Previously: The Ice Truck left a bunch of detached body parts all around the Miami area, each with a photo that hinted at significant photo ops in Dex's past. Dexter, having analyzed each body part, found that Tucci, the ITK's victim, could still be alive. The ITK lured Dexter into a hospital from one of his family photos, where he discovered Tucci alive and no-so-well. Dexter took this as an invitation to kill Tucci, which he declined. Captain Astor praised Deb for following up Dex's anonymous tip (he couldn't call it in himself, obviously, because how would he explain what he was doing there?), and called her his "up-and-comer," making LaGuerta supremely jealous and irritated. Rita did a good (albeit, illegal) deed for her asshole neighbor's dog by kidnapping him and giving him to a caring family, and got so excited by her own act of assertiveness that she dressed up like Lara Croft and gave Dexter a blowy.

Again, with the pores, Showtime! Ultra-close up on Dexter's face, the camera is panning around him as he VOs: "I like to pretend I'm alone, completely alone. Maybe post-apocalypse or plague, whatever. No one left to act normal for. No need to hide who I really am. It would be...freeing." Now smiling, he's shaken out of his daydream by Doakes, of course, who's yelling, "Stop grinning like a psycho and get back to work!" Naturally, they're at a crime scene, and Dexter apologizes, saying that he wanted to wait for forensics to wrap up their work before he "tore the bed apart." Hmm, wonder what happened here?

It seems they're at the Angel of Mercy Hospital, where Tony Tucci was found, and once Dexter's in the corridor, he starts VOing again: "I'm not the only one who enjoys isolation. My shadow companion chose this place well." Looking over the filthy room where Tucci had his hand and leg chopped off, now well-lit and crawling with forensic investigators and cops, he continues, "This was his sanctuary, for a while, at least. All these people pawing over it, it seems...disrespectful. When he gets downstairs, he's accosted by LaGuerta. "Tell me the sick bastard bled on something, Dexter. He was here for days playing with sharp objects." Dexter tells her he'll do his best, but so far the place is "spotless, amazingly so." He asks her if Tucci's said anything yet, but LaGuerta tells him that he's still unconscious. She reiterates that there's "gotta be something here. This guy's not a ghost, Tucci's evidence of that." Fair enough.

When he gets over to the blood-stained cot where Tucci lay, Masuka asks him if he got all the photos he needs. "Like shooting a Jackson Pollack," Dexter says. Masuka bags the bedding, and they move the mattress, which is filthy and gross. We can hear some rats scuttling around, and Masuka is a little freaked out. "We're all going to get histoplasmosis from all the shit in the dust. We'll be coughin' up blood...skin lesions, mouth sores." Thanks for that adorable assessment, Masuka. Dexter shares my reaction: "Lovely." He then tells the crew to "hit the lights," and busts out the black light. Masuka keeps on about the rats, and Doakes tell him to shut up about them. As Dexter examines the scene, Deb shows up and is all, "You won't find anything. This is a bust, right?" "In so many words." "Which means I'm just jerkin' off 'til Tucci wakes up." Dexter tells her to take a break, and that she's been working too hard. "Or are you still avoiding a personal life?" "Fuck you!" she responds caustically. "And, yeah. I'm better off just focusing on the job." Dexter, after getting the lights turned back on, reminds her that her job and life don't have to be mutually exclusive. "If I found someone, so can you." "Yeah, the trouble is keeping them." Dex VOs, "Tell me about it," and if he's referring to Rita, then I don't get it. I thought they just "took things to the next level."