Dexter "Nebraska" Episode Guide

"I wonder if darkness is defined by light. If so, darkness can’t exist on its own."

Dexter left Miami this week for the cool corn husks and serial killers one can only find in Nebraska, and it gave us a really good episode away from the usual Miami fare. With the reappearance of Brian and the death of Brother Sam at the close of last week’s episode, the war going on between Dexter’s light and dark sides is played out in a very real and visual way and, for the first time in a while, us viewers are reminded just how much of a serial killer our protagonist is.

It takes a lot of effort, willpower and belief to simply be as contained as he is, and without Harry to guide him through, who knows what he could have become. Read on to find out what happened this week.

• Dexter recounts the times he’s been lost before: after Rita’s death, when Lumen left. But now he comments that he’s been found as he tosses the dismembered pieces of Nick’s body over the side of the Slice of Life and trades banter with the ghost of Brother Brian, here to fill the gap that Brother Sam left with a different kind of faith.

• Back at Miami Metro, Deb calls Dexter into the office to drop a bombshell: Trinity’s back. Or at least, someone killed Rebecca and Sally Mitchell using Trinity’s m.o., since Dexter killed Trinity himself at the end of season 3. Brian suggests a road trip to Nebraska to pay the only surviving Mitchell family member a visit, Trinity’s son Jonah.

• Brian is all kinds of bad influence on Dexter during their drive. He influences Dexter to embrace his dark urges - shagging a girl from a convenience store, nicking her gun, and using road signs as target practice in the dead of night. He even gets Dexter to start questioning Harry’s Code.

• When Dexter finally does arrive in Nebraska, Jonah spins him a story about how Trinity reappeared and killed his mother and sister. He visits Jonah’s house and starts to look for evidence, but Jonah walks in on him. When Dexter confronts him about killing his mother and sister, and the kid bolts.

• At the motel where Dexter was staying, the owner snags his knives and tries to blackmail him for ten thousand dollars. In a really great shot, Dexter watches Brian plunge a pitchfork into the motel owner’s stomach, but the camera spins around to show Dexter holding the handle. It’s how Brian almost breaks down the last remnants of Harry’s Code – telling Dexter that it’s not about the victim’s guilt but the sheer pleasure of watching them die.

• Back in Miami, Travis works up the courage to tell Geller that he’s out, and Geller threatens to continue on the work solo. Travis later drops by the Professor’s hideout to return some belongings and get closure, claiming that he just wants to be free of him, and Geller lets him go. -Deb’s still feeling the pressure to bring Doomsday in ASAP, but she’s a man short because Dexter is off in Nebraska taking care of loose ends. They get a breakthrough when the Whore that Travis released last week comes forward to tell Miami Metro about the Professor.

• On the Quinn front, he starts to climb back down the asshole ladder by apologizing to Deb. She apologizes for hurting him too, and the two share a moment. They both still have feelings for each other, but Deb admits that she can’t be with him. Quinn declares that they are over for good.

• Back in Nebraska, Jonah calls up Dexter to meet again. Jonah rushes Dexter with a knife, but Dexter easily dispatches him. He begs Dexter to kill him, but he stops and asks Jonah what happened. Turns out that his sister killed herself because of the pressure of their mother, and Jonah killed their mother out of rage. Dexter justifies Jonah’s actions on account of conscious and regret despite Brother Brian’s insisting. He leaves, and just as Jonah yells out, “How am I supposed to live with this?” Dexter runs over Brian and pushes that unbridled part of his subconscious back down by telling him: “Forgive yourself.” Brian disappears into dust, and on the drive home, Dexter picks up a new hitchhiker – Harry.

• Masuka’s intern Lewis comes up with a computer program that narrows down Geller’s students that could possibly have ties to him. Travis’ name is on that list, and it’s only a matter of time before Miami Metro figures it out.

Don’t forget to watch Dexter’s “Sin of Omission” next Sunday at 9 PM on Showtime.