Tonight is an all new episode of Showtime’s Dexter called “Buck the System.” On tonight’s episode Dexter tries to convince Debra that it would be a good thing to kill his new target and he wants her to agree, while the Ukrainian mob seeks revenge for the killing of one of their own. Did you see last week’s episode? We did and we recapped it for you here!
On last week’s episode we saw Deb trying to be a good sister to perhaps the worst of brothers. She wanted to cure Dexter of his little serial killing problem. Deb wanted him to move in with her so she could stop his killing spree. Dex tried to explain to Deb why he had to kill and that it was their dear old Dad that taught him the serial killer trade. He also revealed Harry’s code. LaGuerta was digging into the Bay Harbor Butcher case again – she never liked Doakes as the killer.
Showtime’s official summary of tonight’s episode: On tonight’s episode Dexter tries to bring Debra on-board with his new target, while the Ukrainian mob seeks revenge for the killing of one of their own. Quinn grows close to a dancer at the mob’s strip club, and LaGuerta attempts to enlist Batista to help her with re-opening the case of the Bay Harbor Butcher, who she believes is still out there.
Tonight’s recap: Tonight’s episode opens with Dex in line at the Post Office – that could make anyone snap! He feels trapped – he’s all twitchy about Deb and fantasizes about slitting the postal clerk’s neck. Deb comes in to check on him and ask him why he looks so guilty. As he mails his package, he muses about getting rid of Louis – what’s he sending him?
At the morning briefing, Deb is asking about the search for Viktor. Quinn says the club investors may be helping him. Is Vince really telling Dex that Deb looks mad or is it just his imagination? He envisions sticking his pen in Vince’s neck.
Dex attacks a prisoner who got mouthy instead of giving him a DNA sample. Deb pulls him out of the investigation room. Dex tells her she’s driving him crazy and he wants her to back-up. He tells her if she doesn’t get off his ass, something bad’s going to happen.
Dex tells her locking it away won’t work – that he has to channel it like their Dad taught him. She says Harry was wrong and Dex tells her Harry knew him best. Deb reminds him to think of Harrison and he tells her he thinks about that all of the time. Deb agrees to give him some space if he’ll try to keep it in check.
Dex’s inner monologue says he can’t go on under Deb’s rules. He pulls out a file on a serial lady killer: Speltzer. He’s a groundskeeper in a cemetery and Dex finds him at his gym. Deb calls him and he says he’s trying out a new gym with a smoothie bar. He thanks her for checking in. She’s outside the gym propped on her car – methinks she’s tracking his cell phone GPS.
Stripper Nadya turns up to see Quinn. She tells him about the bracelet and he checks her personal effects but it’s not there. Nadya seems to think the cops may have lifted it. Back at the club, she’s in with her manager who had sent her on the errand. She insists the bracelet wasn’t there and wasn’t on the evidence list.
Baskov tells Nadya a scary story about some people he’s whacked then orders her to get close to Quinn and find out what the cops know about his son Viktor. He sends her away, shaken. Baskov tells George Viktor is smart and probably took the bracelet off and has it with him. George says the single died out a week ago, but Baskov can’t be deterred and says to get the IT guys on it.
Back in the lab, Dex is twitchy again. The package is delivered – looks like Dex mailed it to Vince rather than Louis. Vince opens the package and asks “What the fu*&?” Included is an eBay customer letter that implicated Louis in the theft and auction of the ITK hand. Vince fired Louis on the spot. Vince says “I have the worst luck with interns.” Dex promises one more step and he’s done with Louis.
Wayne Randall’s mom shows up to the station with a bag of stuff he sent to her 15 years ago. Deb wants to know why she didn’t turn it over and she says she wasn’t going to help Florida kill her son. But now that he’s dead, she hopes it will help give the families some peace. Angel takes the evidence to Dex for a review.
Dex pulls it all out and it’s a bunch of junk – toy, lighter, matches… There’s a necklace with the name Janice on it that may have been another victim.
Word comes in that Tony’s body was found. Angel and Quinn take off.
Louis comes home to find his girlfriend watching a video of him getting head from a hooker. He tells her it was before they were dating and she says he’s wearing the shirt she gave him for his birthday. Then he changes tactics and tells her if you pay for it’s not cheating. He tries to tell her Dex sent it and got him fired. She can’t be reasoned with and slams out.
Deb is tracking Dex who said he was going to the gym. She thinks she’s being super stealthy but then her phone rings and it’s Dex who tells her he ordered her a beer – he knows she’s outside the bar tracking him. Dex shows her the file on Speltzer. He tells her he’s getting ready to kill again because he shaved his head – in all the mug shots when he was caught after hurting girls, he always had his head shaved.
Dex points to the bar so she can see Speltzer is at the bar with his head freshly shaved. She’s outraged and he tells her he has to be free to be who he is. He says he’s just taking out the trash and that if the legal system was working, he wouldn’t be so busy. Dex tells her he’s trying to show her his process and that he’s not done vetting him.
She says nothing better happen to Speltzer and stomps out. His narrative says he’s not done with him but needs proof with Deb. He stalks him at the cemetery. Speltzer disappeared inside a mausoleum for 20 minutes – he’s a groundskeeper, but there’s not ground inside a marble edifice. Dex wonders what makes it so special – Speltzer left flowers out front.
Baskov is called in to IT and they give him the GPS footprint. He says he knows someone has killed and dumped his son into the ocean like garbage. He wants IT to tell him which slip and they say they’ll get it to him.
Dex tells Deb about Speltzer and the mausoleum. He tries to tell her again the guy’s going to kill again – his lizard brain told him – his amygdala. He tells her that part of his brain is what has helped her solve so many cases over the years. She says she’ll get a warrant and bring him in – she orders Dex to back off or she’ll take them both down.
Deb sends Angel and Dex to see Hannah McKay to get her DNA sample. They don’t have it from before because she was a minor when she was partying with Wayne Randall.
Angel and Dex stop at the strip club on the way and Angel confronts George about Tony and the screwdriver in the head. Dex waits in the club while Angel goes to George’s office. Baskov invites him to sit and have a drink and a lap dance and he says he’s not interested. Baskov says Dex is in the wrong place.
Baskov is chatting with his son’s killer and has no idea!!!! Baskov tells Dex they’re both frustrated. Angel comes out and Dex tells Baskov he hopes he finds what he’s looking for. Be careful what you wish for Dex…
Dex asks Angel if he was around when Hannah and Wayne were killing – he said he was still a uniform. Angel says Hannah served six years and got her record expunged and she’s working at a nursery – flowers not kids thank God!
Hannah wants to know who they are and what they want. Angel introduces them and says he can bring her in if she doesn’t cooperate. She agrees to talk while she works. She insists she doesn’t know about the people Wayne says he buried – she says she wasn’t with him at the time.
Angel tells Hannah about the goodie bag Wayne’s mom dropped off. He wants her to look at photos of the stuff but she refuses. She tells him she’s got the guilt, but had to move on. Hannah says she can’t give him any closure because she knows nothing. Angel tells her Dex has to get a DNA sample. She asks him for the court order and Dex hands it over.
Hannah tells him to be quick. Angel leaves the two alone and heads back to the car. He tells her he needs to get a quick swab. He opens her mouth and distracted, fumbles the swab. She asks if he does this for a living. He does better the second time. He thanks her and leaves.
Deb gives LaGuerta the file on Speltzer and LaGuerta says she still loses sleep over it. Deb says she can’t get a warrant because the evidence is not substantial – Deb tells her it’s a sign from her lizard brain. Now she’s quoting Dex… LaGeurta tells her they’re the police and they have to follow the law – but she offers to let her put a patrol car on him as long as it doesn’t show up in the budget.
The Russian are tracking the GPS trail and end up at Dexter’s boat where they find Louis rigging Dex’s boat for something ugly. Baskov asks if it’s his boat and Louis says yes. Louis tells them he’s going to call the cops and they start to rough him up. He tells them the boat belongs to Dexter Morgan and he was coming to sink it because he hates him. He asks to leave and Baskov shoots him in the head. One less thing for Dex to deal with.
Before they offed him, Louis told the Russians where he worked. Also Louis’ blood is all over Dexter’s boat…
The cop car followed Speltzer home and report to Deb that he’s in for the night. She send them away.
Nadya is having a cozy drink at her place with Quinn – she tells him she wants to run a dog walking business. She tells him she likes him and doesn’t want to lie to him. She tells him she was ordered to get close to him to find out what the cops know about the business. Nadya says she’s scared and can’t go back to them with nothing. Quinn promises to protect her – he tells her they can help each other out.
He offers to give her enough info to keep her bosses happy in exchange for giving him any info she hears about Sgt Mike’s murder. She tells him the Russian mob guys are dangerous. She makes a move on him and he responds. We leave them making out…
Speltzer gets a visitor – a girl shows up that he had invited by for a drink. Meanwhile Dex breaks into the mausoleum Speltzer was in – he sees it’s become a shrine to his murderous activities, complete with trophies. He can’t take the earring or the killer will know and he can’t give it to Deb because she’ll know he was there. Dex tries to call Deb but has no signal. Deb leaves Dex a message saying she can’t shake what he said and is going to check Speltzer’s place out.
Back at Speltzer’s his date notices the furniture is covered in plastic – not a good sign. He says he’ll fix them drinks. The girl said the drink he made sucks because there’s no alcohol in it. He tells her she looks strong. Does he like a fight? “I like it when they’re strong,” he says. Yep. Just as I thought.
Deb is in front of Speltzer’s and Dex is out of the mausoleum and gets Deb’s message. He’s in a panic and tries to call her because he’s sure the guy is poised to kill. He bails on the cemetery and runs to help Deb.
Deb’s creeping around the house and hears noise and sees flashing lights. She starts pounding on the door. We are looking through masked eyes as the girl’s running through some sort of sick obstacle course Speltzer set up. He’s coming in for the kill.
Deb shoots off the lock and heads into the house! She hears the girl screaming! She’s up the stairs – hard rock music is blaring. She can’t find the girl in the maze like mess. She yells freeze, but you can’t see who she says it to and then she’s grabbed from behind!
Speltzer has her and they’re fighting. He’s in a crazy horned mask and is coming for her. Dex is finally there. He clubs the killer and kills the music. The girl’s still alive, but Speltzer took her earring as a trophy. Speltzer gets away while they’re checking on the girl.
Turns out the house was a foreclosure he was using and he’s in the wind. They put out a BOLO but it’s too late – they’ve lost a killer. Deb looks like she may be weighing the wisdom of her dad and Dex’s system.
Next morning she’s at the beach deep in thought. She comes back to the house and tells Dex he was right and she gets it. She says she hates it, but she gets it. She admits if she let him do what he wanted the girl would still be alive. Dex asks if she accepts it. She says she sees that it might be a necessary evil.
She wants to know about the blood slides – she says they’re trophies like Speltzer’s. She says on some levels he’s just like him. He tells her he can’t change who he is and she says the same. She tells him he should move out.
He agrees. He tells her he’s still her brother and nothing’s changed. “Everything’s changed” she replies ad says she doesn’t know if it can ever be the same again. His narrative admits he’s out of the cage but says “freedom comes with a cost.”