Smoke Signals is the third of ten episodes in Dexter: New Blood. It first aired 21 November 2021 on Showtime.
Dexter hopes to have a chance to make things right with Harrison, which is proving to be tough to do when there’s a full-fledged crime investigation that Dexter himself has caused. Harrison joins the high school wrestling team and quickly makes a name for himself at school. Meanwhile, a true crime podcaster from LA arrives in Iron Lake and befriends Dexter’s police chief girlfriend.
Summary[]
From his porch, Dexter watches the search party cooking breakfast at his firepit. They are unaware that Matt Caldwell is literally buried under their feet. Dexter needs to find a way to get everyone off his land so he can be a "proper dad" to his son. He finds Harrison flying a drone with Sergeant Logan and reminds him that they're meeting with the school principal since it's his first day.. Logan, the high school assistant coach, suggests that Harrison try out for wrestling, describing it as a great sport that teaches personal growth, confidence, and mental toughness. Harrison agrees to consider it.
Angela orders the officers to go back to the station because there is a break in the case. Harrison overhears and asks Dexter if they could have found the body, though it's not yet confirmed that Matt is dead. Dexter says they will find out soon enough.
At school, Principal Strode asks Jim (Dexter) why Harrison's GPA suddenly dropped, then went back up in a year. Dexter doesn't know why, so Harrison explains that his stepmom died, after which he was placed in the foster care system, and moved from Argentina to Miami. Strode is shocked and asks Dexter, "And where were you?" Deb, dressed as Strode, appears and needles Dexter to reveal why he left his son. Harrison defends his father, saying it wasn't Jim’s fault because they had just moved and when his stepmom died, Jim had no way of reaching him.
Tess Silvera, the science teacher enters the room and introduces herself to Harrison. She and Harrison speak a few words of Spanish to each other. Strode notifies Harrison that Ms. Silvera will be administering his placement exam so they'll know which grade level he's at.
At the station, Esther, the receptionist, tells "Jim' that there is footage of Matt Caldwell shooting the white deer. This blindsides Dexter since he didn't know about the thermal cameras in the woods. Angela takes him into the conference room where Sergeant Logan, Teddy Reedy, Kurt Caldwell, and Sam (Zoologist) are waiting. Dexter is asked to look at heat signature footage and identify the type of gun the person is carrying. Dexter says it's a Modern Outfitters MC with a distinctive Leupold scope, which is like the one he sold to Matt Caldwell.
Dexter is then shown additional footage from the next quadrant over, about seconds earlier. There is another unknown man heading for the same spot as the first guy. Due to blind spots, nothing else was caught on camera. Kurt screams at Angela for not realizing earlier that this is a criminal investigation instead of just a missing persons case.
At school, Harrison talks to some of the guys he met before. Zach shows him a text message chain with Ethan, a nerdy guy at school where they pretend to be an interested hot girl. Harrison tells them that it’s “fucked up”.
Dexter gives a list of current hunting licenses to Angela. She feels guilty for calling off the search after the first day because a glove was found. She asks, “What was I thinking?” Dexter thought, “What I wanted you to think.” He assures her that she is a good cop and will find Matt.
Damian Church, a crime scene investigator from Albany, NY, has been called to Iron Lake. Angela wants to finally get some answers, but Dexter hopes he’s no match for him. As Damian is unloading his van, he clumsily drops his forensic equipment and swears. Jim (Dexter) offers to help and Damian thanks him. Dexter asks if he can watch him work the scene because he’s a "big fan of those CSI shows." Kurt says he’s also coming since it’s his son they are looking for. Damian allows them but insists, "As long as you both stay outside the crime scene and don't disturb the corpus delicti." Teddy asks what that means and Damian explains that it's Latin for "body of evidence.” He again drops his supplies. However, as Damian starts to sweep the crime scene, he quickly establishes himself as very capable. Dexter even comments that he is doing exactly what he would have done if their roles were reversed. When human blood is found that was mixed with the deer's blood, Damian accurately guesses what happened, He believes there was an attack that was covered up. A sample of Kurt's DNA is collected to try and match the blood to Matt’s DNA.
While at the crime scene, Dexter receives a call from Principal Strode to come to the school. When he arrives, he's told that Harrison did exceptionally well on the test but she thinks that he cheated when Tess left the room. Harrison maintains his innocence. Dexter suggests that Harrison retake the test to prove that he didn't cheat. This idea angers Harrison, who thinks his long-lost father should be sticking up for him. Harrison, however, does retake the test.
Back at the search camp, Angela informs "Jim" that search dogs will arrive the next day. Deb anxiously tells Dexter that he needs to move Matt's body ASAP before they arrive. Dexter argues with Deb (in his mind) about what to do about Matt's body. She keeps pressuring him about the situation and even holds a gun to his neck. When Dexter orders her to stop, she asks if he's going to kill her again.
On his way into the bathroom, Harrison tells Dexter that he got an even higher score when he took the placement exam for the second time. Dexter merely says, "Congrats."
Angela calls Kurt to tell him it’s a match for Matt's blood. He’s furious with her for not doing better earlier in the investigation but she assures him she's doing everything she can. Kurt seems concerned when she mentions an upcoming search of the Clarke Caves.
While Harrison is asleep, Dexter slips out, digs up Matt's remains, and takes his orange vest. After reburying Matt, Dexter heads to the spot where the white deer was shot. Using that as a starting point, he drags the vest through the woods up to the highway where Matt's glove was found.
Elsewhere, an unknown person puts on a white ski mask, while watching Lily on the hidden camera in her room. She's still alive and sees the door open automatically. She puts on her jacket and runs out of the room and down a corridor. She makes it outside and runs for her life through a field. The person points a gun at her and shoots, knocking her down. From a distance, Dexter hears the shot but assumes it's an early hunter.
When Dexter arrives home that morning, Harrison is awake, eating breakfast. Harrison remarks, "Looks like you had a long night." Dexter lies that one of Mrs. Gross's sheep was lambing and needed his help.
At the search camp, Logan walks up to Jim (Dexter) to tell him that it’s been confirmed to be Matt's blood at the scene. Logan says that he needs to interview everyone who saw Matt 48 hours prior to the incident and Dexter agrees to stop by the station during lunch.
Logan tells Harrison that he noticed he had signed up for wrestling, adding, "Real men are made on the mat."
Rusty and the search dogs arrive and Teddy Reed nearly gets bitten when he tries to pet one of them. A woman, later identified as podcaster Molly Park, offers to help volunteer, claiming to be an activist. Angela sends her over to talk to Logan.
Deb and Dexter discuss ways to dispose of Matt's body as they sit in his truck outside the school. Every place has drawbacks and she eventually suggests using a woodchipper which culminates in a bloody scene. She is dubious when Dexter vows that he will never murder anyone again.
Elsewhere, someone washes a body (presumably Lily's) and drains the blood.
Angela visits Miriam, a Seneca woman, who remarks that she hasn’t seen Angela in "these parts" for a while. Angela apologizes and says she's looking for Johnny Bullhorn, who is on a list of people that she needs to speak with about Matt Caldwell. Miriam insists that Johnny couldn't have hurt the Caldwell kid because he's been sick with the flu and she's been taking care of him all week. Miriam mentions Iris, her missing daughter, who was Angela’s best friend while growing up.
During lunch at school, instead of sitting with the popular kids, Harrison sits with the nerdy boy. He tells Ethan that he's being catfished by Zach and that his internet girlfriend isn't real. Ethan asks why Harrison is telling him this and Harrison replies, “Because guys like Zach shouldn’t always be top of the food chain.”
At the police station, Logan interviews Dexter, asking him how many interactions he had with Matt before he went missing. Dexter answers three - at Fred’s, the Tavern, and the party. Logan tells Dexter that people have seen him with a gun in the woods, adding that Dexter doesn’t have a hunting license. Dexter counters that he was hiking, not hunting, and the gun was for protection. Logan asks Dexter to identify the gun that the mystery man on camera is carrying and Dexter answers that it’s likely a Remington 700, but there is over 100 of them in this town alone. Dexter insists that he was home alone and wasn’t “hiking” the day that Matt disappeared. Logan allows Dexter to leave to work at the store.
Since Dexter can't bury Matt in the frozen ground or dump him in the iced-over lake, he looks for another option. With no customers in the store, he scrutinizes a map of the area.
He focuses on the old iron mine. It's remote and filled with tunnels. He obtains permission from his boss to join the search, but heads to the iron mine instead.
Ethan gets revenge by sending a photoshopped meme of Zach having sex with a goat. Embarrassed, Zach starts to attack Ethan but Harrison physically intervenes and warns him to back off. Audrey steps in to give Harrison a ride home. Audrey asks Harrison how he learned to fight and he says he picked it up in foster homes.
When Audrey and Harrison stop at Gig’s Butcher Shop to pick up some sausage, they learn that the buck is hanging in the cooler. She's upset that it’s being treated like roadkill.
Meanwhile, Dexter drives as far as he can, then dons snow shoes, grabs his ski poles and backpack for the three-mile hike up to the iron mine.
On the way back, Audrey opens up to Harrison about her long deceased father and her birth mother who abandoned her. Harrison is surprised that Angela isn’t her birth mother. Angela’s car breaks down and she sends Harrison down the road to call the auto shop to get some parts/supplies. Edward Olsen drives up and offers to help Audrey, but she refuses his help telling him to help the planet instead. He comments on her gas guzzling car and drives away.
Dexter reaches the iron mine’s entrance, goes inside, and turns on a headlamp. As he walks through the dismal tunnel, he nearly falls into a deep pit. To assess its depth, Dexter drops a rock into the pit and it thuds faintly.
Suddenly, a black bear appears, growling and roaring. Dexter swears, races out of the mine, and collapses on the snow. While he's lying there, Angela calls to invite him to dinner. He begs off due to exhaustion until she mentions that her daughter invited Harrison. Dexter mouths the word "FUCK" and says he'd love to come.
Ethan calls Harrison to thank him for standing up for him and says he always fantasized about hurting Zach. Then he sends some of his drawings to Harrison of himself killing Zach and Scott.
Dexter looks out the window and observes the search party outside.
At dinner, Audrey explains her plan for the white buck - to have a bonfire to honor it. Angela agrees that it’s a good idea. Dexter picks up the deer and takes it to the Reservation. A ceremony is held and those present include Angela, Audrey, Abraham, and Miriam.
Dexter apologizes to Harrison for not standing up for him with the cheating accusation. Harrison says “Thanks Dad”.
Later, Dexter burns Matt’s body at a local incinerator.
He drives into town and sees Kurt, drunk, outside a bar shouting “wahoo”. Kurt runs up to Dexter and excitedly tells him Matt is alive, claiming Matt FaceTimed him. Dexter, though, knows that Matt is dead. As a mixture of ashes and snowflakes fall from the sky. Dexter offers to give him a ride home and Kurt gets in his truck. Dexter wonders why Kurt is lying.
Quotes[]
- Ah, wilderness. Snow. Ice. Privacy. Well, maybe not so much privacy. I've got a search party all over my property looking for someone who's literally under their feet. - Dexter (voiceover)
- Who'd have thought I would find this. A family in Iron Lake. A family that I very nearly lost because of an impulsive kill. I don't want to lose this. - Dexter (voiceover)
Music[]
- "Avalanche" by Leonard Cohen
- "Runaway" by Del Shannon
- "I Just Really Think I Miss You" by The Pistols
- "Bad Ass Bitch" by Lunachicks
- "All I Have To Do Is Dream" by The Everly Brothers
- "Stop Staring" by Japan, Man
- "My Heart Can Feel the Pain" by The Tonettes
Related Pages[]
- Black Bear
- Dexter's Cabin
- Gig's Butcher Shop & Market
- Fred's Fish & Game
- Iris Broussard
- Iron Mine
- Iron Lake High School
- Iron Lake Police Department
- Iron Lake Sanitation Incinerator
- Kurt Caldwell's Lodge
- Kurt Caldwell's Secret Cabin
- Kurt Caldwell's Underground Bunker
- White Deer
- White Deer Crime Scene
