Episode 411: Hello, Dexter Morgan

Hello, Dexter Morgan is the eleventh of twelve episodes in Season Four of the Showtime series DEXTER, and the forty-seventh overall episode of the series. It first aired 6 December 2009.

Dexter must buy time to protect himself when Debra's investigation brings the department one step away from identifying Arthur as the Trinity Killer; Rita confides in Dexter, but is disappointed in the result.

Summary
Christine Hill is under interrogation by Angel Batista. He asks about her parents and pressures her to give him a name. Debra and Quinn are watching on one monitor -- Dexter on another. Christine insists she has no idea how she might be related to Trinity. She claims to be the product of an accidental pregnancy, and says she never met her father. Angel thinks she’s lying, and so does Dexter. To give himself time to kill Arthur, Dexter decides to frame someone as a decoy to the police.

Arthur, sitting in a hotel room, is calling Christine but getting no answer. He hangs up and turns his attention to a news report on the television about Scott Smith’s safe return home. Police don’t know who abducted Scott. “Interesting,” Arthur mutters.

Meanwhile, Dexter is scrolling through the criminals that Debra’s DNA sweep turned up, looking for a suitable impostor. Arthur calls, wanting to know why Dexter didn’t turn him in after finding him about to immerse a kidnapped boy in cement. Dexter, improvising, says he wants $50,000 or he will spread the word that Arthur is a pedophile. Arthur finds that crass. Dexter gives him 24 hours to get him the money. Arthur says he can’t because he’s not in Miami, as he opens the hotel desk drawer and takes out a Greater Miami phone book. Arthur remarks that he’ll be in touch and hangs up. Then he searches for Kyle Butler in the phone book, finding two names.

Christine is still in the interrogation room, not changing her story. Angel thinks she knows too much about the Debra and Lundy shooting, but she looks at him sullenly and doesn’t say a word. When she states that they can’t hold her longer than forty-eight hours, Angel counters that it’s true if she was under arrest, but she’s being held as a material witness. Christine knows that means they can hold her as long as they want.

Debra and Quinn are watching on a monitor, and she calls Christine a “bitch.” Quinn reminds Debra there isn’t any proof, beyond her gut. When Debra tells Quinn he’s too close to the case, he points to Lundy’s name on the whiteboard and says he’s not the only one. Dexter hurries in and anxiously inquires if Christine has said anything yet. Quinn says she won’t, and Dexter says, “Let’s hope not.” He notices a dirty look from Debra and adds, “For Quinn’s sake.” Quinn responds with a “fuck you” to which Dexter politely retorts, “And you.” When Dexter says he’s going to lunch with Rita, Quinn blatantly disbelieves him and asks where he really goes every day. Debra tells Dexter to cut Quinn some slack because his girlfriend is a psycho.

Maria obtains a warrant to search Christine’s apartment and she sends Debra and Angel. For obvious reasons, Quinn isn’t allowed to go.

An angry Matthews orders Maria and Angel into her office. He shows them a video of the two kissing in a liquor store half an hour before a robbery went down there. It proves they were lying in their affidavits and he accuses them of perjury, which is a felony. He says there is a board of review hearing the day after tomorrow and they should look into "career alternatives." Maria asks, “What’s your beef with me? My gender? My race?”  Matthews replies, “Your arrogance.”

In his Miami Shores Storage container, Dexter goes through possible victim files to decide which one to frame for the Trinity murders. He chooses Stan Beaudry, a long-distance trucker who once killed a prostitute with a crowbar, but got off on a technicality.

Meanwhile, Arthur is busily breaking into someone’s house. A young man pulls up in a red convertible and voices, “What the fuck?” Naturally, he thinks Arthur is about to rob him. Arthur just chuckles and says he thought it was his friend’s house. The angry young man threatens to call the cops. Arthur looks at him menacingly.

Rita is waiting for Dexter at the marriage therapist’s office. He’s late, but she says it’s okay. Just as they’re about to start a session, Dexter is called to a crime scene. Rita objects and says they need this. Dexter asks why, and Rita blurts out, “I kissed Elliot.” She backpedals to say that Elliot mostly kissed her. Though he appears disturbed by this revelation, Dexter insists he must go to the crime scene.

Dexter finds a young man lying on the floor in a pool of blood. One of his eyes is swollen. According to Vince, the guy was choked. “How was lunch-slash-therapy with Rita?” Vince asks. “Fine. Vince, stop reading my desktop calendar,” Dexter answers, as he notes multiple, bloody impact marks from the guy’s head being smashed against the floor. Vince keeps prompting Dexter to chat, but he isn’t taking the bait, so finally Vince bursts out with, “I saw Rita kissing another dude at Thanksgiving, okay?” Dexter sighs and says Rita told him, Vince is noticeably relieved. It startles Dexter when a neighbor reveals the name of the victim -- Kyle Butler. Another innocent life is on his head, and he realizes Trinity is after him.

Meanwhile, Angel and Debra search Christine's apartment. As they pull boxes of shoes from under her bed, Angel finds a packet of postcards. Their places of origin aren’t lost on Debra -- and they’re signed “Love, Daddy.” Debra says it gives them something to “make the bitch talk.”

A black-gloved hand rings the bell at an apartment marked “K. Butler.” A man opens the door, but no one is there. When he steps out, he’s jabbed in the neck with a syringe. Dexter drags him into the apartment and waits for Arthur to arrive. Not long after, he spots Arthur through the window and stands against the wall, syringe at the ready. The door swings open and Arthur is silhouetted in the frame. Suddenly, the door closes, and he’s gone. Dexter tries to pursue Arthur, but he encounters partygoers, so he turns back to the apartment and sees what warned Arthur away. Kyle has Christmas card photos of him and his dog placed by the door, and he looks nothing like Dexter. With only two Kyle Butlers in the Miami phone book, Arthur likely won’t bother looking for Dexter under that name again.

Angel is back with Christine in the interrogation room. He shows her the postcards, but she accuses Angel of planting them. He tells her Quinn will be displeased that she cozied up to him “to keep tabs on Daddy,” but she sticks to her story. Angel becomes angry and says her father is the Trinity Killer, and he’s been sending her “postcards from Hell.” When he states that she shot Deb and Lundy, Christine looks him in the eye and says, “I want to talk to my lawyer.”

Debra and Quinn are watching Christine from the briefing room, and both know she’s lying. Quinn realizes what their relationship was about, and he’s angry that he fell for it. He calls himself a “fucking asshole,” but Debra says that won’t help and calls herself a bigger asshole for being engaged to the Ice Truck Killer. This seems to make Quinn feel better. When Angel says he’s keeping Christine overnight, Quinn says. “Let her fuckin’ rot.”

Dexter drives out to Stan Beaudry’s shack in the middle of nowhere to do some recon. Hearing voices, Dexter walks cautiously into a galvanized tin shed to find a chattering CB radio. A calendar on the wall notes that Stan is making a delivery in Jacksonville and due back tomorrow. Dexter’s about to head off to Jacksonville, but he remembers that he has a family at home.

Rita has stayed up to talk to Dexter about kissing Elliot. She clarifies that she and Elliot didn’t have sex, insisting it was a huge mistake and she’s sorry. That’s enough for Dexter and he just wants to go to sleep. Rita, though, wants to talk more about it. She says she would be hurt, angry, and disgusted with Dexter if he did something similar. “Is that how you want me to feel?” he asks. Rita says no, but looks disappointed as she turns out the light.

Curious why Christine has failed to answer her phone, Arthur decides to swing by her apartment. Exiting the elevator, he sees the police tape on her door and walks on by.

Dexter breaks into the Mitchells’ house to collect things with Arthur’s DNA -- toothbrush, hairbrush, razor. He’s going to plant them in Stan Beaudry’s shack, in the hopes that it will distract the police from Arthur long enough for Dexter to kill him. His phone suddenly rings. It’s Angel who needs him at the station. “Harry” warns Dexter that he’s juggling too many people. “Dexter Morgan: blood tech, husband, father, serial killer, and now Kyle Butler, extortionist? Which one are you?” Dexter considers his four reflections in the paneled mirror, and says, “All of them.”

With Angel’s permission, Debra takes a crack at interrogating Christine before her lawyer shows up. She brings a breakfast burrito for herself and a fruit cup for Christine. The interview doesn’t go well. Christine asks if the fruit cup is injected with truth serum, and Debra says, “You watch way too much TV.”  Debra tries to empathize with Christine over her own father issues. She admits she became a cop to try and gain Harry’s approval. Christine tells her that if Debra thinks sharing her pain is going to work, she watches too much TV. As Debra leaves, she walks right into Angel and Quinn. The three of them decide to let Christine go, in the hope that she will lead them straight to Trinity. Angel asks if they will take care of it because he has a meeting.

The purpose of the meeting is to marry Maria LaGuerta. When Dexter arrives, he is told to sign the papers as a witness. Dexter is relieved that it’s the reason he was called in. Judge Belford gives Angel permission to kiss the bride, which discomfits Dexter. A detective enters the office to report that surveillance is up on Christine Hill’s apartment, and Dexter rushes off to find Stan Beaudry.

Dexter decides to catch up to Beaudry on his way back to Miami. He has Beaudry’s CB radio in his car and, by inquiring under the call sign “Little Chopper,” a helpful driver tells him that Beaudry has just pulled into a truck stop. Arthur calls Dexter again, to say he’s standing in front of Kyle Butler’s house … or rather, the address Dexter gave Four Walls, which is actually Johnny’s Jet Skis. Arthur now knows that “Kyle” has been lying all along. Dexter calls Arthur a pedophile again and threatens extortion. Arthur promises to come up with the money by tomorrow.

Dexter locates the truck stop where Stan Beaudry is enjoying a coffee. When he’s done, Beaudry stands up, throws out the cup, and strides over to the cab of his semi. The moment he sits down, Dexter slips a cable around his neck and chokes him. Beaudry wakes up in his trailer, swathed in plastic sheeting. Beaudry angrily threatens to fuck him up as Dexter hurries through his kill ritual. He collects a blood slide, decapitates Beaudry with a reciprocating saw and dismembers him. He shoves Beaudry’s remains into the back of the car. Inside the cab, he plants Arthur’s hair, a photo of Christine, and Lundy’s Trinity books.

Christine is back in her apartment. She borrows a neighbor’s cell phone on the pretext that hers is dead and quickly calls Daddy. However, he doesn’t want to talk. He knows where she’s been, and orders her not to call him again. She pleads, “Daddy, I just…,” but he hangs up on her.

Dexter returns to Beaudry’s shack to plant the razor, comb, and toothbrush. As a final touch, he places Arthur’s hammer in Beaudry’s tool drawer.

That night, Dexter pulls up to his house and sees Elliot sitting on his front step. Elliott waves, and Dexter waves back, thinking, “Love thy neighbor. Bullshit.” As Rita watches, Dexter pauses at his own step, then walks over to Elliot. “Stay the hell away from my wife,” he says, and then punches Elliott so hard he falls over. Elliot stammers that he was “caught up in a moment” because Rita is amazing.

In the kitchen, Rita is ready with a bag of ice for Dexter’s hand. She’s glad that Dexter “cared that much.” They both express amazement that Dexter hit Elliot.

Maria and Angel walk into Matthews’ office and inform him that they are married. They mention that Catholic, Latino Miami wouldn’t look favorably on Matthews for persecuting a just-married couple. They add that the current chief of police met his wife on the job. Matthews lectures them on cynicism, and closes with, “I hope your life together will not be as empty — and as amoral — as your decision to get married was.” Maria and Angel reassure each other they did the right thing. To break the awkward moment, Angel’s phone rings with a lead on Trinity.

Debra, Quinn, Dexter, and Vince are inspecting Stan Beaudry’s shack. Quinn notices on the calendar that Beaudry should have returned today; Debra thinks Christine warned him off. Vince gleefully collects the toothbrush and comb that Dexter planted last night, and Debra finds the hammer. She doesn’t totally buy it, saying, “It’s a little hard to believe that this is the same guy that didn’t make a mistake in thirty years.” Dexter says they just weren’t looking.

In his hotel room, Arthur watches Angel on TV as he announces to the press that Beaudry’s truck has been found and yielded pertinent evidence. Puzzled, Arthur repeats Beaudry’s name. Christine phones, saying that she’s in trouble. Arthur calls her a stupid girl who’s always gotten in the way. She explains that she was protecting him. When Christine says she loves him, he remains silent. Frightened, Christine begs Arthur to meet her, but he says she’s on her own. Even worse, he tells her that he’s sorry she was ever born, and states, “Do not call me again. Ever.” Christine, shaking, can hardly breathe from the shock.

Back at the shack, Quinn realizes that Beaudry has no electricity or running water, so they can’t track him through his utilities. Officer Munez walks over to inform Debra that Christine wants to talk to her -- only her. Debra lets Quinn come along after he agrees to wait outside.

While in his car, Dexter receives a call from Arthur, who claims he’s rounded up fifty grand. They bicker over a drop location but settle on a marina entrance. Dexter recognizes the music in the background and realizes that Arthur is at the arcade where he abducted Scott Smith. He figures Arthur is stalking another little boy, and takes off to catch him in the act.

Debra and Quinn rush to Christine’s apartment, believing that she wishes to confess. Christine lets Debra into her apartment and motions her to sit down. Christine positions herself across from Debra and they stare at each other. When Debra says they know her father’s name is Stan Beaudry, Christine utters, “Wow,” but doesn’t confirm or deny it. She says she tried to make her dad love her, but he hates her. Christine agrees that he’s a killer and says she’s just like him. She finally confesses to shooting Debra and Lundy, and Debra exhales sharply. Christine apologizes and asks if Debra can forgive her. “Are you kidding me?” Debra answers in disbelief, adding that she’s there to do her job, and will not forgive her. Suddenly, Christine pulls a gun from under a sofa cushion, places it under her chin, and pulls the trigger. Quinn hears the shot and races upstairs to find Christine in a pool of blood with the gun still in her hand.

Dexter is at the arcade, but unable to find Arthur. Debra calls to tell him what happened with Christine, and says she needs him. Dexter decides to be “Dexter Morgan, brother” right now, and heads to the parking lot. Arthur has been watching Dexter and follows him.

From the police parking lot, Arthur watches Dexter enter the station and he also goes inside. Arthur asks the desk officer if a Kyle Butler works there, but he's told there’s no one by that name. “My mistake,” he says cheerfully. Arthur then meanders over to an old lady, lifts the visitor’s pass from her purse, and casually walks through security.

Dexter finds Debra sitting by the whiteboard of unsolved cases, afraid to erase Lundy’s name. She doesn’t want it to be over, but knows it won’t bring Lundy back. Dexter offers to erase the name, but Debra forces herself to do it.

As he passes a trophy case, Arthur spots a photo of Dexter with his bowling team, labeled “Miami Metro Homicide Bowling Team.”

Angel stops by Quinn’s desk to say, “Hang tough, Hermano.” As he walks past the elevator, it pings and the doors open, revealing Arthur Mitchell.

Arthur glances around and then enters the room with the Trinity whiteboards. He surveys the photos of his victims’ with bemusement. Then he notices that Stan Beaudry is their main suspect, and remarks, “Why, Mr. Beaudry, you’ve done me a kindness.” Next, Arthur continues on into the main office area. To his horror, Dexter notices him through the glass -- and Arthur notices him. Dexter whispers, “No,” and hurries out of his lab. They walk toward each other, staring the whole way. Dexter stops in front of him, looking vulnerable. Arthur calmly looks down at his badge and says, “Hello, Dexter Morgan.”

Quotes

 * “What kind of man witnesses a child abduction and doesn't call the police? Who are you, Kyle?” - Arthur Mitchell to Dexter
 * “I want $50,000, or I'll tell the whole world that Arthur Mitchell, family man, schoolteacher, church deacon, is a pedophile.” - Dexter to Arthur
 * “We can play who's the better asshole. But I guarantee you I'll win.” - Debra to Joey Quinn
 * Love thy neighbor? Bullshit. I should leave it alone, go inside, watch the History Channel. - Dexter to himself about Elliot Larson
 * I need to be a good brother now, so I can be a good serial killer later. - Dexter to himself

Trivia

 * The final scene is regarded by some as one of the best scenes in the series.
 * "Hello, Dexter Morgan" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series. The nominees were James P. Clark, Elmo Ponsdomenech, Kevin Roache, and Jeremy Balko.
 * Harrison doesn’t appear in this episode..
 * One of DEXTER’s directors, Keith Gordon, appears in a cameo as the second Kyle Butler.
 * When Dexter communicates on the CB radio, he uses the call sign "Little Chopper" -- quite fitting for a guy who chops up bodies.
 * “And he's been sending you postcards from Hell!" - Sergeant Batista to Christine about The Trinity Killer. This may reference Jack The Ripper's famous letter: "From Hell."

Goofs

 * When Arthur looks in the Greater Miami phone book for "Kyle's" address, there are some different people with the same phone number.
 * When Dexter communicates on the CB radio that he is looking for Stan "The Man" Beaudry, the response is that he is at "Freddy's Truck Stop," yet Dexter pulls into a truck stop with signs reading "Big Phil's Truck Stop."

Related Pages

 * Arthur Mitchell's House
 * Christine Hill's Apartment
 * Frank Lundy Murder Case
 * Kyle Butler (alias)
 * Miami Shores Storage
 * Rita and Dexter's House
 * Stan Beaudry's Shack
 * Trinity Case

Gallery
Hello, Dexter Morgan