So is Dexter a real human being or not? In recent episodes, there have been suggestions that he's developing real emotions. But while he's certainly fond of some people in his life, now we see that, for the most part, he's still just playing the part of a normal person.
We start with Rita and Dexter deciding to tell her kids about the new baby. He botches it, of course. Clueless about normal family life, he can't even tell Astor why he and Rita aren't married. Then, based entirely on the thought that it would make a better cover for him, he clumsily proposes. "That was ridiculous," Rita replies. She says she wants to know he loves her, but he doesn't even know what that would feel like.
At a picnic at Prado's place, Dex overhears Ramon talking to Prado about another lead on Freebo, the drug dealer they think killed their other brother. It's pointless, though only Prado and Dexter know that Dex already took care of Freebo. Prado wants to tell Ramon that Freebo's dead, in order to bring him "peace," but Dex thinks that's about the worst idea he's ever heard.
At his "day job," Dex is investigating another murder. It looks like a robbery gone wrong, but who knows? The victim's fiancee goes on and on about how much she loved him, and Dex can't imagine that kind of emotion. She's too upset to be helpful, but Quinn calms her down. "He's the witness whisperer," Deb marvels.
Astor, upset about the new baby and Rita and Dexter's unmarried status, starts misbehaving. After a particularly difficult phone conversation with her from work, Rita then has to deal with a nasty honeymooning bridezilla who isn't happy with any of the hotel's accommodations. "We don't have a better room unless you build one, and being a bitch isn't going to change that," she snaps. Unfortunately, her supervisor overhears this, and fires her.
Dex decides to show Prado how unstable Ramon is by making him even angrier. Um, is this really a good plan? He arranges to run into the guy at the restaurant/bar where he hangs out, and eggs him on on by implying that Prado's been discussing their personal business.
LaGuerta visits Prado at his office to discuss the Chicky Heinz case yet again. She wants him the admit that the alibi witness proves he convicted an innocent man. He's still not buying it -- or maybe he ignored the evidence on purpose. He continues to be skeevy about the whole subject. Later, she goes to Henz's lawyer and turns over the evidence behind his back.
Learning that Rita's been fired, Dexter takes another go at a proposal, this time listing all the financial reasons why marriage would make sense. Experiencing his utter lack of romance yet again literally makes her throw up. Way to go, Romeo.
Deb goes to see Anton, Quinn's snitch, for a drink and some talk. Yuki from IAD is still texting her, asking for dirt on Quinn, and now she's confused. "What's the story on him -- is he a good guy or a bad guy?" she asks Anton. "Does it have to be either-or?" the drug-using musician replies. He adds that Quinn helped him out of a jam once, but we don't know if that counts as "good" or "bad." What's not so good is the way Deb's started making googly-eyes at Anton.
Angel's in a hotel room with a hooker. He compliments her eyes -- he's lonely, and it's obvious that he mostly just wants companionship. She notices his badge, but he says that for tonight, he's not a cop. Then she show her own badge, and says tonight she is a cop. Whoops! But she gives him a break and kicks him out, making sure whoever's taping the encounter won't catch his identity.
Later, she goes to see him in the squadroom to bust his chops. But his sob story about being a divorced alcoholic cop actually seems to touch her a little bit, and she lets him off with a warning.
Dexter makes up a gross/cool model of a head filled with fake blood, and uses it to prove that the weeping fiancee in the new case has her facts wrong about the killer's height. In fact, he or she would have to be about the size of the fiancee herself. Deb does some more research, and discovers that the man's friends had never heard of her, and the picture of them together was Photoshopped. Score one for the emotionless over the overly emotional. But when she can't scare a confession out of the woman, Quinn kicks Deb out of the room so he can get it himself. Later, he tells her that he suspected the girl from the beginning (hey, we all did), but didn't tell Deb because he thought she'd blow it.
Yuki catches her at her car and knows all about the situation. Once again, she tries to use Deb's ambition to get her to rat on Quinn. For the time being, though, Deb still won't bite.
Dexter goes to see Prado under the pretext of talking about his botched proposal to Rita. He brings up the encounter with Ramon -- and it did get back to Prado, but apparently they just had a civil talk about it. Whatever Dexter was trying to provoke, it didn't happen.
Except that later, Ramon storms into the detective squadroom, ranting about an anonymous tipster who's seen Freebo in Miami. The tipster, of course, is Dexter -- who's trying another tactic on him, and this time it may be working. As the tipster, he promises to meet Ramon at the bar, then makes sure Prado catches him there, drunk. On his way out, Dex tells the bouncer that Ramon has a gun. As he watches the ensuing fight, he reminds himself that getting Ramon in trouble is still better than killing him. Later, Dexter meets Prado on the beach, and Prado tells him that Dex is now the only one he can trust.
Dexter tries proposing to Rita once more. He takes a cue from the crazy fake fiancee, and tells her her everything he loves about her and the kids. He's still playing a role, but this time it's damn convincing.
Previously:
Dexter: The Lion Sleeps Tonight