Dexter Episode 44: Road Kill

Dexter spends the episode wrestling with guilt over killing an innocent man, and that mistake pushes him to seek a clearer understanding of Arthur Mitchell by spending time with him on a trip to Tampa. At the same time, Debra keeps pushing the Trinity investigation at Miami Metro and starts building a new lead that moves the case forward in a different direction.

Dexter first visits Arthur after the deer incident and learns that Arthur is leaving for Tampa to help with his organization. Seeing a chance to get closer to him, Dexter arranges his own trip by convincing LaGuerta to let him attend a supposed blood spatter conference in the city. He then persuades Arthur to let him ride along, telling him that he feels he and Arthur have some kind of greater connection.

Once they are on the road, Dexter keeps probing Arthur while also trying to manage his own plan to kill him. During a stop, Arthur presses Dexter about why he is so closed off, and Dexter finally admits that he killed a man, though he claims it was an accident during a hunting trip. That confession changes the dynamic between them, and Arthur decides to alter their route.

Arthur takes Dexter to his childhood home, where Dexter sees the place that seems to have shaped Arthur’s life. Arthur reveals a painful memory from his past involving the accidental death of his sister, and Dexter realizes how central that event is to who Arthur has become. By the end of the trip, Dexter’s attempt to understand Arthur has given him a clearer sense of how dangerous Arthur is, and his original plan has shifted as a result.

Back in Miami, Debra refuses to drop the Trinity case after Lundy’s death and convinces Miami Metro to keep pursuing the investigation. She presents evidence suggesting Trinity has been active for decades, but LaGuerta does not want Debra directly involved because of her connection to Lundy. Debra works around that limitation by pushing Quinn to help, and together they develop the idea of using mouth swabs to help identify a suspect.