Dexter not only has his hands full with a baby, but on top of everything, grandpa’s visiting. Dexter’s own (dead, adoptive) father warns him that the family is getting in the way of his code and life as a serial killer. There’s something delicious in seeing perfectionist Dexter so worn out by his infant that he not only bungles his blood-spatter testimony, but loses a dead killer’s body (after that car accident and Dexter’s subsequent memory-wiping concussion). But Dead Dad is not there to rub it in, he wants to help Dexter find that corpse — although he does note, unhelpfully, that the only other time Dexter blacked out was when he was with his mother during her murder in a shipping container. If you can’t count on your family, who can you count on?
Dexter finally finds his victim when he realizes blood is dripping from the punching bag suspended over a boxing ring; he looks up into a bright light, much like the sun that shone into the shipping container when his father rescued him. Aww. Now Dexter can turn his attention back to the Trinity Killer. He, Agent Lundy, and Debra link the killer to a recent crime that duplicates a 30-year-old murder that got the wrong man sent up — but we can’t help thinking Debra’s a little more concerned with why Lundy doesn’t want to get back with her. Thank god for Anton. Lundy’s even creepier than the clothing-optional John Lithgow.
Meanwhile: Lt. La Guerta and Sgt. Batista stick it out even though he’s insecure over her authority; Masuka is still a dolt; and Quinn has some problems. Not only is he boning a manipulative, loose-lipped crime reporter, but he’s worried his bullying of Dexter is going to bite him in the ass after Dexter saw him pocketing a wad of cash from a safe at a crime scene.
The suspense isn’t exactly killing us. Mild-mannered Arthur Mitchell will strike again next week, probably at the woman he and his pup Checkers (“or whatever your name isâ€) just charmed. Dexter will feel guilty about not helping Lundy earlier. And Trinity and Dexter shall eventually meet. The real drama is in Dexter’s chest — can he heal the heart he’s been pursuing all along, and deal with his old friend, the dark passenger? Let’s see him cope with the memory of his mother’s murder — and maybe retire if he has to. That’s just so crazy it might work.