In the previous episode of Dexter: Resurrection, Leon Prater took the surviving members of his serial killer club, that is, Red (Dex), Gareth, and Al, to an unexpected retreat so they could do a “show-and-tell” act for him. At this retreat, he wanted them to share the minutest details of their crimes: how and why they choose a victim, how they kill their targets, and the array of emotions they go through before and after the act. During their last meeting, it was the tattoo guy, Lowell, who demonstrated his “show-and-tell,” and Prater wanted Dex to prepare his act for the next gathering. This was the reason why Prater’s right-hand woman, Charley, asked Dex to bring his “murder weapons” along so he could share his knowledge with the rest of the pack. But that’s not all Dex was worried about. At the end of episode 6, he saw a dead man coming back to life. The previous night, he had killed Gareth, aka the Gemini killer, and burned his corpse in the furnace, but much to his surprise, Dex saw another Gareth joining them for the retreat. Yes, there was not one but two Gemini killers, and the one Dex killed was his twin. Dex feared that the second Gareth might know about his brother’s death and could expose him to Prater; hence, he needed to act fast and kill the man before he could do any damage.
Spoiler Alert
Dex Finally Does A “Show-and-Tell”
At the retreat, Prater told his guests that their friend, Mia Lapierre, aka the Lady Vengeance, had taken her life in prison. It wasn’t much of a surprise for the viewers, as we already know the truth. Charley, on Prater’s orders, had bribed a prison guard to kill Mia and make her death look like a suicide, as Prater feared that Mia might snitch on him or the gang. Meanwhile, for Dex, he breathed a sigh of relief, as he had framed Mia for Ryan Foster’s murder. The prime suspect in this case was none other than his son, Harrison. So if Det. Claudette or anyone else had tried to get to the bottom of the matter, they might have ended up showing Dex’s photo to Mia, which could have exposed Dex and gotten him arrested. That was exactly what Angel Batista was up to, but thankfully none of it happened, because Prater had her killed. But the bigger question you should be asking is: did Prater get rid of Mia to save the pack in general, or someone in particular? I mean, fans have been theorizing that Prater knows that Dex is the infamous Bay Harbor Butcher. So is the eccentric billionaire trying to protect his new friend so he can learn more about him or from him?
You see, Dex, pretending to be Red has already raised too many red flags, and someone like Prater or Charley couldn’t just ignore it, right? For example, on the retreat, Dex once again broke character and decided to savor the meat from Maison Verot. Everyone around knew that Red was a vegan, so what changed? I mean, none of the guests or the host raised any concerns, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t notice.
Moving forward, after a light meal, the guests sat together for Al’s “show-and-tell.” Al showed his audience footage in which he targeted a ponytail girl jogging in the National Park, suffocated her to death, and cut off her ponytail for his collection. Now it was time for Dex to do the same, but Dex didn’t feel confident in sharing Red’s methods with the guests, as he feared he might get caught. So instead, he went all philosophical about the Dark Passenger thing. Red was given the moniker by the press, while Dex had been calling his inner demon the same for ages. So he felt confident speaking about his alter ego and the things he went through during the transformation. It wasn’t exactly a “show-and-tell,” but it was different. Dex didn’t share any of the details of his murders or explain his code, but whatever it was, Prater approved it. And at the end of the day, the host’s approval is all that matters, right?
Prater Shares His Story With Dex
Prater has been a pretty mysterious character so far. Even seven episodes in, we still don’t know much about him: where he came from, who his parents really were, and how an orphan became one of the richest men in New York City. In episode 7, Prater did share a bit about his background, especially how he lost his parents in a hit-and-run. Prater was a kid when a person named Cooper Morris rammed his truck into his parents’ car, killing them on the spot. Prater, sitting in the back seat, watched his parents die before his eyes. He couldn’t make any sense of it. He was angry and confused and wanted answers. He wrote a very emotional letter to Morris because he wanted to understand why he killed his parents, but to his surprise, Morris wrote back. Morris had no remorse for his actions. In his mind, he hadn’t done anything wrong, which made Prater more curious about his parents’ killer. He finally gathered enough courage to meet his life’s destroyer face-to-face to ask him what made him target his parents, to which Morris explained that he had gotten into a fight with his girlfriend and was looking to do some damage to release the anger boiling inside him. His parents happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Morris’s reveal made Prater realize a very simple but significant fact about life. He realized how fragile life was. And such fragility puts you in a tough spot. It makes you weak, scared, and powerless. Prater no longer wanted to be the scared little boy. He didn’t want to suffer anymore. He found his power in Morris’s truth and the things Morris was going through when he killed his parents. The details not only became Prater’s shield against the world’s suffering, but also his most lethal weapon. I say weapon, because I feel later in life, Prater used his trauma to inflict the same pain and suffering upon his victims. Yes, I think Prater’s a serial killer too; we just don’t know it yet. I have discussed it in the ending explained article, in case you want to give it a read.
Prater also shared the first letter Morris wrote to him. He kept it close to his heart because it sparked something inside him, which he still couldn’t forget and often tried to recreate through his serial killers club.
Dex Kills Gareth
Shortly after his conversation with Prater (and winning his confidence), Dex approached Gareth sitting in the garden. He was just testing if Gareth knew that Dex had killed his twin brother, but it turned out the brothers hadn’t met or contacted each other after Gareth 1 left a note for Gareth 2 at the bookstore. But Dex told him the truth anyway, to provoke him to attack him so he had a good enough reason to kill Gareth 1 at the retreat. Yes, that was quite brave of him, and also a bit stupid of him. I mean, I understand the reason why Dex pulled such an act. It was mostly because Prater had been more friendly to him than the rest of the lot, and he knew most of them became a part of his group for money, but not Red (Dex). He was there for something else. Well, that’s true. He was there to hunt down the serial killers. So maybe Dex believed that Prater wouldn’t mind if he took out another target, but I am going to repeat myself once again: why are Charley and Prater ignoring all these signals? I mean, they literally said that Gareth wasn’t stupid enough to attack Red (Dex) in the garden, so why did he do it? Also, as Charley said, the Gemini Killer killed in pairs, so why would he target Lowell or Dex? You see, if the writers wanted Charley and Prater to believe Dex’s lies without any questioning or investigation, then it’s just bad writing. But if they are intentionally looking the other way so Dex can play with this target, then I am sold. Also, the retreat came to an end with Gareth’s death, and everyone came back to NYC.
Harrison Wants To Study Criminology
Harrison’s life had been a mess since the beginning of the season, but now that the dust had settled down a bit, he was seriously thinking about his future. In episode 7, he told his friend, Elsa Rivera, that he had been thinking of doing a course in criminal justice, which was when Elsa remembered one of her cousins, who was studying cybersecurity at Collins College of Criminology, and recommended the same to Harrison. The young lad decided to go on a college tour with his dad, but as always, Dex had been pretty occupied with other stuff, so he showed up late. In the meantime, Harrison came across a young girl, Gigi Jones, who showed him around. Well, it seems like Harrison has found a new love interest.
Everything was going great until Harrison and Dex, who finally took out some time for his son, saw a familiar face during the guest lecture. The visiting faculty was none other than Det. Claudette, who was equally surprised to see Harrison and Dex sitting in the audience. For her lecture, Claudette discussed the infamous New York Ripper, who had terrorized the streets with his gruesome crimes. Through Ripper, Claudette explained to the budding criminologists about a criminal’s psyche: how the police determine their motive, which eventually becomes integral in catching the criminals. She revealed to the students that even though Ripper stopped killing people years ago, he still caused harm to the loved ones of the people he had killed in the past. He often contacted them to torment them with the details of his crimes. You can probably already think of someone on the show who’s obsessed with “details of the murder.”
In her lecture, Claudette theorized that Ripper used a crowbar-like weapon to hunt his victims, but Dex, trying to plant some information in her head, approached her at the end of the lecture and suggested that Ripper could be using a longer object. I mean, he didn’t exactly name it, but we already know it’s a manhole hook. During this brief exchange, Claudette also informed Dex about his old friend, Batista, who had paid them a visit. Dex tried to cover it up, telling Claudette that Batista kind of spiraled after he found out that his partner was a serial killer and things went out of control when he lost his ex in the line of duty. Basically, Dex wanted to suggest to Claudette that Batista wasn’t the kind of guy whose words they should take as gospel. He could be making up things and wasting their time. Well, Claudette isn’t one to be easily manipulated, but time will tell.
Batista Shows Up Again
In episode 7’s ending, as soon as Dex reached his rented space, he heard some loud Spanish music coming out of Blessing Kamara’s house, which made Dex curious about what all the fuss was about. He entered the flat, only to see his old pal dancing with his new pal. Quite a sight. But Dex wasn’t in the mood for merriment. He was worried that Batista might have shared his crazy theories with his landlord and his family. Thankfully, he hadn’t. But he did reveal details about Dex’s life in Miami with Blessing and his wife, so Blessing now knew that, back in the day Dex worked for the police. Would this new information affect their relationship? As I see it, it’s a possibility, but so far, Blessing has been this very chill guy who doesn’t bother anyone except his daughter, so maybe I am the one reaching too far. In the end, Dex, trying to get Batista to leave the place, told him that it was quite late and he should give him a ride to wherever he’s been staying. It’s better Batista stays away from Dex’s new circle, because if he’s going to spill the beans, then Dex will have no option but to leave the place.
The thing is, this Dex really wants to stay, not because he likes his new friends, but mostly because of Harrison. The young lad has finally found something of a grip on his life, and has become comfortable around his “serial killer” dad, and Dex doesn’t want to leave his side again. This is his last chance to prove that he can be a good father, and he doesn’t want anyone to ruin his relationship with his son. In short, Dex wants to deal with his Batista situation, but he cannot do much about it. The man’s going to follow him to his death. He can’t even kill or cause him any harm, because Batista doesn’t fit the code, so he’ll just have to bear with him so long as he’s alive. But I have a theory that someone else will end up killing Batista.
Batista May Die Next
In Dexter: Resurrection episode 7’s ending, Batista left his AirPods inside Dex’s car, so he could track Dex and follow him around. But you see, Dex is a cab driver, and that means he’s going to go to a lot of places, so I am not sure how Batista will be able to chase him throughout the city. But if I have to really speculate where this could lead, then I think Batista will follow Dex on his next hunt and become a target himself. After Gareth’s death, the next person on Dex’s hit list is Al, and it’s very much possible that Batista will catch the Bay Harbor Butcher in the act, leaving Dex no option but to break his code and kill an innocent man. Or Batista will follow Dex to the last gathering at Prater’s house and end up getting caught by Charley for prying upon Prater’s guests. I know the fans won’t want Dex to kill someone who doesn’t fit the code, but Prater and Charley follow no such rules, so they can kill Batista without upsetting anyone, right? On a second note, it’s also possible that Batista will expose Dex’s real identity to Prater and Charley, if they aren’t aware of it yet.
Until the very end I wasn’t sure if Batista would meet his fate or not, but when Harrison too pointed out that Dex should be worried about him, I think that was our clue that Batista’s chapter is probably coming to an end. He is getting too close to the fire, and he might find himself in a mess from which he won’t be able to escape alive.
