Dexter Season 4 Recap: Episode 4.6: "If I Had a Hammer"

Are you new to Showtime's Dexter? Or did you simply want to catch up on episodes prior to Season 5 starting? Here is a complete recap of Episode 4.6: "If I Had a Hammer." Caution - Spoilers follow.

Episode 4.6: "If I Had a Hammer"

Surprise! Trinity is Arthur Mitchell, a Deacon at his church and teaches at a school. He has found the ultimate way to blend in, molding young minds. His police record is squeaky clean and he never arouses any suspicion.

Rita is still angry with Dexter, making him bring everything over from the apartment and is forcing him to see a therapist. Her dominating nature is even more present than before. In therapy, Dexter struggles to understand Rita and her emotions, as it is difficult for him to read people. And the therapist points out that Rita is partially responsible for some of the behavior, as she already knew about his previous bouts of lying (think Rita and the supposed drug addiction in season 2). He tries really hard to communicate with Rita but simply doesn't know how to.

Dexter needs to stay ahead of the Trinity investigation so that he can get to him before the police do, and before he kills any more innocent people. But this cycle of three is done for now and Trinity is putting his guard down. Dexter starts going to church to observe Arthur in action, using the alias "Kyle" Butler. Arthur invites him to join "Four Walls, One Heart" an organization that builds homes. ""Kyle"" pretends to have lost his wife and kids to gain Arthur's favor, and chats with him regularly on job sites. ""Kyle"" also tries to get to know Arthur's family. They seem perfect on the surface, but something doesn't quite add up in the happiness department. He even finds a way to get invited into Arthur's house and manages to provoke him to show some anger.

When investigating the bludgeoning murder, Dexter pays attention to where the victim is pointing and finds a key piece of evidence. Unfortunately, Masuka confiscates it and discovers that it is cremains. Within the cremains, Masuka discovers two strains of DNA - one from the saliva that was used to put the ashes on the wall. The other is from the cremains, and the two strains are related. They now have Trinity's DNA, and of a female relative.

Dexter figures out that Trinity must be reliving traumatic events revolving around his family and does some digging on Arthur Mitchell. His sister died in a bathtub. His mother fell to her death. His father was bludgeoned to death in an alley. Trinity recreates their deaths in a regular cycle. His family trauma caused him to become a serial killer. Just like Dexter.

Christine is pushing Quinn for more information about the Vacation Murders. The suspects in custody are still being blamed for shooting Debra and killing Lundy. Debra confronts the suspect, and realizes that perhaps she is innocent of the shootings. She also notices that some of the research kept by Lundy is missing, further convincing her of the concept of Trinity. She has also been rejuvenated by the prospect of finding Lundy's murderer herself.

LaGuerta puts herself on the chopping block to save Batista's job in Homicide, which further strains their relationship. They decide to break up officially and permanently to maintain both of their positions. They also signed affidavits about their relationship not affecting their job performance either before nor after the relationship.

Dexter tries to appease his family by buying them all expensive gifts. The kids are happy, but Rita just gets even more angry. After observing Arthur and his family, Dexter tries to make amends again by admitting to Rita that he doesn't know how to be part of a family. So, they build him a special shed, with a padlock, in the backyard for him to keep his stuff and as an escape from his family. Dexter realizes he needed to evolve, just like Trinity.