Spoilers if you haven't seen the latest episode of Dexter, titled "What's Eating Dexter Morgan?"! Going by all of the seemingly intentional nods to the series' earlier years in last week's episode of Dexter, I'm going to go out on a limb in assuming that tonight's starter was one more throw-back to yesteryear and not necessarily foreshadowing of very bad things to come, though the latter is always a possibility. The episode began with a scary moment for Dexter as he heard Harrison calling out for him and followed a trail of some sticky looking red stuff - a familiar sight if we consider the end of Season 4 - only to reveal that Harrison had gorged himself on cherry ice pops, giving himself a tummy ache in the process. Nothing a little Pepto can't cure, right?
Harrison got a bunch of lines to say, which is cause to celebrate, but there are more pressing matters than the toddler's self-inflicted digestion issues. Are we in agreement that the start of Vogel's portion of the episode eliminates at least part of the theory that she's staging these murders as a way of playing with or experimenting on Dexter? That was my theory last week, but tonight we saw her receive a text from an unknown person and then find two packages on her doorstep - his & hers brains-in-a-jar, presumably a gift for Vogel and Dexter, which demonstrates that the killer now knows she's working with Dexter. Ok, so technically Vogel could have staged the text message and the drop-off, all as a way to prove to Dexter that this is all really happening. But showing her receiving the gifts to us while she was alone does hint that maybe she really is being stalked by a patient. Of course, that doesn't mean she's not manipulating Dexter also. I still don't trust her.
We can cross Sussman off the list of potential serial-killer stalkers, as we learned last week that he was being coerced, and then he was killed himself. The murder was made to look like a suicide, which now has Miami Metro believing the "Brain Surgeon" is dead. Case closed. (Not really). Dexter and Vogel investigated another of Vogel's patients, a guy named Ron Galluzzo, who now spends his days working at a fitness equipment kiosk at the mall, and occasionally sizing up potential victims whose brains he might marinate or whose fingers he might put in his crock pot. Ron's got issues, but he's not the guy. He is code-worthy, which meant Dexter was finally able to get someone on his table at the end of tonight's episode. Rest in pieces, Ron. You had a weird diet.
In addition to working on tracking down Ron, Vogel expressed an interest in Deb, most likely because of how unusual Dexter's relationship is with her. As a psychopath - and a "perfect" one at that, according to Vogel - Dexter's affection for his sister is a bit unorthodox. And since Deb's downward spiral could be affecting Dexter in a very drastic way if it keeps spiraling, now seems like the right time for Vogel to intervene and get into Deb's head. Dexter was a bit reluctant to offer his sister up to Vogel, but when push came to shove - and it really did tonight - he intervened and made it happen. It should be interesting to see what kind of conversations these two women might have.
During the more sober moments for Deb in tonight's episode, she helped Elway investigate a cheating spouse, which was almost too easy to do, as the man being followed got it on with a very topless woman in the front seat of a van with non-tinted windows. Um, hello. Why Elway needed backup on this job, I don't know, but he snapped the photos and delivered them to the man's wife, who stared at her husband's face, which was partially buried in the breasts of his mistress, and decided to deny that it was her husband. Some people can't handle the truth. That seemed to be the message of that arc. Deb said outright that she thought the truth was overrated, and let's face it, she's learned that lesson the hard way already. Handling the truth hasn't exactly lead to good things for her since learning her brother is a murderer.
In her more inebriated moments, Deb crashed her car and nearly got a DUI. Quinn got her out of that mess, and later, Quinn came through again when Deb showed up all messed up, determined to confess that she killed LaGuerta. The cheated-on wife isn't the only one in denial. Quinn's also unable to see the truth. Deb outright said she killed LaGuerta and Quinn interpreted it as Deb feeling responsible for the death in an indirect way, as though she could have prevented it or something. Quinn left her in the interrogation room and got Dexter to come take her away, which he did, injecting her with a sedative as though she were one of his victims, and hauling her off with Vogel in tow.
Before that mess, it actually seemed like Dexter was getting through to Deb. He took her to the restaurant shooting that took place a couple of seasons ago, and showing her a man whose life she saved, having dinner with his family. I wonder what Vogel would have thought of Dexter's approach. It did look like Deb felt a little bit better. And then she got drunk watching the video of the shooting over and over and went to the police department to turn herself in. So clearly it didn't have the impact Dexter hoped. And really, how could it? Yes, Deb has saved lives. But that doesn't undo what she did and it doesn't bring LaGuerta back. It's probably going to take a bit more than that to get Deb to forgive herself for the crime she committed, if she ever can.
Finally, we have Quinn, whose determination to be there for Deb is already affecting his relationship with Jaime. Granted, Deb needs whatever support she can get. Quinn has no idea just how bad her situation is. But I can't blame Jamie for being frustrated that her boyfriend's minds constantly on his ex-girlfriend. I'm still wondering how Quinn will fit into all of this in the end. Is he going to find out the truth about Deb? And if he does, will he try to help her or will he turn her in? The answer could be somewhere in between, as Deb seems miserable and guilt-ridden enough to turn herself in. At this point, that may be the best option for her if she wants to try to come out of all of this, but what would it mean for Dexter?
