Circle Of Friends
Updated 2008-04-18 19:17:05
Previously: Dexter has a new friend who likes to leave chopped up dolls in his refrigerator after snooping around his place for clues as to who he his. His friend is known to others as the Ice Truck Killer. The ITK kidnapped Tony Tucci, a security guard, and cut off a couple of his appendages in order to mess with Dex. Rudy, one of his doctors, fit him for prostheses, and also made some sexy eye-contact with Deb. Doakes and Deb interrogated an eye-witness, but he turned out to be bullshit. Or did he? Dexter followed a kid named Jeremy Downs because he thought they had a lot in common. Turns out that Downs killed the guy he did because the guy raped him. Or did he?
Over black, we hear, "The FBI estimates that there are less than fifty serial killers active in the United States today." Here's Dexter, slicing something at the camera. He's leaving some blood spatter behind, so I'm guessing he's in the lab, trying to recreate something? With the camera on his face, he continues VOing: "We don't get together at convention, share trade secrets or exchange Christmas cards. But sometimes I wonder what it's like for the others." As he continues to slice at the camera: "The only sound I hear, the only sound in the entire world, is my heart beating." Hmm, all right, if you say so. There are actually a lot of other sounds in the world, but hey, you're going to believe what you want to believe. Dex looks down at a body laying next to him, and the camera pans out to reveal that we're at a crime scene (so close!), and Dexter has been trying to recreate the strokes that did in our unlucky corpse. Oh, and of course there's salsa music playing. Dexter continues what I like to call his "slash-dance" until Doakes interrupts his flow: "I swear to Christ, Morgan, after this case I'm submittin' yo' ass to psychiatric evaluation." "I'm just retracing cast-off patterns, directionality angles," says Dexter, very businesslike. "Can you tell us what happened here, or not?" "It's an execution." Doakes is surprised. Apparently the victim was an honor student, "editor of his high school yearbook." Dexter tells him that the knife work is expert, no stroke wasted. So it was definitely intentional. "Every stroke hit a major artery...or at least came close." As he looks at the dead kid's wrist, Dexter pauses, giving Doakes the creeps, as he does. "You got a fuckin' hard-on there, Morgan?" Covering, Dexter smiles a bit and says, "No, it's truly horrific. Yearbook committee, you said?" Doakes, unamused, wants Dexter's report the following morning. Fuck off, Doakes. "I wish I could believe Sergeant Doakes is my biggest problem right now, but he's not. I've seen these wounds before." Uh oh. I'm thinking Jeremy Downs. Why else would he have been in the previouslies?
Deb is passed out on her coat in an office at the station, and Angel comes up and knocks on the window. Deb bolts upright as Angel tells her, "You're drooling on LaGuerta's couch!" In the break room, Deb asks Angel if he's pulling the midnight shift. "Lopez has the trots," he replies. "Why are you still here?" "Why not? Nothin' at home except an empty fridge and an empty bed." Aw, is someone feeling lonely? "If I wasn't married and ten years younger..." "I'd still be in high school, keep dreaming!" "Wise ass." Heh. Have I mentioned that I like Angel? Well, I do. If you don't, you can fuck off. Deb goes on to mention that she's been chasing leads on the ITK, "pathetic long-shots, mostly." Angel asks what she's learned, and tells him that it's usually really dumb shit that trips up most serial killers. "Son of Sam got a parking ticket outside his own crime scene." That's actually true, believe it or not. Some lady who lived nearby saw Berkowitz menacingly glaring at people and removing the parking ticket before he killed Stacy Moskowitz and Robert Violente. Anyway, Deb cross-checked parking violations with the crime scenes of the ITK. "Smart," remarks Angel. "Yeah, but none of the registered owners have criminal records." "Try moving violations," says Angel, suddenly inspired. "Timothy McVeigh drove way too fast on the way out of town." Deb checks the moving violations, and it turns out that Neil Perry, the bullshit witness she and Doakes interrogated a couple episodes back, is on the list. She clicks on his name and a profile with a really creepy picture comes up. Apparently, he rolled through a stop sign just two blocks away from the third crime scene. "Why would a voluntary witness be at two separate crime scenes?" asks Angel. "I don't know, maybe he was chopping up hookers," says Deb. "Holy motherfuck, is this him?" "Let's find out," says Angel. Ooh, exciting, you guys! Go get 'im!
Deb and Angel pull up to a beat-up trailer, and Deb asks if Angel's sure this is the right place. "According the DMV, this is where Perry lives." "With seven inbred cousins, by the look of it." Ha ha, Deb. Because he lives in a trailer. Way to judge, dick. Deb thinks there has to be something wrong with a person in order for them to live in a steel box. "Aluminum, actually. Nina and I had a deluxe multi-sectional. It was our starter home." Aw, simpler times. As they snoop around some more, Deb spots a station wagon on the other side of the trailer. "This is our car! One of the girls was seen getting into a wood-paneled station wagon on the night of her death." As Angel starts talking about going "one step at a time," Deb notices a camera that's trained on them and moving around. "Look up, slowly," she says, cutting Angel off. "Okay, take the front door, cover all the exits. I'm going to the back," Angel tells her, trying not to move his lips too much. He runs around back, and Deb goes to the front. They both start banging on their respective doors, telling Perry to come out. After a few seconds, Neil climbs out of a small door underneath the trailer, and crawls past a garden gnome in the front where Deb is. He gets up, runs towards the police cruiser, and slashes the front tire, which catches Deb's attention. "I got him! Police!" she yells and starts giving chase on foot. Angel tries to catch up, but Perry has already gotten into one of the thirty (or so) old cars on the property and taken off. Deb's pissed: "Fuck!" Yes, "fuck" indeed. There's nothing you really could have done. You'll get him eventually. What if this is really him, you guys? Exciting! He and Dexter are going to have some interesting scenes, if so.
Speaking of Dex, he's just now comparing the cuts from his most recent crime scene to those of another. "I knew I recognized the knife work of the killer. Jeremy Downs." As he flashes on scenes of him slamming Downs against a wall, he continues, "I had him. He was mine. Until I found out the boy Jeremy killed raped him. So I let him go. It seemed fair. But, my random act of kindness was misguided. If I'd followed my instincts, this boy's high school yearbook would still have an editor." Heh, yeah. Well, I'm sure they found someone else. They can't just not have a yearbook. Hearing a muffled voice, Dexter looks up and realizes LaGuerta's breaking the news about Neil Perry. "The task force will look for any evidence that links Neil Perry to the Ice Truck Murders. We need proof this time, people, tangible proof." Dex walks up to Deb and asks, "They really found the Ice Truck Killer?" " I did," she replies, proud of herself, and definitely annoying me. She walks over to Doakes without any further explanation. LaGuerta tells Doakes that she needs him to "stay with the knife victim in the alley. His parents are high-profile." Hmm. He's fine with that. LaGuerta tells Angel, "You found Perry, you are on the task force. Contact the fugitive's friends, family, co-workers, anyone who'd try to hide him." Angel asks if he should circulate his photo, and she replies, "In neighborhoods only." She doesn't want this to get high-profile yet: "The last thing I need is another Tony Tucci on my hands." That's the truth.
Dexter, looking at the creepy Neil Perry picture, asks Deb, "You really think this is the guy?" "It's all lining up. I saw him, Dex. I chased him." Maybe you should learn to not have your mind blown every time you chase a criminal, Debra. I think your elation can be a bit distracting in the long run. Keep your eye on the prize, know what I mean? Angel calls over to Deb, telling her to get her ass over there because she's on the team. After gloating a bit more, Dexter decides to take her down a peg or two: "He hardly looks like someone who's capable of terrorizing Miami. A science camp, maybe." Deb's face instantly falls. Nice shootin', Dex. "I'll keep you in the loop," she angsts, and goes over to Angel. "Where's my blood report, sparky?" Doakes asks. "I'm on it, Sergeant," replies Dexter, still staring at Perry's mug.
Rita, who's still driving the Christ-mobile 2006, is at school to pick up Astor and Cody, I presume. A big fella wearing one of those super-bright crossing guard vests greets Rita. "Hey, Charlie. Where are the kids?" "Oh, your husband swung by a few minutes ago, he didn't tell you?" Dude, Charlie, can we talk a second? Yeah, um..what are you, a fucking idiot? There's no way this guy doesn't know what's going on with this family. Paul's been in jail, and granted, we don't know for how long, but I'm sure it's been long enough that the guy who's supposed to be in charge of the kids getting safely retrieved from school would have at least made a note! "Paul?" Rita says. "Yeah, he just picked up the kids." Well, obviously, Charlie. "You gave my children to Paul! Are you stupid?" I think he's stupid, yes. Rita tells him that she told the administrative office not to release them into his custody. Charlie: "Well, nobody told me." Rita: "He just got out of fucking jail!" Well, that's just great. Fucking Charlie. I mean, I guess it's not his fault, but still. Dammit, Charlie.
At Perry's house, the task force has begun tearing the place apart for clues and evidence. The place is musty looking and completely covered in what appears to be amateur taxidermy. Angel tells everyone to follow "strict, sterile protocol. There will be no contamination of my crime scene." Deb holds up some sort of taxidermy project that sort of looks like a Jackalope , just with more chicken. "He's a sick fuck." "Some might say that," Masuka chimes in. "To others, crypto-taxidermy is a fine art. I've got a mummified chupacabra at home." Deb asks Angel for permission to run Masuka's prints, and Masuka tells her not to bother. "I'll give you some warm DNA right now." Heh. And: gross. Some dude we've never seen before (at least on this show) says he's found something. "An archive of hidden files," he says melodramatically, milking every second of his cameo. He's on Perry computer, and continues, "A lot of how-to documents: draining blood from cattle, wartime amputation techniques..." "Butchering the human carcass?" Deb reads. "He's even got a list of countries that don't extradite to the U.S.! We've got this fucker!" "We got jack shit, Morgan," says Angel. "Everything in here is circumstantial. We need hard evidence." "I'm not done lookin', yet. Are you?" Okay, guys, do it. I have a feeling this isn't the guy. It's only the seventh episode of the season. I just don't buy it. It seems like we're being led to believe it's Perry, but I think it's a false peak.
Rita's bitching to Dexter: "The school had no right to release my children to Paul." She's flipping out. "I should really be out looking for them." "Rita, the best thing you can do is wait here in case he tries to call," Dexter tells her. "Yeah, but what if he doesn't?" Valid. "What if he kidnapped them to get back at me for putting him in jail?" A stretch, but also a valid concern. As Rita collapses into Dexter, crying, the front door opens and Astor runs in followed by Cody, who's being carried by a man I can only assume is the infamous Paul. "Mom, look! It's Dad! He came home!" says Cody, stupidly and annoyingly. I know, I know, he's just a kid who's happy to see his pops, but still. "What, did you think I was going to move to the moon?" Paul tells Cody. "Paul, stop! Just stop! Did you know I called the police?" "Why? I told you I was taking them to the carnival." Rita doesn't seem to think that he did, and he explains that he called her at work, but she was on break, so he left his info and cell number. Rita looks like she has egg on her face, and looks down at her feet. Paul notices Dexter and introduces himself, looking a bit confused. "Uh, hi, I'm Paul Bennett, father on parole." "Uh, Dexter Morgan. I, uh, can't think of anything clever to say." Which is kind of clever, you rascal! Paul looks amused. Rita speaks up again, saying, "Paul, this is unacceptable. You can't just take them without my permission!" "I came to see my babies. I missed them. I miss a lot of things." Dexter tells them he's calling the station to "call off the dogs." As he makes the call, Cody says, "Dexter, look! My Dad's home!" "Yeah, I see that, buddy!" Dexter says cheerily, then instantly locks eyes with Paul in a total gunslinger man-moment.
Back at Neil Perry's crib, where the forensics team is poring over every detail of the place. Deb walks over to a closet, and notices something strange about it once she's taken all the clothes out. "Hey, Angel. You're an expert on manufactured living...does this closet look a little small to you?" Angel agrees, and taps on the back wall to hear that it's hollow. He grabs a knife and pries off the false cover, revealing a few stacked file boxes. "Sweet," says Deb. They both grab a file folder from the top of the pile, and sit down on Perry's bed. Inside, they find press clippings about the ITK and pictures of the bodies. "Did we even release those pictures?" asks Deb. "No." "Did he take them himself?" "He had to." "Did we just hit the mother-lode?" "No. We just hit the motherfucking mother-lode!" Yeah, okay. Now, that definitely seems like some seriously hard evidence, but I'm still not convinced.
At the station, LaGuerta is telling Captain Astor that the "evidence just keeps piling up at the mobile home." She's also ordered an excavation of the back patio, because she thinks something's buried there. I have to say, I think they should have shot this a couple more times, because Lauren Vélez's delivery seems a bit static, and her inflection is all off. They could have at least cheated her lines in ADR afterwards because her back is to the camera most of the time. Oh, well. Anyway, Astor keeps trying to trip her up. "What are we doing to find Neil Perry?" he asks. LaGuerta tells him she put his name on "the automated system [whatever that is] and notified the FBI." "Airports on alert?" Yup, as well as train stations and bus lines. "You should track his credit cards." "Already done, along with the ATMs and bank accounts. I also put a tap on his home phone." Astor's impressed. "Seems you thought of everything." "Seems that way," she says bitchily. Astor moves to exit, but at her door he wheels around. "Look, Maria..." "No need to apologize. I don't require your approval to do my job." Really? Because I was under the impression that he's literally the one person whose approval you absolutely must have. "I know that," he says, proving me wrong. "I've been kicking your ass because I knew you had this in you." "Well, thank you for making me the woman I am today." Wait, what are we talking about here? Are you guys boning? Ew.
Rita's tucking Astor into bed and kissing her goodnight, and as she gets up, Astor says, "He's not going to hit you anymore. He told me at the carnival. I made him promise." Rita, looking touched, says, "Thank you, baby," and shuts the lights.
Out on the couch, Rita and Dexter give each other foot-rubs as Rita says, "I haven't had time to process as much as the kids. I mean, Paul was supposed to be locked up for another year." "Cody seems to be processing okay," says Dex. Rita explains how she thinks Cody's too young, and that Paul is just a concept to him, not a person, but that Astor remembers what Paul put them through. "At least you're not married anymore," says Dex. Actually, it turns out that they are, technically, still married, because Paul refused to sign the papers. "Power play?" wonders Dexter. Rita doesn't think so: "I think beyond all the darkness that haunts him, Paul loves having a family. He's just afraid to let go." "When did you notice it?" asks Dex. "This darkness inside the guy you fell for?" Rita: "I always knew it was there, I just didn't think I deserved better...until I met you." They share a long moment, her smiling, him pondering. "I have a dark side, too," he says after a while, and Rita laughs. "What? I do." "Somehow I doubt that. You have a good heart, Dexter. You're not like Paul. You don't hurt people." "Innocent people. I don't hurt innocent people." Um, whoa. What are you doing, Dexter? Rita, clearly not understanding what he's getting at, just keeps rubbing his feet and smiling. Man, oh man.
Dexter's arrived at the "Homestead Halfway House," and there's a slightly goth-y looking kid strumming a Fender Strat outside on a bench who, upon seeing Dexter, tells him the bowling alley is around the corner. "I'm looking for Jeremy Downs," Dexter tells him. "Jeremy?" the kid asks. Then, strumming along with himself, he says, "He va-ca-ted! The pre-mi-ses!" Aw, it's like a little punk song! Good for you, kid. Keep it up. Stay in school! Dexter snaps in the kids face and tells him to focus, which is kind of hilarious. "I'm trying to find Jeremy." "Oh, I get it. Look, man, I'm not really into that homo shit, but I'm kind of short on money for weed, so I guess I'll do it for less than Jeremy's charging." Yikes, dude. For weed ? Really? I mean, I can see if you were hooked on crank or horse, but weed? Just scrape your bowl or find a friend who's got some, Jesus. "Wait, Jeremy's selling himself?" Dex asks. The kid confirms it, and Dexter gets a call. Of course it's Deb, who wants him to come over to Neil Perry's place. "Deb, it's my day off, I..." "Just get your ass over here. We're about to bust open the goods on the Ice Truck Killer!" Annoyed because not only does he have to put his pursuit of Jeremy Downs on hold, but also because he doesn't really believe that they've got the real ITK, and because Deb is being a cocky little shit, Dex hangs up and heads over.
Dexter arrives at the trailer, and when he crosses the police tape, he says, "Not what I expected" to a cop. When Dex enters the domicile, he takes some time to explore the taxidermic wonderland that it is. As he meanders around to some more sizzling salsa tunes, he seems generally amused. I can't blame him. The place is ridiculous. It seems that he isn't really taking any of it seriously, as though he already knows that his "playmate" could never be such a silly dude. Finally, he works his way outside, where a huge hole has been dug under the cement patio, to be greeted by Deb. "Hey, Dex. I thought you'd want to be here. Something's buried down there. Masuka's been digging all night." Dexter: "I hate to break this to you, Deb, but you know you've got the wrong guy, here, right?" He goes on to explain that the "psychological signature" of the ITK is that he's very calculated and precise. "Neil Perry, on the other hand, stuffs roadkill." "Yeah, and turns it into fucked-up fantasy shit!" "But the fantasies are all wrong! The guy we're looking for wouldn't turn dead, dirty things into living cartoons. He'd find that pathetic." "How do you know?" "Because it is pathetic." True, indeed. It is certainly that. Of course, as a forensics guy comes out of the hole behind Dexter carrying a skeleton, Dex says, "Deb, trust me. Neil Perry is not a killer. He's a dabbler, he's a waste of time." All fucking proud of herself and acting it, Deb tells him to turn around. "You were saying?" Shut your face, Deb.
"Looks like an adult female," says Masuka. "Any idea how long she's been down there?" asks Angel. Masuka estimates between two and three years. "What happened to the limbs, did they rot off?" asks Dex. "Nope, they're clean cuts," says Masuka. "He didn't chop up the whole body," observes Angel. "This could be Perry's first kill, like he was experimenting." "You're the expert, Dex," says Deb twattily. "What do you think?" Dexter: "Sure, sounds good." "Actually, it's sounds perfectly awful," he VOs. "For weeks, I've felt like a student at a master class. Is it really possible that the master's on the run? And even more tragic: Does he live in a double-wide?" Oh, I see. It's not enough for him to be a masterful killer. He needs to live in a condo with Travertine countertops, now, too? So superficial, Dexter. I expected more from you.
Cody is talking about how amazing the rides at the carnival were, and Rita's acting like it's great, even though she's seething inside. Astor mentions that she doesn't like the fast rides, and then Paul sneaks in the front door carrying flowers and making a "Shh!" sign with his fingers at the kids. Rita hears the door shut and looks around the corner to see who it is. Paul has already gone around the other side of the fridge and pops out, saying, "Whooooo wants doughnuts?" "Paul, you can't just walk in here. You don't live here anymore!" says Rita. He says something about old habits, and busts out the flowers that he brought. "I got these for you." Rita looks like she doesn't know what to do and just gives Paul a blank stare for a while. "All right," he says, and puts the flowers into a milk carton. Cody asks for a doughnut. "You got it, big guy!" says Paul. "Oh, and, and, now you're making me out to be the bad guy? They haven't had breakfast, yet," Rita protests. Paul says, "My bad, these doughnuts are for after school. But I can whip up some eggs and pancakes!" Rita, getting flustered, tells him again that he can't do this anymore, and he cracks, giving us a glimpse of the cock-lord that he's been described as. "What! What! Help raise my kids? Yes I can, that's my job!" Calming down a bit, he says he can't possibly understand how tough it's been on them, "and for that, I'm eternally sorry. I let you down. I let everybody down." Having successfully played on Rita's good and forgiving nature and the kids' naiveté, he continues making breakfast. Rita looks dismayed and sad.
Angel is presenting a profile of Perry at the station: "He's a computer expert, IQ off the chart. He's a loner, no priors. Father split when he was six, mother was alcoholic, abusive, and possibly his first victim." Switching to a slide of his mother, he goes on: "Roberta Perry. Dental records say she was the one under the patio. Now, Neil kept her death quiet by cashing her social security checks for the last two years, but he did not kill her for the money. Morgan?" Deb takes the conch shell: "We think he wanted release. Roberta Perry ran her son's life, controlled him. Beat him as a kid. We think he dreamt about killing her for years." LaGuerta steps in, saying she just got in touch with Verizon, who weren't able to track his signal because his phone is probably off, but they were able to triangulate his signal on the nights that the hookers disappeared, and he was right in the "no tell hotel" district, where Deb was working vice. "It's like a happy hunting ground for hookers," she says. "All right, let's re-canvas the area for leads," says Angel. "Now that we've got a photo of this guy, maybe we'll find someone who actually saw him."
As everyone disperses, Deb tells Angel he's looking a little haggard. "You want to check in with your family?" she asks. "I'd rather check in with your brother. His instincts are usually pretty good on this stuff." "Not today. He'd just piss on our parade. He needs his day off." At least you can respect that now , after you've already annoyed him on his day off, asshole.
Dexter's jogging, and he's wearing a black cap, black sunglasses, and a black hoodie. I have no idea how he's not stroking out running like that in Miami. Ugh. He VOs: "The first time I saw his work, I felt like a Spanish explorer landing on the shores of a new world. No blood in the victims. No spatter. No stain. Deb is wrong about him. It's okay, Hell, I've make mistakes." We see from his perspective for a moment, and he's looking at a picnic table where Jeremy Downs is sitting. "In fact, I'm about to correct one right now." Dex pulls the hood over his head and gives Jeremy a shady-yet-obvious signal that Downs recognizes as one for imminent and paid-for gay sex. Now I understand the getup: he needs Jeremy to not recognize him. Jeremy walks ahead of Dexter by about 20 feet and turns around to ask him if he wants company. "Just keep walking and looking ahead," says Dex. Jeremy suggests they go into some mangroves, but Dexter says it's too public. Jeremy stops walking as though something is wrong, and Dexter asks him what it is. Right away, we see someone who looks like Doakes running towards them, and Jeremy says "Shit!" as another plain-clothes cop in front of him pulls out his gun. Doakes barrels past Dexter, shoving him aside and saying, "Get the fuck out of my way!" Doakes looks back at Dexter as if he recognizes him, but Dexter's outfit is just enough to keep him safe, and he starts walking in the opposite direction as Jeremy Downs gets busted. Dex stops behind a tree, and is totally relieved. Man, that was close. If Doakes had knocked his hat off, he would have been fucked for sure. My question is how did Doakes figure out it was Jeremy who killed the high school kid? I know he's decent police, but he doesn't know a cutting pattern from a hole in the wall.
Over at the Pink Motel, Angel and Deb are asking the woman outside watering plants if Perry's face looks familiar. "I don't know. They come, they go. Get it? They come..." Yeah, ha ha, lady. How long you been waiting to tell someone that one? Or is it something you say every day? I'll bet she says it every day. Anyway, Deb bitches her out because her feet hurt. "You think you could help us out?" Angel asks her en español if she know about the ITK, and she says yes. "Well, that's him. So let's try this again. Have you seen this man?" Apparently, he's a regular, and rents a room by the month with cash. "When was the last time he was here?" asks Deb. "He's here now." And you didn't think to say anything, even knowing he's a potential murderer, you idiot! Jesus. He's with a hooker, as well. "What's the room number?" asks Angel impatiently. "Twenty, here's the master." God, it's like pulling teeth. Angel tells Deb to call for backup, which she doesn't do, and they move towards the room. "Let's just hope this girl is still alive." "Do we wait for tactical?" Deb asks. "Not with a possible victim in there." Angel kicks the door in, and there's a girl on the bed, covered in blood and with a ball gag in her mouth. She immediately starts screaming, and Angels clears the rest of the room. Deb tries to comfort the girl and takes the gag out of her mouth. "Please hurry, get me out of here, before he comes back!" she shrieks. "Where is he?" Angel tries to get out of her. "Where was he going?" He tries again. "He went to the liquor store. He said he'd be right back." Deb and Angel look at each other. Jackpot. Now they have time to set up a trap.
Dex goes into the station, where some other cop says he needs Doakes's report on the dead kid. Dex acts all put upon because it's his day off, and lies that he was playing golf. "Do you have the report or not?" asks the surly cop, and Dexter goes to get it. Doakes comes out and says, "Wait! I'm on to you." "Excuse me?" says Dexter. "You're crazy-ass knife-slashin' two-step in the alley. You were right. You said the killer had previous experience. He did." "Oh...really?" says Dexter, trying to sound surprised and pleased. Why is Doakes busting his balls? He goes on to say that because Masuka noticed the same knife patterns, they were able to grab Downs. "Great work, Sergeant." Doakes: "Yeah, your instincts were dead on. They're always dead on when it comes to killers. Why is that?" Dexter shrugs him off, saying, "I'll just go get that report." "I'm watchin' you," says Doakes menacingly. Dexter waves on his way to the lab.
Neil Perry has returned to the hotel. When he enters the room, he says, "Miss me?" to the screaming hooker just as Angel puts the barrel of his gun to the back of his head. "Police. On the ground. Get down slowly." Perry begins playing Captain Crazypants by singing the Children's Evening Hymn: "Now the day is over, night is drawing nigh." Deb comes out and points her gun at him: "Get down on the ground, now!" "...Shadows of the evening steal across the sky." Finally Deb and Angel get him down to the ground as he finished the second stanza: "Now the darkness gathers, stars begin to peep. Birds and beasts and flowers soon will be asleep." I guess it would be creepy if it weren't such a trite thing to do. I also think that's totally intentional, because he's totally not the Ice Truck Killer. The real ITK would never resort to such dramatic antics. The backup arrives, and they whisk Perry away to jail. I guess. We don't actually see that.
Dexter is having some food fun time with the kids. Astor asks, "What else should we put in our concoction?" Cody offers gummy bears and chucks in a handful. I suppose the kids still have some leftover Halloween candy. "How do you kids plan to eat that, spread it on toast?" "It already has toast in it!" says Astor exuberantly. "So it does," says Dex after closer inspection. There's a knock at the door, and Dexter opens up to find Paul outside. Well, great. "Hey there, big guy," says Paul, immediately making me hate him more than I already do. "Uh, Dexter, right?" "Paul, hi. Rita's not here." Paul: "Oh, that's okay, I'm actually here for the kids. I came to dazzle 'em with my booty." Huh? He holds up a plastic bag containing toys that I imagine he won for the kids at the carnival. Dexter sighs. "Uh, this is awkward. I'm afraid I'm not comfortable letting you inside the house without Rita here." You were right Dex, it's definitely awkward. "Who are you anyway, like, the babysitter...?" asks Paul. Dexter: "Well, I'm watching the kids right now, so I suppose that makes me the babysitter." His glower suggests that he's also a babysitter that's best to not fuck with. "Are you fucking my wife?" Paul asks threateningly. Unflapped, Dexter replies, "I'll let Rita know you stopped by." Paul: "Or I could just walk in. My house. I own this place. Bet she didn't tell you that, did she?" Dexter: "Ooph. Homeowner issues are way over my head. I should probably just call the police, let them sort this out." Paul seems to get the message and turns to leave, but he quickly punches the air in front of Dexter's face, coming within an inch of contact. Dexter barely flinches and keeps his cool, mildly amused glare trained on Paul's eyes. Paul looks like such a fucking idiot. "Is that it?" Dexter says. Paul: "Yeah. Just give those presents to my little buckets of sunshine and tell Rita she can reach me at the motor court." After Paul is gone, Dex VOs, "He might be a crack-addled, wife-abusing yahoo, but he refuses to abandon his kids. I'm not sure that's a good thing."
Doakes is walking Jeremy Downs down the hall with some other officers, but he leaves them to congratulate Deb on taking down "the most notorious serial killer in Florida history." Really? More notorious than Ted Bundy or Gary Ray Bowles? I don't know, dude. I mean, I know Bundy wasn't just in Florida, but still. Whatever. Deb thanks him but goes on: "Sucks you weren't a part of this. I mean, you and me, we paved the way for this, right?" Doakes: "Oh, I'm cool. I got my own bad guy." Deb changes the topic by telling Doakes that Tony Tucci is getting out of the hospital and is having a party tonight. "No thanks," says Doakes. "I don't want to go either," says Deb. "But the guy lost body parts, we should at least tell him we caught the guy. What else you got going on?" Doakes: "Wouldn't you like to know?" Deb: "There'll be hookers there." Still, he demurs.
"Did he threaten you?" asks Rita. "No, nothing like that. He was just marking his territory," says Dex. "Fucking bastard." "Only you can make those words cute," says Dexter, instantly looking unsure about having said that. Dexter brings up the whole Paul-owns-the-house thing, and Rita confirms it. "He had it before we met. I think he got it in a drug trade." Wow. Nice life. Rita's upset now, because she's created a mess and dragged Dexter into it. It's clear she feels pretty guilty. Dexter does his best to comfort her. "I just want him to go away," she says. "Why can't he just go away and disappear forever?" "He can do that," Dex VOs. "Very easily." Do it, dude! Kill Paul! He tried to punch you! Well, he tried to assert his alpha male status over yours! Yeah, that's enough to kill him, right? Right? Dammit, that's totally not right.
Over in his motor court room, Paul is rolling what appears to be a spliff of some of that real sticky-icky when a shadow passes by his window, freaking him out a little bit. Paranoid, Paul walks over to the door to his room, and after waiting, listening, for a few seconds, the music swells creepily and he yanks the door open and it's...Rita. Just Rita. They both breathe heavily from startling one another, and laugh a little bit. "We need to talk," Rita initiates. He tells her to come into his room, but she stays outside. "No, I'm good right here." He keeps trying to get her to come in, but even after the enticing "six pack chillin' in the fridge," she stands her ground. "No, no more. No more surprise visits to the house, no more intimidating my friends, and especially no more Disney dad. You lost your right to be a father when you beat your children's mother. You want to get to know Astor and Cody, you're going to have to work for that privilege." Paul wants to say something, but Rita cuts him off. "Divorce papers. Sign them now, and I'll agree to supervised visits, twice a week." Damn, Rita. You're turning into a bona fide ballfest! Paul: "Is this some kind of joke, Rita? You really think you can make me back down?" "No, I don't, but what else am I going to do, Paul?" She goes on to explain that she has the power to make sure he never sees his kids again unless he complies with her every request. He changes his tone instantly, saying "I love the new you! My ass is yours to kick." Saying he's a "new man," he signs the papers to prove it to her. She looks ecstatic.
Everyone at the station is gathered around the interrogation room video feed, where LaGuerta is about to question Perry. Dexter comes in and looks at the screen and then at Angel and Masuka: "You got him." Then, noticing the other feed with Doakes and Jeremy Downs, he VOs, "Both of them." When Dexter asks where Perry's lawyer is, Angel tells him he waived his right to an attorney. Dexter VOs some more: "My two...colleagues, technically speaking. Thankfully one of them's a fraud." After hearing Perry say "The doer is merely a fiction that's added to the deed. The deed is everything," Dexter finishes, "At least I hope he's a fraud."
Tony Tucci is holding a champagne glass in his new fake hand, which he toasts to as someone pops a new bottle. Rudy, the prosthesis guy, speechifies, "Some say bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid. But, I've worked with a lot of amputees, and I gotta say, I don't think Tony knew he was afraid. Here's to one crazy bastard!" Everyone lifts their glasses and drinks, and Tucci says, "Kiss my atrophied ass! And, now for the main event!" "Medical marijuana?" Deb jokes, unfunnily. "You wish," says Tucci. With Rudy's help, they both pull back the blanket to reveal Tucci's new leg, and everyone marvels and cheers. He stands up, a bit wobbly at first, but beaming, especially at his new hooker girlfriend, Shanda, who he asks for a dance. Deb and Rudy step aside, and she asks him, "So, you made that hand and foot?" He nods. "You did a good thing," she tells him. "Tony lost a piece of himself, and I helped him find it," Rudy says. "I mean, how often in life do you get to make someone whole?" "I wouldn't know," says Deb. They continue to small talk about how Rudy used to study the human form at university. He asks, "Have you had dinner yet?" "I'd love to." Well, as long as you don't make yourself too available, there, sweetheart. Doakes comes in with a six-pack of Pacifico beer, to "show his support." "Bad timing?" Rudy tells him no, and offers him some champagne.
Back in Perry's interrogation room, he's going on and on about blogs and podcasts, and how it's all crap, blah blah blah. He talks about how you have to reach for greatness these days, "to get people's attention." LaGuerta seems as bored with this guy as I am. Masuka's bored, too. "Why isn't she asking him any questions?" Astor's not feeling it, either: "I have no idea what she's doing, but my patience is wearing thin." "I gave Jeremy a chance, and he blew it," Dexter VOs. "Is this one going to disappoint me, too?" Perry comments on LaGuerta's interview techniques. LaGuerta: "I'm sick of asking questions, you're getting off on it too much." "Getting off on what?" "The game. I'm guessing that's why you didn't request a lawyer. So you can sit here and say whatever shit comes into your head? Meanwhile my ass is spreading like cheese whiz waiting for you to realize this isn't the fun part." He wants to know what she's talking about, and she calls him on his bullshit, basically calling him a wannabe and saying that he just craves the attention. The fun part for him will be the courtroom drama, with his "own personal Judge Ito, and the groupie housewives. But the feeding frenzy won't start until you throw out the chum. Until then, I'm just gonna chill." Never thought I'd say this, but: well played, LaGuerta. Well played. "You're right," he says. "This isn't the fun part. The fun part was hanging them up like cattle." "Who?" "The hookers, right before I cut their throats." Everybody watching stands up, and Astor says, "Son of a bitch." Perry continues that he used gravity boots to hang them upside down and drain their blood, and then dipped them in liquid nitrogen before hacking them up. "That's privileged information, the press never got a hold of that," says Angel. So, how did this faker get that info? "There it is," Dexter VOs. "All the expectations I had. All the promises of greatness, wiped out." Looking at the monitor with Jeremy Downs: "My circle of friends is down to one."
In Downs's room, the red light on the camera turns off, and Jeremy looks up as Dexter enters the room abruptly. "How...what are you doing here? Are you a cop?" "The cameras are off, I have one minute," says Dexter, urgently. "Tell me why, I need to know." "Why what?" "Don't!" screams Dexter, frightening the kid. "You killed again. I told you, I warned you, don't kill anyone who doesn't deserve to die. Why did you do it?" "To feel something different." "Different than what? What do you normally feel?" After a long pause filled with Jeremy looking as though he's going to cry, he says, "Nothing. Fucking nothing at all. I hate every goddamn second of it. I can't stand it, living my life in my head." Dexter pulls what looks like a dental instrument out of his back pocket and twirls it in his fingers. "Does killing make it better?" he asks. "No, worse," Jeremy responds. "Fuckin' worse than ever." Dexter tells him to put his hands on the table. As he begins to scrape the dirt from under Jeremy's nails, Dexter tells him, "I'm a lot like you, you know." "Yeah, right. You're a killer?" Dexter looks up at him. "I'm empty. But I found a way to make it feel less...bottomless." "How?" "Pretend. You pretend the feelings are there, for the world. For the people around you. Who knows, maybe one day they will be." The door opens, and it's another one of Downs's arresting officers. Dexter explains that he was just scraping for blood under the nails. "Get out. I want ten more minutes with this piece of shit before his lawyer shows."
As Dexter walks back to the lab, he VOs: "Living my life in my head...I know exactly what Jeremy means. At least I had someone to talk to. Harry, my foster father. He spent endless hours teaching me how to survive." Dexter bumps into a lawyer in the hallway who's yucking it up with a cop, and, after ascertaining that he's Jeremy's, tells him that "sooner would be better. Seriously." "Thank you," the lawyer says seriously.
Deb and Rudy are sharing some champagne at a hot dog stand, and Deb's giving the life story. "My mom died when I was sixteen...cancer." A-ha! I've been wondering this whole time. Now I know! Sweet. "Then it was just me, my brother, and my dad." "You have a brother?" asks Rudy, surprised. Deb tells him that Dexter and Harry were always really close, and that she was jealous. "You weren't daddy's little girl?" Rudy asks. She says she was, but that Harry took a special interest in Dexter. "I think that's why I became a cop. That's what he was. I guess I thought I'd get more attention or something." "Did you?" "Not really," she says, laughing. At least she's honest about her neediness, not that that fact alone makes it any more appealing. Deb asks Rudy how he became "Captain Hook." He says that his mom was in a car accident when he was really young, and lost both of her legs. "I always wanted to put her back together, you know, like Humpty Dumpty? The pieces were just never...around." Deb looks at him admiringly, and they kiss. It's actually pretty cute, and good for Deb, because she needs to get laid to cloud her stupid sibling complexes.
Dexter's looking through his old photos, again. "I'm going to miss my playmate," he VOs. "Sure, there's Rita and the kids, but they don't know the real me. Can never know the real me. And now the father is back. Things have changed." Looking at the Miami Tribune, with both Neil Perry and Jeremy Downs on the cover: "Everything has changed. I always prided myself on being an outsider, but now...I feel the need to connect with someone."
Now at the lockup, Dexter being let in by a guard, and two more run past him as he goes on: "I saw myself in Jeremy. But instead of helping him like Harry helped me, I gave him a piece of fortune-cookie advice that he never even heard. I failed him. He deserved better, and he'll get it from now on." Yeah, I doubt that, Dexter. You know those guards that just bolted past you? Yeah, they're running because Jeremy just killed himself by slicing his neck open on the corner of his cell's bed. "I guess I was wrong," Dex continues, looking at the bloody scene. "Jeremy did hear my advice. He killed someone who deserved to die." He looks genuinely sad. It's gonna be okay, Dexter. I promise. Sorry about your potential protégé, though.
LaGuerta powders her face as Astor walks in. "What's the status on Perry?" he asks. "I'm having him transferred right now," she replies. "The DA wants to keep him at county pending arraignment." Astor compliments LaGuerta on her police work, and says it feels good to praise her for that as opposed to her politics, for a change. LaGuerta tells him she's just heading downstairs for the press conference at that moment, but he says, "Press conference is over. Don't worry, I kept it short." Not believing what she's hearing, LaGuerta says, "You gotta be fuckin' kidding me. That was my bust!" "This is my department." "Did you...at least give me credit?" "Yes, I just gave it to you. Haven't you been listening?" Oh, burn, dude. That's awesome. After he takes off, LaGuerta sits in a humbling silence for a long time, left to think about what a butt-nugget she can be.
Dex is sitting alone in another interrogation room. He's stretching his neck, and VOing, "Ever since Harry died, I've been alone. But now, for the first time, I feel alone." He begins prepping his evidence kit. "Jeremy Downs is gone, and Neil Perry will soon vanish into the catacombs of the system. I have so many questions for him: How did he discover my secrets? What was his message to me?" The door opens, and Perry is ushered in slowly. "He's been in my home, my photos, my life. He knows me, now I need to know him. To connect, face to face, before he's beyond my reach forever." Perry sits down, and he and Dexter ponder one another for a long while. "Hi," says Dexter.
"Who the fuck are you?"
Oh, snap! I knew it! I knew it! Not to be all Deb about it, but I knew it! You know who else knows it? Dexter, that's who. Also, the guy ripping that organ chord on the soundtrack. That's the ultimate Come On, You All Knew It sound. Seriously.
Dexter looks at us and smiles that smile of his, and we're done.
Good stuff this week, but I can't help but feel that we're treading water a little bit, here. I really did know that Perry could not be the killer from the start, and I don't like being annoyed by Deb. I think she's a great character when she's insecure, but overcompensating for her insecurities by being a cocky little shit makes her suck. Hopefully Rudy will diffuse some of that. I also hope that Dexter will kill Paul right in the face, because Paul? Is a douche. Major. This is now the third episode in four where nobody has been killed by Dexter, and that makes me want to take a trip to Sadland, where all the beer tastes like tears, and big burly men repeatedly punch you in the soul.
He better kill someone next time. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'.