My Bad Season 5 Episode 1 Recap

The season five premiere begins right where we left off last time. Dexter is in the front yard, holding a crying Harrison, as police arrive. Rita has been found murdered and Dexter is in shock. Deb also arrives to the scene and Dexter shockingly tells her, “Rita’s inside. It was me."

Masuka and Quinn investigate the murder scene and Masuka assumes it's the work of the Trinity Killer. Quinn isn't so sure about that. He points out that Trinity never killed a married woman in a bathtub before. “First time for everything,” says Masuka. Quinn's suspicions about who killed Rita soon turn to Dexter after he sees a neighbor taking the murder harder than Dexter himself.

Dexter's 911 call also raises eyebrows after Quinn listens to it. Dexter is very clinical about what happened, telling the 911 operator what kind of incision was used to murder Rita. As Quinn says, “His wife just died; he’s submitting a lab report." Quinn learns something else about the neighbor who was upset. He was seen kissing Rita once, which caused Dexter to punch him out. Quinn is trying to piece all this together, but LaGuerta reminds everyone that the FBI is now handling the case.

Deb, on the other hand, remains supportive of her brother, even if she is puzzled by his strange confession in the front yard -- one he later doesn't even remember making. She is helping out as much as possible with Harrison and the funeral arrangements while Dexter deals with the guilt of Rita's death. Cody and Astor are the last to find out what happened, as they have been at Disneyland with their grandparents.

When the children do learn about what happened, they understandably don't take if very well, which worsens Dexter's condition. He feels intense guilt for not being able to protect Rita. Astor screams at him, saying, “We all would have been better off if she’d never met you." The two stepchildren then leave to stay in a hotel room with their grandparents.

Dexter then tells Deb to be a force of good in Harrison's life and take care of him like her own since his mother is now gone. Deb tries to remind Dexter that he is also a good person, but he says he's not. Later, when visiting Rita at the funeral home, he finally comes clean with her. While looking at her in her casket, he says, “I was never really honest with you. I’m a serial killer; that’s what I am. I led you to believe I’m a human being, but I’m not. That’s a lie.” He then touches her hand and walks away.

Although he told Deb he doesn't deserve to be at Rita's funeral, Dexter does return for the funeral and gives a very touching eulogy. He ends it with the words, “She died a brutal death, and I can’t fix it. But, I know I have to try, here in Miami with the people who knew her ... who cared about her ... who loved her.” And then to himself, he says, "Like I did."

Dexter Season Five Trailer

Sins may be forgiven but conscience is a killer. Season five premieres Sunday, September 26th

Previews to Season 5!

Dexter and Debra visit a funeral home to prepare for Rita's funeral





Dexter watches as Rita is taken away in a body bag

Review: Dexter – Hello, Dexter Morgan

(S04E11) "Blood tech, husband, father, serial killer and now, Kyle Butler extortionist? Which one are you?"
"All of them." - Harry to Dexter

It is always fun to watch Dexter struggle over his various roles and purposes in his life. He's become a juggler learning how to add just one more ball to his act even as he's trying to keep them all up in the air.

This season, he's had more than ever before in a single season. He's a heavily armed Rich Little and adding extortionist to his list was a real smart move until, of course, Arthur gets the better of him.

Now that Dexter knows Arthur is hunting him, Dexter pulls the blackmail card out of his deck demanding $50,000 from him or he'll spill his dirty little secret to everyone he knows, including the police. This leads to another innocent death and Dexter doesn't really seem to dwell on it as much as the kill he made in the "Slack Tide" episode when he kills the wrong suspect. Either the script didn't want to get bogged down in more lamenting self-discovery or Dexter has been seeing such deaths as collateral damage. Could this mean that sweet, lovable Dexter is learning how to become a cold-blooded killer?

Of course, the details we are most interested in is how police are going to get Christina to crack and she holds up pretty well on her own. It gives Debra a unique opportunity to bring a plot line back into play that seems to have gone away for awhile: her investigation into her father's CI affairs. Much like the show's title character, she too has learned to deal and move on with the problems in her life and even though it doesn't help get her what she's after, it does give Christina something to pass through her pretty little head before that final bullet.

Now that Dexter wants Arthur all to himself for his kill table, he needs a fall guy and finds one in a prostitute murdering truck driver (Jeremy Clarkson would call that phrase redundant). The setup seems a little too easy, something even Debra noticed just as her brother was there to steer off the right track again. This might be a ways away, but I've got a feeling Debra is going to learn some even more sordid truths about her brother very, very soon.

Meanwhile Christina finally gets a hold of her father who wants nothing to do with her, which he says in no uncertain terms. She spirals and is ready to confess the whole thing but holds back on revealing the identity of her father, the Trinity Killer, when Debra tells her they have the truck driver on their suspect radar. She just had her soul crushed into a ragged little car cube by her evil prick of a father and instead of turning him in for the evil mass of flesh that he is, she confessed to shooting Debra and killing Lundy and then offs herself right in front of Debra's bloodstained eyes. It had me scratching my head.

But all of this confusion pays off in the end when Arthur is walking through the briefing room and marveling at the photos of his kills like a high school quarterback eying his trophy case was downright creepy and disturbing. Then he finally faces down Kyle and learns his true identity with in that slow, gloating drawl, "Hello, Dexter Morgan."

Next week's season finale episode should, hell, must start at the end of this exact moment.

Other observations:
- I know I've ragged on the Batista/Laguerta relationship a lot, so here goes more of that. They were bound to get caught again by the nosy Captain, so this time, they get married as a political ploy. When Laguerta asks why the Captain is gunning for him, he says it's "for arrogance." Is it just me or is it starting to feel like the only reason these two were put together in the plot was to give the nearly absent Captain something to do on screen?

- Rita finally confesses to Dexter that she kissed the neighbor during Thanksgiving dinner. Dexter seems reserved and almost uncaring about the moment at first, but then confronts and punches the neighbor. A lot of critics and reviewers ragged on Rita for being another distraction, but I've always enjoyed Julie Benz's performance and the plot she provides Dexter since he's always struggling with emotions that he claims he doesn't have.

- Once again, Jennifer Carpenter shined as the still-grieving Debra who hasn't completely gotten over Lundy's murder. The scene where she has to almost throw herself at the dry-erase board to erase Lundy's name from the list of unsolved murders was toned down a bit compared to the breakdown she had just after his murder, but just as heartfelt and genuine.