Episode 604: A Horse of a Different Color

A Horse of a Different Color is the fourth of twelve episodes in Season Six of DEXTER, and the sixty-fourth overall episode in the series. It first aired 23 October 2011 on Showtime.

An emergency with Harrison and a new tableau from Gellar and Travis has Dexter leaning on Brother Sam and an unexpected winged messenger for support as he questions the idea of faith; with proof of a religiously motivated killer, Homicide hunts for a zealot, with Debra giving her first official press conference.

Summary
Dexter and Harrison watch Brother Sam baptize Nick in Biscayne Bay. Afterward, Dexter sits with Sam on the beach and they talk about a higher power. Suddenly, Dexter receives a text to report to a crime scene.

When he arrives, Dexter is confronted by the bizarre sight of four horses, each with a rider composed of body parts sewed to a mannequin. Debra shows Dexter a painted Alpha Omega symbol on a horse's forehead that matches the one carved in the chest of Omar Rivera.

Masuka reports that all the blood types of the body parts are B positive, so they are likely from the same person.

Detective Mike Anderson (Debra's replacement), notes that the horses are symbolic of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" and suggests that whoever did this is a religious man. Quinn seemingly disapproves of the new guy.

During examination of the dismembered body, Dexter finds a tiny piece of paper buried underneath an eyelid. It reads "1242" in Celtic-looking numbers. Dexter and Debra then check Omar, the snake victim, for any numbers. Nothing is found on the body itself, but in the intestines there is another piece of paper with the numbers "1237."

Jamie calls Dexter to let him know that Harrison doesn’t feel well and he says to keep him home.

Captain Maria LaGuerta isn’t pleased when Deputy Chief Matthews tells her that she won’t be making the statement to the press about the Four Horsemen case -- Debra will. Matthews states that Maria is the “old face” of the department and Debra is the “new face.”

Maria informs Debra that she’s a liability until a therapist clears her due the restaurant shooting incident.

Mike advises Debra to dress more professionally because she looks like she’s going to a hoedown.

Masuka asks Ryan, his intern, for a second date. She agrees, but after her roller derby practice. Masuka is thrilled to learn that she’s a roller derby girl. Ryan asks Masuka if she can see the Bay Harbor Butcher evidence, but he says that it’s in FBI custody.

The homicide team discusses the numbers 1237 and 1242. Mike thinks  the killer is reenacting scenes from the Book of Revelation. Masuka bursts in with his discovery of oxidized iron in the kill wound, which means the weapon is an ancient artifact and the dimensions of the wound suggest a sword.

Mike comments that there are three “tableaus” -- intestines on a scale, snakes in a victim, and the four horsemen. Quinn mocks the use of the word “tableau” but Dexter explains why it’s the correct terminology. Mike reads a few Bible verses that correlate to the tableaus.

Dexter suddenly realizes that the tableaus were five days apart and the numbers are five apart. Angel remarks that it might be a countdown to the end of the world, with Debra stating that they’re looking for a “religious nut bag.” She orders Quinn and Batista to round up any end times fanatics with criminal records, and says, “Let’s find this Doomsday Killer.”

Travis and Gellar are sitting together in the Glass House Cafe, Travis watches the waitress, Erin Baer, who is attentive to Travis but ignores Gellar.

Dexter is studying Bible verses in his apartment when Debra asks his opinion on her outfit. She’s dressed in a skirt suit and heels and wants to know if she looks professional or stupid. Dexter replies, “Professional.” Debra then bemoans how busy she is in her new position as Lieutenant. Jamie walks by with laundry and tells Dexter that Harrison is still sick.

While Dexter is at Good Shepherd Auto Repair to receive another estimate, he learns that Brother Sam is sending Nick to computer class. Dexter asks Sam about the highlighted notes in his Bible, saying that he’s just started reading the book for work. Dexter mentions the tableaus and asks a few questions. Sam says that people use God as an excuse for a lot of things and just because someone believes in some crazy bullshit, it doesn’t mean his faith is any less real. Sam thinks it’s human nature to believe in something. He asks Dexter who helped him with a problem he couldn’t handle by himself. When Dexter replies that it was his Dad, Sam pauses and then says that he’s lucky and blessed. Sam remarks that If you put faith in the wrong things, it will fuck you up.

Debra arrives at work wearing the skirt suit and high heels, which draws the attention of the department. As soon as she enters her office, however, she removes her high heels. Maria walks in and inquires if she’s ready for her press conference. She deviously advises Debra to ignore her written speech and just “be herself.” Maria also suggests that she wear jewelry and places her own necklace around Debra’s neck.

Dexter reexamines Nathan’s body and wonders why the killer hacked and slashed the victim but set up a complex tableau showing an attention to detail. He concludes that there are two killers.

While working in his lab, Masuka receives an anonymous call from a man who wants to verify the authenticity of a prosthetic hand that’s on an internet auction site. Masuka assumes that it must be fake until he checks it out and notices that the seller is Rollergurl185, which is Ryan’s user name. Masuka quickly bids $1300 but he’s too late and it sells for $1200. When he confronts Ryan, she says that she stole the hand because she needed money for rent. Masuka fires her on the spot.

Debra gives her presser but accidentally uses profanity, Maria is secretly pleased.

Quinn advises Angel that they need to make a house call to Jeremiah Allen, a “nut job preacher.” They take off in Angel’s newly bought car, a 1977 Firebird Trans Am.

Dexter receives a call that Harrison has been taken to the Saint Peter’s Medical Center. When Dexter arrives, the doctor tells him that Harrison’s appendix has ruptured and he needs immediate surgery. Jamie and Debra are already there and Brother Sam also shows up to offer support. While Harrison is in surgery, Dexter and Sam talk privately. Sam brings up the concept of surrendering to God, and also reveals that his father, known as Mister, was a hired killer. At one point, Dexter prays at the coffee machine for Harrison to be okay.

Angel won’t let Quinn eat his lunch in his Firebird which he has named Norma after his mother. When Quinn finds a joint above a visor, he accuses Angel of going through a mid-life crisis. He persuades Angel to smoke it and they get stoned.

Travis informs Gellar that he is going on a date with Erin and Gellar replies that he must accept the consequences given by God. While at dinner with Erin, Travis tells her that his parents died when he was fourteen in a car wreck and his sister raised him. She offers sympathy and they end up in bed with Gellar watching from a gap in the door.

The surgeon enters the waiting room and assures Dexter that Harrison is fine. Dexter utters, ”Thank God,” which Sam comments on

Matthews calls an apprehensive Debra into his office. He says that he received calls all night about her presser and everybody loves his new spark plug of a Lieutenant...direct...no bullshit. He adds that she made him very proud for promoting her and her dad would have been proud, too.

Mike asks who drives the Firebird that is incorrectly parked. Angel and Quinn just laugh as they binge on snacks.

In Debra’s office, Angel, Quinn, and Mike discuss a lead on Gellar, who is discovered to be a Revelation expert for University of Tallahassee. They pull his blog called The Beginning of the End. Angel says that Gellar went underground three years ago after he was fired for stealing an ancient sword. This makes Gellar their number one person of interest.

A terrified Erin is bound and gagged while Travis protests to Gellar.

The homicide team is called to the Botanical Gardens. Masuka points out an Alpha Omega symbol on the ground, surrounded by dead fish. Dexter takes photos and then tracks blood to a greenhouse. Inside is a woman, still alive, hanging in The Angel of Death tableau. When a police officer accidentally trips a wire, a trap mechanism releases a support harness. The woman instantly drops down and the collar around her neck punctures her jugular vein. Her arms, attached to wings, stretch out to her sides, making her look like an angel.

Dexter says that because it’s the third murder, there is officially a serial killer. Suddenly a strange noise is heard inside a cabinet. When it’s opened, a large swarm of locusts fly out. Everyone tries to avoid them except for one man who is staring in awe. Dexter wonders if he’s Doomsday No. 2 as he appears to “know” that what he believes is true.

Trivia

 * The unnamed man on the phone who calls about the prosthetic hand is Louis Greene.
 * Gellar secretly watching Travis have sex with Erin is symbolic of Catholic guilt.

Related Pages

 * The Angel of Death
 * The Beginning of the End
 * Botanical Gardens
 * Doomsday Killer Case
 * Firebird Trans Am
 * The Four Horsemen
 * Glass House Cafe
 * Good Shepherd Auto Repair
 * Horses
 * Mister
 * Prosthetic Hand
 * Saint Peter's Medical Center
 * Santa Maria de Loreto

Gallery
A Horse of a Different Color