Spoilers if you haven't seen tonight's episode of Dexter, titled "Every Silver Lining"!
Is it too strange a theory to think that Dr. Vogel is pulling Dexter's strings with this whole stalking scenario? The revelation that she was the one who created Dexter's code isn't enough to be suspicious of her. But there's something about her behavior that isn't adding up for me. On one hand, some of the things she says to Dexter about psychopaths indicates a strange kind of fascination - bordering on admiration? - for their nature. That in itself could just be the scientist in her finding beauty in something she considers to be a part of nature. She thinks he's "perfect." When it comes to Dexter, there's absolutely zero fear in her. And yet, she seems extremely nervous about the person who's targeting her. Granted, that could be justified at face value. Someone's messing with her and might want to kill her. But I still can't help but wonder if maybe this whole thing is staged as part of a new experiment that Vogel's conducting. The next phase in whatever it is she thinks she's "created" in Dexter. She thinks he's his mother, for goodness sake. Or she's just using this ordeal to reacquaint herself with him and maybe form a bond. It's too soon to say.
A good portion of tonight's episode centered on Dexter's work with Dr. Vogel. But first, the further reveal of Harry's reluctance in bringing Dexter closer to his dark passenger. Vogel has video footage of her counseling sessions with Harry, one of which featured Harry discussing how he snuck Dexter onto a murder scene so he could see a dead body in the flesh. At the ripe age of ten, Dexter snatched a piece of bloody glass from the scene as a souvenir of his adventure. His first blood slide. Though it wasn't his kill. I'd like to point out that the glass was one of a few possibly intentional nods to the series' earlier days. Another was Dexter noticing the air conditioner in Sussman's home and wondering, for a moment, if he might have something hidden in there. And did anyone else think the body in the skate part was a little reminiscent of the body in the pool in the pilot episode?
It seemed like Dexter was making some headway on the guy that's stalking Vogel and leaving brains from his victims on her porch. Dexter got a head start on the trail from the second body and tracked down Lyle Sussman, one of Vogel's old patients, who likes to hunt and contribute to the hideous pelt-quilt his mother keeps in a trunk in her home. A quick snippet of said killer with the second victim - set to "Make Your Own Kind Of Music," a song I will forever associate with Lost - indicated that Sussman was the guy. Up until he turned up dead and Vogel received a video of the murder, which showed Sussman being forced to kill the guy at gunpoint. So the real killer is still out there.
Over in Deb's world, her boss, Elroy, re-hydrated her and grilled her for the botched Briggs job. The reprimand was probably unnecessary as Deb seems to realize that if she had just turned him in and forgot about the jewelry, he'd still be alive. Heck, if she had avoided him altogether, he might still be alive. Or El Sappo was going to kill him and it doesn't matter. While Deb and Elroy searched for the storage locker where the missing jewelry might be, El Sappo stalked Deb and nearly killed her. If he could do it all over again, he probably would have killed Deb in that storage locker. Had he realized she was capable of murdering him, I'm sure he would have, but he didn't. When El Sappo turned up dead, we were left to wonder if Deb did it or if someone else did it. A dude like that probably has enemies. But then Dexter found Deb's blood on the car. Given the scuffle Deb and El Sappo had gotten in earlier, that didn't really prove much. We didn't get confirmation until later when Quinn called Deb in to question her about the murder. Since he knew Deb was involved with Briggs, who was involved with El Sappo, it was all connected, though there were no signs that Quinn suspected Deb was directly involved in either murder. He was just hoping to find some clues. Instead, Deb panicked and started having flashbacks of killing El Sappo.
Deb killed someone else. Granted, this guy was a killer, but still, murder's murder, isn't it? Ok, maybe not on Dexter, where there are codes and justifications, but this is Deb we're talking about. And this is one more turn for her on the downward spiral. Is there any way Dexter can get her out of it? Or is switching out the guns to cover Deb's tracks the most he can do?
In other news, Batista knows Quinn is sleeping with Jamie, and his response to this is to encourage Quinn to take the sergeants test. Given Quinn's own recent issues on the job, Batista's not wrong in pushing his friend to take his career further to prove he's gotten his life back on track. Unfortunately, it already looks like things might be going south for Quinn's relationship with Jamie. He keeps bringing up Deb in conversation, and by the way he and Deb were looking at one another, I can't help but wonder if they're destined to get back together… if Deb can get her own life back together first. Or maybe it's Quinn who will help her there.
Watch the season premiere of Dexter here.
