Dexter 5x08

This episode defied all my expectations – and after four and a half amazing seasons of unexpected twists and turns, that says a lot. At Miami Homicide the fallout from the stakeout at the club is seriously putting everyone on edge. Debra blames LaGuerta and Batista doesn’t know if he should back up his wife or include in his report that Deb was overruled. LaGuerta calls Deb into her office and suggests putting Officer Monzon on suspension, but Deb won’t let her make Cira be the fall guy. She argues and curses, all for the sake of the team. She’s not prone to keeping her mouth, but this is spellbinding. What a woman! Debra’s my girl. She’s an ace. Then, what does scheming careerist LaGuerta do? She throws Deb on paid leave – and to add insult to injury, Deb has to learn about it on TV! (Seems to the Cricket LaGuerta is becoming less likeable. What is this story arc leading up to? Will she be promoted Captain or will she be held responsible for the mess and fired? Will Batista divorce her?) In the end Batista sides with Debra and will write up his report in her support. Always the good guy, this Angel. Dex and Deb have a moment reflecting on life and death, how she doesn’t feel any regret or guilt for killing Carlos Fuentes, and how their father once told Dexter some people deserve to die. They’ve both recently lost loved ones, Rita and Lundy, who deserved to live. Maybe the world is better off without Carlos Fuentes, Deb reasons. Dex just nods in approval, with a look of stunned recognition and validation on his face.

Meanwhile, Dexter decides to attend Jordan Chase’s motivational seminar at some Miami hotel. Excellent point when Dex’ voice-over admits he feels “normal” among Chase’s acolytes. Chase’s head of security, Cole, invites Dex to speak to Chase in private. Chase knows an awful lot about Dexter, about the Trinity Killer case, about Rita and Harrison. What a creepy sleazebag that Jordan Chase! (And what a marvelous performance by Johnny Lee Miller.) Dexter plans on taking out Cole at the hotel and asks Lumen to help him prepare the kill room. On her way to the hotel, this piece of shitty Liddy slams his car into Lumen’s on purpose, and pulls an act to get her info. He’s been keeping tabs on Deb and Lumen for Quinn – even though Quinn is getting increasingly wary about Liddy’s abrasiveness, not to mention his greediness or this threat to tell on Quinn to Deb. Lumen’s fiancé arrives on the scene, too, but she’s none too pleased seeing him.

Back at the hotel, Dex is pleasantly surprised seeing how much easier it all is with Lumen there, ready and willing to kill the torturing rapist Suit Guy Cole. She starts to understand that Dexter is a serial killer, he confides in her, and she accepts him for it. He never had a partner in crime like this before. She’s not like power-hungry Miguel Prado or psychopathic Lila Tournay West. They hear screaming coming from Cole’s room, but it turns out to be merely the sounds of aggressive sex. Still, the noise throws Lumen back to her traumatic experience. Dex comforts her quietly and allows her to sleep, putting off the planned kill. They have one more day to catch Cole before Chase leaves Miami. During the day’s seminar session, Dex gets called on stage to recount the loss of Rita, while Chase encourages him to act on his primal instinct. For his part Cole spots Lumen in the hotel, chases her to the room and attacks her. Dexter comes to the rescue and together they perform his ritual. While Lumen (unseen) pulls up the SUV in front of the hotel and Dex walks out with Cole’s dismembered body in his luggage, Chase approaches him – apologizing for the confrontational session on stage. “Tick, tick, tick,” the sleazebag tells Dexter, “that’s the sound of your life running out,” just like he said to Lumen when he was abusing her. Act on your primal instinct is his motivational motto. “Take It!” “Oh, I will,” Dex replies.