow, says he needs control and is trying to make things go back to the way they were. Getting the point, Viktor asks if there's anything he can do to convince Dexter not to kill him, and when Dexter says no, snaps for him to get it over with. Dexter, picking up a fire extinguisher, says he doesn't take orders, but in this case (especially since he couldn't take a scalpel in, so no blood slide)... WHAM! I never thought about it before, but it must be fun to be a Foley guy on this show.

Back at the strip club, Jason Gedrick calls a stately apartment in Kiev and talks to his boss, a bespectacled, suit-sporting, rather cultured-looking Ray Stevenson -- about as far a cry from his Titus Pullo on Rome as you could get, except for the fact that I'm pretty sure when push comes to shove, this character also could and would kill a man with his bare hands. Ray Stevenson's name is "Isaak" and Jason Gedrick tells him that Viktor is in transit to Kiev. Isaak Pullo asks about the dead police officer and Jason Gedrick tells him that while it's currently still a problem, he'll make it go away. Isaak Pullo tells him "Good." I'm thinking that if Isaak Pullo ever tells him "Bad," even the distance from Kiev to Miami won't keep Jason Gedrick safe.

Dexter wheels Viktor's corpse, hilariously encased in what looks like an unclaimed ski bag, out to his car as DVO says that ridding the world of people like Viktor centers him, and maybe nothing has to change with Deb...

...but Deb, running on her treadmill, does not look like she shares that sentiment, as the discordant music and camera push-in make it look like she's suddenly running for her life. She shuts down the treadmill and makes a call, and Jamie answers -- and tells her that Dexter's at work, and might be there all night. Deb doesn't give anything away, but wonders if that happens a lot? Into the ensuing pause, she explains that obviously she should know Dexter's hours, but she's always juggling stuff at work, and an unsuspecting Jamie tells her definitely -- he works crazy hours, lots of times until the wee hours of the morning. Deb, horrified at the picture that's forming in her mind, gets off the phone...

...while Dexter, finally back on his boat, busies himself with getting rid of Viktor's body...

...but then is thrown into another flashback in which Young Deb wonders what she did wrong that their dad would take the dog away from her. Young Dexter, however, claims responsibility, and when Deb asks what he did, he takes a long pause like he's considering coming clean. However, Harry's voice cuts in that Dexter is allergic to dogs...

...and then, having led Dexter out of earshot, Harry asks Dexter what he was going to tell Deb. Dexter confesses he was going to tell the truth -- that Harry thought Dexter would have killed the dog. "But I wouldn't." Harry says he couldn't take that chance, but more importantly, he must never tell Deb the truth about himself, as she'd abandon him. "If she ever saw the real you, she'd never get over it." And maybe the flashbacks seem a little convenient, but now's the time to lay out seasonal themes and this is the strongest one in a long time, rooted as it is in character rather than plot twists that everyone figures out eight episodes too early.

Back on the boat, DVO mourns his decision to try to save Colin Hanks rather than kill him, AS DO WE ALL. "Compassion does not fit me." Maybe Harry had a point about the dog after all.

Deb looks through the photos in the file again and flashes back to being on the table -- only this time, she remembers Brian and Dexter talking. She sees Dexter save her life; unfortunately, she also recalls Brian intoning, "You can't be a killer and a hero." Her eyes widen...

...while in other revelatory news, LaGuerta, catching sight of the evidentiary blood slide as she goes, finds Masuka and asks if anyone had a chance to go through the stuff from the church. Masuka, rather busy, tells her no -- he's been swamped with Anderson's case, although I'm not sure how that could be given that he himself admitted they didn't find anything on the car. Regardless, LaGuerta asks if the forensics team ever uses blood slides, but Masuka tells her that's a negative -- any transportable evidence is bagged, while blood is absorbed onto cotton squares and then given the same treatment. "Only one person who ever worked at Miami Metro took blood slides -- Sergeant Doakes, and that was only because of his side gig as the Bay Harbor Butcher." LaGuerta looks stunned at the implications, but covers in front of the unsuspecting Masuka; she does, however, sneak the blood slide out with her. So, it looks like Dexter's life has gotten sufficiently complicated, right?

By Couch Baron

At the airport, Viktor goes to the bathroom, so I guess he's paying a pretty heavy price for that second iced coffee. Dexter follows him, but not before grabbing a nearby wheelchair and sticking a "Closed for Cleaning" sign in the door that he grabs from a conveniently unattended cart. Inside, Dexter politely tells Viktor he has his wheelchair, and Viktor can't even finish telling Dexter that he doesn't need one before Dexter injects him with the tranq, although by my way of thinking he does pass up an opportunity by failing to tell Viktor's unconscious form "Now you do." He dumps Viktor's bag in the trashcan and wheels him out...

...and soon he's found a door for "unclaimed baggage," a section that's just closing for the day. Dexter wastes no time in opening it up with a skeleton key and bustling Viktor inside.

Establishing shot of Miami Metro (I will give them one of those, both because it's the season premiere and because I appreciate them cutting down from last season's average of twenty-three). Batista and Quinn report to Deb that they didn't get anything out of the employees, but Soroka signed in at 10 PM and never signed out, and they also found blood in the parking lot. Deb thinks it's obvious that someone saw something, what with her leaving a packed club in the middle of her shift, but Quinn points out that these places are "all mobbed up," so Deb instructs them to shut down all the owner's clubs until somebody talks, but tomorrow -- for now, they can go home. However, Batista says he's too worked up to sleep, but suggests they go for a drink in Anderson's honor; Quinn's down, but Deb begs off in favor of talking to Masuka, who tells her that the shooter was wearing size 10 Prada shoes, was right-handed... and that's it. Deb asks if Dexter's around, but Masuka says no -- Dexter is going to work early in exchange for Masuka working late. Deb gives that news the side-eye it deserves, and walks off...

...while Quinn and Batista have the promised drink to Anderson's memory, and then get in a typical stupid married-couple fight that boils down to this: Batista never actually put the paperwork through to get Quinn transferred and Quinn never actually approached his union rep and isn't in alcohol counseling, so it looks like there's nothing to stop these two from splitting a bottle of tequila and fucking. !

By Couch Baron

...while Dexter, finally back on his boat, busies himself with getting rid of Viktor's body...

Back on the boat, DVO mourns his decision to try to save Colin Hanks rather than kill him, AS DO WE ALL. "Compassion does not fit me." Maybe Harry had a point about the dog after all.

By Couch Baron

Dexter arrives home as DVO says that no one wants to be fully revealed. "All the more reason to make sure I never again stray from what Harry taught me." He opens the door -- to find his apartment in shambles and Deb having LAID OUT EVERY SINGLE SERIAL-KILLING ACCESSORY HE OWNS. As uneven as it's been, this show has always done visual reveals well, and I have to admit this gave me chills on first viewing, not least because I wasn't expecting it anytime soon -- they advanced the plot more in this episode than in the entirety of certain past seasons. A close-up reveals it's all there -- the knives, the blood slides, even the Ice Truck Killer hand. There's a gun on the table, too, although that may be Deb's. Finally as stunned as Deb has been all episode, a wide-eyed Dexter drops his bag and Deb, in a calmer voice than I would have expected, asks Dexter if he killed all the people represented by the slides. Dexter, after a long couple of moments: "I did." Deb: "Are you... are you a serial killer?" Dexter: "Yes." Another long moment, and Dexter closes his eyes as the realization of what he's done sinks in... and that's it. I wouldn't call it perfect, but it's the first episode in ages I would have watched without being paid for it, so I'm hoping this signals a real rejuvenation for the show. See you week!

John Ramos is a writer and film producer living in Los Angeles. His current film, "The Trouble With Bliss," starring Michael C. Hall, Lucy Liu, Brie Larson, and Peter Fonda, can currently be seen on iTunes and other digital platforms, cable VOD everywhere, and Showtime. (Facebook and Twitter here.) You can email him at couchbaron@gmail.com, follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/couchbaron, or check out his blog, "Pull Up A Chair," which he'd just love for you to stop by.

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