Episode Report Card Couch Baron: B | 54 USERS: B+ YOU GRADE IT Fava Beans And A Nice Chianti
By Couch Baron | Season 8 | Episode 3 | Aired on 07.14.2013
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.Batista puts Quinn up to Matthews for sergeant, and Matthews literally laughs in his face, so Batista takes it upon himself to help Quinn study for the test, but after getting frustrated with Quinn's thickheadedness, he unwittingly blows up his spot about leaving to bail Deb out in the middle of the night. When Jamie hears the truth, she's understandably pissed off and sad, so it's just as well she doesn't see what Quinn gets up to the rest of the episode.
To clarify what's referenced above, Deb gets arrested for drunk – like, wasted -- driving, and still not wanting to have contact with Dexter if she can help it, she calls Quinn to pick her up. Quinn succeeds in making the charges go away, but also tells Deb that when she turned him down, he hit the bottle much like she's doing now, and he's wondering what her reason for doing so is. She seems to want to tell him, but of course can't, so Quinn goes straight to Dexter with the news. When Dexter gives Vogel a quick summary of the fact Deb knows about him, Vogel is struck by Dexter's depth of feeling for his sister, and she later asks why, when she found out what he was, Dexter didn't kill her. Dexter tells her it's because he loves her, but Vogel points out that psychopaths see love differently than others, so he asks him to be specific, and when he obliges, she points out the things he claims to love are more about him than her. She also offers to try to help Deb, but Dexter refuses – initially.
MM finally tracks down Sussman's cabin – but when Dexter arrives, he and he alone knows that the crime scene has been altered, as Sussman is no longer hanging (from a hook stuck straight into his head, not from a noose as I originally thought). From the changes The Brain Surgeon (presumably) made, the evidence points to Sussman having killed himself, and this leads MM to close the case. However, Vogel gets a text from an unknown source telling her to look outside, whereupon she finds two "presents" on her doorstep – one for her and one for Dexter -- and unless the show is playing unforgivable shenanigans we can safely discount her as the killer. This time, The Brain Surgeon left her the occipital lobe, which is responsible for vision, and as such Dexter takes as a message that TBS is watching both of them. On the plus side, Dexter has been hard at work researching Vogel's "client" list, and he goes to check out one of the guys, who's currently selling fitness equipment at a mall. His investigation reveals that the guy isn't The Brain Surgeon – but he is a cannibal.
Elway gets TMI with Deb again about her sleeping-with habits, and on the one hand he seems reasonably nice and possibly normal. On the other, though, after getting a new case involving a cheating husband, Elway, sensing her hangover from across the room, gives Deb another "electrolyte" solution. Dexter then turns up all worried about the almost-DUI, and Deb reluctantly agrees to go to dinner with him, literally only so he'll go away and leave her and her headache in peace. At dinner, Dexter points out a man sitting happily with his family – who just so happens to be someone whose life Deb once saved in the line of duty – and tries to convince her that she's a good person. This only increases Deb's PTSD, though, and she drunkenly staggers into MM and tells Quinn she killed LaGuerta. Thinking she's just wasted, he drags her away from prying eyes, and although he obviously still doesn't believe her, he does suffer her to write down everything she remembers from that night while he goes to call Dexter.
In desperation, Dexter takes Vogel to the station with him, and on the way, she does point out that Deb accepting her punishment might be the best thing for both her and Dexter, but Dexter doesn't want to hear that, surely not least because Deb would have to bring him down with her. Dexter is forced to agree that Deb needs professional help at the very least, so with Quinn guarding the door, Dexter knocks a hysterical Deb out with an injection ("That was interesting!" Vogel HILARIOUSLY comments) as Vogel smoothly scoops Deb's confession while assuring Quinn that she'll treat Deb for her PTSD, and Quinn gets them out of there with no one else the wiser. Vogel assures Dexter that she can help Deb, so Dexter leaves his handcuffed sister in Vogel's care while he goes, I think, to dismember the cannibal? Hopefully that's as far as he takes the poetic justice.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!…who's busy with Vogel trying to narrow down their remaining suspect list. Vogel suggests an "Arnold Gordon," who as a trauma surgeon "definitely has the right skill set" and also threatened to hurt her if she ever told anyone he's a psychopath. If Vogel is just casually mentioning him now, her enemies list must be longer than that of most politicians. Dexter's phone rings, and Quinn rapidly explains what's happened; thinking fast, once he's off the line, Dexter tells Vogel he needs her to accompany him to the station, as something has happened…
…and in the car, whether just now or earlier, it becomes apparent that Dexter has told Vogel about Deb killing LaGuerta, which beyond anything else shows the level of trust she's inspired in him in a short time. Honestly, that alone probably is another telling illustration of how Dexter isn't your average killer from a psychological point of view, now that I think of it. As he drives like a, well, psychopath, Dexter tells Vogel he can't believe Deb confessed, but Vogel makes the obvious assertion that the pressure of Deb's guilt caused her to do it. Dexter asks Vogel to help get Deb out of the situation by telling anyone who matters that Deb is having a breakdown, but Vogel wonders if he's sure: "This could be the best thing for her." She goes on to point out that his motives are primarily selfish once again, given that his fate is pretty inextricably tied to Deb's in this affair, and once again I must point out how strong this relationship is; Vogel is giving him sugar-free analysis without judgment, and as we'll see, it's effective. Of course, I'd probably wait on the uncomfortable revelations until my subject wasn't behind the wheel, but Florida driving laws seem pretty lax. Dexter protests that he loves Deb, but Vogel is unrelenting as she counters it's not the same as the way Deb loves him -- when she killed LaGuerta, it was an act of selflessness. "She sacrificed everything she believed in for you." Dexter doesn't have an answer to that, so Vogel goes on that Deb needs professional help, and there's nothing more he can do, but Dexter tells her he can't give up on Deb…
…who's still hard at work on her confession. With one eye on her, Quinn sees Dexter and Vogel arrive and rushes over to greet them. Dexter gives a cursory explanation about Vogel being a friend of the family, and Vogel smoothly launches into a most professorial opinion that Deb is suffering from PTSD and survivor's guilt, which has the virtue of being true, if obviously not the whole story. Dexter has Quinn watch the hallway as he and Vogel enter, and Deb flips her shit, not paying Vogel any mind as she holds up her legal pad and shrieks that she's confessing anything. She charges Dexter and gets all up in his face -- whereupon he pulls out his trusty needle and jams it in her neck. As much as he claims to care about Deb, I have to think that was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. And as I said in the recaplet, Vogel pipes up, "That was interesting!" I CANNOT do justice to her delivery, but it features a combination of mild amusement and scientific curiosity that's so tickling I kind of want it as a ringtone. Dexter hands the needle off to Vogel, who adds to her worth by scooping Deb's confession off the floor before giving a reappearing Quinn a sunny "Nothing to see here!' smile, and given that we're almost at the end of the road with this show, I don't see why I can't start lobbying for a spin-off now. After explaining that Deb passed out, Dexter slings Deb over his shoulder as Vogel announces that they have to take her home to rest, so Quinn escorts them to the back stairs as Vogel assures him Deb will get through this. Dexter thanks Quinn again…