In a parking garage, Clint pulls up to find Dexter waiting for him. He tells Dexter he's glad he came to his senses and asks where his money is; Dexter tells him he's got it right there -- and opens his trunk to reveal rolls of plastic wrap. Clint doesn't get it, but he does get a needle in his neck...

...and then he's figuring out what the plastic is for as he comes to on a bored-looking Dexter's boat. Dexter informs Clint that he can't allow him to hurt Hannah and Clint, finally aware of which way the wind is blowing, begs Dexter not to do it, promising that he'll leave town and never bother Hannah again. He adds that Dexter doesn't have to do this, and Dexter's like, I know! But I'm realizing I want to! "Because unlike you, I care about Hannah." Clint is like, you got the Devil in you, leaving Dexter open to be like, actually, I think it's just me! And again: No. It's one thing for Dexter to acknowledge he's going off code to protect Hannah; it's another for him to enjoy it. Him not killing the PA and killing Clint is way worse than the other way around according to any casual standard of justice; he's leaving a child-killer potentially free to kill again one day while committing murder to prevent his girlfriend from going to jail for a murder she did commit. I have no problem with the writers making Dexter into a complete villain rather than an antihero, but it doesn't work if they're not aware, as I suspect, that that's what they're doing. Still, one false move, even a big one, is reparable. Dexter stabs Clint, throws his corpse overboard and then finally lets loose with an actual good one: "Sink or swim, Daddy." Hee. Wish he have gotten that one in while Clint was alive, but it wouldn't have been nearly as funny.

Dexter's driving when he takes a call from Deb, who tells him they arrested the PA, thanks to him. However, she thinks Dexter made her a present of the PA so she'd lay off Hannah, which is not happening. "I always give in to you. But not anymore." I would think this hopelessly weird if not for what's coming at the end of the episode, but it makes more sense when you consider that she's warning him about something specific on which she's working.

Dexter arrives at Hannah's and she tells him she's got the money and that Clint should be there soon. Dexter, however, intones that he won't be coming, as he had a talk with him. "I made it clear that I wouldn't allow him to hurt you anymore. And I think he understood." I think Hannah also understands what happened as she asks, her voice cracking a little, "So he's gone?" I'm guessing in her mind, she thinks she should have killed him but she just couldn't bring herself to do it and it's a relief that Dexter did it for her. I like the ambiguity of the moment, though; it's one of the very few good things in this subplot. Dexter says, with finality, that Clint won't be bothering her again and Hannah nods her understanding, and hugs him and thanks him. He adds that she was right about the "Dark Rider" and that he doesn't exist. Hannah breaks the embrace and looks into his eyes as he adds that maybe she understands him better than he gets himself, whereupon Hannah tells him what she was going to tell him last episode -- she loves him. Breathing excitedly, he admits that he thinks she loves her too and they kiss tenderly...