Dexter- Practically Perfect review/recap

The Irish Nanny

The episode began with Deb interrogating potential nannies for Harrison, which was pretty funny and featured Deb at her cursing, abrasive best. Dexter settled on the creepiest one: a soft-spoken Irish lady named Sonya. There’s nothing outwardly wrong with her, but we are getting a weird vibe, so either we’ve got a crazy on our hands or the actress is playing it all wrong. We believed that Sonya might have kidnapped Harrison when Dexter returned to find them gone. He just missed the note on the fridge though, so the joke's on us. We love how organized, practical Dexter made Sonya a checklist of things about Harrison, organized by category. (Sample category: Sleep Preferences.) Dexter worried that Harrison might have been affected by Rita’s murder the way Dexter was by his own mother’s murder, but a crisis counselor assured him that Harrison would not have known what was happening at his tender age. Dexter looked relieved, but we’re not so sure, because right after that, Harrison ripped the head off a doll. Foreshadowing?

Deb's Doings
Quinn and Deb still have their hands full with the Santa Muerte cases. You know, the cases where the murderer cuts up heads and sets them up in a ritualistic manner? You should remember, because it’s disgusting. The very white Deb wasn’t getting information from the all-Venezuelan neighborhood. Neighborhood Man: “You live in Miami. Why you no learn Spanish?” Deb: “Because me too busy making a living.” So she enlisted Officer Manzon’s help. Is it just us, or does her name sound like “Officer Munzo” when she says it? Officer Manzon is played by the main student girl in Freedom Writers, and she was one of the only appealing things about that movie, so we are glad to see her more on Dexter. Officer Manzon came through, but the man who gave her information was Santa Muerte’s next victim. It was nasty, complete with a cat licking up a pool of blood below the head. Quinn is still investigating Kyle Butler, and one of his connections is going to let him show Trinity’s family a picture of Dexter. Yikes! Actually, we’re not that worried. Dexter never gets caught. And if he DOES get caught, well, wouldn’t that be interesting? It’s something we wouldn’t mind seeing, as long as it turned out alright in the end. In other Random Cop News, Batista is going to be investigated for his assault and battery with a deadly weapon on his fellow officer last episode.

The Real Action (Dexter's kill of the week)

Dexter sought therapy in the form of a kill. He needed to murder someone by the code to “bring himself back.” The victim, Boyd Fowler, was already selected last episode. Dexter trailed Fowler, but Fowler caught him and recognized him. Dexter was at a lunch table, so he simply introduced himself (using an alias) and feigned interest in getting a job like Fowler’s. Fowler invited him on a ride along to pick up dead animals. At first we thought, “What a moron to believe that anyone would want that crappy job.” But it turns out that Fowler was sharper than we thought, which was a nice surprise. It’s always more intense when the kills are difficult. Fowler noticed that Dexter had a mark on his hand from where a wedding ring used to be, and when Dexter stabbed Fowler with a syringe, Fowler spun around and shot Dexter with a tranquilizer gun. Both men were picked up by an ambulance and neither squealed on the other. They both then escaped the hospital. Dexter met Fowler at his home and successfully disabled him this time. Wearing an apron that said, “Natural Born Griller,” Dexter killed Fowler in Fowler’s own home. Dexter realized, miserably, that the kill only made him feel emptier.

Julia Stiles

In the corner, Fowler had a locked closet. We saw the face of someone who saw Dexter kill Fowler. Predictably, it is guest star Julia Stiles, one of Fowler’s young, blonde victims. Dexter opened the closet and she tried to escape, but Dexter prevented that, and she passed out. FINALLY. They sure didn't glamorize Julia either. She LOOKED like she had been kept in a closet by a serious creeper...totally busted in the face/hair. We guessed that Julia would be a Fowler victim last episode, but we could never have guessed that she was going to know what Dexter is. We’re excited to see where this is going. This episode was funny, intense, gross, and classic Dexter.

Episode Grade: A-