Yay, Dexter's back! Which is a good thing, except, well -- is the show missing something now? Have we just gotten used to everything that earlier on would have surprised us?
Eh, who cares -- Dexter's back!
If you're just tuning in for the first time, here's what you need to know: Dexter is a serial killer whose heart would be made of gold, if only he had one. He works for the Miami police as a blood-spatter expert, and in his free time he murders the bad guys who get away. That's what his foster father Harry, a cop, taught him to do -- he figured that as long as Dex was growing up to be a compulsive killer, he might as well only kill people who deserve it.
Dex is close to his foster sister Deb, who's also a cop, his girlfriend Rita, a single mother who's almost as messed up as he is, and his eclectic group of buddies on the force -- and while he developed all these relationships as an attempt to "fit in" as a normal person, we're beginning to think he may be growing some real emotions.
Anyway, on with the show. We start out with scenes from last season: Dexter started having some doubts about Harry, who it turns out had been having an affair with his birth mother -- the druggie who got killed, leaving infant Dex sitting in a pool of blood, creating the psychological issues that have stayed with him his entire life. We're also reminded of Lila, the wack-job artist who helped Dex get in touch with his feelings -- sexy feelings -- but was clingy and violent when she had her clothes on, though luckily that wasn't very often. Oh, and last year Dex was almost caught, when his dozens of body-part-filled garbage bags were discovered in the ocean -- but in the end he wasn't revealed as the "Bay Harbor Butcher," because Dex in prison wouldn't be a very fun show. Instead, Dexter's cop nemesis Doakes became the main suspect, before being conveniently blown up by Lila -- who then got to experience Dex's dark side herself.
So now things are back to "normal," to the extent they can be. Dex is chatting with his dentist about what he did over the summer, and everything he says is a double-entendre for his having killed someone. Ha, he makes murder funny. He and Rita are back together, and from the looks of things Dexter has gotten over his sexual hangups. (Something he can probably thank Lila for -- but don't mention that to Rita, please.) Their relationship is so good that Rita's young son Cody even asks him to go to "dad's day" at school.
Back at work, Dex's detective friend Angel Batista has gotten a promotion, but seems more troubled than ever. Sister Deb, for her part, has cut her hair and given up men, smoking and drinking, and is miffed that Dexter never noticed. (Anyway, given how a new detective named Quinn is looking at her, the "men" part will probably go out the window pretty soon.)
Doing some research for his solo gig, Dexter reads about "Freebo" -- a guy who killed two college girls but was let go on a technicality -- and decides he'd make a pretty good victim. It turns out that Freebo's a drug dealer, so Dexter pretends to be a junkie to get into his house and check him out. Freebo's abusive to his girlfriend and pretty much boasts that he's going to kill her, so Dex realizes he's found the right guy.
But when he returns to the house later that night, there's a fight going on. Freebo runs away, and the other guy comes after Dexter with a knife. Dexter fights him off, and ends up stabbing this unknown other person instead. Huh? He's as confused as we are. And it's the first time he's ever killed someone without planning it in advance and making sure the person's guilty.
After a night of more domestic bliss with Rita, he's called in to help investigate a stabbing -- the one he did himself. It turns out that Miguel Prado, an assistant district attorney and well-known crusader for a "safe Miami," is extremely interested in the case. (He's played by new costar Jimmy Smits, affecting a Cuban accent.) Prado also happens to be an ex-boyfriend of the squad's captain, LaGuerta, as well as -- whoops -- the dead guy's brother.
Oscar Prado was supposedly a youth coach who had come to confront Freebo about selling drugs to kids, but we don't know that for sure, and Dex sure doesn't believe it. Dex does his usual investigation of the blood evidence, but in the process pilfers anything that might suggest he had been in the house earlier.
The next day, Dexter goes to Cody's school, and he tells the kids all about his job, describing how he examines spattered blood to determine what happened when a violent crime was committed. The kids are bored out of their minds by this, and completely unimpressed. Hilarious! But at least Cody's happy to have a father figure around, and so is Rita.
Prado interrupts the nice family moment by calling Dexter back to the crime scene. The ADA seemingly just wants him to describe what happened, but he also finds it suspicious that Dex was looking up the victim's background on the force's computer system. Somehow they end up getting along, though, and Prado is impressed by Dex's apparent sensitivity to murder victims. He invites Dexter to his brother's wake that evening.
Deb is approached by an annoying young woman from Internal Affairs about "getting next to" Quinn, who's apparently in some kind of trouble. Deb gets mad and blows her off. Later, Quinn helps Deb out by giving her access to a snitch who may know about Freebo. He doesn't, but he's seen the "youth coach" before. And apparently Oscar was a junkie who owed Freebo lots of money. Too bad Deb accidentally spouts off that bit of information in front of Prado and LaGuerta back at the station. The always political-minded LaGuerta tells Angel to bump Deb off the case.
Dex goes to Oscar's wake, without telling Deb, who was expecting him to meet her in a bar to celebrate their late father's birthday. Which is kind of a dick move, and not like Dex at all. (He may be something of a monster, but he's always nice to people, if only to hide his true nature.) When Angel comes by to tell Deb she's off the stabbing case, she decides her drinking hiatus is over.
The next day, everyone's called to a new murder scene -- it's Freebo's girlfriend. Which means he's still in town. And Dexter is still in danger of getting caught, just like he was last year.
Back at Rita's, she realizes why she's feeling so domestic and romantic and hungry all the time these days -- she's pregnant. And we have no idea where they're going with that one, but welcome to the new season.
Previously:
Top 10 Returning Shows: Dexter