Dexter recap: Season 3, episode 8

The Damage a Man Can Do
Original Air Date: November 16, 2008

Photo: Peter Iovino/Showtime

Miguel and Dex are hanging out, having pizza and beer. In voiceover, Dex muses about the Butterfly Effect, how ripples on a pond can eventually result in fish sprouting legs — evolution.

Miguel goes to Dexter’s computer and looks up Billy Fleeter, a linebacker, who works as an enforcer for his bookie to pay off his gambling debts. Sometimes, he kills people who can’t pay. Miguel says he doesn’t want Dexter to do the deed. “I’m ready to get my hands dirty.” Not a good idea, Dexter says.

The next morning, Dexter makes waffles for Astor and Cody. Rita comes in like a hurricane bitching about how they’re making a mess and everything. It’s pregnancy hormones and she’s intolerable.

Photo: Peter Iovino/Showtime

Deb’s at Anton’s, showering and getting ready for work. They flirt, she gets cereal, but discovers mushrooms in one of the boxes.

At the office, it’s “like a tree trimmers’ convention in here,” Dex says. Deb interviews one; as he leaves, the elevator opens to reveal Angel and Barbara smooching. They’ve taken it to the next level, Angel says. Maria comes out and asks Angel if he’ll be her date to a cop event and he politely declines because of his new squeeze.

Dex ruminates on letting Miguel kill Fleeter, but he’s not sure. The two of them case a casino, watching Fleeter play cards. Dex tells Miguel a little about the code, then feels guilty for betraying Harry.

Deb asks Quinn about Anton’s drug use, then tries to look his record up by his CI number, but he doesn’t have one. Anton tells her Quinn always paid him in cash.

Maria and Ellen at lunch. Maria tries inviting her to be her date at the cop event. Ellen agrees.

Quinn and Deb ask the tree trimmer from before about his staff. His best worker, Mario, found one of the bodies. Now Mario is on the run because he may have killed someone with a knife back in Nicaragua.

Meanwhile, Dex gets a call from Rita who is freaking out over a love song on the radio.

Deb gets it out of Quinn that Anton’s not officially a CI — he was never booked; Quinn kept their transactions off the record. They have a blow up over it, with Deb saying Anton could sue and Quinn discovering that Deb’s sleeping with him. That’s not half as bad as getting a cop killed because you cut corners, Deb accuses Quinn.

Miguel and Dexter do recon at Fleeter’s house, looking for proof of his guilt. Dex makes a few intentional blunders so Miguel won’t see how practiced he is at this. “Look for something bludgeony,” Dex says. Then he swabs a bat and finds blood. He then finds a ledger Fleeter kept his gambling debt tallies in and wrestles in his head with Harry about whether to turn it over to Miguel.

Rita’s with Syl, complaining more about the menu and the guest list. Her hormones are raging.

Deb and Anton, Deb says he’s free of the cops. No need to be a CI. They make plans to celebrate over breakfast the next day.

Miguel and Dex are at a Walmart, looking for murder weapons. Dex says he’ll put together a starter kit for Miguel. Next, they break into a storage room for slot machines and dropcloth it, preparing for the kill. There’s six quarts of blood in a human body, Dex tells Miguel. There’s still time to back out. Miguel says no, he’s in.

Maria and Ellen are at a bar after the excruciating cops dinner. To entertain herself, Ellen flirts wildly with the bartender. She tells Maria that Maria needs to have more fun.

At a sports bar, Fleeter tosses back a beer. Dex and Miguel shadow him. Dex is miffed at how Miguel’s dressed — “like the unabomber” in a black shirt, black ball cap and black shades. Fleeter, losing on his bet, leaves to bash someone’s head. They follow, but as they’re leaving some guy says hi to Miguel and Dex freaks out. Miguel says he doesn’t know who the guy is, but sometimes people recognize him. Dex says the kill is off, but Miguel urges him to wait a day to make a decision.

Anton stands Deb up for breakfast. She overshares into his voicemail. Then she calls Dexter. They agree to meet at a jewelry store and Deb explains to Dex that he should get Rita a huge, beautiful “I love you” ring even though she said she didn’t want one. Then Deb sets up a hypothetical about her and Anton, asking Dex what he thinks is going on. He says it’s possible the guy was just sleeping with the girl to pass the time. Deb storms out.

Quinn picks up Deb to see if they can find Mario. They talk about what Yuki told Deb. Yuki was Quinn’s narcotics partner. A third guy on their team made a bad decision on a case that resulted in a guy being paralyzed. The cop killed himself. Yuki blamed Quinn because he knew the cop had a crystal meth problem.

They go after Mario, who bolts. They track him down and bring him in for questioning, but so far he hasn’t said a word. Angel is swamped with paperwork on the Freebo case and has to cancel on Barbara. He leaves a really painful, awkward message on her machine.

Dex walks along the boardwalk to meet Miguel. Dex says he’s calling off the kill. Miguel tries to pursuade him otherwise. “I’m guessing you’ve been doing this for a while,” Miguel says. They argue about the code, and Miguel says he’ll respect Dexter’s privacy. Miguel talks about how the one time he beat up his father and pushed him down the stairs he really enjoyed it. When Dex talks about the darkness he feels inside, Miguel says, he understands. He just wants to let some of his out, too.

Quinn and Deb question Mario. They threaten deportation. He denies knowing anything, but they say his boss told them he knew something. All of a sudden, Mario is begging them to send him back to Nicaragua. He’s terrified of Senor King.Quinn and Deb put the word out to round up George King.

Angel’s in the office late, checking his phone to make sure the battery’s charged. Barbara hasn’t called him back. Dating sucks, Deb says, then leaves. As she goes, Barbara arrives with takeout. Angel’s message was the funniest thing she ever heard, she says.

Deb goes to Anton’s club. A waitress tells her the band never showed.

Miguel and Dex get Fleeter. Dex posts the photos and prepares for his ritual. “Poetic,” Miguel says. He thanks Dexter for letting him in, showing him the way. Fleeter comes to. “Who are you?” he asks. “We’re justice,” Miguel says. Now it’s the moment of truth. Dex places a knife on the table for Miguel. He grasps it and plunges it deep into Fleeter, who’s now a corpse.

“How do you feel?” Dex asks.

“Fantastic,” Miguel gasps.

Cleanup, Dex says is his expertise. He tells Miguel to leave before Syl wonders where he is. Miguel starts to take one of Fleeter’s rings as a trophy but Dex stops him. Part of the code.

Deb races to Anton’s house, kicks the door down, gun drawn. He’s not there. But the trees are trimmed. The skinner has been there.

Dex cleans up. He imagines Harry again. It went well, Dex says. That was never the issue, Harry says. You set something in motion. Now everything Miguel does is linked to you. It’s a heavy burden to bear.

Dex arrives at Rita’s. She opens the door, glares at him and doesn’t say a word. He brings out the ring box and presents it to her. “I hope it’s ok.” It’s perfect, she says. She apologizes for being so demanding.

Dexter ruminates on the Butterfly Effect — it’s been said that a butterfly can flap its wings in Brazil and create a hurricane in Florida, he says. He’s set something in motion. Now he has to trust it’ll work out.

As Dex talks, we see Miguel walk toward a house. Ellen Wolf opens the door.