Randy Tepper/Showtime"Oh god."
And with two words at the end of its somewhat subpar sixth season, Dexter course-corrected big time. Yes, we all know Dexter's (Michael C. Hall) loyal cop sis Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) walked in on him performing one of his ritual kills (on Colin Hanks' Travis, to be exact).
The question going into season seven, however, was whether or not Deb learning about his dark passenger would destroy Dexter, the character and the show. We're happy to report that "Are you…?" is one of the series' best episodes and has us excited, perhaps more than ever, over the Showtime hit's future...
Deb Gets Tangled in Dexter's Web: We pick up right where we left off, with a stunned Deb staring at Dexter and his crime scene in horror. Thinking on his feet, Dexter says he "snapped" and this was a one-time deal. "I've had a lot of anger inside of me since Rita died." Playing the dead wife card? Smart move, Dex. Deb notices that Travis has been wrapped up and later will get flashbacks to when she was the one on the table. (Thank you, show! We love that the writers didn't dumb Deb down for this, by the way.)
Dexter convinces Deb to destroy the crime scene and make Travis' death look like a suicide (playing the Harrison card helped) and while she goes along with it, she is so not OK. Deb starts putting two and two together, asking Dexter why he had all of those tools, why he was wearing a rubber apron, how he's so calm, etc.
And with one word, "Yes," which Dexter says to Deb at episode's end when she searches his apartment and finds his blood sides and asks if he's a serial killer, Dexter once again left us with our jaws in the floor.
Crushin' the Russian: While the episode started out with Dex making a mad dash to the airport, it wasn't to run from Deb. He was tracking down his victim Victor, a Ukrainian mobster (played by Dollhouse's seriously underrated Enver Gjokaj—take notice, casting directors!) who killed cop Mike Anderson (Billy Brown) when he stumbled upon a dead stripper in his trunk. While Dex gets his kill in (jn the unclaimed baggage room!), he also sets himself up for a pesky problem with the mob in the future.
Danger at Home: Because of Deb's interruption, Dexter was a little frenzied while cleaning up his crime scene and didn't notice when he dropped his blood side. While checking area with the team, LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) finds the slide, but keeps it on the down low. For now. We have a feeling she's going to try and honor her friend Doakes' (Erik King) life by finding the real Bay Harbor Butcher.
Favorite Moment: Dex and Deb working together to distract the team when they notice a piece of plastic still on Travis' toe at the crime scene. We could get used to this!