Dexter - Season 7 Episode 4 - Recap - Run

Here's the recap of Dexter Season 7 Episode 4: "Run" on SHOWTIME.

Another solid episode of Dexter sees our anti-hero in some major danger as things come to a head with Speltzer, while Deb might finally come around to Dex's way of thinking after all.

In the aftermath of Speltzer's escape last episode, Masuka and Dex search his mausoleum death shrine at the cemetery but aren't able to uncover anything of merit. Debra also has a really really REALLY creepy/inappropriate nightmare/dream/vision about being in a bathtub full of blood with a sexy Dexter beckoning her. After having the dream, she confronts Dexter about what really happened with Rita, and she gets pretty pissed when he revealed that he knew Trinity's identity all along. She also seems unconvinced about his love for the family and for her. It's certainly a reasonable human reaction; I'm liking the arc this season for Debra. Liking it a lot. Four cops were able to take down Speltzer and bring him into the station, so Deb pretty much goes to work on him along with Batista. After "subtly" hinting that Speltzer had a thing for his own mom due to her resemblance to a couple of his victims, he admits that " Ishould have killed you like I killed that other bitch".

Isaak, snooping with goons, learns that both Louis and Dexter work(ed) with Miami Metro. He tells George that he doesn't want Dexter killed though - he wants to talk with him first. Before they can do anything further, the cops take over the strip club yet again, still anxious to take down Mike's killer. Quinn makes goo-goo eyes at Nadia, catching the attention of another detective who clearly doesn't approve. Isaak, irked about all the interruptions in the strip club, concocts a patsy who can take the fall for Mike's killing and get Miami Metro off their asses. Isaak shows up with George and a couple of his goons to their bartender's house, and promises he will pay for the poor Spanish man's kids and wife to have beautiful lives. I didn't think it was possible to force someone to shoot themselves in the head with words alone, but this episode proved me pretty wrong on that front.

Debra confronts Dexter about how selfish she thinks he was when he didn't reveal the identity of Trinity, therefore leading to Rita's death. She thinks he needs to give up his lifestyle or give up Harrison because it's "not fair" to expose a child to the things he's doing. He promises he will never let any harm come to those he loves, and furthermore ends the conversation by simply telling Deb: "I'm not giving up my son." Hannah, Randall's ex-gf who was first introduced last episode, shows up at the station and flirts with Dex, revealing she has agreed to help uncover some of the bodies of Randall's victims. After the good news comes some bad news: Speltzer's confession was thrown out of court due to his nonverbal response to Miranda rights while being arrested. Furious, Deb storms out - but Dexter knows he can do something.

At the scene of the crime where Alex the bartender shot himself, the team discovers the murder weapon used to kill Mike as well as a suicide note from Alex. While Dex already knew something was wrong, Batista also seems uneasy and convinced this might be a setup. When Dexter returns home, he discovers Jamie going through Harrison's old toys and it makes him realize that maybe it's finally time to give up his blood slides for good. Dexter stalks Speltzer at the cemetery the next day, getting into his camper and in the process of scoping out a killing spot. Speltzer comes in unexpectedly and Dex is no match for him in the confined space; he ends up knocked unconscious. Once Dex wakes up, he finds himself in Speltzer's kill zone: an abandoned building. The setting is definitely freaky. Dex finds a note that simply says "Run" and does so after seeing Speltzer run toward him with an axe and that creepy horn mask. Dexter gets chased through the building (including the creepiest spot - a room filled with mannequins and strobe lighting) until he ends up at a stairwell where he is supposed to continue going down. Instead, he goes up and manages to escape the building just in the nick of time. He hops on the back of a truck carrying some cars, but Speltzer has seen his face. Now there's only one thing left to do.

Returning home, Dexter bids farewell to Harrison, who is headed to Florida temporarily with Jamie to visit Astor and Cody with their grandparents. He needs him away, just until he deals with Speltzer. While the girl Speltzer killed is being brought into the funeral home, Deb spots Speltzer himself, grinning near his car. She goes batshit and very nearly punches him out, but Batista holds her back. Dexter shows up to her house later that night, trying to comfort her, but things seem fractured in the moment; though he insists he loves her and is still the same person she has always known, she doesn't exactly feel the same.

In a scene that I'm sure will be more significant later on, Isaak cuts some "crime scene" paper from the front of a door and enters an apartment, where he finds an old photo of him and some cute guy together. Could it be his lover? His son? His brother? We don't know yet, only his ominous words: "I will avenge your death. Everything I do is for you." Sounds mysterious, eh? Back at the station, Quinn, talking with Batista, agrees to go back to the strip club the next day with him to at least check in on things. He still has that hunch something might be wrong with the whole innocent-Spanish-man-kills-police-officer-then-stripper-then-self bit.

Late in the night, Dexter takes action on Speltzer (FINALLY!). He lures him to a note similar to the one Speltzer had left for him, only this one just says "Stay". The man has just enough time to read before Dex knocks him hard with a shovel. When he wakes back up, Dexter toys with him in the funniest moment of the season so far, mocking Speltzer's attempts to get out. He has him situated on a steel gurney-type thing that leads right into the place where bodies are burned in the crematorium. After stabbing Speltzer and finally getting rid of the pervert once and for all, Dex takes him case of slides and bids it farewell. Placing the case atop Speltzer's lifeless body, Dex burns it (and him) like an oven in the crematorium. Debra picks him up a tad later from outside the spot he killed Speltzer, and upon revealing that the smoke pouring from the chimney is Speltzer, Deb actually admits to feeling "glad." From the ending, it appears she may finally realize that what Dexter does is rid the world of scum like Speltzer, and maybe it's not so bad after all.

Personally, I thought this episode was absolutely amazing and one of the best eps of Dexter ever. It's like even the cast know this season is epic because they are really giving it all they have in every scene. I can't believe Dex got rid of the blood slides! I can see this season building up to a really fantastic and twisty finale. Any theories on what will happen next?