Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Dexter feels calm and refreshed after killing the priest. He always feels this way post-kill. Murder is a kind of release that recalibrates and renews him. He takes a long shower before heading to his job as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. His surrogate father, Harry, was a police officer, and so is Dexter’s surrogate sister, Deborah. Harry and his wife raised Dexter after he was orphaned, and it was Harry who first noticed Dexter’s Dark Passenger.

When Dexter arrives at work, he has a message from Deb, who is at a crime scene at the Cacique Motel on Tamiami Trail. Deb works in vice, which ensures public order by investigating gambling, prostitution, narcotics, and the like, although she would love a transfer to homicide. Dexter often helps her process crime scenes, and she wants Dexter to come look at her murder victim. The victim, in all likelihood, was a sex worker. Her killer cut her body into several pieces before wrapping each one like a Christmas present. Dexter uses this method, too, but unlike Dexter’s kills, there is no blood at this scene—a detail that fascinates and thrills Dexter.

Dexter talks to various coworkers around the crime scene. He meets Vince Masuoka and Angel Batista, both of whom ask why he’s there since Dexter analyzes blood spatter, and there is, bizarrely, no blood at this crime scene. Lieutenant LaGuerta approaches. She is not popular among her coworkers because of her curt demeanor and cutthroat tactics, but Dexter has made a concerted effort to win her over, and she is nicer to him than she is to most people.

Dexter watches as LaGuerta interviews their only real witness, a Guatemalan cook who found the body in the dumpster behind the Cuban restaurant next to the motel. The working theory is that the woman was murdered elsewhere and then dumped here, but no one is certain yet. LaGuerta is deferential but obviously annoyed when Captain Matthews, her superior, informs her that Deb will be part of the case. There is no love lost between Deb and LaGuerta. Dexter heads over to warn Deb to be careful of LaGuerta. Even if Deb does well, LaGuerta is likely to find fault with her work.

Dexter takes his boat out after work. He enjoys being out on the water and often uses boating to decompress. He thinks about his day and the new case. This is the fifth murdered sex worker the police have discovered, and the public is getting antsy. Although there is usually less sympathy for murder victims who live on society’s fringes, Miamians are beginning to wonder why the killer has not been caught.

Earlier in the day, LaGuerta latched on to one of the case’s bizarre details: One of the victim’s legs was cut into fewer pieces than the other. LaGuerta is sure this means the killer was interrupted, but Dexter doubts this. Even though one leg had fewer cuts, it was wrapped as neatly as the other body parts. He wonders if the killer is starting to get bored. Dexter can sympathize; five matching kills sounds tedious to him.

He recalls his childhood and his father, Harry. Harry realized Dexter was “different,” and he knew more about Dexter’s traumatic past than even Dexter does. When Dexter exhibited interest in killing as a teenager, Harry insisted that he keep to a code. He taught Dexter to only kill people who were themselves killers or serial predators. Dexter has lived his entire life according to Harry’s code, and it has served him well. He selects his victims carefully, and he is mindful of how he presents himself to the world. He lacks empathy and true interest in human relationships, but he pretends otherwise, doing his best to fit in. His facade fools everyone, even Deb.

Dexter is nearly late to work thanks to Miami’s monsoon rains disrupting traffic. When he walks into the office, Deb is waiting for him, annoyed that he was out on his boat and not answering her calls the previous evening. She explains that LaGuerta is already shutting her out of the investigation, and she is desperate to come up with a lead to increase her chances of a transfer to homicide. She is dressed as a sex worker today, as she often is; she will be participating in a sting operation, posing as one of the many women selling sex in Miami. She loathes working in vice and is desperate to get out of the department.

Dexter brings up the legs, positing that the killer wasn’t interrupted but is getting bored. He suspects the killer is about to strike again in a new way. He encourages Deb to float this theory and remain vigilant. She is a good cop, like their father, and he wants to help her. He’s also aware she suspects something is off about him due to his many correct hunches, among other things, but even Deb is unsure what her brother is capable of.

It’s Friday night, and Dexter is out on a date with Rita. Dexter eschewed dating for years because he finds sex intolerable, but dating is normal, and he must appear normal. After all, he is a serial killer, and someone might become suspicious of him. Rita is the perfect partner because she was traumatized by an abusive marriage and does not want to have sex.

Rita has two children, Aster and Cody. Dexter dislikes adults and often ponders how little he would care if the earth were suddenly devoid of people, but he does enjoy children. Aster and Cody are quiet kids, withdrawn after years of chaos and violence. He knows, because Harry explained it to him, that his “Dark Passenger” is the product of the violence that he witnessed as a child. It is too late for him to be a functional human being, but he hopes Aster and Cody are still malleable enough to have a brighter future. He tries to be a positive presence in their life, hoping his love and affection will undo their trauma.

For date night, Dexter and Rita go out to a movie, then share drinks on South Beach. On their way home, Dexter sees a crime scene: The serial killer, now dubbed the Tamiami Slasher, has struck again. They stop, partly so Dexter can show off Rita (and his normalcy), and partly so he can see the body. This time, the killer removed some of the skin and tissue from the victim’s bone. As Dexter predicted, the slasher is evolving.

Dexter wakes from a vivid dream about murder. He finds that he has been sleepwalking. This happens from time to time, and he doesn’t worry too much about it. Deb calls, asking him out to breakfast to discuss the case. They go to Wolfie’s on South Beach, a Miami institution and a Morgan family favorite. There, Deb shares that she was allowed to attend the Metro Dade Police Department’s briefing. Unfortunately, she disagreed with LaGuerta’s theory that the slasher was interrupted, and LaGuerta responded with open disrespect. Dexter tells her to be careful; LaGuerta is more a politician than a cop.

Deb mulls over the lack of blood at the crime scenes, and Dexter suggests the slasher doesn’t like his work to be messy. Deb shares that the latest victim showed signs of being chilled, and Dexter notes that this would fit with the slasher’s distaste for blood: Refrigerating his victims is a way to slow blood flow. He tells Deb to look for missing refrigerated trucks, theorizing that the slasher must have used one to move this latest body.