This week’s episode of Dexter, “A Little Reflection,” ends in a shocker. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, I would suggest seeing it before reading this post. Last episode, we were introduced to Zack, a young kid that seems a little too interested in the homicide Miami Metro was investigating. This character takes center stage this week, while Debra seems to be trying to adjust back to her “normal” self. Following Josh’s recap, he provides his thoughts of the episode in blue font, then Violet provides her thoughts in pink font.
Josh’s Recap of Dexter, Season 8 Episode 6: A Little Reflection
The episode begins with Dexter working a crime scene, which Dexter describes as an accident. Dexter identifies his suspect, Zack who is at the scene taking photos with a decent camera. Dexter so far hasn’t been able to tie him to the death of his father’s mistress, but he seems convinced it is him.
Back home, Dexter and Harrison are hanging out, when Jamie comes in to alert Dexter that “someone” (hinting Harrison) has lost the TV remote. Dexter catches onto the hint, but doesn’t believe that it could be Harrison after Harrison denies knowing anything about it. Jamie also is sure to invite Dexter to her birthday party, which will be outside Batista’s restaurant. She tells Dexter that Cassie is supposed to be there, and through their conversation we learn that Dexter has another date with Cassie.
On the date, Dexter doesn’t seem to be hitting it off too well. They are eating at some food trucks, and Cassie gets bent on trying to figure out what “drives” Dexter’s passion. He tries to deflect the question, and can’t formulate a good answer (for reasons he obviously cant reveal), which seems to put off Cassie. Their date doesn’t seem to go to well.
Back on the job, Dexter is sent to gather forensic evidence in a homicide. While working, Dexter is contemplating how to catch Zack, and winds up spotting him at this scene, again taking photos. Dexter decides to use his “in” with the department to his advantage, and approaches him. He invites him to view the crime scene inside the police tape. Dexter chats it up with him, seeming to almost enjoy the conversation with him. He begins prying for questions, but as Dexter narrates and discovers, Zack begins trying to learn from his mistakes, Dexter suspects, particularly using gloves and a different vehicle when fleeing a crime scene. Zack decides it is time for him to leave, but before he does so, Dexter asks if he can swing by and take a look at some photos once they are developed.
Zack does invite Dexter over, and they discuss the photos taken. Dexter notices a photo of a woman on his desk though, and questions Zack about it. He tries to play it off as a camera test, crumples the photo, and throws it away. He then gets a cell phone call, and seems distressed while talking to whoever is on the other line. From the sounds of it, it is someone who is drinking too much and it isn’t their first time overdoing it. Zack says he has to leave, thus cutting their conversation short.
So what is else is going on in Miami? Batista has tried to convince Matthews to not allow him to appoint Quinn to sergeant. Matthews isn’t taking the bait, and even calls him out on it. He does demand an answer from Batista by the end of the day, however.
Later on in the day, Batista breaks the news to Quinn. Quinn is upset, but tries to keep his cool. After their meeting, he approaches Dexter, (who has returned to work) asking for any forensic evidence connecting Zack to the murder of Norma Rivera. Dexter said there basically isn’t any. This seems to ruffle Quinn’s feathers. But he seems determined to solve this case by following Zack wherever he goes. Dexter’s narrative acknowledges the problem with this—they both can’t stalk Zack without Dexter getting caught. To get around this, Dexter asks if he can join Quinn on the tail. Quinn seems puzzled at first, but agrees.
On the tail, Quinn begins asking about Debra, and how she is doing. Dexter says she is on the mend, but then Quinn gets a little deeper. He begins asking why Dexter and Debra haven’t been as close as they have their entire life, and why Deb would even say it as he that killed LaGuerta. Dexter’s narrative regrets deciding to join Quinn on the tail, but he does learn some valuable information.
Quinn and Dexter are watching Zack, who is watching an outdoor fitness class. What Quinn hasn’t noticed that Dexter has, is that Zack is paying special attention to one person—the same person from the photo that he crumpled and threw away in his apartment. Dexter is able to catch the license plate of the girl, so that he can identify whom this victim is.
Jamie’s party rolls around, and they are having a nice get together on the beach. Harrison goes to play with some kids, as Jamie and Dexter talk. Jamie gives Dexter a heads up that Cassie is talking to some guy, and she is not sure what the nature of their relationship is. Dexter tries to approach Cassie to make small talk, but it doesn’t go well, and the man she has been hanging around with comes up, making the situation even more awkward. It seems Dexter may be losing his chance with her. Jamie then has a brief birthday speech, where she thanks everyone for coming, and congratulates Quinn on his promotion. Batista then glares at Quinn, asking why he hadn’t told her yet. Quinn says he didn’t want to ruin her birthday, and it looks like Jamie’s birthday isn’t going to be as happy as one would hope.
Meanwhile, Dexter continues stalking Zack, and winds up following him to a very familiar person’s house—that of Dr. Vogel. He seems to be seeing Vogel for some time, until he finally leaves. Dexter then pays Vogel a visit, and asks the nature of their relationship. Vogel reveals that Zack’s father has sought her for counseling. Dexter is frustrated that Vogel would even consider working with this kid who is a murderer. Vogel disagrees with Dexter’s position, wanting to help Zack. Dexter says he will find the proof linking him to them murder of Norma Rivera. Vogel makes one request of Dexter—to notify her of the proof before he makes his decision to kill him.
Dexter then pays Zack’s house a visit—while he is not in. He is looking for photos linking him to the murder of Norma Rivera, and finds a hidden flash drive, which has the very evidence he is looking for.
Returning to Vogel, Dexter tells her he has found the proof of the murder. Vogel says that she is already aware that he is the murderer, but still wants to help him. Dexter makes a snide remark regarding teaching Zack the code, which intrigues Vogel. She actually wants to work with Dexter to teach him the code. Dexter won’t have any of it though.
Dexter “suits up” for his kill, and heads back to Zack’s house, ready for “the business” he is known for. He sees his car in the driveway, but learns he is not there. He deduces that he must be on the hunt tonight, and determines that the girl is currently working, but about to get off. He heads down to the docks, which is where the restaurant where she works is located.
Arriving at the marina, Dexter has spotted Quinn staking out the place as well. He easily gets rid of him with a phone call to Jamie though; informing her that Quinn feels she may break up with him for not making sergeant. Dexter even says she should invite him over. What a nice boss! Quinn immediately leaves, leaving Dexter to his own devices it would seem. Dexter watches the crew of the boat disembark, and discovers that Zack’s father is having another affair—with the subject of Zack’s next kill. Moving in to observe Zack, he sees him exit his vehicle. He is confused though, as Zack goes the opposite way of the girl. Dexter follows him, realizing he is actually planning on killing his own father. Dexter is able to drug him before that happens though. As he is about to drag Zack back to his vehicle, Quinn pulls up telling Dexter, “I know what you’re doing”. Luckily he doesn’t really know, as he thinks Dexter is just “playing detective.” Luckily, Zack had fallen out of view of Quinn, so Dexter barely escaped getting caught.
Zack winds up in Dexter’s kill room (which is Zack’s apartment), and Dexter begins questioning Zack’s motives for killing. Zack reveals that it is because his father is cheating, which is causing his mother to drink herself to death. He killed the first mistress, Norma Rivera, hoping that would stop it, then was going to kill his dad to end it all together. Dexter isn’t buying this as the whole reason, and gets Zack to confess to the big weight he feels until he did finally kill. Dexter is clearly unsure of what to do, but does eventually cut him loose. They further discuss the need to kill. And it certainly looks like Dexter will be taking on a protégé.
What has been happening with Debra this whole time anyway? She has a couple conversations with Dexter, and she seems to be doing a lot better. They seem to be on the mend, at least as much as can be with Dexter’s secret now out in the open.
As we know from last episode, Masuka had Debra run a background check on his newly discovered daughter. Debra uncovered her having some debt, and her car is being repossessed. Masuka thinks it must be because of money that she has shown up, but Debra tries to convince him otherwise, and tells him to just enjoy the time together. Masuka seems to try to take this advice to heart.
Meanwhile, with Elway, he has a new case for them both to work on. This case is a more personal one, trying to catch his sister’s boyfriend cheating. Elway tells Debra that his sister will never see it in the suspected cheater, so he needs to find proof.
Elway wants to go undercover as a couple with Debra, and catch the sister’s boyfriend in the act. When this isn’t going so well, Debra offers to hasten the progress, and go make conversation with him. Elway and Debra leave, but return with Debra all “gussied” up, which seems to be affecting Elway more than it should. Debra gets wired up for audio recording, and begins the flirtations with the suspected cheater. It all happens pretty quickly, and Debra begins to head with the guy to his room, but Elway doesn’t let this happen. He walks up, decks the man in the face and forces the man to tell him its over with Elway’s sister. Debra in this moment though, realizes that Elway probably has a thing for her, making her a little uncomfortable.
We now finally get to the end of the episode, and Dexter and Debra are having dinner together, trying to be “normal”. They are talking and seem to be getting along well, but Debra begins to feel ill. Before Dexter can help her, he is also feeling ill, and just before he passes out, he sees Hannah McCay, who says, “Remember me?”
A couple final things to wrap up in the episode: Masuka has been hanging out with his daughter still. At Jamie’s birthday party, they seem to be getting along. Out of the blue though, Masuka offers her a $5,000 check. She doesn’t understand why, and Masuka explains that he looked into her past. She isn’t happy about this though, and storms away. We have yet to see the next chapter of their story.
Also, Dexter discovers the broken remote that Harrison tried to hide under his bed. Dexter confronts Harrison about it, asking why he lied. Harrison then surprises Dexter, saying that he lied too. Dexter asks, “how?” to which Harrison answers with pulling out the bloody stuffed dog from a few episodes ago, and says that Dexter told him that he was lost. Dexter allows him to keep the animal (I sincerely hope Dexter plans on bleaching that dog). And that is the episode.
Josh’s Thoughts on “A Little Reflection”
We have Hannah dangerously back in the picture. From the scenes from next week, it would appear that Hannah hasn’t done anything too drastic, as we see both Dexter and Debra ok, and even discussing Hannah being around again. This sort of took away from the ending. But what is Hannah’s angle? I am not so sure she is working with Vogel now. Vogel has just got a new client and seems like she needs Dexter to teach the code. I don’t think Vogel would be working with Hannah if this were the case. So what does Hannah want? Is it simply revenge? Why would she wait so long to take it?
As a side note for Vogel: Miami metro has sure given up on the Brain Surgeon case rather quickly, and Vogel hasn’t really provided them with any help that we can see. I find it strange that her utility was not much with regards to the police.
As far as Debra, she seems so far to be adjusting fairly quickly. I am sure this brush with Hannah is not going to help with her recovery though. Regarding Elway, would it be such a bad thing for her to have a relationship with him? She could certainly use the company, and I am thinking that her and Quinn are thoroughly over.
Speaking of Quinn, I think Batista did screw him over with the pushing for the promotion, then when Quinn is doing a lot better, gives it to someone else. I can see the other side of the coin though, Miller is more qualified, and it would be best for the department. At least Quinn seemed to take it fairly well.
With Quinn’s hunt on Zack though, I am curious to see how this is going to affect Dexter’s relationship with Zack, as Dexter obviously can’t be spotted with Zack without being overly suspicious.
We still have a lot of questions, and few answers. I guess we will find out more next week!
Violet’s Thoughts on “A Little Reflection”
I don’t like this idea of randomly deciding to teach this kid The Code, although I did feel kind of bad for him when he started talking about his reasons for killing: to prevent his mother from drinking herself to death. I’ve heard rumors of a spinoff, could it be that Zack learns The Code and the spinoff features Zack as the main character, killing other serial killers, instead of Dexter? I’m not so sure I like that idea. Granted, we don’t know Zack very well, and maybe we’ll start to warm up to him as we get to know him. But at this point, I kind of hope that’s not the case. Is Zack a genuine psychopath? We have seen evidence that Dexter is not. How will this affect Zack’s learning of The Code? Will a genuine psychopath have trouble sticking to The Code? I’m very uncertain of what’s to come, but I am intrigued!
As for Deb, she seems to be back to normal, which it’s good to see that, but at the same time feels a bit sudden.
I wonder what Hannah’s doing back in town, and what her plan is for Dexter and Deb.
Oh, and I am a bit wary about Dexter letting Harrison keep that stuffed animal. I have a feeling the DNA evidence on it will come back to haunt him by the end!
One last thing I’m concerned about: what is the purpose of introducing Cassie into the show? At first, it appeared she would be a romantic interest for Dexter this season, but now that does not appear to be the case. From the scenes for the next episode, it looks like her purpose just might be to be the nosy neighbor who sees what’s going on at Dexter’s apartment, when she notices Zack coming banging on Dexter’s door. Only time will tell what’s up with her!
Below are scenes from Episode 7, entitled “Dress Code”:
