Dexter TV Show - My Bad - Dexter Recaps, Dexter Reviews, Dexter Episodes

Dexter

Episode Report Card

Jeff Long: A | 1158 USERS: B-

YOU GRADE IT

New Directions

By Jeff Long | Season 5 | Episode 1 | Aired on 2010.09.26

In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description!

We join Dexter where we left him at the end of last season, with a dead Rita in the bathtub and a bloody baby. Deb and the homicide team show up shortly afterwards and deal with the scene. Dexter, stunned, says "It was me," to Deb, which, naturally, causes all sorts of confusion, but later he explains that he should have protected her and it's his fault.

He's in a daze as he organizes her funeral arrangements. He remembers back to his first date with Rita, when he picked a restaurant, not for the steak tartare, but to be closer to some dude he was going to kill. It was a really bad date. Laguerta insists that everyone in the department offer Dexter support, but Quinn decides to offer him some suspicion. First, he bones Deb, which I guess isn't terribly surprising. She acts really strangely afterwards and doesn't want to talk about it. Meanwhile, Quinn talks to Elliot the neighbor and finds out about his kiss with Rita and the subsequent beatdown that he got from Dexter. He tells Laguerta what he learned, and she freaks out that he's trying to implicate Dexter, but he reminds her that, in most murders, the husband is the culprit.

When Dexter tells the kids that Rita is dead, Astor flips out and says that she wishes Dexter were the one who was dead. On that note, Dexter decides that he should leave town, because everyone would be better off without him. He confesses to dead Rita in a coffin that he is a serial killer. He ditches his interview with the FBI as Deb is completing arrangements for Rita's funeral. As Dexter is heading out for his new life on his boat, he remembers a phone call he had with Rita after their first date and, when they say good-bye to each other, it of course has a lot of metaphorical weight. His boat breaks down so he ends up at a place where this redneck is really rude to him, so he kills him in fury. Harry appears and tells him that it's OK to show his feelings, so he shouts with a lot of rage and sadness. Afterwards, he shows up at Rita's funeral, much to an antsy Deb's relief. He gives a eulogy recounting all of Rita's tenderness.

Want more? The full recap starts right below!

We are where we were at the end of last season's finale. Dexter is holding Harrison, but now he's outside of his house. The police arrive and ask him if he called the police. He doesn't answer. Then, he asks him what happened there. Still no answer. Dex VO's that he has seen 67 people die. Damn. It. That's a lot of killing. At the moment of "truth," he could see in their eyes that they knew they were getting what they deserved. But, what if that's not what you deserve? Like Rita, what if you deserved all sorts of nice things and a loving husband (at least someone human), but you ended up with Dexter? Well, Dexter, I think you just answered your own question. You end up dead in a bathtub. Rita really had a lot of blood. Poor Julie Benz. I hope she got a big paycheck for her last day at work. The lady created a character for four years and ends it all immobile in a bathtub full of food coloring.

The policeman starts asking for the baby when Deb arrives. She tells him to back the fuck off, then asks Dexter what happened. He hands her Harrison and you can see, as she's looking at the blood all over the baby, that she's going to be horrified by his answer. "Rita's inside. It was me." Now Dexter. Really? You're making this too easy for everyone. Deb looks at the policeman, hoping that his statement doesn't register with them the way it does with her. I'm just going to put this out there right now -- if she gives a performance this season like she did last year, I am making this the official year of the Jennifer Carpenter Emmy Moment Watch. She was great just then, but I bet she'll have more in store for us.

Inside the house, Vince is taking pictures of the crime scene as Quinn looks on. After describing the crime scene (and telling us that Rita was cut on her thigh per the Trinity Killer's M.O.), Vince says that he had imagined Rita naked many times, but never in this scenario. Classy. Quinn asks if the Trinity Killer had ever killed a married woman before and Vince says that there is a first time for everything. Laguerta and Batista enter. Vince says that they are waiting for the coroner to retrieve the body, but he thinks she has been dead for 8 to 10 hours. Stricken, Laguerta leaves the room.

Batista follows her and asks her if she's OK (she's not). Vince and Quinn are close behind. She says that Dexter will need their support. Then, she tells them to pack up and leave the bathroom. They begin to protest, but she says that the Trinity Killer case belongs to the FBI and they have arrived. Then, she freaks out and asks them why Vince and Quinn are looking at Batista. He says that it's what he "was saying on the way over." Since Rita is a part of their family, they should be working on the case for Dexter. OK, so he was saying that to Laguerta on the way over? They came into the room together didn't they? They did, but maybe Batista was already there and was talking to Vince and Quinn on the way over. Anyway, Laguerta seems surprised and tells them that her word is final and stomps off. Batista tells Vince and Quinn that she's stressed. Yes, the women and their hormones.