LaGuerta's sights are closing on Dexter, but Captain Jack isn't so sure; regardless, they agree that if the real BHB is out there, he probably framed and killed Doakes, so they decide to look into Doakes' final days -- starting with the cabin in the Everglades where he was found. When they do, the owner tells them who he rented the cabin to -- and Captain Jack recognizes the name as one of the three drug lords that were responsible for killing Dexter's mother. When LaGuerta hears that Dexter watched his mother get chopped up like the BHB did to his victims, and that the Ice Truck Killer was Dexter's brother, she wants to question him immediately, but Captain Jack convinces her to let him do it instead, as he's known Dexter since he was a kid. That doesn't happen this week, but we'll see where Captain Jack's loyalties really lie week.
Quinn hears that Nadia is being shipped out to Dubai, so he and Batista hit the strip club, inside which Jason Gedrick essentially dares Quinn to shoot him -- and he does, dead (I think). To get himself out of potential trouble, he has Nadia shoot him in the shoulder with Jason Gedrick's gun to make it look like Quinn was defending himself. Despite Batista being 99 percent sure the story is bullshit, Quinn prevails on Batista to let Nadia take her passport and some money and get out of there, as otherwise the Koshkas will kill her. This storyline seems to have lost its relevance, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment.
The Phantom Arsonist has struck again, five times in total now, and this time there were witnesses to him emerging from the flames wearing his protective silver suit. Also, one of the victims this time around was a six-year-old child, and Dexter has it in his head that Whack-A-Phil might be responsible. But when Dexter discovers that Whack-A-Phil has an alibi for one of the fires -- he was at a Civil War reenactment, and I'll just save the jokes for the recap so we're not here all day -- he's back at square one. But we, as it turns out, are not, as we see a young man board a bus, don the suit, spray everyone in it and light it on fire. Everyone but one person escapes, but seeing the bus's security footage of the incident makes Dexter really, really want to kill the PA. They get a print off the bus, and while it doesn't match any adults in the database, Dexter takes it upon himself to break into the juvenile records hall, and discovers the Phantom, who's been an arsonist since he was a kid. He captures him, sets up the kill room and tells him it's time to take responsibility for his actions -- and then, thanks to the discussion with Hannah below, he can't go through with it, instead leaving the guy (who didn't see his face) unconscious for MM to find.
Dexter brings up his Dark Passenger to Hannah, and even though she's a killer too, she's a bit flummoxed despite his attempts to explain the concept. Then her father (played by Jim Beaver, another great character actor), whom Hannah hadn't seen since he went to prison, shows up looking to apologize for being such a terrible father; this understandably brings up conflicting emotions for her, but she does agree to see him again, and soon, Dexter's at dinner with the two of them.
All seems to be going well until he hits her up for money for a new business he supposedly wants to start; when she turns him down, he drunkenly but deliberately drives a truck into her greenhouse and tells his devastated daughter that her criminal notoriety caused her mother to die of a broken heart, and the only thing that stops his tirade is Dexter's livid intervention. Once she's back to herself, Hannah tells Dexter that she saw the look on his face and is maybe starting to understand his Dark Passenger construct, but conversely, Dexter starts to question it himself, wondering if he just made it up to avoid responsibility for everything he's done. However, when Hannah's dad shows up to try to blackmail Dexter, saying he's got information that could lead to a murder conviction for Hannah -- namely a witness, "Arlene Schram," who saw Hannah put the rat poison in that sex-abuser counselor's food -- and that he's the one who sold Price a lot of his information, Dexter goes to Hannah and asks if she might want to solve her problem her special way -- but she can't. But one effect of Dexter ditching the Dark Passenger idea is that he feels free to go off code -- so he kills Hannah's dad and tells her he won't be bothering her anymore.
Whether she grasps what he did or not is unclear, but they say they love each other -- just as Deb, acting on a message Hannah's dad left before he died, resolves to track down Arlene Schram. Like I said, the walls are closing in on Dexter and Hannah, and neither of them knows it.
So the Phantom Arsonist hasn't stopped, as we begin with Dexter arriving at a crime scene at which Batista is already questioning some people. This time, there were witnesses to the PA walking out of the fire in a silver suit, although one woman's claim that he looked about seven feet tall doesn't seem particularly credible. The city does have a pro basketball team, though. This is all so DVO can tell us -- as we see Whack-A-Phil milling about and a covered corpse being wheeled out -- how the idea that an actual person could do this is too awful, so we invent phantoms and other fanciful bullshit to make it easier to take. "But even the strongest of imaginations can't protect us once we know the truth." Deb accosts Dexter to ask where he was the night before, as she wanted to go over some case, but from his silence, she realizes he was with Hannah. Funny that she goes there first instead of guessing that he killed someone, but now we know which she thinks is worse. Quinn and Whack-A-Phil appear to report that they found no DNA or prints, but that it was the same accelerant used and there was another "Bobby" written at the scene. Deb says that's five of them in two weeks and she and Quinn agree that he must be signing his name. Like, that seems dubious, but it's not like they're going to spend any time trying to follow that up. We also learn that there were two victims this time -- a mother and her six-year-old daughter -- and Deb wonders what kind of person could do that. From across the room, Dexter's gaze focuses on Whack-A-Phil examining the corpses, as DVO intones, "Maybe the kind who isn't bothered by the sight of a dead child."
Dexter turns up at Hannah's (he has a key now, it seems) with food and confirms that she just got her stitches out. Her inquiry about his mood leads him to tell her about the PA killing and she tells him she's getting the feeling he'd like to put the PA on his table. Dexter grimaces and says he promised Deb he wouldn't take any cases from the PD and I never thought he was sincere about that, especially given his casually gleeful explanation of the technicality by which he went after Hannah. But okay, let's take him at his word. Hannah points out that their relationship is proof that he doesn't always listen to Deb, but Dexter sharply repeats that he can't kill the PA. He then apologizes, saying that he's frustrated -- while he wants to be there with her, his Dark Passenger would like to be elsewhere. Hannah's like, who in the what now?, so he tries to explain about how it feels like this thing living inside him that's telling him what to do and leaving him no alternative. Hannah's a bit put off by the idea that he thinks he doesn't have a choice and tries to tell him that it's just him -- he wants the PA dead, which is perfectly understandable. Dexter tells her she just doesn't get it, so she asks him to explain further and to ignore the knock on the door they just heard; Dexter replies that a lot of people feel like they want to kill someone, but for Dexter, he has to follow through. Hannah still isn't understanding him, as she follows through on killing all the time (love how conversational she is about it), but she doesn't have a "Dark Passenger" and speaking of things I love, it's great how two people now this season have heard about the Dark Passenger thing and been like, "That's Smurfy, dude." Any further discussion is curtailed by Dexter seeing a man, presumably the one who just knocked at the window; when Hannah turns to look, the guy is like, "Hi, Banana!" Hannah doesn't sound super-psyched about that nickname and I can't say I blame her, but at least her father (that's who it is, don't you know) is being played by Jim Beaver, who's got film credits going all the way back to Silkwood. But you'd know best for series-regular runs as Whitney Ellsworth on Deadwood and Bobby Singer on Supernatural. Perfect gruff, fatherly type who can slip into evil at a moment's notice...
...but for now, he's being friendly and conciliatory and while it's not having much effect on Hannah, his presence generally is definitely pushing her buttons. Dexter plays the audience surrogate as "Clint" explains that he just got out of prison (he says it's for some check scam) and wants to atone for being such a horrible father. Hannah asks if they could possibly not involve Dexter in this conversation, but Clint tells her that if they're together, he'd like him to hear it and goes on that he worked a lot with the prison counselor and learned he needs to take responsibility for his past actions. He goes on that he doesn't expect her forgiveness, but it's important to him that she know he always loved her and always will. Dexter, long practiced at the art of smelling people's bullshit, appears vaguely disapproving (but not necessarily disbelieving), while Hannah just kind of looks like she wishes this weren't happening. Neither of them speaks, so eventually Clint continues that he's got something in his truck for her and if he can just give it to her, he'll be on his way...
...and we cut to him pulling a cloth off a well-appointed dollhouse. He explains that he found it in her aunt's garage and since she loved it so much as a kid, he had it repainted and restored. Hannah looks like she's seeing a ghost and since she continues not to speak, Clint tells her that he'll be on his way. He does tell her where he'll be staying, and after she acknowledges that, he shakes Dexter's hand, tells Hannah she looks good and happy (yeah, she just looks effing THRILLED) and takes off. When he's gone, Hannah finds her voice and tells Dexter that while Clint might have meant well, he couldn't have given her a worse gift, as when she was eight, he took her to a poker tournament (lying to her mother that they were going to a county fair) and left her in a motel by herself for three whole days; when he returned, he brought the dollhouse and a bunch of empty promises about how he was going to change his ways. Okay, that's not great, but I still think a worse present would have been the clothes in which you almost drowned. She wonders if maybe her father is trying and she should give him a chance, and Dexter noncommittally replies, "Maybe," and while it's generally a frustrating character trait, you can hardly blame him for not taking a stand in this case.
Whack-A-Phil is leading a briefing on the probable character traits of the PA; it's not going to lead anywhere so I'm going to skip the specifics, but Dexter of course uses it to convince himself further that Whack-A-Phil might be the PA, not exactly acknowledging that the qualities Whack-A-Phil lists fit Dexter like a glove, which is (probably unintentionally) hilarious. No one else has any good news to report, so Deb calls the meeting to an end, but Dexter sits in order to brood about how of course he has a Dark Passenger -- there's no other way to explain the compulsion he feels. I think I've expressed myself adequately on that point and I have Deb and now Hannah on my side, so let's move on. Speaking of Hannah, she sends Dexter a message that she's going to meet her father for coffee and then Masuka gets all nosy about who's sending Dexter mash texts...
...and even though Dexter hightails it away from him, as you might expect, Masuka chases him and keeps at him about the girl, and then Batista pipes up that it's Hannah. Dexter catches flies, but Batista is like, "Um, my sister still works for you. Of course I know that," and, awesomely for Dexter, Deb is witness to this whole exchange and asks Masuka and Batista what's so great about Dexter dating Hannah and they don't actually say out loud that they'd each give a testicle to hit that, but it's pretty clear. So Deb, infuriated, drags Dexter into her office...
...wherein she asks Dexter, reasonably enough, if dating a notorious murderer is the kind of attention he really needs, given his own extracurricular activities. Dexter, politely enough, requests that she butt out. While Deb agrees as far as Hannah's relationship with Dexter goes, she's not going to let Hannah get away with murder again and she's not playing: "I have compromised the shit out of myself for you; I am sure as fuck not gonna do it for Hannah McKay." Dexter, wanting to be anywhere but there, says he gets it and then Deb grants him his wish by reminding him they have the PA to catch. When he's gone, she heads straight into her bottle of Xanax and I don't think those come with an "as needed" refill contingency, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Dexter checks up on Whack-A-Phil and sees that he has a fantastic record of success at his job, which makes him wonder if Whack-A-Phil had an inside track on figuring out the fires' points of origin. He seems to wrestle with his promise to Deb for a moment, but makes up his mind and resolutely marches out, heading past Batista and Quinn who are fruitlessly interviewing a couple randos about one particular fire; the guy Batista's talking to is a janitor at a Y, and the woman Quinn's got is super-unimpressed with his questioning, for which I can hardly blame her.
In a parking lot for what looks like a public park, Dexter locates Whack-A-Phil's SUV and when he peers in, sees a bunch of electric fuses and camping fuel -- and then Whack-A-Phil appears, dressed in a Civil War uniform. A cheap but classic laugh and DVO's bone-dry observation that "that's not a fireproof suit" is enough to put it over. Whack-A-Phil is jazzed when he assumes (and Dexter lies) that he's a Civil War enthusiast as well, and in the course of fake-laughing about how awesome this all is, Dexter learns that Whack-A-Phil has a solid alibi for at least one of the fires and a good reason for the stuff in the car. Before Dexter has to look at too many of the cluelessly enthusiastic Whack-A-Phil's photos from the last outing though, he gets a text from Hannah saying that coffee has moved on to dinner and inviting Dexter to join them. My guess is that Dexter's only slightly happier about this prospect than that of having to join Whack-A-Phil in uniform...
...an assessment that's borne out by Dexter's fake laugh when Clint tells a little anecdote from the afternoon involving a pronunciation mishap with the words "anise" and "anus." For her part, Hannah seems thrilled with how things are going with Clint, but Dexter -- presumably attempting to keep things grounded -- asks Clint how long he's going to be in town. Clint gives some cock-and-bull story about buying a crawfish farm in Louisiana (sorry, but if Clint is going to drop the charade at a moment's notice, I don't know why I need to bother keeping it up, and also, it sounds like an AMAZING business idea for a small-business owner to ship fresh crawfish "anywhere in the country"), but while Dexter looks so skeptical you'd think Clint's been talking to him about deeply discounted bridges, Hannah sincerely says she's excited and proud. She offers to have Clint come stay with her before he leaves the day and while Clint initially begs off, Dexter pipes up that he was going home for the night anyway, so why doesn't he bring them breakfast in the morning? Father and daughter agree...
...and then it's the day, but instead of doughnuts, we've got a guy getting on a city bus wearing a cap, a large backpack and... silver pants. Uh oh. It also just so happens to be the janitor that Batista was questioning and I'm sure we're all so surprised that Batista didn't get anywhere with him. Without delay, the guy puts on the rest of the suit (the passengers, hilariously and realistically, pay him no mind) and then, when the bus makes a stop, starts spraying everyone with whatever flammable liquid he favors. Interestingly, despite spraying everyone within reach, the PA yells at a bunch of people to get out of there, so either he's targeting one person specifically or he only claims one victim at a time as a general rule (the mother/daughter combo probably an exception for any number of reasons). Unfortunately, this is never followed up on or, apparently, even noticed by MM (you'd think it would be relevant information for constructing the killer's profile), so this is an example of how half-assed this PA storyline is turning out to be. As soon as everyone who's getting off the bus does, an outside shot shows the back of it going up in flames and we hear an agonized cry.
Meanwhile, Dexter has delivered on his promise of doughnuts and everything is all super-Brady until Clint brings up his crawfish thing and asks Hannah for a $20,000 "investment." And when Hannah turns him down, he becomes the most cartoonish villain possible in three seconds flat, so that'll be all for anything more than bare-bones description of this subplot, thanks. After he's stomped out of the house like a child, Hannah whines that maybe she should have helped him -- there's good in him! Just like Darth Vader! Her bleating understandably bores Dexter and me too, not to mention my disappointment how uncharacteristic it is. I mean, girls and their dads, I get it? But not really, not in this case. This devolves into them bickering about "the dark... whatever" until Dexter gets a text about the PA's latest. Before he goes though, he tells Hannah he's just trying to help and her anger drains as she tells him she knows. She sends him on his way...
...and then he's turning up to the bus, which has an "It's" in front of "Bobby" written on the wall. While I'm gratified by the correct apostrophe use, I nevertheless would have enjoyed "Just Bobby" more, especially if accompanied by a drawing of jazz hands. Outside, Deb whispers conspiratorially to Dexter that Whack-A-Phil was sniffing the body and even though Dexter explains that he was probably checking for accelerant, Deb thinks it's weird enough behavior that he might be the PA, clichéd as she realizes that would be. Dexter, however, tells her that he's already eliminated Whack-A-Phil as a suspect, prompting Deb to get all het up about how he promised no police cases and why would he put himself in that situation, which would sound better if she hadn't JUST ASKED HIM if Whack-A-Phil set anything off in his "lizard brain." Masuka then calls to Deb that he's going to take the security footage down to the station and see if they can get eyes on the PA, and then Dexter gets a call from Hannah and does that one-sided TV shorthand, all, "Wait, slow down, what happened." Like, why do TV writers make it seem that everyone on the other side of any urgent phone call is SO HYSTERICAL that suddenly no one talking to them can understand their English? Hannah's a cold-hearted murderer; a little property damage turned her into a Southern belle with the vapors?
So apparently, Clint drove his truck into the greenhouse, as Dexter finds Hannah standing helplessly in front of it. Then Clint only shows his face AFTER Dexter arrives, which makes a lot of sense, I'm sure, and he's either drunk or fake-drunk; he tells Hannah tons of people must hate her and adds that she killed her mother, just done broke her heart with her evil murderin' ways and whatever. As I told you, I love Jim Beaver but this is just not working. Hannah cries and Dexter grabs Clint by the throat, shoving him against the truck and tells him to go, and Clint complies, but not before yelling that Hannah found herself "another winner." Seems unfair to compare that little display from Dexter to Randall's serial killing, but he'll have time to realize just how right he was.
LaGuerta and Captain Jack are meeting up at some dive and LaGuerta tells him that the only non-dead-end on the list is Dexter, "who conveniently moved his boat right when we were closing in on his marina during the official Bay Harbor Butcher investigation." Captain Jack thinks there's no way Dexter could be the killer and speculates that if Doakes wasn't the BHB, someone probably framed him and killed him -- most likely the real BHB -- so why not look into Doakes' final days? LaGuerta suggests they check out the cabin in the Everglades and apparently this subplot would have moved along a lot more quickly if LaGuerta could have hooked up with even one person in the Department who's neither an idiot nor actively obstructing her investigation.
The morning, apparently, Hannah has recovered from her dad's cartoonish abuse, and finds that Dexter has made breakfast for her. She admits Dexter was right about Clint (O RLY) and says she doesn't fall for people's bullshit (I'm saying), but with him, it's hard. Dexter sympathizes that fathers can be complicated and Hannah hopes he's gone for good before managing to laugh that Dexter scared the shit out of him. "I hadn't seen that look on your face since you took me to see the snow." I'm surprised she'd draw that comparison, given where that evening led, but she moves on to ask if the look was indicative of his Dark "Rider," adding that maybe she's starting to see why he'd give it that name. She asks if it just takes over and Dexter nods his assent. Hannah: "Where do you go? Does Dexter Morgan just disappear?" Dexter says he's still there, but possessed by a feeling and then says he should get to work, unless she needs him to stay? Hannah: "I'm good. I got pancakes." Which you are NOT EATING. HELLO!
Moose Jaw Metro (h/t Daniel). Masuka has assembled everyone to let them know that they have footage of the PA getting on the bus, but his face is indistinguishable. However, Masuka identifies a moment wherein the PA grabs a support rail -- bare-handed. Deb dispatches everyone to try to get a print; like, maybe they thought it would be an exercise in futility, but wouldn't it have been standard procedure for this to have happened already? Of course, I'm pretty sure the flames would have dissipated the oil and made the fingerprint unreadable and look here, I don't know which complaint to even focus on. It's just like last season!
Quinn gets a two-second phone call from Nadia, after which he tells Batista that Jason Gedrick is going to send her to a sex club in Dubai and he's holding her at the strip club. If she got all that out in two seconds, I'm surprised Quinn didn't tell her to slow down. Batista tells Quinn he'll come with him...
...and then the two of them are busting in. Batista hangs back to keep the bouncer tangled up while Quinn heads into the office, whereupon Jason Gedrick points a gun at him. After calling Quinn "Sir Lancelot" (hee), Jason Gedrick grabs Nadia out from the other room and holds her with her arm twisted back behind her neck, telling her to inform Quinn to whom she belongs. She backhands him in the face with her free hand, which doesn't result in a broken arm, but does get her the same as she gave. Quinn draws his gun and tells Jason Gedrick that if he touches her again, he's dead. And guess what? He touches her again and he's dead. I mean, as I said in the recaplet, obviously this storyline seems to have overstayed its welcome, so let's hustle through it: As Batista tries to muddle through the suddenly-hysterical crowd, Quinn tells Nadia to get behind Jason Gedrick's body, pick up his gun and shoot him in the shoulder. She's obviously not super-jazzed about that idea, but you know she'll get the job done; after we cut to Batista, we hear the gunshot, then he comes busting in to find Quinn bleeding, but it is just a flesh wound so good job, Nadia. Quinn tells Nadia to go to the safe, take her passport and the money therein and vanish; Batista points out that she's a witness, but when Quinn counters that the Koshkas will surely try to kill her now, Batista reluctantly gives in and lets her escape. Good thing about the money, because girl could REALLY use a weekend at a spa.
Deb comes into Dexter's office, whereupon he reports that the print unfortunately didn't yield a database match. DVO wonders if this means Deb will let him do things his way, but she's got this Bobby on her mind. Dexter thinks no one calls an adult "Bobby," and I can't think of any way to disagree without offending someone, so I'm just going to let it go. Dexter speculates that the "it's" suggests childlike blame, like he's saying it's Bobby's fault and just because he's going to prove to be right doesn't mean I don't think it's bullshit for him to jump to that conclusion. Deb sighs that she wishes they could run the print against juvie records, but those are sealed and she manages not to bring up Hannah, instead moaning that they're back to Square One before leaving. Dexter, however, is like, "For you, maybe," and what a mess this is. First off, if Deb were ever going to sanction Dexter to do things his way, it would be now; she's run up against a legal roadblock and it's obvious the PA -- who doesn't mind killing kids -- will strike again. And as for Dexter, if he's going to break the promise to Deb, you'd at least think he'd point out that reasoning; it seems as callous and cavalier as... well, most things he does.
Anyway, irrespective of my numerous complaints, Dexter's breaking into the records hall and running the print; like, wouldn't it be more realistic for him to be thwarted by a simple password every now and then? Anyway, obviously he finds a match -- a floppy-haired younger version of the PA -- whose history of arson goes back to when he was twelve and only got out of a psych ward a month earlier. I mean, I know the juvie records are sealed, but shouldn't someone from said psych ward be putting two and two together right about now?
In the hallway, Dexter says to no one in particular that now that he has proof, his urge to kill the PA is beyond his control. No one in particular asks Dexter how he came up with the Dark Passenger construct anyway and Dexter always assumed he got it from no one in particular, but no one in particular tells him that that's not the case -- maybe Hannah is right and the Dark Passenger is just a feeling. Dexter realizes that if that's the case, he's responsible for everything he's done and it's nice that he's stopping to have this little epiphany while hanging out RIGHT BY THE OFFICE HE JUST BROKE INTO.
LaGuerta and Captain Jack arrive at the land on which the cabin once stood, now occupied by a trailer. LaGuerta knocks and when the owner appears, LaGuerta introduces herself and asks if he owned the property back in spring 2007. When he affirms that he did, she asks if he rented it to Doakes, but after he recalls Doakes was the BHB, he says that he told police at the time no -- he rented it to "Santos Jimenez, some kind of Colombian drug guy, not that I knew at the time." Hmm. Are the Colombians circling back into the picture? LaGuerta looks deflated at the apparent dead end, but Captain Jack offers that the name sounds awfully familiar...
...and then, back at the Chinese restaurant at which they appear consistently to be the only two customers, Captain Jack informs LaGuerta that Jimenez was one of the three men responsible for killing Dexter's mother, Laura Moser. "Some drug lord put a hit out on her because he found out that she was Harry Morgan's CI." As LaGuerta reels from this new information, Captain Jack (who's drinking like three fingers from a Scotch glass --- with a bar this well-stocked, how is this place not packed?) casually goes on that Dexter and his brother witnessed the whole thing, and by the way, the Ice Truck Killer was Dexter's brother. LaGuerta's like, so Dexter watched his mother get chopped up just like the BHB chopped up his victims and Captain Jack is like, what are you saying, and if he can't follow where she's going with this I can't believe he's not slurring at this point. Oh, and Captain Jack admits that Jimenez went missing at some point, so LaGuerta -- her voice getting some emotion up in there -- asks who would have been more likely to want Jimenez dead: Doakes or Dexter? Captain Jack, still obviously biased by his perception of Dexter as a mild-mannered nerd, thinks she's talking crazy, but LaGuerta lays out more arguments: The BHB took blood slides from his victims and Dexter is a blood analyst; Doakes always thought there was something off about Dexter. "What if Doakes was on to him? What if Dexter is the real Bay Harbor Butcher?" The rest of this episode's bullshit, but LaGuerta getting this close is giving me chills. Barely able to think straight, she says she's going to talk to Dexter, but Captain Jack tells her that he should be the one to do it, since he's known Dexter since he was a kid and he trusts him. "What's more, I'm a lot less likely to fuck it up." I didn't realize it until now, but I've missed Captain Jack and his salty ways!
Jamie is just getting ready to take Harrison swimming when there's a knock on the door -- it's Clint, who looks at Jamie all va-va-va-voom; one hasty nanny exit and a few choice words about "sink or swim" later, Dexter's like, out with it. So Clint tells him that he's got some information and he would like some cash to sit on it -- namely, that Hannah's roommate at the halfway house, "Arlene Schram," saw her do it. Dexter thinks he's lying, citing Price's book as a reference, but Clint is like, who do you think sold Price a bunch of his information and now I owe tons of gambling money, so can we get back to the part where you pay me? I'm not sure why Hannah would have confided this information to her father, but I suppose if he were motivated (and cold-hearted) enough, he could have interviewed Schram at the time. If that's the case, it doesn't explain why she didn't tell the police the same story. I'll withhold judgment until they actually introduce the character, but I'm not holding my breath for the logic to be sound. And before I move on, if it's true that Clint sold Price a lot of information that wasn't publicly known, wouldn't Hannah have wondered at some point who his source was? Dexter steps forward and breathes for Clint to get out of there before his bad side is exposed and Clint heads for the door, but suggests Dexter talk to Hannah about Arlene before making up his mind. "Then we'll talk numbers." They're not going to be very good, if we're talking rating this subplot.
As Quinn gets his arm wrapped up, Deb's like, soooooo, how did you happen to be here, and it's not like she can even manage an ounce of surprise when he confesses that his girlfriend works there. He gives her the fictional version of what happened, with which she's satisfied pending a report. But when she's gone, Batista's like, there is the small matter of the interminable pause between gunshots -- I remember because I racked myself trying to run to your side? Quinn gives Batista a different fictional version, one that accounts for the missing time and Batista chooses to accept it. I guess all this shitty police work explains why no one -- such as Deb -- is going to make the connection between Quinn working at the club and Isaak Pullo's blood going missing from the station, but I can't say I'm not fine with wrapping this bit up ASAP, and besides, Quinn's now guilty of what could be construed as murder -- what's a little evidence tampering in light of that? Across the room, Deb wonders where Dexter is...
...so why don't we cut to him, in Hannah's kitchen, apparently having just told her about her father's demands. She is grossed out and after Dexter declines Deb's call, he tells Hannah he's sorry to lay this on her, but he needed confirmation that Clint was telling the truth. Hannah's like, yep, Arlene and no one else can put me in jail, so we're going to have to pay up, instead of killing her as I normally would in this situation, she does not add. Dexter thinks that's a temporary fix, the obvious implication being that Clint is untrustworthy enough to come back with his hand out again once the money's gone, but Hannah doesn't see any other choice. Dexter points out that when other people have threatened her, she's found "other options." But Hannah, while not offended by the suggestion of patricide, says she can't. Dexter nods and Hannah gets up to call her bank, whereupon Dexter tells no one in particular that Clint doesn't meet the code -- but the PA does.
Hey, speak of the devil in a silver suit! He looks around shiftily as he enters his home, and then heads down to the basement, where he drops off a rather large new bucket of kerosene. He then opens up a closet to get the silver suit -- only to have the suit attack him, as Dexter is in it. Inconvenient and clumsy, but points for style; plus they had to find a way for the guy not to see his face...
...and speaking of which, Dexter is burning large amounts of cardboard or incense or something to give his plastic kill room an appropriately smoky atmosphere. After some typically detached yet snarky comments, Dexter asks who Bobby is and the PA tells him he was his best friend when he was twelve and it was his idea to start the first fire the PA set, "but then he died and I got caught." He got sent to the "nut house" for something Bobby did, and now he only hurts people because of Bobby. Dexter's like, you can't blame your kills on something that happened to you when you were a kid -- OH WAIT -- and here we are, back to Dexter being influenced by the most random people crossing his path, and he decides to decide that the Dark Passenger construct JUST LIKE THAT and not kill the PA. I mean, probably no one except Joe Reid likes the DP bullshit less than I do, but this is a ridiculously unearned way to get rid of it...
...but when Deb and the rest of the MM idiots arrive at the scene, apparently clued in by an "anonymous" tip, they find the guy unconscious on his basement floor, with no evidence of the kill room but with the silver suit on prominent display. Still, though, is that enough evidence to link him to the murders? Batista said there were tons of sites that sold them; is there anything non-circumstantial here? I mean, this whole set of events just doesn't work. So Dexter has decided to take personal responsibility for his actions. So what? Why does that translate into not getting rid of a kid-killer, especially when the evidence available to convict him is shaky? He started killing again a month after spending years in a psych ward; what happens if he gets out of prison? I accept that the show has to use these villains to advance Dexter's character, but not that the advancement has to make no sense.
In a parking garage, Clint pulls up to find Dexter waiting for him. He tells Dexter he's glad he came to his senses and asks where his money is; Dexter tells him he's got it right there -- and opens his trunk to reveal rolls of plastic wrap. Clint doesn't get it, but he does get a needle in his neck...
...and then he's figuring out what the plastic is for as he comes to on a bored-looking Dexter's boat. Dexter informs Clint that he can't allow him to hurt Hannah and Clint, finally aware of which way the wind is blowing, begs Dexter not to do it, promising that he'll leave town and never bother Hannah again. He adds that Dexter doesn't have to do this, and Dexter's like, I know! But I'm realizing I want to! "Because unlike you, I care about Hannah." Clint is like, you got the Devil in you, leaving Dexter open to be like, actually, I think it's just me! And again: No. It's one thing for Dexter to acknowledge he's going off code to protect Hannah; it's another for him to enjoy it. Him not killing the PA and killing Clint is way worse than the other way around according to any casual standard of justice; he's leaving a child-killer potentially free to kill again one day while committing murder to prevent his girlfriend from going to jail for a murder she did commit. I have no problem with the writers making Dexter into a complete villain rather than an antihero, but it doesn't work if they're not aware, as I suspect, that that's what they're doing. Still, one false move, even a big one, is reparable. Dexter stabs Clint, throws his corpse overboard and then finally lets loose with an actual good one: "Sink or swim, Daddy." Hee. Wish he have gotten that one in while Clint was alive, but it wouldn't have been nearly as funny.
Dexter's driving when he takes a call from Deb, who tells him they arrested the PA, thanks to him. However, she thinks Dexter made her a present of the PA so she'd lay off Hannah, which is not happening. "I always give in to you. But not anymore." I would think this hopelessly weird if not for what's coming at the end of the episode, but it makes more sense when you consider that she's warning him about something specific on which she's working.
Dexter arrives at Hannah's and she tells him she's got the money and that Clint should be there soon. Dexter, however, intones that he won't be coming, as he had a talk with him. "I made it clear that I wouldn't allow him to hurt you anymore. And I think he understood." I think Hannah also understands what happened as she asks, her voice cracking a little, "So he's gone?" I'm guessing in her mind, she thinks she should have killed him but she just couldn't bring herself to do it and it's a relief that Dexter did it for her. I like the ambiguity of the moment, though; it's one of the very few good things in this subplot. Dexter says, with finality, that Clint won't be bothering her again and Hannah nods her understanding, and hugs him and thanks him. He adds that she was right about the "Dark Rider" and that he doesn't exist. Hannah breaks the embrace and looks into his eyes as he adds that maybe she understands him better than he gets himself, whereupon Hannah tells him what she was going to tell him last episode -- she loves him. Breathing excitedly, he admits that he thinks she loves her too and they kiss tenderly...
...while, at the station, Deb asks Batista for help finding... Arlene Schram. Apparently, before Dexter called to say he'd pay (or maybe after; not like Clint wasn't capable of some true spite), Clint left Deb a message with the information that Schram was witness to a murder, so Dexter's not the only one with the police on his tail. Hopefully this ep will prove to be a blip in an otherwise good season, but I have to admit I have no idea how they're going to end this one. That could be good, or very, very bad.
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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