The random bits and pieces first: Nikki forgives Masuka for his bumbling last episode, but when he realizes she's working at a topless bar to service her debts, Masuka offers her part-time work in his department. Elway catches Deb checking into Hannah and then tells her off for, essentially, spurning him. Later, Deb assures him that he doesn't want to be involved with her, but does thank him for being the reason she's survived her recent troubles. She even starts calling him by his first name! Jamie wants to move in with Quinn, who's a typical slackjawed guy about it at first, but when Zack comes into the station with his lawyer to formally request Quinn cease his constant surveillance and Batista goes along, Quinn tells him he and Jamie are moving in together just to spite him. Healthy!
Dexter comes to in a remote location, having also apparently been drugged by Hannah. He's relieved to learn that Hannah left Deb unharmed, but Deb understandably feels like her life is just about complicated enough without Hannah's return, so she tells Dexter to get her gone one way or another. Via his access to traffic footage, Dexter tracks Hannah through her car rental to a marina, at which he discovers that she's apparently got a new beau rich enough to afford a rather large yacht. It's pretty obvious he's jealous, so even though it's clearly a terrible idea, Dexter enlists Zack to help him get into a rich-people-only club at which Hannah and her guy are spending the evening. Catching her temporarily alone, he learns that she's changed her name to Maggie and is married to the dude. Speaking of which, it turns out international-casino-mogul "Miles" knows all about Dexter, too, although the version he's heard from his wife might be slightly slanted.
Deb realizes that Dexter still turns into a confused horny teen when Hannah is on his mind, so she goes to Vogel for advice, but Vogel soberly cautions her to consider all the consequences before taking matters into her own hands. Meanwhile, Miles threateningly confronts Dexter, after which Hannah agrees to meet him. She bitterly tells him she needed someone of Miles' means after Dexter betrayed her, and while she revealed herself to Dexter in the hopes that he would kill Miles for her, as he's horribly controlling and possessive, she realized that she still loves Dexter, and as such she doesn't want to risk him like this.
Deb puts a tracker on Dexter's car, and in the parking lot she runs into Cassie, who confesses she's still kind of hung up on Dexter, and Deb's like, maybe you want to rethink that? Miles sends goons to beat Dexter up, and later, on the boat, Miles physically assaults Hannah as he tells her that they're leaving that night and he's never letting her out of his sight again – unaware that Dexter has arrived at the marina. He sneaks onto the boat – and discovers that Hannah's killed her husband, although in a bloodier way that usual for her. He helps her clean the place and get rid of the body – while Deb watches the whole thing from her car.
Zack shows up at Dexter's, as Dexter's unscheduled Hannah-induced nap caused him to miss an appointment, and Cassie and her new man see them in passing. Dexter tells Zack that he needs to get a job to serve as a cover life, but Zack's obviously antsy to kill again. Unfortunately, Dexter has to blow Zack off once more due to all the Hannah-related stuff going on, resulting in Zack angrily pounding on Dexter's door with Cassie seeing him again. In the end, Dexter gets called to a crime scene in his apartment building – Cassie's been bludgeoned to death in a similar way to Norma Rivera. Did Zack do it? (I think it's the boring boyfriend, but Dexter isn't so sure.)
So it wasn't completely clear to me last time from the difference in their apparent energy levels, but it seems Hannah drugged Dexter as well as Deb, as Dexter is awakened on a riverbank someplace by his phone. It's Vogel, who wonders where he's been all morning, and as the full significance of what's happened hits, Dexter tells Vogel he can't really talk, but Vogel presses on to inform him that Zack called. "I'm so glad you decided not to kill him." Look, I'm not going to make a federal case out of it each time someone on this show who should know better acts like cell phones are secure modes of communication, but that's only because I'm not getting paid by the word. But give me a fucking break here, Vogel. Whether he's feeling the same way or not, Dexter drops Vogel to switch over to a call from Deb, who's also groggy but conscious as she asks where he is. A wider shot shows he's by some industrial plant in, as he tells Deb thanks to his GPS, Kendall, and he cuts through her confused questions by telling her to pick him up and assuring her they'll talk when she gets there WHAT A GOOD IDEA.
Cut to DVO wondering what Hannah wants, given that she didn't kill either of them, when Deb comes driving up and is like, my mind cleared up enough on the way over to figure out it was Hannah, right? Dexter confirms that and wonders what Hannah's move might be, and Deb points out that if they were normal law-abiding citizens, they'd go to the Marshals. It's been a long time since he was in Miami, but that still makes me reflexively hope for a Raylan Givens appearance. Dexter tells Deb Hannah knows too much about him, and when Deb points out she didn't spill her knowledge when she was arrested last time, Dexter counters that Hannah was in love with him then. "Drugging me and leaving me on the side of the road might suggest that's changed." If you think that, Dexter, you need to watch more reality television.
Dexter realizes that the street they're on is lined with surveillance cameras, so he should be able to get hold of the footage using his PD credentials and track Hannah down. Deb takes a long moment before telling Dexter that the moment she asked Dexter to kill Hannah was the moment she started to lose herself, and now that she's just getting her life back, she's feeling ill-equipped to deal with this. "I want her gone." Presumably, given what she just said, she means "gone" to a place on Earth, not below. Dexter assures Deb he'll take care of it…
King of Prussia Metro. Dexter reviews the relevant footage and finds Hannah driving a white SUV. He doesn't attempt to locate his own unconscious form in the image, which is a missed opportunity for humor in my book. He does, however, note her license plate and the fact that the vehicle came from a "Vista Marina Car Rentals," so he picks up the phone and puts on a bit of a corn-pone accent as he tells the woman who answers he's a "Detective Cooper" at MM, throwing in a badge number to boot. I'm assuming the number would check out at least on the surface, otherwise it'd be hard to believe he'd give MM's name. Anyway, his story is that they think someone who rented one of their vans might have been a witness to a hit-and-run, and he offers to fax over a copy of the warrant, which is an obvious bluff that makes me wonder if the badge number is no good too, and surely MM and probably the rental company also are recording this conversation as a matter of course? He probably wants the caller ID to show up as MM, but that cuts both ways, and now I'll shut up before I set a record in the overthinking meaningless plot points department, especially since the woman is like, sure, I'll just give you the information with no proof of identity or occupation about a female customer, as no jealous ex-lover has ever used a gambit like this on the road to committing murder. The vehicle is registered to a "Maggie Castner," who's given a slip in the marina as her local address. She also gives Dexter "Maggie's" phone number, whereupon Dexter tells someone that he thinks Hannah wants to destroy their lives before heading out to the address in question. The camera tracks him out before settling on Quinn, and there's not one beat here that's less than one hundred percent predictable so here's the short version: Jamie's looking at apartments and coyly tells Quinn maybe they should get a place together; Quinn is by turns clueless and terrified. !
Oh, Nikki's back, apologizing to Masuka for freaking out on him, and everything's cool but she's still not taking the money. He asks her to dinner that night, but she tells him she has to work, and when he asks where, her long pause preceding "a sports bar" before mentioning the name tells everyone except Masuka all they need to know. She offers to call him when she's free, and he's down with that.
At the marina, Dexter discovers that the slip in question is currently home to a rather large yacht off which he sees Hannah coming with a well-dressed fiftysomething guy (played by rather famous Brit Julian Sands), and DVO notes that while Hannah hated the ocean, this setup affords her an easy escape into international waters. As he sees the two of them share a chaste enough kiss, DVO wonders if the fact that Hannah's showing her face in Miami indicates the guy's ability to protect her, which, as we'll see, is good thinking. Also as we'll see, said protection cuts both ways. Dexter sees the couple get into a town car and gives pursuit…
…whereupon we cross-fade to him sitting petulantly in his car as, now at night, he observes the two of them heading into what we'll learn is a rather upscale club (the "Red Coral"). He heads toward the door after them, but the security guy sees his plain Oxford shirt and khakis a mile away and glides in to intercept him, telling him that it's members only, and even if he's with a member, their dress code is unassailable. Not about to try to stick a needle in the guy's neck in front of all these people, Dexter impotently walks back to his car and someone tells him this is for the best as Dexter will be at a disadvantage inside, but Dexter pays someone as much mind as usual as he calls Zack and confirms he's a member of the club…
…whereupon we cut to Zack and Dexter pulling up in the former's Porsche convertible like SO MUCH FOR NOT BEING SEEN IN PUBLIC. Dexter is now outfitted appropriately, at least, and he gets not one bit of resistance as he accompanies "Mr. Hamilton" inside…
…whereupon the two of them catch sight of Hannah and Julian Sands in an unpopulated room. Dexter confesses that Hannah's his ex, and Zack duly compliments Dexter's taste. Julian Sands then walks away, so Dexter tells Zack to keep an eye on him and to text him if it looks like he's coming back…
…before entering the room and being like, "Hannah" with a positively hilarious delivery that's completely appropriate for meeting an ex who broke your heart and also might have tried to kill you? Hannah feels some emotions too as she takes a long moment before reminding him it's "Maggie" now and pointing out the obvious – he shouldn't be there. They bicker a bit before Hannah suggests he go before "my husband" returns, and Dexter's angry enough at this marital-status news that he ignores Zack's urgent text that Julian Sands is returning. He mockingly refers to the guy's obvious wealth in noting that Hannah was always a pragmatist, but she sneers back that while that's nice, he's got hidden talents and is "the adventurous type," and it is hilarious to see Dexter just baldly jealous, but soon Hannah is mixing some sincerity into her tone as she tells Dexter it really might be better for him to leave before her man gets back.
Dexter does not heed her, though, and here's Julian Sands, so Maggie jumps up and introduces "Miles Castner." Castner greets Dexter suavely, but when Maggie mentions his name, Castner's like ah yes, the ex who betrayed her by turning her in to the police. Dexter looks thrown that Maggie would have told Castner about that, and Castner gives him an appraising look before saying it's time for them to go but asking the nearby bartender to be sure that "Mr. Morgan" is given whatever he needs. He doesn't add that he should put it on the Underhills' tab, which again is a shame. Zack then appears and is like, you didn't act on my text, and did I screw that up, Sensei? Dexter, however, tells him he's the one that lost the plot there and tells Zack they can talk the day, but Zack then gets an excitedly crafty look on his face as he asks Dexter if he's going to kill Castner. Dexter: "I only kill people who deserve it." I wonder if Zack will be around long enough to hear the lengthy list of exceptions to that one.
Vogel is telling Deb that Dexter's attraction to Hannah makes sense, and Deb doesn't necessarily deny that but expresses the opinion that Dexter's "thinking with the wrong head" right now. Vogel points out that Hannah obviously could have killed them already, but Deb thinks maybe Hannah is just asserting control over them. The idea of going to the Marshals is again advanced, and when Vogel points out what Dexter already said – that Hannah knows too much – Deb replies that's true, "but at least I wouldn't have to worry about what might or might not be in my morning coffee." Vogel's response is to point out that when she had a killer after her, she trusted Dexter to solve the problem, and he came through. Deb, however, isn't sure she can do that, so Vogel counsels her to tread lightly: "Before you take matters into your own hands, be sure to consider all the consequences of those actions." Fairly sound advice to give someone who tried to commit murder-suicide and regretted it two minutes later.
After DVO declares his intention to get Hannah alone, Masuka comes in and advances the idea of them getting an assistant with all the subtlety of someone introducing a sales pitch for Amway. When that nonsense is over, Dexter looks up and sees a besuited Zack casually looking his way as he strides into the station flanked by Matthews and a middle-aged guy. Dexter observes them head into Batista's office, whereupon the resident steps out and calls Quinn in. As Dexter sidles by in the background, Zack's attorney asks the department to desist in the 24-hour watch they have on his client as he produces photographic evidence, taken by Zack, of Quinn staking him out. Matthews makes it short and sweet, telling Zack on Quinn's behalf that they'll be backing off posthaste. When they're gone, Batista dresses Quinn down and tells him to let it go already, to which Quinn is like, oh by the way I'm moving in with Jamie lates! Ah, the relationship decision based on spite. It's probably so widely known to be a bad idea because just about everyone has done it. Batista starts sputtering in response, but Masuka steps in to run unwitting interference with the assistant nonsense again, although it's hard not to chuckle when he says it was Dexter's idea. Batista reluctantly signs off on part-time help before running after his boyfriend…
…while in the parking lot, Zack finds Dexter, hidden from view, by his car. "The photos were a nice touch." Hee. Zack grins conspiratorially – I do kind of like this kid – before saying that now they can get down to the business of finding a victim. Dexter, however, is like all in good time, my young Padawan – first you have to learn how not to kill before you can learn how to kill. (I'm actually barely paraphrasing.) Zack doesn't think he has it in him to control his urges the way Dexter is suggesting, but Dexter assures him he'll teach him. I know you've got a lot on your plate right now, Dexter, but you might want to hurry.
Dexter pulls into a gas station, but he hasn't even started filling up before Castner appears and tells him he saw Dexter with his son, whom "Maggie" never mentioned, and although they don't say it explicitly it is another indication that she still cares about Dexter. Castner informs Dexter that he'd sooner see Hannah in prison than lose her, understand? "Because I could call a few people and ruin your life." I'd ask him to make up his mind whether he's going to ruin her life or his, but it seems pretty likely he wouldn't feel compelled to choose. Having made his point, Castner departs, leaving Dexter to text Hannah despite someone's objections. Hannah gets right back…
…and we cut to her old greenhouse, in which she's wistfully surveying the remains of what was once her life's work. Well, other than the other thing. The air is thick with tension and regret even before Dexter gives Hannah the report on Castner and wonders if he's a threat. Hannah replies that he's not a "chop you up and toss you in the ocean type of threat," but he could still make Dexter's life miserable. After some bickering, Hannah tells him she needed Castner – she met him a few years ago when she worked as florist for an event he put on, and she knew he had a crush on her, so he seemed the logical choice to approach when she was desperate and needed a new life. She unconvincingly adds that he makes her happy, but when Dexter presses her, she tells him the truth of why she pulled the little stunt with him and Deb – she wanted him to come to her so she could get him to kill Castner for her. Dexter, as you might imagine, is stunned, so she goes on that Castner is controlling to the point of obsession when it comes to her, and he would turn her in if she were to try to leave him, but she couldn't risk doing away with him herself, since his family suspected her of gold digging and as such would surely expose her if he were out of the picture. Dexter wonders why she thought he'd do this for her, so she points out that he didn't have to turn her in, and he ruined her life. He of course takes exception to this characterization of events, but before he can even bring Deb up she tells him it doesn't matter – she changed her mind, because as soon as she saw him she realized "despite the shitty way that it all ended, you were it for me, Dexter." With only five-and-change episodes to go, it's about time for people to have such revelations. She goes on that essentially, he's her true love, and she didn't want to ruin that by manipulating him into doing something that could end up being very bad for him. Dexter, looking exposed, breathes that it was the same for him, but when he starts toward her, she recoils and tells him to let it be – she's got to go for her own safety. Without further ado, she heads out…
…whereupon we cut to Deb tentatively knocking at Elway's open door. He looks up expectantly, but deflates when she merely asks to borrow his GPS tracker, and he can't refrain from commenting that she's only nice when she needs something. That, however, just being the icebreaker, Deb apologizes for overreacting earlier before thankfully Going There, telling "Jake" she knows he's interested, but he doesn't want to get involved with her because he doesn't know what she's really like. He gives that clueless-TV-character response of "I'd like to find out" rather than the response of gratefully thanking her for the warning, as anyone who's had any real-life experience with this setup would. Not knowing what else to say, Deb heads out, the GPS device in her hand…
…which she then, in his parking area, attaches to the underside of Dexter's car. Cassie catches her coming back up and is all may I help you about it, but any suspicions fade when Deb, after making a lame excuse involving sunglasses, tells Cassie she's Dexter's sister. When Cassie likewise introduces herself, Deb recognizes the name, and Cassie can't believe Dexter even mentioned her, as his follow-up to their date was nonexistent. Deb's like, I'll restrain myself from pulling up a chair and settle for assuring you it's not you, so Cassie asks for some inside info, as she's heard Dexter isn't over his ex and she's maybe kind of attracted to that instead of boring old Oliver (her words, essentially). Deb, trying not to laugh at how bad this girl's taste in men is proving to be, tells her that she seems normal, so SERIOUSLY, she should stick with the dude who's into her. "Trust me, Dexter is not a mystery that you want to solve." Cassie seems to take this advice at face value, which is only going to add to the irony.
Masuka offers Nikki that job; she tells him she makes a lot more money now than it would pay but agrees to think about it. Also, she calls him "Dad" for apparently the first time, which sounds SO much better with her top on.
Vogel and Dexter sit in her house, and Vogel, commenting on the story Dexter apparently just finished telling her, says that it's probably for the best, as two psychopaths together is never a good mix. True, but it's usually a box-office hit! Dexter claims that Hannah has feelings and as such isn't a psychopath, and among many acceptable responses is Vogel's bone-dry "I'll have to take your word for that." She then brings up Zack, saying she saw him that day and he was very agitated. Dexter thinks his own experience as a teenager (he waited nine years between the urge to kill and the act) proves that Zack can stick it out, but Vogel demurs, pointing out that Harry essentially made Dexter wait, and besides, Dexter hadn't actually taken a life during that long period, which is not the case with Zack. She goes on that while she's glad Dexter spared him, "the moment you did, Zack became your responsibility. He's relying on you, Dexter. You need to take this very seriously." It's all demonstrably true, and yet I have sympathy for Dexter's expression, given that it seems to read "Nice of you to tell me this BEFORE I saved his life." Nonetheless, we cut to Dexter leaving a message that he'll come to Zack's studio the day at 2 PM…
…and then, the morning, DVO is noting how good it is that Hannah's leaving with everything else he has on his plate, especially since said "everything else" proves to include three goons coming out of nowhere to beat him up in a reasonably cursory manner. I mean, I wouldn't volunteer to suffer it, but he did get away with what looks like no broken ribs and no facial damage. DVO realizes this means Castner must be aware of his little rendezvous with Hannah and fears for her safety, which seems reasonable. I mean, she killed the last guy who took her on physically, but she also almost died in the process.
Elway comes in to check on Deb, which gives her another opportunity for détente as she tells him she knows she can be "kind of a dick" (so to speak, and hee) sometimes, and this past year hasn't been her best, but she survived it because of him, and she's grateful. He tells her she's welcome in what kind of sounds like a "call me when you come to your senses" tone, but most guys do not take rejection even this well. On her computer screen, Deb watches Dexter's car move…
…while, 2 PM presumably having come and gone, Zack is gathering a head of steam knocking on Dexter's door. Cassie emerges and is like, hey, it's a working theory but he might not be home? Zack glares at her before starting to vacate the premises, and when Cassie asks if she can give Dexter a message, Zack seethes, "Yeah. Fuck him." Now, if you were Cassie, wouldn't the obvious explanation here fit nicely with why Dexter seemed unresponsive to your feminine charms?
Hannah returns to the boat, and Castner indulges in about five seconds of shopping discussion before being like hey, how was the old homestead? Hannah tries to play her meeting with Dexter off, saying she only told him they were very happy together, but Castner is like, (a), I'm going to do something to Dexter now, and (b) we're leaving tonight to go back to the UK, and by the way, I hope you like this boat because you're probably never leaving it again. There's also a good bit of physical assault going on here, and we cut out of the scene with Castner on the bed on top of Hannah…
…unaware that Dexter is outside. When he sees a couple of crewmen go ashore, he takes the opportunity to sneak onto the boat and head downstairs…whereupon he finds Hannah kneeling over Castner's corpse, a large piece of broken glass in her hand and blood, apparently coming from his carotid artery, everywhere. Numbly, she tells Dexter he grabbed her, and she tried to run but to no avail. He asks if she's hurt, but although her face looks like it's going to crack, she tells him she's okay, so he urgently tells her they need bleach, bags, something that will cut bone like a saw or an axe, and to keep the crew unsuspecting that anything's wrong. He asks if she can handle that, and she visibly pulls herself together as she tells him yes. And her willingness to do what needs to be done is admirable, but as Dexter points out, it'll be more effective if she changes out of her bloodstained dress. Before she does, though, he promises her that everything will be okay, and it's probably not the most romantic way to rekindle their love, but it'll probably prove to be about the most effective.
After a quick shot of Dexter tossing Castner's bag into the ocean, Dexter and Hannah disembark from the Slice Of Life, with Hannah somewhat wryly noting that now she knows how Dexter makes people disappear. Dexter's like, yeah, usually with a plastic room and a kill table, and Hannah actually doesn't seem to remember that part all that fondly, which is surprising. Also not particularly enamored of the proceedings is Deb, who's watching surreptitiously from her car as Hannah hesitantly asks Dexter if he ever wishes he'd followed through with killing her. Dexter tells her no before turning the question around, and Hannah tells him she never planned to kill him in the first place – it's just that she knew she couldn't live with Castner for much longer, "and unlike you I don't actually enjoy any of this." Rather than take that statement on, questionable as it may be, Dexter asks what's , so Hannah replies that she told the crew Castner was off to New York for a few days, which buys her some time. The air thick with feeling, they look at each other for a long moment that's interrupted by a text summoning Dexter to a crime scene – in his apartment building. Uh oh. I knew she was doomed, but I didn't expect it to happen here. Somewhat desperately, he asks Hannah not to leave town before they talk again, and she sincerely assures him she won't. He heads off, and she wearily gets into her car, with Deb still watching her. Well, Deb, at least they didn't kiss.
With MM already all over the scene, Dexter enters and sees Cassie lying on the floor, very dead, apparently from a head wound that gushed, as usual, liberal amounts of blood. From the balcony, Oliver calls to Dexter and tells him they were supposed to have a date that night, and as I alluded to in the recaplet, he's a little too conveniently distraught about the whole thing for me not to think he's the prime suspect. Still, it doesn't look great for Zack even without Dexter knowing how he showed up at his door in a rage earlier in the day. Batista asks Dexter if he's okay to work the case, as if Dexter's ever backed away from blood in all the years he's known him, and Dexter at least doesn't say "Why wouldn't I be?" He gives the verdict that someone held Cassie down and bludgeoned her to death, and DVO then notes the similarity to her wounds and those of Norma Rivera. "Is it possible Zack did this when I was with Hannah?" Fair point, but to take a different view, the other thing about the Norma Rivera case was that the victim knew her killer well. Seeing his own reflection in the pool of Cassie's blood – and I'll give credit to that twisted twist on having blood on one's hands – DVO thematically wonders if any good can come from putting two killers together. "Will it always end the same way – like this?" Only one way to find out – see you week.
John Ramos is a writer and film producer living in Los Angeles. His new film, a documentary on online privacy and the exploitation of personal data called Terms And Conditions May Apply, a New York Times Critics' Pick, is currently in theaters as of July. You can get news on it from the film's Twitter accountor website, or check out trackoff.us to learn how to protect your privacy. Also, you can email John 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.