TV Recap: Dexter, Season 8 Episode 7: Dress Code

This week’s episode of Dexter, Episode 7, entitled Dress Code, focuses on Hannah’s return. Note, there are spoilers, starting here: In this episode Dexter re-becomes a lovesick “teenager”. Debra isn’t happy about the reuniting of the two, Masuka sees his daughter half naked, and Quinn and Jamie plan on moving in together! A lot to take in you say? Lets get into this week’s episode recap of Dexter!

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If you’ll remember at the end of last episode, Dexter and Deb were drugged by Hannah, who was the last thing Dexter saw right before he passed out. Well, at the beginning of this episode, Dexter wakes up on the other side of town to his phone buzzing. He answers it. It’s Dr. Vogel, who’s been trying to reach him all morning to tell him she’s glad he didn’t kill Zack Hamilton. Dexter calls Deb, who’s still at home, to come pick him up.

When Deb arrives, she immediately knows that Hannah did this to them. They can’t go to the U.S. Marshal, because Hannah knows too much about Dexter. Dexter has the idea of getting footage from the nearby traffic cameras to track Hannah down. Deb says she wants Hannah gone.

Dexter goes home, and Zack Hamilton shows up on his doorstep. But Dexter sets him straight, saying that he can’t come to his place, and that they can’t be seen together in public. They start talking about what Dr. Vogel told Zack about Dexter’s way of living, when Dexter’s neighbor, Cassie, and the guy she was on a date with last episode, come out of her apartment. Dexter tells Zack to get a day job as a cover, and that he’ll call him later to help him out.

The next day at work, Deb’s trying to track down Hannah, and gets caught by her boss, Elway. She gets pissed off at him for always invading her personal space, but he dishes it right back, calling her out for always being a “b*tch” and saying she should show some gratitude for him putting up with her.

Over at Miami Metro, Dexter’s request for the traffic footage has gone through, and he’s able to track down the license plate of the van Hannah was driving to a car rental place. He pretends to be a police detective (and uses a weird southern accent) to get the name, address, and phone number of the last person who rented the van. Apparently Hannah is now going by the name “Maggie Castner.” Suddenly, Harry shows up, and he and Dexter discuss the fact that it was a little too easy to find Hannah, that maybe she wanted him to find her, and that she wants to destroy their lives. But Dexter vows that he won’t let Hannah derail the progress that Deb has been making. Harry comments that Dexter seems less scared than excited, but Dexter says it’s because Hannah doesn’t scare him.

As Dexter leaves the office, Jamie hints to Quinn that she wants to move in together. He doesn’t seem too keen on the idea though. Also at the office, Masuka’s daughter, Nikki, apologizes for blowing things out of proportion, and tells him that she’s working at a place called Lucky Pete’s to pay off her debts.

Dexter tracks down Hannah to a yacht, where she is with a well dressed man, and she and the man get into a limo together. Dexter follows them to the Red Coral club, which is for members only, so Dexter isn’t able to go inside. Harry tries to get Dexter to call it a night, but instead, Dexter calls up Zack Hamilton to get him in, since his father is a member. Once they get inside, Zack questions what they’re doing, and makes a good point – that they’re not supposed to be seen together. But Dexter says “this is different.” Hannah’s male friend leaves, and Dexter asks Zack to text him when the guy comes back. Then he goes and talks to Hannah.

It turns out that the guy, Miles, is Hannah’s husband. Zack texts Dexter that the guy is on his way back, but Dexter ignores the text, as his conversation with Hannah starts to turn into a heated argument, as he demands to know what she’s doing here, and why she did what she did to him. But just then Miles shows up, and when she introduces Dexter, it seems he already knows all about him. They leave, and Zack wonders what went wrong, but Dexter admits he’s the one who screwed up, not Zack, and that he’ll call him later. Zack asks if Dexter’s going to kill Miles, and Dexter replies, “I only kill people who deserve it.”

Dexter is investigating Miles Castner online, finding out that he’s worth $700 million and owns casinos, when Deb shows up at at his apartment. She tries to say hello to Harrison, but he’s too busy watching TV. Dexter tells Deb that he found Hannah, and that she’s married to Miles Castner, who seems to know who she is. Dexter tries to rationalize Hannah’s marriage to Miles, and Deb quickly sees that Dexter is still in love with Hannah, which he denies. Deb tells him to get his head on straight, that they need to get Hannah out of their lives, and questions whether he can be objective. She then pretty much sums up the whole episode, telling him, “One little toss of Hannah’s pretty blond hair and you turn into a f*cking moron.” Harrison overhears Hannah’s name, and he rushes over to ask about her, which pisses Deb off that both Dexter and Harrison seem to be obsessed with Hannah, and she leaves, doubting the plan that Dexter claims to have.

Meanwhile, Masuka has shown up at Lucky Pete’s to see Nikki, but it turns out it’s a topless sports bar, which leads to a lot of awkwardness.

Deb reports to Dr. Vogel about Hannah’s return, and they have a nice little chat. Deb wants to have Hannah arrested, but Vogel advises her before she takes matters into her own hands, to think about all of the consequences.

Zack and his lawyer show up at Miami Metro to demand that Quinn stop his 24-hour surveillance of him. Quinn tells Batista he’s doing it because he think’s Zack is guilty, but Batista orders Quinn to let it go. Quinn picks this moment to tell Batista that he and Jamie are moving in together. Before Batista can ask any questions, Masuka comes in to ask if he and Dexter can hire an assistant, and Batista agrees to a part-time position.

As Zack is leaving Miamo Metro, Dexter catches him in the parking lot and talks to him behind a van. Zack seems to be eager to kill, but Dexter explains to him the importance of learning to wait, just as Harry had taught him, so that he could control his urges and channel them appropriately.

Later, while Dexter is pumping gas at the gas station, Miles shows up, and tells Dexter he saw him with his son. Dexter tells Miles there’s nothing going on between him and Hannah, and Miles says that’s good, because he’d sooner see Hannah in prison than lose her. He then threatens Dexter’s “family man” life. After Miles drives off, Dexter texts Hannah, asking where she is, and she texts backing, telling him to meet her at the greenhouse.

At the greenhouse, Dexter tells Hannah what just happened, and asks if Miles is a threat. She says that he could have people look into him and make his life miserable. He asks why she married him, and she says, “Because he was there when you weren’t.” He was able to help her out when she needed it. We soon find out the reason that Hannah tracked down Dexter: she wanted him to kill Miles for her, because he is possessive and controlling, and she couldn’t do it herself, because that would be too suspicious. But she changed her mind because when she saw him again she realized that despite everything, he was “it” for her, she never felt that way about anyone, and she didn’t want to manipulate him into doing something that might be bad for him. He admits it was the same for him, and steps forward to kiss her, but she backs off and says she has to go before Miles finds out where she’s gone.

Back at Deb’s office, she tries to make peace with Elway, and borrows a GPS tracker. She tells him she knows he’s interested, but warns him not get get involved with her. She then goes to Dexter’s apartment and places the GPS tracker on his car, and Cassie almost catches her in the act. They introduce themselves to each other, and Cassie is surprised that Dexter even mentioned her. Apparently Cassie is still hung up on Dexter, but Deb advises Cassie to stick with the guy that’s obviously into her, and warns her away from Dexter.

Masuka meets Nikki after she gets off of work, and offers her the lab assistant position. She refuses at first, because she makes more money than it pays. She then randomly calls him “Dad.” He has her promise to at least think about taking the position.

Dexter and Dr. Vogel have a conversation about Hannah. Dexter says that Hannah is not a psychopath, that she has feelings. Then they switch gears to Zack, who is feeling the urge to kill more than ever. He explains that he was 10 when Harry explained how his future would be, and that he waited until he was 19 to kill, so Zack can wait as well. But Vogel points out that this is different, because Zack has already killed, and that the moment Dexter took Zack off his table, he became his responsibility. Dexter calls Zack and tells him he’ll meet him at his studio the next day at 2pm.

The next day, Dexter is about to get in his car, when some thugs jump him and beat him up in the alley. Dexter takes it as a message that Miles knows that he and Hannah saw each other the day before. Dexter wonders what Miles will do to Hannah.

At Deb’s office, she apologizes for being a dick, and thanks Elway for helping her out this year.

Over at Dexter’s apartment, Zack is banging on Dexter’s door, but Dexter isn’t answering. Cassie, annoyed by the noise, comes out and tells Zack that it looks like Dexter’s not home. Zack leaves angrily.

Hannah returns home to the yacht, and Miles tells her that he knows she was at the greenhouse with Dexter yesterday. She tries to explain it away, but he knows she’s lying, and he starts to get jealous, and begins to hurt her. He throws her on the bed and looks like he’s about to rape her. We then see Dexter sneaking onto the yacht. When he walks into the bedroom, we see Miles’s dead, bloody body laying on the floor, and Hannah kneeling over it with a sharp object that looks to be an ice pick. He instructs her on what needs to be done to get rid of the body, then he brings it out on his boat and dumps it into the ocean.

Post-body dump, they have a heart to heart in the marina parking lot, where Dexter tells her he doesn’t regret not killing her, and she says she was never going to kill him. Hannah told the crew that Miles was going to New York for a few days, so that should buy her some time. They stare at each other for a few moments, and it looks like Dexter wants to kiss her, when he gets a text. There’s a crime scene he has to go to at his apartment. He asks Hannah not to leave town before they talk again. Then we see that Deb has been secretly watching this whole scene from her car.

Dexter goes to the crime scene, and finds Cassie dead in her apartment. Upon a closer look, he sees that Cassie was bludgeoned to death, just like Norma Rivera. He wonders if Zack did this while he was with Hannah. He then realizes that Harry was a good teacher because he was normal, human, and Dexter wonders if anything good can come of putting two killers together, whether it be student and teacher, or him and Hannah.