 Dexter returns in explosive fashion with Season 7, as Dexter is finally forced to confront his greatest fear, as Debra witnesses his insatiable, ritualistic slaying of a killer. Now Deb knows the secret of his Dark Passenger, his undeniable thirst for blood, and the Code that their father Harry instilled in him as a young boy. But as Deb tries to reconcile the unfathomable idea that her beloved, mild-mannered brother is Miami's most notorious serial killer, Dexter is still pulled by his natural impulses to seek out the guilty and exact his brand of vigilante justice. Storyline: Meet Dexter Morgan. By day he's a blood spatter pattern expert for the Miami Metro police department. But by night - he takes on an entirely different persona: serial killer. But Dexter isn't your average serial killer as he only kills people who fit a very prolific and precise "moral code" taught to him by his late father Harry (he didn't kill Harry, honest), and developed very thoroughly throughout each kill. While dealing with his daily activities and his boss, Sgt. Doakes, the one man who may or may not know the truth about his after-hours activities, he is given a friendly message by a guy referred to only as "The Ice Truck Killer" - a crime scene where there is no blood. This shocking discovery turns Dexter's world completely upside down. The Ice Truck Killer wants Dexter to play his game and Dexter is very eager to take on this cat-and-mouse chase throughout Miami. Written by halo1k Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown on May 10, 2013 -- When last we left darkly dreaming Showtime fan-favorite Dexter, the meticulously clever serial series was badly, perhaps even fatally wounded. Desperate and often predictable, it spent eleven increasingly painful sixth season episodes hobbling, then limping, then crawling towards a hastily manufactured endgame. I worried it would bleed out before reaching the finale. At one point, I feared dear Dexter dead. But then, against all odds, it pulled itself off the floor -- beaten, battered and bloody -- and delivered a razor-edged finale with a killer cliffhanger. Like its titular avenging angel, the series' future was uncertain but, suddenly and thankfully, full of possibilities. Season Seven picks up right where Season Six left off, with Miami's most brutally efficient vigilante in a shocking predicament, his future more uncertain than ever. Within minutes, though, it becomes apparent Dexter is on the mend; injured but deadlier than ever. Three rapidfire episodes later, it's clear the show is back with a vengeance. And by the end of the series' gripping seventh season, all is as it should be. Now it's just a matter of patiently waiting for The Final Season Eight to arrive. 7.01 Are You...? - After witnessing Dexter kill Travis Marshall, Debra is utterly shocked but helps him cover up the murder. Getting increasingly suspicious about Dexter, she begins to remember more details from the time the Ice Truck Killer attempted to murder her and realizes the similarities between that and the way Dexter murdered Travis. This causes her to question Dexter's conflicting stories regarding his nocturnal disappearances; she subsequently ransacks his apartment to find answers, only to discover his knives and blood slides, causing Dexter to admit to her that he is a serial killer. Meanwhile, Det. Mike Anderson is murdered by a member of the Ukrainian mafia (whom Dexter kills shortly thereafter), Quinn and Batista begin to make amends, Louis Greene hacks into Dexter's computer and cancels all his credit cards, and LaGuerta finds a blood slide that Dexter accidentally dropped in the church and begins investigating it. 7.02 Sunshine and Frosty Swirl - Dexter confesses to Debra about his deeds as a serial killer, and tells her that it was Harry who taught him everything. She demands that he move in with her so she can closely monitor his activities. Dexter reluctantly complies, but upon learning of Louis' involvement in cancelling his credit cards and finding a "rant" video Louis made of himself plotting to humiliate Dexter, he threatens Louis, who appears frightened and tells him that he was only upset because Dexter discouraged him from developing his game. Aggravated, Dexter instructs Louis to disappear, but later Louis shows up in Dexter's apartment and teases him; feeling desperate, Dexter drugs Debra and sneaks out of her house to kill Louis. However, he manages to stop himself and calls Debra, who arrives to calm him down; upon her leaving, Dexter places an unconscious Louis on a bench and leaves. LaGuerta secretly investigates the blood slide, finds out that the blood indeed belongs to Travis Marshall and compares it to Dexter's slides from the Bay Harbor Butcher case. Wayne Randall, a spree killer from fifteen years ago decides to reveal where he buried his victims, but later kills himself. Quinn and Batista investigate Det. Mike Anderson's murder and Quinn gets friendly with a stripper called Nadia. 7.03 Buck The System - Wayne Randall's mother brings evidence to Miami Metro PD that relates to her sons murder victims, which then leads Dexter and Batista to investigate Hannah McKay, Randall's former partner in crime. Dexter informs Debra that Ray Speltzer, a suspect in two murders, is most likely going to kill again. Debra approaches LaGuerta with this information asking if they can investigate it, but LaGuerta tells Debra that they do not have enough evidence for a warrant and instead says that she should send a police car out to keep an eye on him. Dexter sends a parcel to Masuka at Miami Metro which contains the Ice Truck Killer faux-hand. In a letter with the parcel written by Dexter, Masuka reads that Louis had sold the hand and fires him. Nadia is ordered by Isaac to get information from Quinn, who she later informs of this. Isaac Sirko, the head of the Ukrainian Mob, finds that his employee Viktor Baskov, who has gone missing, was lost at sea. Through a tracking device carried by Baskov, he manages to pin-point the location of where Baskov would have left shore to Dexter's boat, the 'Slice of Life'. Here he finds Louis trying to tamper with Dexter's boat. Sirko, believing Louis is the owner of the boat and killer of Baskov, threatens him, saying that he will kill him if he doesn't explain why he killed Baskov. Louis reveals that it is actually Dexter's boat. Just as Sirko leaves, he shoots Louis in the head. Debra goes to do surveillance on Speltzer while Dexter investigates him further. Dexter finds proof of Speltzer's guilt, while Debra realizes things are not right at Speltzer's place and breaks in to confront him. Dexter saves Debra from Speltzer, who manages to escape, leading Debra to conclude that Dexter's actions are, perhaps, a necessary evil. 7.04 Run - Debra struggles to accept Dexter as who he is, while Dexter and Masuka look for evidence on Speltzer in the Mausoleum, which they don't find. Then Debra fantasises during a bath that the bath is filled with blood while Dexter is holding out his hand. Next morning she asks Dexter about Rita's murder and Dexter's involvement in it. Dexter uncovers the truth to Debra. Meanwhile Speltzer is caught by local police at a scrapyard and brought in to the station. Batista interrogates him first and when he doesn't get a confession allows Debra to take a shot. During Debra's interrogation he cracks and admits that he murdered at least one of the girls. Quinn and several police officers raid Sirko's stripclub. Because of that Sirko suspect that Miami Metro does not yet know of Viktor's death. Leading him to believe that Morgan and Greene were working alone. Sirko concludes that he needs a scapegoat to pin the murder of Mike on so that the police will leave them alone. Dexter follows Debra to her car asking her to come with him to celebrate Speltzer's confession. Debra refuses, saying that the girl is still dead. Debra reflects on the earlier conversation and concludes that Harrison should move to his grandparents to guarantee his safety, which Dexter refuses. Sirko and his henchmen visit Alex, a barkeeper from the strip club. And offers Alex that he will provide for his family back in Russia if Sirko can frame Alex for the murder of Mike. Alex gives in and shoots himself through the head with the gun that killed Mike, and leaving a suicide note admitting what he did. Hannah McKay visits Miami Metro to help the police with the investigation of Wayne Randall's murders, after the police had uncovered one of his murder victims. She briefly talks to Dexter about Wayne then goes off to meet with her lawyer. The police review a tape of the police officers who had taken down Speltzer. The men who arrested him failed to get a verbal statement that he confirms that his rights were read to him and that he understands them. Speltzer's lawyer uses that in the trial and the Judge dismisses Speltzer's confession over this technicality and sets him free. Dexter visits the crime scene of the presumed suicide of Alex. Quinn is convinced that Alex committed the murders; Batista thinks it was a set-up. Dexter enters Speltzer's Motorhome to catch Speltzer off-guard. But he unexpectedly comes in and knocks Dexter out. Dexter awakes in a maze like the previous one. He manages to fend off Speltzer and escape from the roof. Sirko swears to avenge Viktor's death. Speltzer attends the burial of his last victim which makes Debra lose control and she has to be restrained. Dexter arrives at Debra's home and tries to comfort her. They wonder if their relationship can ever be the same as before. Batista finds out about Quinn's involvement with Nadia. Dexter sends Harrison away so that he can freely chase Speltzer without worry of his family. He finally catches Speltzer at the cemetery and straps him to the cremation bench. He then burns him and his slides of blood in the fire. Debra arrives at the cemetery, invited by Dexter. He says that the smoke coming from the chimney is Speltzer. Debra feels glad that he is dead; Debra asks what that makes her. Dexter concludes that it makes her human. 7.05 Swim Deep - As Dexter is cleaning his boat, he discovers blood stains. A DNA match reveals the victim to be Louis Greene. Meanwhile, LaGuerta tells Debra of her suspicions that the Bay Harbour Butcher is alive. As Dexter nears his apartment, he notices his curtains are open and concludes that someone has broken in, as Isaac Sirko waits inside. Dexter leaves a message on his own answering machine, tricking the would-be-Hitman into going to a restaurant. At the restaurant, Dexter calls Isaac to ask him what he was doing in his apartment. Isaac tells him he is out to avenge Viktor Baskov's death and plans to kill Dexter and any other Miami Metro police officer involved, including Debra. Dexter tells him he worked alone in killing Viktor and the conversation ends. Dexter warns Debra of Isaac, confesses to killing Viktor, and that Alex the barkeeper was set up by Isaac. Meanwhile, Dexter and Batista interview Hannah McKay about one of Randall's victims and the impending dig for victims' bodies the next day. As Hannah handles one of Randall's toys, Dexter senses she is nostalgic about her killing spree with Randall. As Debra and LaGuerta interview the son of Philip Barnes, the wedding photographer and serial killer who Dexter killed, he shows them photographs from his father's last job - the wedding reception from which Dexter abducted him. Debra finds a photograph with Dexter in it and hides it before LaGuerta notices. Directed by Hannah McKay, officers dig out one of the double-murder victims of Wayne Randall. As Dexter analyses the victims' wounds and blood spatter, he realises the female-victim was killed by someone smaller than Randall: Hannah McKay, though she can't be prosecuted because the DA gave her immunity for any crime committed with Randall in exchange for her cooperation in the case. Dexter finds Isaac following him and lures him to a Colombian joint, who, as Isaac is unaware of, are the sworn enemies of the Kashka brotherhood. Back at the office, Batista gets a call reporting a homicide a Colombian hangout. The team goes there to find three bodies, none of them belonging to Isaac. Dexter's spatter analysis reveals that Isaac was "brutally efficient" in killing his three attackers but was himself injured, non fatally. Isaac Sirko's blood sample from his injuries tie him to the three murders, leading to his arrest. -- Batista tells Debra of his suspicions that Alex the bartender was set up in Mike Anderson's murder and that Viktor Baskov was the real killer. Debra tells him to let it go, much to his disappointment. Back home, Debra shows Dexter his photograph from the wedding reception. Debra walks away as he begins to burn the evidence. Dexter thinks to himself that Debra is safer "by the shore" while he would be "swimming deep" by himself. 7.06 Do the Wrong Thing - Dexter continues to investigate into Hanna McKay as he is convinced of her guilt. While he is in her nursery, searching for evidence supporting his theory - and thereby confirming her guilt - she walks onto him. On being confronted by her he makes up a lie that he wants to ask her out on a date. She rejects the offer and says she is just trying to do the right thing. At which point Dexter coaxes her to "do the wrong thing". She agrees to go out on a date with him. Quinn returns the money he was offered by George Novikov in exchange of some favour. Quinn returns the money saying he is not for sale. Later George shows up at a restaurant where Quinn and Nadia were supposed to meet for dinner. George asks Quinn to remove the evidence linking Issac to the crime scene. Quinn refuses, so George threatens him with killing Nadia. Quinn agrees to remove the evidence in exchange for Nadia's freedom and a promise that Issac, once out of the jail, will leave the country for good. Meanwhile, LaGuerta continues to probe into the Bay Harbour Butcher and has a theory about how all the five suspects relating to Barrel Girls' case went missing suspiciously. She confides this into Debra that it is possible that the Butcher might have got to them. Debra confronts Dexter with this information and in the conversation that follows finds out about Dexter's relationship with Lumen. In an earlier part of the episode, we get to know a new character, Sal Price, an investigative writer who has written a book on the life story of Wayne Randall. He thinks Hanna McKay might be more involved in the killings than previously presumed, and wants to write a sequel about her. To further his personal investigation into the subject, he approaches the Miami Metro hoping to lay his hands on the case files. While on a date with him later, Debra finds out about the differences in the blood reports submitted by Price's guy and Dexter. This makes her suspicious of her brother again. 7.07 Chemistry - Hannah grabs one of his knives and holds it to Dexter's throat. She asks why he wanted to kill her. He says "it's what I do." Meanwhile, at Debra's, Sal Price suggests exhuming the body of Hannah's husband to see if he might have been poisoned. The next day, Dexter drops off Hannah at her home but is spotted by Price. He confronts Dexter in the street telling him he knows Dexter fudged the blood reports. Dexter manages to convince Price not to say anything in exchange for information on Wayne Randall. Masuka discovers that the blood evidence used to arrest Issak is missing. Dexter, Masuka, Quinn and Angel go to the crime scene to look for more blood but the building has been flooded with sewage, destroying any possible evidence. They are forced to release Isaak, but Debra assigns a squad car to follow him around. Price visits Hannah at work and tries to get an interview with her. He threatens to go public with her relationship with Dexter unless she agrees. She agrees to the interview on the condition that he keeps Dexter out of his book. Dexter plans on incriminating Price in the murder of Christy Lawson, whose killer was never found. After exhuming the body of Hannah's husband, Debra discovers that he was never embalmed, and therefore there is no way to test for poison. Price interviews Hannah, who admits to stabbing the woman at the hotel. Later that night, Price goes to Dexter's apartment to find out what he knows about Wayne Randall. Dexter confronts Price with his plan to frame him for murder unless he backs off, but Price collapses and dies, apparently from a heart attack. Deb brings Hannah in for questioning over Price's death but is unable to get a confession. Later, blood tests come in negative for anything poisonous so she is forced to let Hannah go. Dexter visits Hannah the next night and stays over. Dexter receives a call from Deb asking him to do to Hannah what Dexter does best. 7.08 Argentina - Having spent the night together, Hannah and Dexter decide to see each other again. Dexter refuses Deb's request to kill Hannah, telling her she would not be able to live with herself if she ordered a murder. In reality, Dexter can't bring himself to kill Hannah because he's romantically involved with her. With everything he has to deal with, Cody and Astor come to stay with him after their grandfather is hospitalized. Isaak Sirko decides to take a more direct approach and tries to shoot Dexter in broad daylight. Strip club manager George Novikov tells his bosses in Kiev that Isaak has become too obsessed with avenging Viktor's death and is preventing the brotherhood from moving narcotics and laundered money. A hitman is dispatched, but Dexter kills him in Isaak's apartment. Captain LaGuerta continues her investigation into Dexter and learns that he moved his boat just as the Bay Harbor butcher investigation was getting under way. George blackmails Quinn into helping the Koshkas. Deb confesses her feelings to Dexter when she learns of Dexter's involvement with Hannah. Isaak tells Dexter that Viktor was his lover. 7.09 Helter Skelter - Dexter takes Hannah on a boat ride only to discover she is terrified of water, the result of having been thrown into a lake by her father when she was six years old. This discovery prompts a discussion about one another's experiences regarding fear. Dexter is summoned to a crime scene where a man burned to death in his car. An assertive arson investigator rules suicide but Dexter thinks differently. When Dexter attempts to voice his opinion, the arson investigator briskly dismisses his theory. Dexter attempts to smooth things out with Deb by telling her he understands why she confessed her true feelings, reassuring her that the feelings are "logical". Meanwhile at the Koshkas' club, George is becoming increasingly agitated at Quinn's failure to return his calls. Out of spite, he forces Nadia to join him at a motel for sex. Elsewhere, Isaak discovers that the Koshkas have deployed two highly skilled hitmen to kill him. Desperate to save his life, Isaak approaches Dexter for help, which Dexter refuses. Back at the Koshkas' club, Quinn visits Nadia and learns that George assaulted her. He responds by fighting George and dragging Nadia from the club. Arriving home, Dexter finds Hannah's van outside and expects to find her. Instead he finds Isaak, who informs him that Hannah has been abducted and will be murdered if Dexter does not help him take care of the killers that the Koshkas have deployed. Seeing that Hannah is alive and being held by Jurg, Dexter relents and, after learning of the killers' habits from Isaak, tracks one of the killers to a shooting range where Dexter kills him. Dexter then demands to speak to Hannah before helping any further, and Isaak allows him to chat via video with Hannah. During the conversation, Dexter takes a screenshot and sends it to his cellphone. Later, after determining Hannah's location to be the residence of a Colombian, Dexter asks Deb to check out the Colombian cartel victims' houses from Isaak's previous killing spree. Meanwhile, LaGuerta meets with Matthews and admits she believes the Bay Harbor Butcher is still alive. She asks for Matthews' help, which he ultimately agrees to provide in exchange for his pension. When another burned body turns up in an elevator shaft, Dexter finds evidence that indicates it was not suicide and points out his findings to the visibly nervous arson investigator. Noting that the second hitman hunting Isaak had followed him to the crime scene, Dexter leads him to a ship where Isaak kills him. At the same time, Hannah attempts escape and strikes Jurg in the head but not before being stabbed in the abdomen. Back on the ship, Isaak and Dexter appear to make amends. As Isaak is leaving the ship, he is confronted by George who shoots him and flees. Dexter attempts to help him, but Isaak notes that the bullet did not exit and states that he is dying. As Dexter takes a dying Isaak out on his boat, Deb discovers Hannah's unconscious body at the Colombian victim's home and, setting aside her disdain for Hannah, calls an ambulance. 7.10 The Dark...Whatever - The department is called to another murder by the Phantom Arsonist, and Dexter's suspicion initially falls upon the fire service investigator himself. Hannah's father, Clint McKay, pays her an unexpected visit, having spent time in prison. The meeting seems congenial at first, but McKay soon turns nasty when Hannah refuses his request for $20,000 to open a business (actually, to pay off his gambling debts), using threats of exposing her for a past murder. Dexter tracks down the fire investigator's SUV at a park and notices all kinds of fire-starting equipment in it. When confronted by the fire investigator, Dexter realizes that he is not the arsonist, but only a Civil War reenactor. Dexter identifies the real arsonist, Joseph Jensen, when he runs his fingerprints through juvenile records. He initially planned to kill the arsonist himself but, instead, he hands him over to the police department anonymously. At the Koshkas' club with Angel Batista, Quinn hears that his girlfriend Nadia is being sent to a sex club in the Middle East and witnesses George physically assaulting her. He shoots George dead, then falsifies an alibi by claiming that George first shot him by having Nadia shoot him in the arm. Batista is not convinced, but he agrees to let Quinn tell his story. LaGuerta and Matthews visit the site of Doakes' death and discover a further connection between the Bay Harbor murders and Dexter. The program ends with Dexter killing Hannah's father, an event he keeps secret from her, but it is also revealed that the father had already leaked information to Dexter's sister Debra about Hannah's murderous ways. 7.11 Do You See What I See - Dexter attends the parole hearing of Hector Estrada, the last surviving killer of Dexter's mother, which leads to Estrada's release. Nadia is missing — Quinn later learns she has moved to Las Vegas. Angel Batista finds Arlene Schram, the witness to Hannah McKay's murder of the halfway house counselor she encountered after leaving juvenile detention. Dexter meets with Matthews on Matthews' boat. Matthews warns Dexter that LaGuerta thinks that he might be the Bay Harbor Butcher and tells him that they found the connection between Dexter and Jimenez. Dexter tells Matthews that Doakes owned a boat that he kept in the same marina Dexter used. Debra meets with Arlene and offers her a deal to avoid being made an accessory to Hannah's murder and Arlene goes to Hannah to speak with her about it. It is revealed that the counselor had been sexually abusing the girls. Matthews and LaGuerta visit a boat house in which Dexter and Debra had planted evidence incriminating Doakes, but LaGuerta is still not convinced. Dexter poses as a drug dealer to set up a meeting with Estrada. He then receives news his sister was involved in an automobile accident on her way to a second meeting with Arlene. Dexter suspects Hannah poisoned her. Dexter questions Hannah, who denies involvement in Deb's overdose. He later discovers Debra's water bottle contained a high percentage of Alprazolam, an anti-anxiety prescription drug Debra had been taking, leading him to believe Hannah had attempted to kill his sister. Dexter goes to kill Estrada but discovers he's been set up and that LaGuerta pushed for Estrada's release in order to catch Dexter in the act of killing him. Both Dexter and Estrada escape undetected. Dexter gives Debra evidence incriminating Hannah for Sal Price's murder. Debra has Hannah arrested for the murder of Sal Price. 7.12 Surprise, Motherf--ker - Dexter visits Hannah in prison, where Hannah admits to spiking Deb's water with Xanax. During Hannah's arraignment on murder charges, Arlene slips Hannah a substance that causes a seizure. Hannah is taken to the hospital and escapes. She is last seen leaving a plant on Dexter's doorstep. LaGuerta arrests Dexter for the murder of Hector Estrada and tries to get him to confess to being the Bay Harbor Butcher, but Dexter had previously planted old evidence from the Estrada case, making it look like LaGuerta is framing him. LaGuerta receives a surveillance DVD showing Debra filling a gas can near the church where Travis Marshall was killed, and Deb is visibly shaken when confronted with the evidence. Dexter finds a set of incomplete warrants LaGuerta will issue for both his and Deb's phone GPS records on the night Marshall died, and Dexter decides he needs to take LaGuerta out. Dexter captures Estrada, takes him to the shipping container and forces him to call LaGuerta and ask for help. Dexter kills Estrada, and when LaGuerta arrives he knocks her out, planning to stage a lethal confrontation between the two of them. At Batista's New Year's Eve party, Debra wonders where Dexter is and gets worried. She calls the police station to see where LaGuerta is by her car's GPS tracking and is told where LaGuerta is headed. Deb opens the shipping container to find LaGuerta unconscious and Estrada dead on the table. LaGuerta wakes up and tells Debra she is a good person, urging her to shoot Dexter and "put him down". Debra, crying, shoots LaGuerta instead, killing her instantly. She then runs over to her body and sobs, holding her. At a beach front New Year's party, Debra and Dexter walk in among the revelers in a near trance-like state, with Deb holding onto Dexter's arm as he aimlessly leads the way. In a voice-over, Dexter wonders if this is a new beginning - or the beginning of the end. ------------------------------Cast Notes: Michael C. Hall (Dexter Morgan [96 episodes, 2006-2013]), Jennifer Carpenter (Off. Debra Morgan [96 episodes, 2006-2013]), David Zayas (Sgt. Angel Batista [96 episodes, 2006-2013]), James Remar (Harry Morgan [96 episodes, 2006-2013]), C.S. Lee (Vince Masuka [95 episodes, 2006-2013]), Lauren Vélez (Lt. Maria LaGuerta [84 episodes, 2006-2012]), Desmond Harrington (Det. Joseph 'Joey' Quinn [72 episodes, 2008-2013]), Julie Benz (Rita Bennett [49 episodes, 2006-2010]), Christina Robinson (Astor Bennett [48 episodes, 2006-2012]), Geoff Pierson (Deputy Chief Tom Matthews [43 episodes, 2006-2013]).IMDb Rating (03/30/13): 9.0/10 from 185,395 users
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