Dexter Episode 6: Return to Sender

Dexter is pulled into a crisis when a body he thought he had gotten rid of turns up at the very crime scene where he killed the victim and her husband the night before. While he tries to keep his composure and avoid suspicion, he also realizes that someone is deliberately sending him a message by returning the body to him.

At the start of the episode, Dexter is having breakfast with Rita and her children when he is called away to the salvage yard where he committed the double murder of Valerie Castillo and her husband Jorge. Inside the Airstream trailer, he finds Valerie’s body, even though he had thrown both bodies into the ocean after the killings. He quickly understands that the Ice Truck Killer must have retrieved the body and placed it there as a taunt.

The returned body puts Dexter in immediate danger because Miami Metro is now investigating the scene where *his* own crime took place. Detective Debra, Lt. LaGuerta, and Doakes are all involved at the junkyard, and they find a young Cuban boy named Oscar hiding there. Oscar says he saw someone take Valerie into the trailer, which makes the investigation even more dangerous for Dexter. LaGuerta shows concern for the boy and considers helping him, while the police begin treating him as an important witness.

Dexter becomes increasingly anxious that the evidence will lead back to him, and he starts interfering with the investigation in small ways. He is haunted by the possibility of exposure and even has a nightmare in which Debra appears as a killer with behavior similar to his own. As he studies the blood evidence from his victims, he notices a happy face etched into Valerie’s slide, which he interprets as a clue from the Ice Truck Killer.

That clue gives Dexter an idea: he returns to the salvage yard and plants evidence to frame Jorge for Valerie’s murder. He places Jorge’s fingerprints and a knife with Valerie’s blood on it so Doakes and the others will find them. This successfully shifts suspicion onto Jorge.

Meanwhile, Rita is dealing with trouble of her own when she learns that her abusive ex-husband Paul has been released from prison and plans to attend Astor’s birthday party. Rita refuses to let him come, trying to protect her family on the day of the celebration. The episode also follows the birthday itself, with the family tension in the background as Dexter tries to keep his own secrets from collapsing around him.