But no time to worry about that now, as we cut to Dexter tossing the match onto a liberal stream of gasoline. You'll notice that they did not spend extra time on the two of them laying out the gas or going to the bathroom first or whatever else they might have done last season, because at least in this episode they actually have a sufficient amount of story required for the airtime. I certainly didn't shut up about this point last season, so it's only fair that I notice when they keep things tight. They don't even give lip service to the fact that they're destroying a house of worship, although that I admit I would have forgiven, if you'll pardon the expression. Deb's kind of hypnotized by the spreading fire, but Dexter says they need to go home before they get called back to the scene. Deb says she neither wants to be alone nor wants Dexter to be alone...

...so we cut to a riverbank, where they sit in silence facing away from each other while the sun comes up, which is another effective, subtle-enough choice. DVO laments the fact that he's not on currently on his boat dumping the pieces of Colin Hanks (that sounds like it could be a Hole song) into the ocean, but before he can dwell on that, their phones ring simultaneously, as they knew they would. Deb takes the call, while Dexter's notification looks like it's a text, which he regards with a furrowed brow...

...and then the team has assembled outside the church as fire-department personnel work in the background. Anderson tells everyone that they know their jobs, "so let's do this." I wonder if he would have said something more profound if he'd known what's coming in about ten minutes.

Inside, Masuka and Dexter alternate giving information that shows Dexter and Deb's plan is playing; Dexter even quotes Deb's "one final tableau" line, which I'm sure she's thrilled about. Deb also looks a bit sickened at Dexter's light tone, but that is how he normally is at crime scenes. Maybe that's her realization. Seeing the look on her face, Dexter drops the levity and says Colin Hanks died instantly, prompting Quinn to ask Dexter to tell him he at least felt a little pain. Sorry, Quinn, but I suspect the animal-level-tranqs didn't allow for much of that. Batista congratulates Deb on the win, but Deb double-meanings that it would have been better to catch Colin Hanks alive. By the way, they're not shying away from showing Colin Hanks' charred remains here, which is hardly the grossest thing I've seen on this show, but maybe don't need to be in the foreground of so many shots. Anyway, just then, Dexter notices a bit of plastic on Colin Hanks' toe (for some reason, the feet aren't as crispy as the rest of him). Thinking quickly, he gestures with his eyes to Deb, who distracts Masuka with a question about harakiri while Dexter sneaks over and removes the offending evidence and for someone who didn't want Deb involved, he certainly doesn't seem to mind putting her to work. Deb gets a fractional nod from Dexter once his errand is finished and then LaGuerta, wearing an outfit of which I cannot make sense -- yellow floral dress with a tight, short, cream-colored-with-tan-trim jacket over it -- appears and congratulates Deb, adding that there's quite the press corps gathering outside waiting for her to make a statement. Deb, obviously and understandably uncomfortable at the thought, points out that there's still a lot to be done inside and DVO points out that Deb isn't as comfortable lying to the world as he is. Like wow Dexter -- way to shove her in with 99.9999999999999% of the population there. Masuka tells Deb that they're wrapping up anyway, so Deb can go talk to the world and they'll be right behind her. Everyone heads off, but LaGuerta lingers for a moment to take in the grisly scene -- and from her angle, she catches a glint from that telltale grate. She starts to call after Masuka, but he's already out of earshot, so she kneels down to open the grate and takes off her hair clip so she can pick the slide up without contaminating it. Of course, she might still get oil from her hair on it, but I'll give her props for the easy field innovation regardless. When she sees the slide (a small piece missing but otherwise intact), it looks like it stirs something in the back of her mind, but she pushes the thought aside and gives the thing to some forensics non-speaking background player with instructions to make sure it gets logged. I'm not wholly convinced that one of the other analysts wouldn't have opened up the grate as a matter of course, but this storyline has the potential to be far more interesting than anything LaGuerta's done in years, so no argument here.