Dexter Episode 16: See-Through

Dexter grows increasingly anxious as the FBI’s Bay Harbor Butcher investigation starts to show a pattern, and he realizes the case may be getting close to his own hidden life. At Miami Metro, Masuka uncovers what appears to be an important clue involving algae, but Dexter cannot listen in on the details and is left unsettled by what he does hear.

Dexter meets his new N.A. sponsor, Lila, and initially finds her strange and hard to understand, especially her artwork and her unconventional way of talking about recovery. Even though Dexter insists he is not a drug addict, he still wants help controlling his darker impulses, and by the end of their meeting he decides to keep working with her after she kisses him as she leaves.

Rita’s estranged mother, Gail, comes to visit after learning about Paul’s death, and Rita becomes more stressed about how her family will see Dexter. Gail is polite at first but quickly grows suspicious, sensing that Dexter is hiding something beneath his calm exterior. Rita is also uneasy about Lila and does not trust her presence in Dexter’s life.

Under Lundy’s advice, Debra tries to start dating again and brings a gym employee named Gabriel back to her apartment for sex. Even so, she still feels haunted by her past relationship with the Ice Truck Killer, and that emotional unease continues to affect her behavior.

At Miami Metro, Matthews announces the FBI’s discovery in hopes of reassuring the public, but Lundy is frustrated by the move because it risks exposing the investigation’s direction. Captain Pascal has a breakdown at work, which leads to Maria LaGuerta being placed back in charge of homicide.

As Dexter becomes more desperate about the evidence against him, he secretly breaks into the morgue at night and destroys the air-conditioning unit, causing the stored corpses to begin melting and ruining evidence. But the episode ends with a new danger for him: Masuka clarifies that the algae clue is not from inside the bodies themselves, but from rocks used when the killer dumped the victims, and that the samples are already being analyzed to locate the boat’s mooring site.