Episode 701: Are You...?

Are You...? is the first of twelve episodes in Season Seven of the Showtime series DEXTER, and the Seventy-Third overall episode of the series. Directed by John Dahl and written by Scott Buck, it first aired 30 September 2012.

The estimated number of viewers for the episode during its original airing was 2.40 million.

After witnessing her brother kill Travis Marshall, Debra attempts to reconcile with Dexter while struggling to cover up their involvement with the murder. Detective Mike Anderson has an unfortunate run-in, Quinn and Batista begin to make amends, and LaGuerta finds evidence that causes her to re-think the closed Bay Harbor Butcher Case.

Summary
Dexter is driving his car to the Miami International Airport, presumably escaping from someone. When he tries to get fuel for his vehicle, all his cards are declined, which means he has to use some of the cash he is keeping in his travel bag he has in the trunk of his Escape. He rapidly drives to the Miami International Airport with the bag, and heads to buy a ticket for Budapest.

Dexter Morgan, having just claimed another victim, looks up to see his sister Debra Morgan standing in the doorway. After uttering the words "Oh god," she immediately pulls her gun out pointing it at her brother who steps away quickly from the knife that was still plunged into Travis's chest.

She demands he step away from the body while Dexter says that it's him, trying to reassure her that he is her brother. Debra then asks who is on the alter before receiving her answer that it's Travis Marshall, the Doomsday Killer that she has been tracking for the past month and had made an apparent escape after a fiasco involving a "final ritual" before the Eclipse earlier that evening. Debra, staring at her brother with confusion filling her every nerve, asks,"Dex, what the fuck?!" while battling with what she actually is seeing.

Dexter thinks quickly, knowing that he can't reveal that he is a serial killer, especially not to his own sister. Instead, he fabricates a lie to try and protect himself. Placing his hands on his temple while faking a sense of his own confusion, he quickly states, "Shit!" while Debra urges him to explain what happened. He asks that she lower her gun, which Debra slowly begins to do. Now, forming the words in his mind, he starts to act out his own "surprise" at what he had done.


 * "I came to do one last forensic sweep like you asked me to do and..." Dexter says, slowly approaching Debra. She takes a few steps back, while he continues to speak. "Travis was here. He came at me, with his sword...I fought him off." Dexter moves even closer to his sister who again backs away. "I knocked him out...".
 * "How did he end up...wrapped in plastic on the alter?" Debra asks, watching Dexter closely.
 * "I snapped." Dexter responds.
 * "You snapped?? Fuck does that mean?" She looks at him with bewilderment, struggling to believe him. Dexter puts a fist to his forehead and works on expressing emotion, while carefully choosing his next words.
 * "There's been a lot of anger inside me ever since Rita died. When I looked at Travis and thought about everything he did, I just wanted him dead so I killed him..."
 * "..Dexter!" "I know..." He stares at Deb, while she surveys the corpse, wrapped in plastic, possibly having fragmented memories of the Ice Truck Killer. She tries to piece together what happened, especially since Travis is strapped to the altar naked. "That still doesn't explain why he's wrapped up like that!".
 * Dexter turns and looks at Travis, being careful what to say next, "I didn't even think about it. I'm a forensics expert. I guess it's just second nature not to leave a trace...".
 * "Jesus, Dex!"

Dexter nods and looks at Travis again, except now he hears a clicking in the background. He quickly turns to see that Debra is using her phone. His expression quickly fills with concern as he asks, "Who are you calling?" Debra replies that she has to get everyone from the station down there. Dexter loudly says, "No!" which scares Debra enough that she jumps back as he moves forward.

Dexter asks Debra how the situation looks. She states that it looks weird and he agrees. Dexter insists that this can complicate their lives. Debra promises to get Dexter the best lawyer in the city to fix the situation, and explain that he had a moment of temporary insanity. Dexter refuses to accept her solution, stating he could lose his job and Harrison, and end up in a psych ward. Dexter proposes getting rid of the body by putting it in his car and dumping it somewhere else; however, Debra is reluctant as it could make things worse. Dexter suggest making it look like a suicide, by burning the church down. The scenario could be explained as a frustrated Travis had killed himself because the world did not end as he predicted. The fire would erase any trace linking Deb and Dexter. Debra agrees to do as he wishes, and heads to a nearby station to get a can of gas to make the church burn faster.

In a flashback, young Dexter and Harry arrive home after grocery shopping to find young Deb playing with a new puppy. Harry orders his wife, Doris, to get rid of it and warns Dexter not to kill it.

While Deb is gone, Dexter removes the plastic from Travis. He pulls his knife from Travis and stabs him with the sword to makes it appear as if he committed a ritual suicide. Deb returns and Dexter pours out the gas, then sets the church aflame,

Dexter and Debra head to the docks and wait until they are called to a crime scene. As Dexter predicted, it's the very same crime scene they just left: Travis Marshall’s death at the church

Vince and the rest of the team establish the crime scene is indeed a suicide. Dexter notices a piece of the plastic wrap is still on the toe of Travis. Debra distracts Vince while Dexter takes it off. Maria LaGuerta arrives as the scene and congrats the success of having Travis off the streets. However, she then notices something shiny under a grate. She quickly picks up what appears to be a blood slide which, unknown to her, was dropped by Dexter.

Heading to his apartment, Dexter is relieved that Debra believed the story he fabricated about why he killed Travis. Upon entering, Dexter finds Louis Greene there. He notices that Louis used his computer and orders him not to do it again. Jamie leaves with Louis, and Dexter checks his blood slide box to see if Louis touched anything from it. Instead, he discovers that he forgot the blood slide with Travis’ blood. He tells a sleeping Harrison that everything will be okay.

At Louis' apartment, he tries to pit Jamie against Dexter to no avail, as Jamie still thinks Dexter is a good boss and instead asks Louis what is wrong with him. Unknown to Jamie, Louis is on his computer hacking Dexter’s credit cards and blocking further usage of them.

Debra is watching the news about Travis' death, growing nervous at how she lied during the interview at the scene. She receives a call from Detective Mike Anderson who asks her how Travis got to the church since his car was not found at the church. She replies that the actions of a suicidal man don’t have to make sense. Mike still says he will look into it.

After hanging up on Debra, Detective Anderson spots a man with a flat tire at the side of the road and decides to help. The man states that he doesn't need the help. Mike, though, still proceeds to the back of the man’s car and opens the trunk, discovering the corpse of a blonde woman. The man quickly shoots Detective Anderson on the chest. He then yells in Ukrainian, cleans the vehicle from prints and takes off in Anderson’s vehicle.

Next morning, Deb arrives at Dexter’s apartment and questions him as to how he was so prepared with various gear to kill Travis. Dexter claims that it all was in the church or belonged to Travis, and he was wearing his typical forensic garb. Even if Dexter did not want to involve Deb in Travis’ murder, she states she is involved. Dexter just answers that they have to go to work and walks into his bedroom.

In a flashback, young Dexter sees Deb crying while being held by her mother. He's told that the puppy was given back and he knows it was his fault.

Debra receives a call and is informed Mike has been shot. She orders Dexter to immediately go with her to the scene. However, he states that he has to first get his bags ready but will head to the address in two minutes. After Deb leaves, Dexter retrieves his getaway pack that was hidden inside the wall at the behind his bedroom’s door.

At the crime scene, Debra, Quinn, Angel. Maria, Vince, and Dexter honor Mike's body as it's taken away. Quinn states the killer will be dead, to which Debra replies that everything will be done by the book as they are cops, not killers. Dexter analyses the woman’s corpse and states the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head. He also looks for prints but is only able to find the woman’s as the vehicle has been wiped clean from any other prints. The prints identify the woman as Kaja Soroka, also revealing that the vehicle under her name. Without telling anyone else, Dexter discovers a print from the driver on the one place everyone forgets to clean up: The turn signal. As Debra watches Dexter leave the scene, Deb is overwhelmed with anxiety when thoughts of Dexter killing Travis merge with memories of when she was wrapped in plastic.

Back at Miami Metro, Debra looks into the files from the Ice Truck Killer Case and confirms that the modus operandi from the Ice Truck Killer is similar to how Dexter killed Travis. Batista dispatches the team to investigate locations of interest to find out more about Kaja Soroka. Debra confronts Dexter about how Travis’ murder reminds her of when Brian strapped her to a table. Dexter says it was crazy that he did what he did, and it will never make sense. After Deb leaves the lab, Dexter finds a match on Interpol for the print on the turn signal, which belongs to Viktor Baskov.

Dexter heads to Viktor’s apartment. Even though he thinks he should not do a kill now, he still goes through with it. He breaks into Viktor’s apartment and finds a shirt with blood and gunshot residue on it. He also discovers that Viktor left in a hurry for the airport. Dexter rushes to the airport and, using a fake ID, buys a ticket to Budapest. He spots Viktor in the waiting area for passengers.

At The Fox Hole, Batista and Quinn order everyone to stay and wait to be questioned. This annoys the club’s manager, George Novikov, who is familiar to Quinn. George tries to get the police out of the club by providing Batista with a list of all the club's employees.

Back at the airport, Dexter grabs a wheelchair and follows Viktor into the men’s bathroom. He then injects him with M99 and sits him in the wheelchair to pass unnoticed. Still at the airport, Dexter takes an unconscious Viktor into a baggage storage room.

With no clue about Kaja’s killer, Batista and Quinn head out for a drink at La Cuevita. They toast Mike Anderson and banter about Quinn's heavy drinking of late.

In the baggage storage room, Dexter tells Viktor the reason why he is strapped to the table. Viktor tries to buy his way out of death by offering money to Dexter to no avail. Dexter then proceeds to bash Viktor’s head with a fire extinguisher.

In Kiev, Ukraine a gray-haired man (Isaak Sirko) receives a call from George Novikov, The Fox Hole's manager. George informs Isaak Viktor left on an evening flight hours ago on his way to Kiev. Isaak asks if the matter with the police is still a problem, and George states that he will make it go away.

Debra calls Dexter’s apartment to talk to him but instead the phone is answered by Jaime. Jamie says Dexter is at work, but Debra knows he isn’t, which increases her suspicions. Dexter is onboard the Slice of Life, dispatching Viktor's remains in a black trash bag, while Debra goes through the photos of the Ice Truck Killer Case.

In a flashback, young Dexter attempts to console young Deb by revealing the reason that her puppy was taken away. Harry quickly takes Dexter aside and warns him to never tell Deb about himself or she'd never get over it.

Back at Miami Metro, LaGuerta asks Vince Masuka about the usage of blood slides. He says that only one person in Miami Metro that ever took blood slides at crime scenes: Doakes – The Bay Harbor Butcher. LaGuerta still has doubts and she hides the blood slide to look into it personally.

Arriving home, Dexter opens his apartment door to find Deb with his kill tools and blood slide box spread out on his coffee table. She quietly asks Dexter if he killed all those people, referring to the blood slides, and he simply answers, "Yes," Then Deb asks Dexter if he is a serial killer, to which he again replies, "Yes."

Related Pages

 * Blood Slide Boxes
 * Debra's Beach House
 * Dexter's Apartment
 * The Fox Hole
 * Harry Morgan's House
 * Isaak Sirko's Mansion
 * Kill Tools
 * Koshka Brotherhood
 * La Cuevita
 * Louis Greene's Penthouse
 * Miami International Airport
 * Santa Maria de Loreto
 * Viktor Baskov's Apartment

Trivia

 * Seth Avett of The Avett Brothers is an extra in this episode. He can be seen walking across the screen when Deb is at the gas station. He and Jennifer Carpenter were married in 2016.
 * Louis Greene’s penthouse features a wall mural of Kabuki, by artist David Mack. David Mack was also a part of the Dexter Early Cuts.
 * Enver Gjokaj, who plays 'Viktor Baskov', previously played an agent codenamed 'Victor' in the TV series Dollhouse.