TV Guide sez:

“I hope they hurt him…Have a nice day!”
“Make up your mind.”
Hee!

Wow, was this episode twisty and turny.

I was wondering how the Barnes storyline dovetails with that of the Bay Harbor Butcher. It seems apparent that Barnes’ boat is in the same marina as Dexter’s, and he’ll become suspect #1. And, since Doakes went without backup, and I’m sure Barnes is going to “disappear,” they’ll assume Doakes helped his Black Ops brother get away. For a while it looked like Doakes might become a suspect, and that never sat well with me. This makes more sense.

How does one “not mean” to shoot his wife three times with perfect precision? He had clearly lost it well before he killed her. What I really enjoyed about the confrontation with Doakes is the different shades of crazy Doakes and Barnes displayed. Barnes looked sad and completely lost, while Doakes was bug-eyed and intense. Nice additional backstory on Doakes, too, with interesting character insight that he divorced his wife so he wouldn't kill her. He's aware of who and what he is (and, apparently, Dexter still has question about his own identity). When he’s away from Dexter, Doakes is not one-dimension, although he wasn’t snippy with Dex in the office. Dexter deserved Doakes snapping at him at the crime scene, however.

Methinks Deb is totally into Agent Rock Star, but Lundy just isn’t into her. I found it amusing that the logo on the dumpster said “RS.” Cause, you know, Agent Rock Star takes out the trash!

Lilah really is something else. She’s really poking holes in that architecture Harry erected for Dexter’s personality, and it’s interesting that Dexter wants to think there’s some good in him. When Harry called Dexter a monster in such a cavalier fashion, it was rather telling. I’m not sure how the shrink didn’t know the kid was lying, though. When Dexter answered, “No, never,” regarding killing animals, he was rather shifty-eyed. But back to Lilah: I knew she wouldn’t have a problem with the bodies (and Dexter got away with taking her in there). I mean, she has stolen (ahem, “found”, ‘scuse me) dummies munching on each other in her studio. I wonder if stealing was always a part of her addictive personality, or if that became a new addiction once she got off of drugs. Also amusing that she learned stealing tips from her sponsor.

Geez, the Pascal nightmare is over, and then in turns out that Maria was behind it all. That seemed particularly low. I mean…damn. And it seemed to me that when Maria kicked Esme’s boyfriend out, she felt disgusted by what she’d done. Setting back the work of women by 20 years, indeed. Gah. That was gross.

But what creeped me out the most? When Dexter first met Gail, she and Rita were wearing nearly the same color with similar prints. That was just…weird and smelled of pod people, or something. Dexter’s “alien investigation” was hilarious. Was she saying she was okay with the Bay Harbor Butcher killing baddies to test Dexter, or does she really believe it? I’m thinking the latter because of the way this show uses symbolism--she dressed her grandson up as a serial killer. Her being “okay” with the BHB would also give some insight into her personality, and why Dexter bugs her. Projection reigns supreme on this show.

I laughed when Masuka brought up the rocks. Dexter got too smart for himself there.

Masuka, weirdo. Finding glee in making another man puke.

How long until Angel hooks up with Mrs. Sota? I wonder if he asked the universe for her.

Excellent, excellent ep.

mmm, is it just me, or did we just sort of forget about Doakes's latest shooting mid-episode (and for the 'bombshell' of Laguarta and Eseme's fiancee, no less - I was expecting Doakes to be in bed with her - since we know that they're kind of close.). Seems that there should have been more time spent on meeting up with the former Ranger and discharging his weapon YET AGAIN (and with no witnesses).

Why would Doakes need (or even want) to cover up the shooting? Because it would look suspicious for him to kill again, after that Haitian war criminal he gunned down?

As for the rest of the episode - I have to say, while I haven't been a big fan of the La Guerta/Pascal storyline, I was stunned at the reveal that La Guerta was the other woman. My boyfriend said, (Sopranos spoiler ahead) "I haven't been this surprised since we saw Vito's head rise up from the security guard's crotch."

Doakes will probably be in trouble because although he can claim self-defense, nobody was there to witness it. He might consider covering it up because of gunning down the war criminal. Plus, it can serve the plot. ;p I assume he went alone because 1) secrecy/pride/honor of the Black Ops brotherhood, and 2) if he'd brought backup, other Black Ops' members (his contacts in friends) wouldn't take too kindly to his actions, and I have no idea what they'd do to him.

I'm thinking he's disposed of the body because we didn't see him after the standoff.

Wow. That completely changed every moment of the Lieutenant's Fiance story line. Suddenly La Guerta turns out to have done something monstrous, ruining a good cop, a real Hero Cop (not a lucky poser like La Guerta), to start climbing the ladder again. Fits well with the whole "no one is all good or evil" theme for this season.

Well. I didn't see that coming with La Guerta and Esme's fianceé at all.

Sorry about the bodies melting not taking care of your problem, Dex, but I did get a giggle out of seeing you and Masuka laugh at the other guy's nausea.

Is it just me, or does it seem like Angel is going to get more than information about her husband out of that woman? Seems like a setup for a love interest, but does anyone care? I'm not sure that I do.

the fresh maker




I feel incredibly, incredibly dense for not getting that from the start. For the sake of our favorite anti-hero, I hope he'll find a way to solidly frame the dead guy for his crimes. However, it would be interesting to see how Dexter reacts if the investigation really starts to point in his direction.



IMO, Harry, despite his good intentions, really messed Dexter up more than he helped him. Simply giving his son the label of "monster," despite his acceptance of the fact, was a crucial component of Dexter's upbringing. On one hand, I understand that Dexter was a very troubled kid, and he was doing what he thought was best, but over and over we've been presented with proof that Dexter isn't the tidy little sociopath he likes to believe. It's hard to say how much of it is inherently part of who he is and how much of it is conditioned. Maybe if the influence had been more on learning to be normal instead of learning to pretend to be normal, Dexter would have turned out differently.

That was such a good episode. Dexter's voice over was so witty this week. Especially the "make up your mind" and every bit about Rita's mom. LaGuerta is just freaking EVIL. Deb was so very Deb. How does Jennifer Carpenter blush on cue so well? I continue to love Lundy, and he almost made me cry with the delivery of the bit about his first love. Lilah -- well, she's still batshit crazy, and I don't really like her on her own, but I'm fascinated with her interaction with Dexter. Doakes and Angel actually both got to act more than one-dimensional this week, which was great.

The season is really heating up, and that was a great episode. I'm going to need to watch it a few times.

Glad to have resolution to the Pascal storyline, but I'm not sure it was really worth it. In fact, I'm sure it wasn't, but whatever, it's over, so I'm happy.

Michael C. Hall is outdoing his performance from last season - it's amazing the way he plays his increasing desperation about the investigation coupled with struggling to maintain the many masks he's forced to wear. Love him to pieces.

Rita's Mom is a passive-aggressive piece of work. But it's interesting - does she really pick up on the fact that Dexter is just acting a part, or is she just trying to stir the pot? I'm not convinced that she's on to Dexter so much as she's trying to come between him and her daughter.

And man, Deb just keeps up with the totally awkward, doesn't she? I mean, I get along great with my boss, but believe me - I would NEVER share that kind of intimate information even if I had been asked. Completely inappropriate behavior - of course, that's part of what I love about Deb. She's really not all that much more well adjusted than Dexter - and I'm sure she has Harry to thank for that as well.

As far as Harry and Dexter - it's never a good thing to call your son a monster. Even if he is. More screwing up of an already fucked up kid by Harry Morgan.

And finally, Lilah (Lila?). Can't help it - I really like her. She's totally eccentric and weird and full of herself (which makes it funny that she accuses Dexter of it), but she's a fun new dynamic in Dexter's life, and I'm enjoying her so far.

I saw this episode Wednesday night in a room full of about 150 people and when Pascal's fiance popped up behind LaGuerta in bed...the whole room let out a shriek.

And I'm glad there is at least one other person who likes Lilah because I was beginning to question myself. Much like animals and sociopaths recognize Dexter for what he is, obviously narcissists can recognize that trait in him, too, as Lilah so beautifully points out. And if she looked like she wanted to eat him live last week, well, he certainly returned that favor this week. I don't think he's ever looked at Rita with such naked and blunt desire and, oddly, menace. He may have been "breaking up" with her, but that's clearly not what he wanted to do with her at the moment.

Lilah's a match for him in a way Rita never could be. But how willing is he to give in to her and everything she brings up from his subconscious? She's dangerous to him because she'll finish bringing the "true" Dexter into the light. But who that is is the mystery. The last person who even tried to bring out the true Dexter wound up dead in his own freezer.

And I'm still wondering about Rita's whole life prior to Paul's domestic violence arrest. I think she, and her mom, have a longer, darker and more twisted history than they're presenting.

This episode was a bit over-the-top for me. Dexter's alien VO was a little cutesy and Pascal's connipition was a little daytime soap-y.



Me, neither. From the way she and Rita interacted, it seems to me that she had a lot to do with the fact that Rita stayed for so long with a man who beat and raped her. And dressing Cody up as a vigilante murderer superhero? Not something I'd be comfortable with for my kids.

While LaGuerta did a terrible thing, I still don't think Pascal has anyone to blame for her demotion but herself. We all have problems, sometimes serious ones, but we leave them at home. Especially when we're the boss.

You kind of have to admire how LaGuerta keeps her eye on the prize.

It bothers me that Dexter is susceptible to Lila. It seems wrong for the character. She did so many things to set off his alarm bells (anyone's, really) - she's a thief, she stalked him to his place of business, she's clearly unstable. I understand he's feeling vulnerable, but come on. Though the moment where you could see his rage when she refused to "break up" with him and he pulled his hair so he wouldn't strangle her was awesome. It gave me chills.

This hadn't occurred to me, august2688, that Dex might use Barnes to save himself. Dexter framing the dead guy and saving Doakes's butt, for the win!

I don't know that I like Lilah the person, but I certainly dig Lilah the character.



I think this is the vibe I was getting from their creepy twin fabrics.

Knowing now that LaGuerta was boffing pretty boy to ruin Pascal, I view the scene where he's first introduced quite differently. Maria's more than experiencing being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She could be wondering the following, all at once: 1) If this idiot sees me, will he give away that I'm the other woman? 2) Oooo, let's see how my plan's working! If I had a mustache, I'd twirl it. 3) Dammit! What if Pascal finds me? If she catches me here, can she tell what I'm hiding?

Good thing for Maria that Esme never identified that smell.

I had this thought that she relates to him like she would her dad. And then I thought, "but no, no one talks to their dad that way." Then I thought, "but wait! Her dad was Harry Morgan! She could totally talk to him about getting laid. In fact, were she to express a desire to have sex, he's probably go buy her condoms, get her a street corner, make sure she knows how to wear proper hooker attire, and tell her how impressed he is with how she hides 'what a little ho she is' to the psychologists." ... And that came out sounding more bitter than it was in my head.



Was that when he whipped out "scary face" and invaded her personal space to scare her away? I think Dexter just IS sexier when he's taking off his mask (as he would think of it), and it was made even more so with the fact that he was doing it with this crazy hot chick that he didn't actually intend to kill. He's rarely intense with Rita, because he's so often got on his whole over-compensating demeanor.

I am actually wondering if LaGuertia was the other woman the whole time or if she just saw an opportunity with Pascal's insecurity that first night the two came into the station fighting. Did she just start manipulating things from there by sleeping with him after that just to make sure things would not get better between Pascal and The Cheating Fiance? Afterall, it would ensure that Pascal would, if not have a total meltdown, at least be off her game.

It seems a little dubious, without knowing something about her sense of insecurity, that Maria would just be all "I know, I'll sleep with her boyfriend and drive her out of Miami... mwhahahahah!".

I liked the meta comment, "Good actor," by Rita's mom about Dexter.

Did anybody else think maybe Dexter got it wrong with the husband of the lady Angel was interrogating? She seemed a little shifty eyed at the door when she dragged Angel inside, as if maybe she was the killer. I hope I'm wrong, I like Angel and he already nearly died last season. Give the guy a break!

You and me both, Blakespeare. I knew it would be a surprise, but I never imagined it would be that guy, in my split-second guessing before the reveal.

That said, he and Esme never made sense to me from the beginning. They seemed like such a mismatch. I would have pictured her with a suit-wearing professional, definitely older than this guy. (I have nothing against older women with younger men -- I'm all for it, as a matter of fact, just not this particular pairing.) I thought she could have done a LOT better. Apparently not.

Not sure how I feel about La Guerta in light of this new information. But I guess it explains why she hasn't been hitting on Dexter lately.

Also, I'm getting really tired of seeing women who've demonstrated sufficient competence to rise within their professions exhibit absolute incompetence when it comes to their personal lives (Women's Murder Club, anyone?). It's a really annoying cliche. I liked Esme a lot in her first scenes on this show, but in light of recent events, I'm glad that her story line appears to have run its course.

Edited to add:

I was thinking along those lines too, and wondering if La Guerta wears perfume. If she does, then Esme really is not a good detective.

Dexter usually has blood evidence before he takes someone out. I'm guessing one of those guns will match an outstanding murder.

Regardless of La Guerto being a heartless bitch, Pascal was the most unprofessional example of a woman in the workplace I've ever seen in my life, and good riddance to her. Her freak out over the shirt was totally ridiculous. I'd like to imagine that no woman would actually act that way, but...sigh. Just dump your boyfriend, okay, crazy? I'm relieved this show has Angel because he's fairly sentimental so it's not just the women getting all flustered over everything. And I'm super glad that lame plot is over. The only interesting thing was the parallel it established between her lack of emotional control and Doakes/Carl and their relationships with their spouses.

And Lila can stay now, I like her demented style.

Well, I have to say that for a split second I thought it was going to be Esme popping up behind Maria! Really, Maria has been so sympathetic, and all. However, the actual story works too. Man that Maria is some kind of bitch. I just wonder why she is not trying to screw over Cpt. Astor. but I guess there is still time this season... I won't miss Pascal.



I think that Dexter is being led around by the nose by the female characters on this show. Deb takes over his home and bed; Rita threw herself at him so many times in season one ("i'm ready! have sex with me now!!!!) and forces him into a "program" (or else!); and now Lilah makes him change his mind about dumping her as a sponsor. Dex only seems to have control over his victims, and even that still has the scent of Harry.

I think Lilah has a similar dark passenger, and has recognized a kindred spirit in Dex. Maybe her art is like Dexter's collection of blood slides....

Harry is turning out to be a real bastard. Imagine calling a kid a monster! It is almost a self fulfilling prophecy. I can imagine if he had lived that he would be trying to solve Dexters murders in some kind of father-son game. 'I'll count to 10 and you go hide and kill someone and I will see if I can find you and the body!"

Clearly, Rita's mom is in control. Which is why Rita was with a controlling addict-type. Trouble is, she is still with an addict. Rita needs a program for herself.

I liked last weeks episode better, probably because Dex was killing someone. This week is a set-up for some future episode. I can't wait for a standoff between Rita and Lilah!!

I actually thought for a moment that maybe she was right...maybe her husband was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and Dexter had no choice but to take him out.

I've been thinking the same thing since last week's ep, maewest!

Wow. I definately think there's some *sexual* tension between Deb and Lundy. When she told him she had gotten laid the night before, he looked disappointed. Man, he is coming off as a great guy. I'm wondering if Deb's attraction to him is a "daddy" thing, for want of a better way to describe it.

Notice how Masuka stayed in the examination room after everyone else had fled because of the smell? He's not human, I tell you. Almost like he enjoyed it.

Do any of y'all know the actor who played Barnes? He looked so familiar but I couldn't figure it out.

He was on John Doe a few years back.

For a split-second, I thought it was going to be Doakes in bed with Maria (like someone else said). Once I got over the shock of it being Esme's fiance, I noticed the humongous chain around his neck. Had to laugh. Wonder if their bling got all tangled up when they had sex.

I didn't see the Maria-doing-Esme's-fiancee-thing coming at all. Usually I'm pretty good at catching that stuff, but that totally threw me for a loop.

I'm starting to really like Lila. Crazy, very. But that scene in the parking lot/tent just really mesmerized me. I imagine her relationship with Dexter will give some more interesting insight into his character.

I thought it was going to be Matthews in bed with her, and it was how she was trying to get her way back up to the top. Alas, I was wrong again.

Dexter (VO), "I hope I haven't missed anything" (or something to that effect)...as his toast burns.

vallegirl Where did you see this episode Wednesday with 150 people? Do tell (please).

Georgia I think that Dexter likes being pursued by crazies. Last season he was all about being stalked by the Ice Truck Killer. Maybe since he is compulsive he likes that quality in others.

Last page or so or the Meet Market.

Heh.  I thought it was going to be Esme.

Do we have enough clues to figure out who the last remaining holdout is? The "engineer" who keeps guns in the walls?

I suppose we're not going to be able to match up all the "Bay Harbor Butcher" bodies with bodies of those Dexter's killed, since they clearly haven't found every single one, but it bothers me that it was so easy for them to find instantly that 13 of 18 were accused of murder and 4 of the others only required same-day digging. What about the boy-killing choir director type that Dex killed in the pilot? Was his body not among those found?

Anyway, great ep, except I'm not sure about this whole LaGuerta thing. Seems a little too neat, and too risky -- if the fiance tells anyone about their relationship, won't that cause massive trouble for her? I can't see how she'd let someone else have that kind of power. I thought she was too smart for that.

He also played the father in Smart Guy which was on the old WB and had reruns on Disney.

I think it's completely in character. He seeks acceptance for what he is. Especially after reuniting with Brian. Killing his brother devastated him and was the one moment of true emotion he showed last season. His expressions of "fondness" for Rita and Deb could also be fondness for the safety they provide him, but his grief was purely for Brian.

Also, from Lilah's POV, Dexter sought her out. To her he's a newly sober junkie alternately clinging to her for support (he ran to her in the middle of the day) and pushing her away when she gives it. She's not stalking him as much as she's trying to break through and help him stay sober. And he's pushing her away because while he wants acceptance he also fears it. Being his true self means giving up the life he's created. Lilah both frees and frightens him.


Yeah. That moment at his car he looks completely terrifying and aroused. Weird. And I think it goes to the heart of Dexter not knowing what he is and fearing the worst, that Lilah's bringing up. Rita doesn't really challenge him, except to keep up the facade. Deb, for all her love and concern, knows nothing about Dexter except the superficial. But Lilah, in just a few moments, has some innate understanding of his character. It's heady, alluring and frightening to him. Which is why he always ends up putty in her hands.


I thought he looked embarrassed and a little disgusted. Like "these crazy kids with their oversharing." He likes Deb and may feel paternal toward her, but I don't think he's crossed over into seeing her in a sexual way, yet. And I hope never. I like Carradine, but he's 30 years older than her. Leave them as they are and have Deb stick to hot guys from the gym. That's her speed.

So, I wonder how many people Lilah has offed? She seems to have a very deep understanding of 'evil' and not even the slightest aversion to gore.

I hate to say it, but that was the first Dexter episode I have seen that was kind of 'meh' to me.

The algae on the rocks thing seemed very careless to me. Not so much that he should have known about the algae, but the fact that he was collecting stones from his own marina in daylight. And the Esme fiance 'shocker' seemed awfully contrived. And Rita's mom's 'He's hiding something.' was lame too.

And Deb's saying 'I got laid big time' to her boss was ridiculous. NO women I know would dream of saying that to their boss. If those two end up shagging, I am really going to be disappointed in this show.

I'm sorry to report I've seen that exact thing happen. Some people just have no 'edit' function, nor sense of what's inappropriate for work.

I have to agree with this, Bowieluva. It just seems unlikely to me that she would make it that high in the police ranks with that sort of an "emotional basketcase" personality. Talk about not handling pressure well! The whole thing bugged me though. It just seemed too far-fetched.

Deb has been annoying me more than usual lately. I hated the way she spoke to Lundy. I've lived around the police (dad, uncle, all their friends) my entire life. There is a strict hierarchy and it would be unfathomable to speak like that to someone as high up as Lundy. Honestly, I don't think Deb would have been assigned to Homicide in the real world. Way too much of a loose cannon.

My favorite moment: Dexter's face when he noticed that he burned his toast. It was just a fleeting expression, but yet another example of MC's fabulous acting.

Pathologists are crazy. I think he gets a pass on his behavior because he's so open about it whereas Dex hides his.


That's who I thought the unknown-crime guy is. He's a stand-up guy in the community, but has his dirty secret so well hidden, but Dexter knew about it.


Definitely. Wow, JBW was good and I hated Gail. "He's nice; he's hiding something." I wonder if she can recognize something in Dex that she sees in herself, but uses it to control Rita and kill her spirit rather than kill others. Sort of like a Livia Soprano. She can probably control it in front of her students because they aren't savvy but isnt' well-liked by the staff.

No wonder Rita went with someone like Paul who could be sweet and overly nice, and then in a second, in a total rage. Just to get away from her mother.

I wasn't surprised by the LaGuerta thing. I knew she wasn't as innocent as she looks, but sleeping with the boyfriend was a shock even though it's totally in character. Excellent acting!

I liked the awkward moment with Deb and Lundy. I get the feeling Deb has always tried hard to be "one of the guys" with her toughness and her foul mouth. When Rudy-Brian was able to seduce her by treating her like a girl and proposing, it made her feel very vulnerable. So, she was trying to overcompensate with Lundy - look I'm a tough guy. But the tactic failed with Lundy, who appreciates Deb for who she is and not for the wall she puts up. She made him uncomfortable rather than comfortable, as she intended. And it made me squirm for the awkwardness of it all.

And yes, I saw the potential for a May-December thing, if Deb could get her head straight.

Well, I got what I wanted, and LaGuerta's back in charge. But I only wanted it because Esme turned out to be so disappointingly pathetic. I so wish they kept her character confident, competent and ballsy.

Barnes's boat: "FUBAR"... How appropos.

Yeah, Lilah looked way more turned-on than scared, right then. Dexter wasn't having the effect he thought he was having.


Some have said that they're disappointed in Pascal for being such a flop in the lieutenant's job, all the inappropriate drama about her fiancee, letting LaGuerta get in a position be owed favors and have dirt on her, etc. But, IIRC, she was a detective (not a sergeant or lieutenant) from another jurisdiction who won recognition by being shot in the line of duty. So she's a brave cop, but not necessarily an effective leader - Captain Matthews may have tapped her because he thought he could control her better than he could control LaGuerta (and she was a minority woman, so he wouldn't be vulnerable to bad press for replacing LaGuerta with her).

That being said, I have settled into watching Dexter with a different attitude lately. Rather than predicting the outcomes of plotlines in terms of believeability, based on general knowledge of police work (from non-fiction and true crime shows, etc.) the way I watched The Sopranos, I'm now watching it more through a Carnivale lens. It's its own universe, it has its own logic (hopefully) and as long as developments are entertaining and don't strain my suspension of disbelief too harshly, I'll just enjoy the performances.

Last week, when LaGuerta tossed that prime opportunity to send Esme packing back in the Captain's face, I KNEW she had something up her sleeve. Out Esme like that and her mark is all over it, but do it covertly and her hands are ostensibly clean. And if nothing else, LaGuerta is a political animal. She's not just gunning for her job back, she's looking at her future. If she used Esme's confidence to get herself back into the Lieu's office, Esme could take the gloves off and destroy her. This way was much more subtle, and nobody will ever have a clue that she orchestrated Esme's meltdown. Brilliant.

As for competent professional women being personal disasters...I don't think that's a cliche. The very same qualities that can make you a success professionally can ruin your personal life, and the balance is much harder than most people realise.

Who are you telling? What woman of color, especially a Haitian, would finally break through the glass ceiling only to blow it over some trifling fool? Its absurd. Nobody (black and/or minority and/or womens group representative) set her straight? Nobody from the rank & file would've stepped in and said "sister stop playing!" ? Its just not realistic in any way. I think this story line was an overly neat device used to demonstrate how cut throat LaGuerta can be but it rang false when I think of the characters - particularly minority police women of Caribbean descent (which would describe both). They don't get to positions of power within that field without very strong community support, very strong support from the minority mentors (even when shoved into key roles). Somebody would've kicked her tail and been in her ear about what she represents and what she's throwing away - especially when the "problem" was a man.

I found the storyline a bit sexist and I wonder why the writers chose to go that route with these female characters who've they've also strongly implied are in their positions because of their ethnicity too.

Can someone recap the 'next week on' for me?
I too expected Esme to be in bed with Laguerta- jaw dropped when it was pretty boy.
Lila is definitely giving off the crazy vibe with her desperation when tried to break up with her- notice how she adopts and then clings to that term?
Awesome ep though. I really was debating watching last night but boy howdy!
I read the books and was concerned about the departure from the authors work this season, but so far, so good. Just different.

I think they said that more than those 18 bodies were found but not yet identified because they were incomplete. Pretty hard to ID someone who's not in a DNA database from just their leg or torso.

Agreed. I cringed (as a black female) watching Esme melt down. To even get close enough to a position to be promoted to Lieutenant would take some doing, and it would be tougher for Esme due to race and gender. To lose it like that over a man felt too contrived to be realistic.

Then again, Captain Matthews sucks as a decision-maker, so she may not have been a good fit for the job to begin with. Maybe that was a hamfisted orchestration by the writers to exploit a fundamental weakness in her character. Matthews got to be correct when he told LaGuerta that Esme set women in the department back 20 years.


Segue to Doakes/LaGuerta - we got to see more of their rapport, which I like. However, a second kill is going to ping LaGuerta's radar pretty strongly, even though we saw for ourselves that it was clean.

I liked having them build on Doakes' Special Ops knowledge and not mystifying it ("She was 'Mozambiqued'"). That Doakes left his wife before he did her any harm was telling that he wanted to avert the desire or remove the temptation to kill - and also an interesting break from the stereotype that the wife couldn't take it anymore and left. It's very topical in light of the real-life stories of military spouses (pretty much all wives, from what I've read) being murdered when their husbands return from the traumatic stress of Iraq and other conflicts.

I wasn't surprised at all by the reveal of LaGuerta and Esme's fiancé in bed. I felt like watching the Sixth Sense all over again, then it was "are you kidding me? Willis was shot in the opening scene!", here it was "are you kidding me? LaGuerta is the definition of rock bottom bitch".
Really there was absolutely no surprise there for me in that storyline.

Re: the bodies found, I admit to be bothered by the fact that the Cuban smuggler/murderer hasn't been found. Now his presence among the victims of the BHB would raise red flags to Deb, LaGuerta and Doakes.
Deb would brought back up her profile of whom killed the wife, a murderer she described as a copy cat of the ITK, and Doakes would be all over Dexter again in a heartbeat.
It really bothers me that that body hasn't turned up.

I like Lila so far albeit I find her creepy but in an interesting way because of how she makes Dexter question himself.

I really do not like Rita's mother at all which is the point I guess. The problem I have is that I'm not interested in how she interacts with anyone. Maybe that will change but for now? Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Deb was incredibly innapropriate with Lundy but I find it in character. Last season she took her time to admit to her colleagues that she was dating Rudy but once she decided to let it be known she made it in a very public manner. Plus she works in an office with Masuka and Esme, saying she got laid has the shock value of saying she brushed her teeth that morning.

All in all great episode, MCH continues to be mesmerizing as Dexter.

Just a minor quibble - Emse is a Lieutenant. You can't be the head of a team without being higher in rank than those you lead. You can still be a detective at other ranks. Example - my dad was a police captain, but he was still a detective. His real title was Detective Captain, but everyone just called him Captain.

I hope for continuity's sake that they drop a name or two from one of last season's recent kills: Mike Donovan, Jamie Jaworski, Matt Chambers, Dr. Emmett Meridian, or Jorge Castillo. Dexter didn't change his dumping pattern until after the body bags were discovered.

Matt Chambers had been on trial, so maybe he's one of the ones they identified but haven't isolated.

Maybe one of the others will turn up in the 'unidentified' group of people who didn't have criminal records, and they'll make an ID later in the season.