Dexter is certain that another kill will leave him feeling like his same old self, in the wake of Rita’s death.

Yearning to cleanse himself of the guilt and emptiness he is ridden with, he seeks instant gratification in the latest episode, committing another murder under compromising circumstances.

There have been signs in the past that Dexter is losing his composure, but Sunday he looked more careless than ever.

Harrison is evaluated by a crisis counselor, who assures Dexter that his son won’t be traumatized by the incident with Rita because he can’t comprehend it, contrary to his own experience. She then suggests that Dexter do something for his own well-being.

As if he needed another reason.

He finds a sitter for Harrison, a nanny named Sonja, and since Astor and Cody now reside with their grandparents, Dexter focuses on Boyd Fowler.

He begins doing his usual recognizance work; following him around, getting to know his routine, when Boyd notices him at a restaurant.

Recognizing Dexter from a recent dead-skunk pick-up, Boyd strikes up conversation and offers him a job removing carcasses.

Dexter thinks, ‘Jackpot!’

After surveying Boyd’s typical job route, Dexter pinpoints an abandoned Welcome Center as an appropriate kill-spot. He prepares it as usual, all the while ignoring the cautioning of Harry’s specter who insists that it is not wise to kill during the day.

Dexter lures Fowler into stopping near his preferred setting where he begins his ritual with the usual injection.

Then, instinctively, Fowler shoots Dexter with a tranquilizer gun, leaving them both paralyzed and unconscious.

The two wake side-by-sides in an ambulance, later being wheeled into the same hospital room, staring each other down, both anticipating their next move.

Fowler flees the ER and arrives at his house, anxiously awaiting his assailant there. Dexter then appears from the shadows and sedates a helpless Fowler.

This is where Dexter loses all discretion.

He makes the hasty decision to tweak his routine for the sake of satisfying his urge.

Newspaper lines the walls of Boyd’s living room, as opposed to plastic wrap. Boyd is shown duct-taped to a table. Dexter opts to use one of the household steak knives, instead of his own equipment, while wearing a grilling apron, not his regular performance attire.

Viewers are truly seeing the deterioration of Dexter, it seems, a shell of his former self.

Why did Dexter decide to commence the killing right there as opposed to moving his victim? If Dexter didn’t want to move him, shouldn’t he have just gone home, regrouped, and waited to pick a more appropriate setting? He didn’t have all of his customary gear and, after all, Boyd has no way of knowing who he really is, having passed off as ‘Darryl Tucker.’

Adding a ripple to his most recent miscue, Dexter finds a distressed woman locked in Boyd’s house who was witness to his murderous ritual.

Now what?

He’s going to have to kill this innocent person, isn’t he? How else will he manage to divert this situation? He has done some sly things in the past, but, without his wits about him, I am losing my faith that he will find another way around it.

Deb continues to act as Dexter’s crutch, through all of this, offering wise words in a role reversal that is becoming more comfortable for her and curious for him.

Deb and Quinn argue during a debriefing about the recent ritual killings and it turns out that he has been counting the days since they consummated their friendship. The sexual tension will surely continue to boil and I’m curious to see Deb’s reaction when Quinn begins formally accusing her brother.

Of the recent string of murders Miami Metro Homicide is investigating, no one is talking. When one shop owner does offer information, his head is found severed amidst a ring of symbols and candles similar to those found around the previous victim.

Also, Angel faces formal charges for beating the bag out of that officer at the bar in Episode two.

The season is beginning to take flight now that we are three episodes removed from Trinity’s terror and Dexter has no idea what to do about his newfound emotions.

At this point, six days is five more than I want to wait.

Dan Gigliotti can be reached at [email protected]