In a later scene, Dexter swings a bouncy ball in front of Harrison to distract him while looking at crime-scene photos. This seems a little risky if Dexter really wants to keep Harrison at an arm's length from his extracurricular activities. Dexter decides to get Harrison a toy similar in appearance to his own.
The good thing about a 2-year-old is his mind is easily distracted, Dexter thinks. He won't remember Daddy's box if he has one of his own.
In this episode, we meet the older sister of the creepy acolyte/mentee (played by Tom Hanks' son, Colin Hanks). She seems very normal. Wonder how her baby brother could've gone so far astray. Later, his mentor (a prophet?) is mad about this visit and burns himself to show that he's suffering for the younger man's sins. In an earlier scene, we see the duo carrying trash bags filled with mannequin parts. Later, we see them abducting a runner.
Miami Metro lab geek Vince Masuka's hot-to-trot intern turns out to be pretty good at forensics. She runs tissue samples on the snakes and discovers heavy metals. The team turns their attention to hazardous waste sites near the Everglades. There, someone may have seen the bad guys. Read more after the jump below...
Meanwhile, Dexter meets Brother Sam, played by Mos Def wearing some slick glasses, an ex-con-turned-minister who runs an auto body shop using reformed criminals. Dexter immediately senses a fellow killer. Brother Sam is brought into the police station to tell Sgt. Batista what he knows about the fruit vendor who was disemboweled and later found with snakes in his belly.
The homicide team thinks the case they're working may be drug related. A snake is considered a snitch to the cartels, Angel says.
Brother Sam insists the fruit vendor had changed his criminal ways. "Men can change," he tells Angel.
Men, maybe, but what about a monster? Dexter thinks, as he watches the interview.
Dexter purposely dents his SUV so that he can bring it by the auto repair shop. There, he gets mistaken for a parole officer. He tells Brother Sam vaguely a "co-worker" recommended the place, without mentioning he works for Miami Metro.
Was that the holy spirit? Or his dark passenger checking out mine, Dexter thinks.
Brother Sam was facing death row, he tells Dexter, when the judge presiding over his case suddenly dropped dead, and a mistrial was declared.
"So that darkness inside is gone?" Dexter asks. Brother Sam says no, but he's fighting it every day. Brother Sam now makes it his mission to give people a second chance.
Under cloak of darkness, Dexter returns and stalks Brother Sam. He follows him to a home, hears a gunshot and then sees Brother Sam carrying a man to a car and putting him a car's trunk. Dexter keeps close.
I was right all along, Dexter thinks. Brother Sam is no shepherd. He's still a wolf.
But before Dexter can take down Brother Sam, a ferocious dog comes out barking and baring its fangs.
Well, it is an animal tranquilizer, he thinks, referring to the needle he meant for Brother Sam.
Brother Sam comes out, and Dexter makes up a story about leaving something inside his SUV. Brother Sam takes Dexter inside the body shop, where — lo and behold he discovers the man is alive. Brother Sam had found him getting high when he missed his shift and was trying to guide him back on the straight and narrow.
Then, some scary dudes show up. They point a gun at Brother Sam, who stays strong and says, "Faith, brother. God is in control." Dexter saves the day by flashing his badge and promising vengeance from Miami Metro if he or Brother Sam is killed.
"That was a miracle," Brother Sam says. "You don't fight like no lab geek," he later says in surprise.
After this incident, Dexter focuses his attention on the main scary dude, Julio.
I am thankful of the bounty I am about to receive, Dexter says, speaking to his dead father.
Deb finds herself being hailed a hero after her takedown of a mad gunman shooting at restaurant patrons. A customer caught her heroics on a cell phone camera and uploaded the video to a variant of YouTube. It went viral with 500,000 hits.
Happy with the positive publicity and wanting to get back at Capt. Maria LaGuerta for blackmailing him, the deputy chief decides to ignore her recommendation and make Deb the new lieutenant. LaGuerta was angling for her ex-husband Angel Batista to take over her job.
"Do you really think I'm ready for something like this?" Deb asks the deputy chief.
She later shares her concerns with Dexter and asks what the deputy chief could see in her.
"That you're smart, you're driven, you're a great detective" who will be leading the department that may hunt me down someday, Dexter thinks in a voiceover.
What scares her is she's being promoted higher than their father, the model cop, made it.
Knowing Angel was in line for the job, Deb makes sure to break the news to him first over coffee.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm the detective that I am because of you," Deb tells Angel before breaking the news. She gets his blessing. Instead of being angry, he's proud of her.
"It's about time a real cop had that job," Angel says as he gives her a hug, jokingly asking she give back the money he spent on her coffee.
Meanwhile, Deb finally discovers why Quinn has been acting so weird lately — he was trying to propose. He puts the ring in the fridge for her to find as he makes pancakes. Big mistake. Deb freaks out. She doesn't want to be tied down to Quinn. She tells him she needs time to think about it. Their relationship is comfortable, and she doesn't want to change that. Too late. Dexter's opinion is clear; he's never liked Quinn much.
Uncle to my son? Over his dead body, Dexter says in a voiceover.
"There's no drama. After the last couple years, that's kind of nice," Deb tells Dexter, a subtle reference to the time she accidentally dated the Ice Truck Killer a few seasons back.
Well, that's over. Deb's now her ex-boyfriend's boss.