Dexter: Season 7 review: Episode 6

Episode 6 - 'Do the Wrong Thing'
This episode concentrated mainly on the developing relationship between Dexter and Hannah McKay.

Dexter made the mistake of accusing Hannah of killing one of the people that they had found in the previous episode. He would have to get back on her good side to be able to get anywhere near uncovering if she has killed more than this. After all, he wants more evidence so that he has a basis to kill her.

He changes the blood report from the Randall scene so that it only incriminates Randall as being the sole killer. When he shows this to Hannah as a piece offering, she seems happy - I think she likes Dexter and this lets her know that he is a good guy. During this interaction, Dexter wipes dirt from Hannah's face to which she defends with 'I can get pretty dirty' - something that Dexter will find out soon no doubt! To keep the conversation going, he then tells Hannah he wants a plant. This is the first of two examples of Dexter nervously stuttering to get more time in Hannah's presence.

They also share stories of loved ones passing away - Dexter tells of Rita being murdered; Hannah of her husband's heart attack, as well as her mentor and previous owner of the nursery - Beverly Grey - passing away, too. This leads Dexter to question himself as to if Hannah had anything to do with that. After looking into her death, Dexter thinks that there is a motive there for Hannah to have killed her as she had been left everything in Beverly's will.

After copying files (from new character Sal Price - more on him later), Dexter learns about a poisonous plant that could have been used to aid a heart attack for both Beverly Grey and Hannah's deceased husband - Aconite. As he is looking through this, Hannah shows up at his house and they have an interesting exchange where she brings him a new plant - to replace the one he had taken earlier - this one is more fitting to Dexter though; it has spots on it that looks very similar to blood spatter.

In their next meeting (at the nursery), Hannah questions Dexter's motives as he is always coming to see her. In the second example of Dexter panicking for a response, he cleverly responds with a nice double meaning - 'I wanna take you out'. Eventually, after she shares her fears to such an occasion, she agrees. This brings another comedy line from Harry - 'A date? Really?'.

 This 'date' is the final segment of the episode and revolves around a closed amusement park. Is this the setting that Dexter needs to finally dispose of her? They walk along in the dark and Hannah holds Dexter's hand - this is something that, again, makes Dexter uneasy. He's very un-Dexter-like around her. After giving her the chance to reminisce, he drugs her and restrains her to a table ready for his next kill. Dexter gets 'in the zone' before Hannah tells him to 'do what you gotta do'... this results in Dexter cutting the plastic off her, followed by them kissing and having sex. The tension has been there for a few episodes now.

Everything else took a back seat in this episode;

• Isaac continued to show what a dangerous man he is; showing absolutely no fear in prison when a Colombian confronts him. He also talks with George (Novikov) about getting him out and making sure that Joey (Quinn) complies.
• Connected to this, Joey gives the bribe money back to George, who after the above conversation with Isaac, talks Joey into seeing things their way - for Nadia's sake. This ensures that Joey plays ball with them; later taking evidence away that will free Isaac from prison.
• Batista expresses his desire to retire and open up a restaurant. Jamie (sister) wants him to use caution in any decision he makes. Later, he tells Joey of his thoughts which Masuka overhears before blabbing to Deb - this leads to a heart to heart between Deb and Batista; she is clearly upset at the thought of losing such a great friend and colleague.
• Newbie Sal Price - a writer on the original Randall spree - enters the scene with two intentions:(1) to get to the bottom of the new findings in the Hannah McKay situation and (2) to date Deb. On the said date with Deb he reveals that his blood spatter guy found that there was a second, smaller killer involved in the bodies that they had previously found - this incriminates Hannah and shows that Dexter has lied AGAIN to Deb.
• Lastly, LaGuerta digs deeper into the Bay Harbour Butcher case and says that she feels there maybe a link between other missing people/unsolved cases - such as the 'barrel girls' (Lumen Pierce and Jordan Chase situation, Season 5). Deb and Dexter talk about this later and it becomes apparent that Dexter was working with Lumen - and that they were together - this is some more wonderful news for Deb!

Summary
This episode delved further into Dexter and Hannah's growing closeness. By the end the tension boils over and is nearly cut with a knife. After Sal Price's admission to Deb there will be questions asked regarding Dexter's blood work, though. She knows that he had a relationship with Lumen and will soon put two and two together regarding his cover up on behalf of Hannah.

Joey is firmly in the pocket of George and the Koshka brotherhood as a result of caring for Nadia too much. This will undoubtedly lead to the release of Isaac Sirko so that he can try to gain revenge on Dexter.

LaGuerta is getting closer and closer, the more she digs into the Bay Harbour Butcher case. All of these situations will eventually have Dexter feeling that the walls are closing in on him.

Dexter: Season 7 review: Episode 5

Episode 5 - 'Swim Deep'
This episode started with Dexter cleaning his boat. This leads him to find blood; and not blood that he would have been responsible for. He wonders who would have been on his boat. This is cleared up when he tests the blood and discovers that it was Louis'. But why?

Dexter arrives home and realises that someone has been/is in his apartment (we are shown Isaac Sirko in Dex's apartment awaiting his arrival). To test this theory he leaves a message on his answer phone (in a fake voice). This leads Isaac to leave the apartment - this is seen by Dexter from his car. Dex knows that he has seen this gentleman before - in the Foxhole - and thinks that the Koshka Brotherhood might know that he killed Viktor, and have, therefore, sent a hitman to target him. This then leads Dexter to follow him to a coffee shop where Dexter calls Isaac via the shop's phone. It becomes apparent that Isaac was there to avenge Viktor's death - and he gained Dexter's name due to Louis. Isaac also lets Dexter know that he will get him and anyone else in Miami Metro that is connected to Viktor's murder.

A little later, Dexter realises that Isaac is a powerful man - and one of the bosses of the Koshka Brotherhood. He devises a plan to get Isaac killed - this is as a result of the Koshka's rivalry with a Colombian cartel. Dexter leads Isaac into a bar run by the Colombians and leaves expecting his problem to be solved.

Unfortunately, after Dexter and the team are called to the scene, they realise that Isaac had killed his way out of trouble. The Colombians are slain and Isaac is nowhere to be seen. The silver lining was that whilst Dexter talks everyone through what he thinks happened, they find the blood of the culprit of this slaughter - Isaac Sirko. This then leads to Isaac being brought into custody - followed by prison. Problem solved?

Another key development is between Dexter and Hannah McKay.

She comes into help out with the Wayne Randall killing spree that she was involved in. Batista and Dexter show her some items that were collected along the way on their spree years before. With regards to a toy giraffe, Dexter feels that Hannah is 'nostalgic' when looking at this item.

At the crime scene where they look for bodies connected to this case, Hannah tells Dexter that she 'couldn't move' when Randall committed his first kill. Dexter also shares a story about the first crime scene he was a part of. Hannah compares this interaction to being 'on a date, sharing our first sexual experience'. Is there something between them?

After the discovery of two bodies at the crime scene dig, Dexter describes how they died to the others. At one point he hesitates as he realises that Randall didn't kill both victims - a smaller person seemed to have killed the female of the two. Dexter knows that Hannah would have been the one to do this. When the two of them are away from everyone, he presents his findings to her. She doesn't seem in denial about it too much.

A third situation looked at in this episode is that of Capt. LaGuerta's investigation into the blood slide that she found at the Travis Marshall crime scene at the start of this season.

Masuka is in fear of losing his job after word gets to him that LaGuerta has had an outside forensics team look at evidence (the blood slide). Deb hears of this and asks LaGuerta about this situation; gaining her trust so that she can keep close to this development - LaGuerta even gives the investigation file to Deb 'for her eyes only'. Lucky for Dexter that Deb caught wind of this...

Further to this, LaGuerta wants to interview the families of missing people - some of which Dexter is responsible for their 'disappearances'. They single out one such man who's family are still in the area - Deb makes sure that she is the one to interview the family. This is because the man that Dexter killed was a photographer, and was working a wedding when Dexter got to him - Deb fears that there is a chance that Dexter could be in photos taken at this wedding.

As they interview the son of the family, and look through photos from that wedding, Deb comes across a photo that contains Dexter. She convinces LaGuerta to let her look through the rest of the photos back at the station - she agrees. Dexter's ass is saved again as Deb later gives him the photo so that he can dispose of it. She then informs him that she doesn't want to be part of that side of his life anymore - she even had to lie to Batista to protect Dexter.

Other situations;

• George Novikov informs Isaac that Joey (Quinn) used to 'look the other way' after receiving payments from them in the past. This interests Isaac, as he will have the police off his back then. Money is later left in Joey's car - which he puts in his glove compartment.
• After Isaac's arrest and imprisonment, Dexter goes to visit Isaac so that he can ask why it is so important that he kills him. Isaac replies that he liked Viktor; Dexter says that he killed Mike Anderson so he deserved what he got. After Dexter asks if this is now over, Isaac tells him a story of revenge involving his Grandfather and Great Uncle, which is a clear answer to Dexter's question - No.

Summary
Things heated up in this episode as Isaac is now onto Dexter and will not stop until he avenges Viktor's death. Even though Isaac is behind bars this is far from over.

There seemed to be more sparks between Dexter and Hannah McKay here, too. Dexter now knows that Hannah hasn't told the whole truth. He does, however, lie for her when Deb asks about the blood reports from the Randall-bodies crime scene.

Batista also cannot let it go that he thinks that Alex Dubrovny did not carry out the killings that he 'confessed' to. This has led to a rift between he and Deb.

Dexter: Season 7 review: Episode 4

Episode 4 - 'Run'
Episode 4 of Season 7 focused further on the Ray Speltzer situation, as well as looking further into Isaac Sirko's continued involvement in matters surrounding The Foxhole (strip club) and the Mike Anderson/Viktor Baskov murders.

In the last episode, Deb asked Dexter to move out of her apartment, as well as Ray Speltzer getting away from the maze-type house that he set up to kill his latest victim.

After having a dream about being in a bloodbath, Deb goes onto ask Dexter about Rita's (Dexter's murdered wife) death. Deb realises that she was murdered because of Dexter - because he was tracking Trinity (John Lithgow, season 4) and then got found out, leading to Trinity knowing that Dexter had a family. This, again, leads Deb to question the well being of Harrison. Later, Harrison goes away to stay with his grandparents and Cody/Aster. This is probably for the best seeing that Isaac knows who Dexter is now.

This is because they (Isaac and George Novikov) have files on Dexter now. They know that he's a 'lab geek' at Miami Metro. They also know that Louis worked there, too. This leads Isaac to believe that the whole of the department might be in on Viktor's death as revenge for Mike Anderson's murder. Isaac devises a plan so that the police will stop bothering them - to get an employee to take the fall for the Mike Anderson murder.

They turn to a bartender, named Alex Dubrozny, a family man to confess to the murders that have taken place in the last few episodes. Isaac does this by guilting him into doing so, so that his family will be looked after. This is the most important thing to Alex, who, it is clear, lives for his family. Alex writes the confession before having a shot of vodka, and finally shooting himself in the temple. This will then lead the police to think that Alex was responsible for the murders, therefore closing the case and leaving Isaac to carry on with 'business'.

Quinn receives a text that informs him that Alex has shot himself. This leads the police to take a look at this crime scene. Dexter explains how things would have gone down. Whilst doing so, he knows that Alex didn't do what he has confessed to and wonders who would have put him up to taking the blame. Batista also gives his opinion on the situation - he doesn't feel that this is as clear cut as it appears. It's too 'perfect' for his liking.

Later, Quinn and Batista talk; Batista is still sure that it's all too good to be true. He convinces Quinn that they should take another look around the club. Quinn agrees but wants to wait until the next day - Batista realises from this that Quinn has a woman involved. It is then admitted that Quinn is seeing Nadia (stripper).

The other situation going on in this episode is that involving Ray Speltzer.

It is revealed that he has been found and arrested - by four police officers! - as a result of this LaGuerta wants a confession from him so that they can charge him. This is done between Batista and Deb; firstly Batista goes in and tries to play 'good cop'; saying that Deb gives him grief all the time and he'd love to take a shot at her given the chance - he gives the impression that he'd love to put a woman in her place, too. He lets Speltzer know that Deb wants to 'get' Speltzer - this interaction is all to rile him up before 'feeding' him to Deb.

'Bad cop' Deb then enters the room after Batista has left. She goes onto relate Speltzer's murders to that of his mother's. Deb sole intention here is to get Speltzer so pissed off that he will tell all - this is achieved when she, as good as, calls his mother a whore. Confession gained.

Unfortunately, this victory is short-lived as LaGuerta shows everyone a DVD of Speltzer being taken down by the police officers. In this, he is basically unconscious when they ask him if he understands his rights. This resulted in the judge throwing out his confession. He is then released.

Dexter decides that his way of doing things is the way forward. He goes to Speltzer's trailer (also on the grounds of the cemetery); he is surprised when Speltzer comes back to the trailer and a fight ensues, leading to Dexter being knocked out. When he comes to, he is in a larger maze-like building, that appears to be Speltzer's greatest achievement. There is a sign for Dexter, which reads 'RUN'. Dexter isn't fazed by this as normally he 'makes people run'. After a chase through the various levels of the building, Dexter manages to escape and make a run for it. The only problem is that Speltzer now knows what Dexter looks like - from now on Dexter has to be very smart about any approaches/attempts.

The next time we see Speltzer is at Melanie's (girl he killed) funeral. As Deb and Batista come out of the church/chapel, Speltzer is at the roadside taunting Deb. This leads her to attack him and verbally take him down. She is filled with rage in this segment.

Revenge is finally gained at the end of the episode when Dexter goes to the cemetery and attracts Speltzer's attention. He leads him to a sign that says 'STAY' - a perfect response to the note left earlier for Dexter. As Speltzer reads this, Dexter sneaks up behind him and smashes him across the back of the head with a shovel, rendering him unconsious.

Speltzer awakens, strapped to a table in the crematorium. Unlike previous rituals, Dexter doesn't take a blood slide as he knows that his 'trophies' have the potential to be found. He explains to Speltzer that he was meant to be how he [Dexter] and Deb came to an understanding about what Dexter does - "who knows - maybe our relationship can arise from your ashes".

After stabbing Speltzer through the heart, Dexter reaches for his box of slides, placing them on Speltzer's lifeless body - "goodbye friends" as he then enters the body and slides into the furnace to burn.

As Dexter looks up at the fumes coming from the top of the building, a car pulls up. As he enters the car, we see that it's Deb who has arrived - as requested by Dexter. He then informs Deb that the smoke is Speltzer:

Deb: "Did you do that for me?"
Dexter: "No. How do you feel?"
Deb: "Glad (she seems disgusted with her response). What does that make me?"
Dexter: "Human".

Other segments;

• Dexter and Hannah McKay have another interaction when she comes into Miami Metro to potentially help with the Wayne Randall case. This is another awkward conversation where more chemistry is hinted at between the two.
• Also, Isaac visits an apartment - presumably Viktor's - where he looks at a framed photograph. He opens the back of it to reveal a picture of him and Viktor. As he starts to weep, he promises to avenge his death.

Summary
This was a good end to the Speltzer situation. Dexter's intention was to show Deb that his 'way' is an option. After the confession was thrown out, it was then left to Dexter to salvage what resulted. It showed that when the law was flawed, Dexter's code (or Harry's code) can come into play to serve justice. This seems to have opened Deb's eyes to this.

Isaac's power of persuasion and authority was shown further here; getting Alex to take the fall for the previous murders. As well as him knowing who Dexter is now, we were shown an unexpected turn of events as it seems that Isaac and Viktor were lovers - we now understand Isaac's motivation for coming to America. This will undoubtedly mean that Isaac and Dexter will cross paths further.

Deb is further conflicted here - it's been a very tough season for her so far. In the bloodbath dream, we see that her feelings towards Dexter are still very much there - she has a wedding ring on and Dexter proposes 'will you be mine'. With all that has been revealed so far, Deb's feelings will come to the surface, too, no doubt.

Dexter: Season 7 review: Episode 3

Episode 3 - 'Buck the System'
The struggle between Deb and Dexter continued again this episode, as Dexter tried to convince Deb that his way of doing things is a viable option.

The episode starts with Dexter in the queue in the Post Office waiting to send something (we later discover that this is the hand/arm from the Ice Truck Killer evidence, that Dexter is going to send to Louis to cause his downfall). Whilst waiting, Dexter imagines the clerk closing the position, which, along with him feeling trapped by Deb at every turn, makes him angry and slash the clerk's throat - this, of course, is part of Dexter's imagination. After imagining stabbing Masuka with a pen (his imagination again), and after having an altercation with a suspect in custody, Deb takes him to one side to see what's going on with him. Dexter then admits that he feels smothered and trapped by her constant watching of him. He admits that he NEEDS her to back off or something bad will happen. Deb agrees to give him space.

Whilst having space, Dexter looks into a previous offender, Ray Speltzer. This is someone that Dexter would like to kill to feed his urges. He starts by stalking Speltzer at the gym. Speltzer is very into his gym session - possibly a sign that he is an aggressive individual.

This situation continues on as Dexter tries to convince Deb that he thinks Speltzer will kill again. If she lets him take care of Speltzer then he can assure her that this will not be the case. Deb disagrees as this is not the 'lawful' way to do things. Dexter argues that if the law had done its job right the first time of asking then Speltzer wouldn't be free, and there wouldn't be this debate. He also informs her that he only kills when he is absolutely sure of guilt.

Despite her disapproval of Dexter's code, Deb goes to LaGuerta to see if they can get a warrant to search the mausoleum (in the cemetery where Speltzer works - this seems to be where he is hiding things). LaGuerta refuses this request, saying that she needs more than just a hunch from Deb's 'lizard brain' - Deb is now using Dexter-isms.

By the end of the episode, Deb goes by Speltzer's place to see if there is any activity. As she is going to leave, she notices flashing lights and goes into investigate further. What she finds out is that Speltzer has a maze-like situation going on in the house, where he is chasing his latest victim. Things don't look good for Deb at one point until Dexter saves the day. Speltzer flees as they find the body of the girl that he has just killed - proving Dexter was right.

Their final interaction of the episode results in Deb asking Dexter to move back to his own place. After the Speltzer incident, Deb realises that both he and Dexter are very similar, almost the same. After all, they both collect trophies of their victims - Dex's blood slides; Speltzer's earrings. She also realises why Dexter does what he does - she doesn't accept it, but she now understands it.

Another situation that developed further in this episode was that of the presence of Isaac Sirko. He has a conversation with Nadia (the stripper who Quinn has shown a liking to); telling her a story about his music teacher that wronged him. This teacher was punished accordingly by Isaac. He then informs her that opera is the only thing left of his 'sensitive side'; giving her a clear warning that he is not to be messed with. He wants her to get close to Quinn and see what she can find out from him regarding Viktor.

This then leads Nadia to admit to Quinn that her bosses want her to find information out from him. They like each other enough to be this honest now. Quinn agrees that they could help each other out - he assures her that he will not let anything happen to her. They kiss as they are both smitten with one another.

Isaac's main concern in this episode is to find out where Viktor has seemingly disappeared to. The dead stripper, Kaja, had a bracelet and they believe that this would have been with Viktor - this must be tracked to find Viktor's whereabouts.

This bracelet is traced and it is discovered that it stopped tracking eight miles out to sea. Isaac denotes that this means that Viktor is dead. The hunt is then on to find the culprit.

Meanwhile, Dexter destroys Louis personally and professionally, first by sending the Ice Truck Killer hand/arm to Lewis/Masuka at Miami Metro - resulting in Masuka firing Louis, and secondly, by sending a dvd of Louis and the prostitute (that Dexter found in the last episode), to Jamie - thus ending their relationship. The destruction of Louis is complete...nearly.

Isaac, George (Novikov) and Isaac's bodyguard track the last whereabouts of the bracelet - and therefore Viktor's killer - to the marina where Dexter's boat (The Slice of Life) is situated. This leads them to Louis, who is sabotaging Dexter's boat. After a conversation with Louis, where he clearly doesn't know who he's dealing with, Isaac gets the name that he needs - Dexter Morgan. During Louis' rant about Dexter, he informs Isaac and co. that Dexter works for Miami Metro. With the relevant information acquired; he shoots Lewis.

• There are two 'first' interactions for Dexter in this episode; first with Isaac Sirko. Neither man knows who the other is - to Dexter, Isaac is just another guy in the strip club. Isaac has no idea that Dexter killed Viktor at this point.
• The second 'first' interaction is with Hannah McKay - the ex-girlfriend of Wayne Randall. She is now running a nursery (plants) and is paid a visit by Dexter and Batista to get a swab of her DNA. This is where there is an awkward moment between them - Dexter drops the first swab that he attempts to enter into her mouth. She seems to find his awkwardness cute and funny.

Summary
This episode developed things further and gave us more information on new characters. Isaac Sirko appeared to be a very powerful man in the previous episode. This episode he was shown to be very dangerous. The sharp suits and British accent make him seem civilised, but there appears to be a vicious side to this newcomer.

It was also the debut of Hannah McKay. She was mentioned, by name, in the last episode by Wayne Randall and we now have a face to go with this. There appears to be a spark between her and Dexter, and this will be interesting to see where this goes.

Deb is still on Dexter's case. This took a new turn as, by the end, she's realised that in some ways he's just like any other killer out there - a frightening realisation for her.

It also appears that Joey (Quinn) could have some problems on his hands, too, as he is prepared to help Nadia from coming to harm in order to find out about Mike Anderson's murder.

Dexter: Season 7 review: Episode 2

Episode 2: Sunshine and Frosty Swirl
Episode 2 starts, as the first episode did, with Deb and Dexter. This time there has just been a new development in that Deb has now found out that Dexter is a serial killer. Wow, it's like Christmas for her with all these lovely 'presents' that she's unwrapping!

They talk at various times throughout the episode and Deb comes to the conclusion that Dexter is like a drug addict. The way in which a drug addict would confront their addiction would be to go to rehab - in Dexter's case this will be by moving in with Deb so that she can keep an eye on him and help him to stop his urges. It's amazing that what she has found out recently hasn't led her to do the 'right thing' and arrest Dexter - luckily she 'loves' her brother - this to be dealt with in other episodes.

Whilst at Deb's they discuss why Dexter does what he does. She also questions why she is helping her brother. A very confusing situation for her - she also tries to compare them to other families and hopes that there are some that are 'more fucked up' than theirs. That would take some doing, I think.

Also, Deb lays down the law to Dexter as well as setting a first rule that Dexter has to abide by: total honesty/trust. This is instantly broken as Dexter drugs Deb's food so that he can sneak out to target Louis and his questionable intentions towards Dexter.

This leads onto the two other notable interactions that Dexter has in this episode; the first is with Louis (Masuka's intern; Jamie's boyfriend). Louis is very upset that Dexter wasn't a fan of his serial killer game, and this is his reason behind wanting to ruin Dexter. He really doesn't know who he's messing with here...

Dexter breaks into Louis' apartment to look for clues as to what he is up to. He instantly finds a slip of paper that has Dexter's credit card details on - revealing that Louis was the one that cancelled them. He also discovers Louis' ideas/videos on his laptop (as well as a revealing clip of a prostitute going down on him). He also sees the lengths that Louis will go to in order to get what he wants - previously, Louis ruined a businessman to gain access to his company. This section ended when Louis arrived home and Dexter ambushed him wanting answers. Once Louis admitted that he was upset that Dexter didn't like his game, Dexter told him that he never wanted to see him again. Louis agrees that this will happen. Problem solved as far as Dexter is concerned...

The second notable interaction that Dexter has is with a new character, Wayne Randall. Randall is a serial killer (also prisoner) that decides to aid the police in finding bodies that were previously not discovered. Each time that Dexter arrives at this scene, he and Randall speak. There seems to be an ease about this - they are both killers after all, so this is a comfortable exchange for Dexter. It's almost as if Dexter can relate to Randall; maybe even try to learn from his predicament.

Towards the end of their exchanges, Randall admits to 'surrendering' to his situation. This is something that Dexter thinks about. Randall also mentions a 'Hannah' (Randall's accomplice?) and how he felt 'alive' around her. Maybe she will come into play soon? Randall finishes this segment by saying that 'the clock has run out' and that there is 'one more person to kill' before throwing himself in front of an oncoming truck. Dexter is left with a splatter of blood across the face as a result.

The Mike Anderson murder picks up more pace this episode, too. Quinn and Batista shut down the Foxhole again in an attempt to get information from anyone that is willing to help. One such stripper, Nadia, is questioned by Quinn, who with his reputation, seems to take a shine to her straightaway.

Connected to this is the arrival of Isaac Sirko - the leader of the Koshka brotherhood. He first turns up in George Novikov's office at the Foxhole and you can instantly tell that he is a man of authority. Novikov cowers to him and tries to explain Viktor's disappearance after Isaac informs him that he never made his flight back to Kiev. To showcase that he is a man not to be messed with, Isaac (and bodyguard) pay a visit to a former employee of theirs - Tony Rush - that was seeing the dead stripper from the first episode. After questioning him about what he might/might not have said to the police, Isaac stabs him through the eye, killing him, before leaving. Clearly Isaac Sirko is going to be a dangerous man in this season.

Capt. LaGuerta has an outside forensic department take a look at the blood slide that she found. The results come back that the blood on that slide belongs to Travis Marshall. This leads her to look back at the evidence of the Bay Harbour Butcher case and realise that this slide matches those from that case - all meaning that the Bay Harbour Butcher is still at large.

Summary
A good second episode that continued the focus on Deb's confusion and conflict with what she has just discovered. Everything she thought she knew has been turned upside down in the last two episodes.

We now have Isaac Sirko on American soil and things appear to be heating up as far as a major threat to Dexter go - he might be having to deal with a whole brotherhood of foes in the coming episodes. Also connected to the Mike Anderson murder is Quinn's involvement with Nadia in his quest to find out what's happening at the Foxhole.

And finally, LaGuerta appears to be on Dexter's trail (although he doesn't know this yet). After her relationship with Doakes, she will stop at nothing to get to the truth surrounding the true identity of the Bay Harbour Butcher.

Dexter: Season 7 review: Episode 1

Episode 1 - "Are You...?"
The first episode started with a recap of the 6th season - going over Travis Marshall and the Doomsday killings, Louis and his serial killer game that he pitches to Dexter, Deb's feelings towards Dexter and, of course, the ending of season 6 where Deb catches Dexter as he plunges a sword through Travis' heart.

This episode followed on from that season finale and mainly focuses on what Dexter has done, and Deb's attempt to try and understand what she has just seen. There are several back and forths between the two, where Deb throws questions at Dexter on how he was so prepared to carry out the act. Later, Deb looks through evidence from the Ice Truck killer's case as she tries to make sense of things. She can see a link between the way the Ice Truck killer had restrained her on a table of plastic wrap, and the way that Dexter had Travis Marshall on the table (even though the Ice Truck killer - Brian Moser - had been imitating Dexter).

Alongside this, there are a few flashbacks of when Dexter and Deb are kids; Deb receives a puppy as a present, which gets Dexter on edge. These flashbacks result in the puppy having to be given back as Harry (their dad), is worried that Dexter will have the urge to kill the puppy. Ultimately, Harry and Dexter have a conversation about Dexter telling Deb the truth about himself. Harry explains that if Deb ever found out what Dexter does/is then she would be mortified and she would not look at Dexter in the same way again.

New developments in this episode were that of Mike Anderson being shot dead after accidentally stumbling on a dead stripper in a broken down car. This leads Dexter to go on the hunt of the killer - a Ukrainian gangster, Viktor Baskov.

Dexter works his magic through the databases available to him and catches up with his man at the Miami International airport (This sequence was also the opening to this episode where it was assumed that Dexter was going to flee the country after his sister catching him in the act of murder). Here, Dexter has to change his methods sightly, and kills Viktor to avenge the death of Mike Anderson and to satisfy his cravings.

Connected to this is that the dead stripper (Kasia Soroka) is linked back to the club that she works at - The Foxhole - where Batista and Quinn investigate and speak with the club's manager, George Novikov. After this initial meeting, Novikov calls his boss in the Ukraine, Isaac Sirko, to let him know that the police have nothing to connect this situation to Mike Anderson's murder. He also informs him that Viktor (Baskov) is on his way home to the Ukraine. Sirko seems happy about this. Sirko seems like he is a powerful man.

Another interesting discovery in this episode was that of LaGuerta finding the blood slide from the Travis Marshall crime scene that Dexter had accidentally dropped into a vent. This led her to speak with Masuka about who takes blood slides; Sgt Doakes - The wrongly labelled Bay Harbour Butcher - is the answer that Masuka gives. This gets LaGuerta thinking; she then takes the blood slide from evidence.

This episode ends with Dexter getting home to find that Deb has trashed the seating area looking for clues, as she knows something is not right. On display are Dexter's slides and knives. Busted. Deb asks if he killed all them people, along with the most important question: Are you...are you a serial killer? Dexter answers 'yes'.

Summary
A great start to the new season. The biggest reveal to date is that of Deb finding out that Dexter kills - although up until the end it was just assumed that it was a one off. Dexter now has a lot of explaining to do!

The loss of Mike Anderson isn't a great one as he wasn't in the show for a long time and was pretty much a generic cop character. His death has started up what looks to be the start of what will occupy season 7. It also potentially brings a very dangerous threat to Dexter's safety and survival. LaGuerta's find will also bring something new to the table as she'll undoubtedly question how a blood slide could be present if the Bay Harbour Butcher is no more.