Dexter Episode 68: Sin of Omission

Dexter returns to Miami after his trip to Nebraska and apologizes to Debra for disappearing, though he does not fully explain where he went or what happened. He also attends Brother Sam’s funeral and is given Sam’s Bible, which becomes important to his thinking later in the episode.

Miami Metro is working a case involving a call girl who died after taking drugs and hitting her head, but Dexter and Masuka notice details that suggest someone else may have been involved. Debra pushes the investigation further, but LaGuerta abruptly closes the case by calling it an accidental overdose, and later privately speaks to someone to reassure them that the matter is handled.

At the same time, the Doomsday Killer story continues to focus on Travis and Professor Gellar. Gellar keeps pressuring and stalking Travis, and he threatens Travis by using his sister Lisa as leverage. Dexter tracks Travis down at the museum and confronts him about letting Holly Benson go, then offers help, but Travis refuses because he is afraid of what Gellar might do. After reading and reflecting on Brother Sam’s Bible, Dexter uses the phrase “sin of omission” to persuade Travis that failing to stop evil is itself a kind of guilt, and Travis finally agrees to cooperate, but only if Lisa is protected first.

Debra investigates the possible list of Gellar’s former students and ends up speaking with Travis’s sister Lisa. After that, Gellar intercepts Travis before he can get Lisa out of Miami, and Travis is knocked unconscious and taken away. When Travis wakes up, he is chained up and learns that Lisa has been used in a new Whore of Babylon tableau and has been killed.

Dexter follows another lead from the tableau, including a clue from fabric found at the scene, to a retired priest, Father Gallway, in a nursing home. The priest cannot provide much useful information, but Dexter learns enough to find the abandoned church where Gellar may be hiding. Dexter goes there in his kill outfit intending to confront Gellar, but instead finds Travis chained to the floor. Gellar slips away before Dexter can catch him, and Dexter frees Travis; by the end of the episode, Travis is shaken but finally willing to help Dexter hunt Gellar down.

Meanwhile, Dexter also has an important private moment at the church-connected lead when he confesses his murders to Father Gallway and receives absolution from a man who does not truly comprehend what he is hearing. Feeling unexpectedly moved, Dexter decides to visit the church tied to Gallway’s past, even though Debra had wanted to spend time with him.