Episode 707: Chemistry

Chemistry is the seventh of twelve episodes in Season Seven of DEXTER, and the seventy-ninth overall episode of the series. Directed by Holly Dale and written by Karen Campbell and Manny Coto, it first aired 11 November 2012.

The estimated number of viewers for the episode during its original airing was 2.01 million.

Things heat up as Dexter and Hannah grow closer, but when Sal Price discovers the two are involved, he wants the exclusive story. Joey Quinn falls back into his old ways as he makes some questionable choices to protect Nadia.

Summary
Following Dexter and Hannah’s impulsive sex on the kill table, she picks up his knife and presses it against his throat.

Hannah: "How do you like it?" Dexter: "Not much." Hannah: "You do this to all the girls that you go out with? Wrap them up in plastic?" Dexter: "I don't actually go out." Hannah: "So then, what? This whole date thing was just a way to get me alone so you can kill me? Why?" Dexter: "It's what I do." Hannah: "You kill people." Dexter: "Bad people." Hannah: "So you think I'm bad." Dexter: "You-- you fit the general description." Hannah: "You have no idea."

Dexter kisses her and they have sex again.

At Deb's beach house, she and Sal Price are discussing Hannah. Instead of a cigarette, Sal has a straw in his mouth, so Deb says, "I don't know what's driving me crazier, Hannah McKay getting away with a shitload of murder, or you chewing on that straw." Sal calls it an old habit. Deb is dubious that Hannah’s 40-year-old husband just dropped dead from a heart attack. She suggests exhuming his body to check for aconite but doubts that Hannah will allow it. Sal reveals that the man has a sister who might give permission. They briefly kiss when he leaves.

In the morning, as Dexter drives Hannah home, he speaks first.

Dexter: "This can't happen again." Hannah: "Which part? The horse tranquilizer?" Dexter: "Sex part." Hannah: "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." Dexter: "W-- why?" Hannah: "We both know it wouldn't end well. Just tell me something." Dexter: "What?" Hannah: "You're not gonna try and kill me again, right? Because I feel like I have the right to know." Dexter: "No. If I was, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Let's just think of it as a misunderstanding." Hannah: "One way to put it." Dexter: "You know, you don't really seem that shaken up. You know, for someone who thought she was gonna die." Hannah: "Yeah, you're right, I suppose I should be a little more freaked out. Maybe I never really believed that you were gonna do it."

Dexter drops Hannah off and notices Sal sitting in his car nearby. They both get out of their vehicles and approach each other. Sal remarks, "Now I know why the blood work on the Wayne Randall spree was so spotty. You were protecting someone." Dexter tells Price that he can't write about this or his career is over, but Sal says it’s not in his nature to keep quiet about anything. Dexter offers to give him Wayne Randall's last words instead and Price says he'll think about it. Sal warns Dexter to watch what he eats around Hannah.

Debra tells Maria LaGuerta they should consider abandoning their investigation since all the evidence still points to James Doakes as the Bay Harbor Butcher. Maria reluctantly replies, "Maybe you're right."

Dexter researches Sal Price but can’t find anything to use against him.

Debra enters Dexter's office and shows him the blood spatter report from the Wayne Randall victims. She informs him that Sal had an outside lab run an analysis and it points to a killer smaller than Wayne. Deb accuses Dexter of covering for Hannah to save her for his table, but Dexter denies it.

Isaak Sirko's attorney wants to run their own analysis on the blood samples from Mateo's Bar, but Masuka discovers that it's missing from the freezer. Outraged, Maria LaGuerta asks how the most crucial piece of evidence against Isaak has disappeared from the police station. Masuka suggests that the Koshka Brotherhood has a mole inside Miami Metro, but Quinn ridicules the idea. If they don't find the blood samples or come up with new evidence, Isaak will walk. Angel decides to check the evidence room log to see who's been in there recently.

Hoping to recollect Isaak's blood, the homicide team returns to Mateo's Bar. However, the crime scene has been deliberately contaminated with sewage. Angel takes Quinn outside and shows him his name on the list of visitors to the evidence lock-up. Quinn claims he was there because he had to testify in a case. Angel tells him that it looks bad because he's dating a stripper that works at The Fox Hole. When Quinn becomes defensive, Angel says, "You're no choirboy, but I know you wouldn't sink that low," adding that he had to hear the explanation directly from Quinn.

Dexter calls Deb from the bar to tell her that since no new evidence was found, he will "take care" of Isaak. Deb, though, makes him promise to stay away because she is going to put a tail on Isaak until his travel visa expires. Dexter decides to use the time to get Sal Price off his back.

Sal brings Debra the address for Lori Kirkwood, the sister of Hannah's dead husband, so she can ask for an exhumation. Sal wants to tag along when they meet but Deb refuses, stating, "It's gonna be awkward enough without some goofy writer hovering over us." They agree to meet later for drinks.

Quinn checks on Nadia at her apartment. She wasn't hurt, but says, "They sent me to their club in Fort Myers. I was so scared. I thought for sure they were going to send me back to Kyiv." Quinn assures her that he can take care of them both and promises that she will soon be free. Nadia is worried, wondering what he has done.

Isaak is released from prison and finds Jurg, George, and two cops waiting outside. George is annoyed when Isaak decides to stay in Miami to kill Dexter instead of flying home to Kyiv.

Deb visits Lori and asks to exhume her brother's body, explaining that he may have been poisoned by his wife. Lori is shocked because Jake and Hannah seemed to have a great relationship, especially after they found out she was pregnant. However, shortly after Jake's death, Hannah had a miscarriage and cut dies with the family. Lori agrees to help Deb.

Sal Price shows up at the flower mart and pressures Hannah for an interview. When she refuses, Sal warns her that if she won't help with an authorized biography, then he will be forced to speculate and get creative. He mentions writing about Dexter and how he manipulated evidence to help the woman he loved. Hannah then agrees to talk at her house the next day – as long as he keeps Dexter out of the book.

Sal calls Dexter, having decided to take him up on his Wayne Randall offer. Sal says he will go to Dexter's place the next night.

Dexter researches the many murders that Sal covered during his career. Since Christy Lawson's killer was never found, Dexter decides to frame Sal. All he needs is Sal's DNA to link him to the crime.

At The Fox Hole, Quinn orders George to give him Nadia's passport since he got rid of the evidence against Isaak. However, George won't honor their deal. He threatens to expose Quinn for destroying police evidence for which he could lose his job and be arrested, unless he keeps cooperating. Furious, Quinn storms out.

Dexter tells Hannah that Sal saw them together when he dropped her off and she tells him that Sal showed up at the flower mart, wanting her to go on record about Wayne Randall. Dexter promises to handle the situation and says Sal doesn't need to die. Hannah asks if he's ever thought about what it would be like if he didn't have his code.

Deb and Lori meet at the morgue and Jake's casket is opened. It's discovered that he was never embalmed so there are only bones with no tissue to test. Lori says it was all for nothing and sobs. Deb promises to not give up.

Debra meets with Sal at a café and informs him that Hannah wouldn't allow Jake to be embalmed. Sal says that he is going to interview Hannah later.

Sal sits at Hannah's table for the interview. When she offers him lemonade, he looks at her warily and declines it. Before they start, Hannah again makes Sal promise to leave Dexter out of it.

Dexter breaks into Sal's place, steals his toothbrush and dental floss for DNA and lifts his fingerprints. Then he sits at Sal's computer and deletes his research on Hannah.

During the interview, Hannah describes the murder of the Johnson couple. Wayne had given her a knife and told her to guard the woman while he was stabbing the man. When the wife jumped on Wayne to save her husband, Hannah pulled her off. Through tears, Hannah says she repeatedly stabbed the woman to stop her from screaming. Hannah begins weeping and Sal leaves the table, returning with a box of tissues.

Isaak approaches Dexter at a beachside café and helps himself to one of Dexter's chips. He's still being followed by a patrol car, so he's not there to do Dexter any harm. Isaak simply wants to know what drove Dexter to kill Viktor Baskov since he doesn't believe it was vengeance for Mike Anderson's death. Dexter describes explicitly how he hunted Viktor down, strapped him to a board, put a plastic bag on his head, and crushed his skull with a fire extinguisher. He then promises to do the same to Isaak. Simmering with anger, Isaak warns Dexter that he's going to regret sharing that with him. He leaves a dollar for the chip and departs.

Sal drops by Dexter's place for the interview. Dexter begins by stating, "You know, as a blood spatter analyst, I'm kind of a storyteller myself. Only difference between us is your medium's ink, and mine's blood." He then threatens to frame Sal for the unsolved murder of Christy Lawson by using his DNA. Sal gets upset, grabs his chest, and falls, hitting his head against the table. Dexter tells Jamie to call 9-1-1 and starts performing CPR.

The homicide team arrives at the apartment. Dexter tells Quinn and Angel that Sal was there for an interview which grew heated when Sal accused him of sloppy bloodwork. Deb shows up and tells Dexter that Hannah must have killed Sal because he was going to expose her murders in a book. He asks how she pulled it off. Deb doesn't know, but she's going to run a tox screen on Sal's body.

When Hannah is brought into the station for questioning, she seems unconcerned. Dexter watches on closed circuit when Deb tells her that Sal is dead. She looks shocked and Dexter thinks she's a good actor. Deb accuses Hannah of killing Sal because he was writing a book about her. Deb references the aconite in Beverly Grey's body and the stabbing murder with Wayne Randall, then says a tox screen for Sal has been ordered. Hannah denies killing Sal, stating, "Sometimes people die. It doesn't mean that they were poisoned." Deb then sarcastically asks, "Is that what happened to your husband? Did he just die? Along with your unborn baby? What the fuck happened, Ms. McKay? Was he pressuring you to have a family? Was it making you feel trapped?" Hannah appears distressed and Dexter thinks she’s not acting. Hannah is released without being charged.

Dexter pays Hannah a visit, forcefully knocking on her door. She admits to killing Sal to help both of them. He angrily reminds her that he was going to take care of it, then shouts, "He died in my apartment! My living room is a crime scene. You know who I am, what that means to someone like me." Hannah apologizes and says she thought it would kick in on the road and cause a convenient auto accident. She had put an undetectable poison on Sal's pen, knowing he had a habit of chewing on it.

Hannah is worried about the book until Dexter says, "I was at his apartment, collecting DNA samples for my now-defunct plan to get him to shut up, and I erased his research on you." He asks about her husband and Hannah explains that he threatened to leave her if she didn't get an abortion. She wanted a family but, after she killed Jake, she had a miscarriage. Hannah is amazed that she and Dexter were looking out for each other. They kiss.

Quinn gives Angel a ten thousand dollar check to help pay for his restaurant. Quinn claims that it's inheritance money, while it is actually the Koshka payoff. Angel thinks it's too generous, but eventually takes it as a loan.

Masuka gives Debra the tox screen report from the M.E. on Sal Price and it’s negative. Deb is enraged that Hannah will get away with murder again.

Maria LaGuerta does some late-night research. She matches a list of Miami Metro employees to a list of boat owners and sees Dexter's name.

At home, Debra listens to Sal Price's final interview with Hannah. She then calls Dexter, who is in bed next to a sleeping Hannah and wondering if he loves her. Dexter takes the call and is shocked when Deb says, "There has to be some fucking justice. It's you, Dex. You know what I'm saying? She deserves it. I want you to make it right. Do what you do.”"

Quotes

 * Chemistry. I've heard some people have it. An attraction that can't be quantified or explained. -Dexter (voiceover)
 * "A jailhouse door slamming shut. That's my idea of music." - Debra to Sal Price
 * "Between you and me, I'd watch what I eat around her." - Sal Price to Dexter, regarding Hannah
 * "You smell that? Sulfur, mixed with shit. Means Isaak Sirko's attorney is on his way." - Angel Batista to Dexter
 * I'm fucking going to hell. - Debra to herself
 * "Hannah McKay never lost her taste for killing. She just updated her technique from knives to poison." - Sal Price to Hannah
 * "It takes brains to be creative." - Hannah to Sal Price
 * "Christ, Joey. You're here so often, we gotta get you your own parking spot." - George Novikov to Joey Quinn, regarding The Fox Hole
 * "You're a killer, Ms. McKay. You're a fucking good one, I'll give you that. You've gotten away with it for a long time." -Deb to Hannah
 * "Killing for me is just surrendering to nature's way. Nature adds and subtracts. Survival of the fittest." - Hannah to Dexter
 * She isn't drawn to my darkness like Lila, or blind to it like Rita, and she doesn't need it like Lumen. She accepts both sides of me. The whole Dexter. So why am I walking away from this? Because when some chemicals mix they combust, and explode. - Dexter (voiceover)
 * "I have a feeling that you're a different kind of animal." - Isaak Sirko to Dexter
 * Is this what love feels like? Is this how it begins? Am I even capable of this? - Dexter to himself about Hannah

Related Pages

 * The Fox Hole
 * Hannah McKay's House
 * Jake Kirkwood {Hannah's dead husband)
 * Koshka Brotherhood
 * Linda Johnson {Hannah's victim)
 * Maria LaGuerta's House
 * Mateo's Bar
 * Papa's Cafe
 * Sal Price's Apartment