Dexter Season 5, Episode 8: "Take It!" Recap

"Take It!" is the slogan of motivational speaker Jordan Chase, and fittingly enough the episode opens with one of his speeches. Addressing a group of rabid fans Chase talks about the "primal self" and how listening to it can help people see what they want and take it. Dexter is part of this crowd, but unlike the rest he's not there to receive guidance or life affirmations. He's there to observe the routine of Cole, Chase's head of security and one of the men who raped and tortured Lumen. Knowing that Cole will soon be out of town with Chase at the next seminar Dexter lays his plans to take down his prey at the very hotel that this gathering is being held at.

Dexter communicates some aspects of his plan to Lumen via cell phone. Lumen expresses her frustration at being unable to find any clear connection between the five men in the photograph they took from Cole's house. Not finding out how they are connected or how they knew each other makes discovering the last two more difficult. When Dexter finishes his call he's approached by Cole. He's informed that Jordan Chase had spotted him in the crowd (having recognized him from Miami Metro) and wants to talk to him. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, Dexter agrees. Dexter is escorted to Chase's suite and the charismatic speaker shows a great deal of interest in Dexter. He explains how he'd recognized Dexter from the news and knew that his wife was killed by the Trinity Killer. He even admits to his own fascination with Trinity, though quickly tempering that by saying he has no sympathy for the monster. The level of detail that Chase seems to be aware of however (including knowing the name of Dexter's son) clearly shows that his interest in Dexter and what happened to him is more than passing.

Back at Dexter's old house, Lumen impatiently waits to hear from Dexter about what the next step is. She's been chugging coffee and sleeping for mere minutes at a time, always waking up in fear. When her cell phone rings she expects it to be Dexter, however it turns out instead to be Owen. Owen was the man that Lumen was going to marry back home before she panicked and fled to Miami. He's in town and wanting to talk to her. Lumen is emotionally confused by this, and understandably so as she's been so focused on avenging herself. Owen asks her to meet him the following day so that the two of them can talk. At this point Dexter returns to the house to bring Lumen food. She doesn't tell him about Owen's call and instead focuses once again on Cole. Dexter gives her a shopping list so that she can buy all the supplies that he needs to prepare his kill room at the hotel. He gives her a time and place to meet him the next day so she can give him the supplies.

Back at Miami Metro's homicide department Lt. Laguerta is clearly frazzled. She knows that the attempt to bust the Fuentes Brothers turned into a public relations nightmare. Even though one of the killers was now dead, thanks to Debra, so are two innocent people including their informant who was helping them. The call that lead to the discovery of Officer Manzon being a cop was made by Laguerta and she seems to be desperate to shift the blame somewhere else. She calls Debra into her office and reveals her intention to place Manzon on disciplinary leave so that it appears that action was taken within the department and she can save face. Debra, being a team player and loyal friend, immediately decries this idea. She points out that it was Laguerta's call that put the operation in jeopardy, and that it was a call that went against what Debra herself, the lead detective, had wanted to do. Debra doesn't seem to want to throw Laguerta under the bus, she simply is disgusted that Laguerta is prepared to do that to another officer. It's her opinion that they should just all stick together and weather the storm.

When Dexter goes back to his apartment he finds Debra there, having taken over watching Harrison from the nanny. The two talk for a time and Debra brings up that she's being required to go to therapy sessions since she shot and killed a man. However Debra admits that, to her own amazement, she feels no remorse for having killed Carlos Fuentes. Knowing who he was and what he had done she says that in the same situation she would do the same thing again in a heartbeat, and that doesn't disturb her. Dexter imparts to Debra that their father Harry (who had secretly trained Dexter to be the efficient killer he is) had once told him that some people deserve to die. Debra seems to take a certain amount of solace in this notion. It's a very intriguing moment between the two, and the first indicator of any kind that there might be some chance of Debra understanding Dexter were she ever to discover his homicidal practices. It's unlikely that such a discovery will occur this season but it lays down some groundwork that can be built upon at a later date.

The next day Lumen meets with Owen. Owen is sweet and well meaning, but obviously completely unaware of what Lumen has been through, and she does not give any indication during their talk. Owen tells her that he thinks he understands why she left their hometown and he offers her the chance to just run away with him. He booked two around-the-world tickets and he wants her to join him. Lumen is clearly reluctant, having much unfinished business still in Miami. Owen tells her that he's going regardless but that he wants her with him, and asks her to meet him the following night so they can leave together.

Lumen is understandably shaken up by her talk with Owen, but she goes about the shopping list that Dexter gave her following the two of them meeting. Unfortunately while backing out of her parking space she backs into a passing car. It's not just any accident however as the driver of the other car is Liddy, the narcotics officer who Quinn has hired to look into Dexter. Unbeknown to Lumen, he staged the accident so that he could acquire her insurance information, having not had any other leads on her identity up to that point.

Following the car accident Lumen goes not to the designated meeting place but instead straight to the hotel where Dexter is staying and Chase's seminar is being held. It's another rash decision that Dexter has to try to improvise around. He tells Lumen that she won't be able to leave his hotel room until Cole has been dispatched. They can't risk her being spotted by Cole in the hotel. This means that Lumen assists Dexter as he covers his hotel room with plastic and makes his kill room. When Dexter puts up the images of the dead women in barrels to show Cole before he dies, Lumen starts to put things together. She recognizes that this is indeed a ritual for Dexter, and that he has been doing for a long time. Yet this revelation does not make her fear or question Dexter. She's prepared to assist in Dexter's plan to take Cole that night, unfortunately that plan is thwarted by the fact that Cole takes a woman to his hotel room. The two engage in rather energetic sex and the woman is extremely vocal. However the woman's screams of pleasure remind Lumen far too much of her own screams of terror and pain and she begins to panic. Dexter is able to calm her and for the first time since her ordeal Lumen is able to sleep fully through the night.

The next day at Quinn's apartment Debra turns on the TV to find Laguerta fielding questions from reporters. Internal reports leaked that it would be Debra who was to be put on paid disciplinary suspension from the force, and Laguerta confirms those reports. This infuriates Debra and she quickly goes to confront Laguerta. Debra accuses her superior of leaking the reports herself in order to pin the whole mess on Debra. She points out that the entire thing is basically her word against Laguerta's. However the lieutenant indicates that there is another officer prepared to back her version of events. While Laguerta does not say who is backing her, Debra makes the very logical assumption that it's the lieutenant's husband Batista. He had said to Debra earlier that he "hadn't yet figure out the events of the night" in his mind. This scene is particularly significant because it re-establishes Laguerta's devotion to her own career. She's been shown in past seasons to be conniving and capable of under-handed tactics to maintain her own position of authority. However it's a side of her that had been down played in the last few years and it's interesting to see it brought back with a vengeance here.

Back at the hotel once Lumen wakes up Dexter has to form a new plan. Since Cole's screaming sex partner stayed the night in Cole's hotel room Dexter never had a chance to grab him. Not willing to let his prey slip away Dexter now plans to nab Cole during his security rounds. He tells Lumen that it's best for her to go and Dexter himself goes back into the crowd of Jordan Chase fans so he can see when Cole leaves to patrol the grounds. However when he sees his chance Dexter is denied the opportunity to slip away unnoticed. Jordan Chase calls Dexter up on the stage, wanting to use him as an example of how the "primal self" responds to loss. Chase asks Dexter to relive what he found that night coming home to his murdered wife and relay what he felt. Lumen is on her way out when she hears Dexter on the microphone and sees him on a TV monitor in the lobby. She hears him talk about how his world fell apart, how he was "shattered," as Chase puts it. In her distraction she does not at first notice that she's been spotted by Cole. When she sees him and realizes that he has seen her she flees back to the kill room and she and Dexter prepared.

Once in the hotel room Lumen calls Dexter's cell phone. The timing works out in such a way that Dexter is able to get off the stage and see the call, but did not have the chance to answer it. Lumen waits in the hotel room, hoping that Cole will not be able to get in. Unfortunately Cole breaks through the joining two between his room and Dexter's and attacks her. Lumen tries to fight back, going for the sedative syringe that Dexter had prepared and showed her. However Cole is able to knock it from her hand and tries to strangle her. That is when Dexter arrives and is about to choke out Cole with a sleeper hold.

Cole comes to on Dexter's prepared kill table. Dexter and Lumen try to use the threat of pain and death to get Cole to name the two other men from the photograph who they believe were also part of the group that hurt Lumen. Cole however remains defiant until the end. Dexter goes through his entire ritual with Lumen there to watch, including making Cole look at the pictures of his victims and making a blood slide. She witnesses Dexter kill Cole and while she doesn't seem to take any particular joy in what she sees she does not run from it either. This is all especially significant because there has not been any other character that Dexter has voluntarily allowed to see him kill. Even those who discovered Dexter for what he was, such as Lila, Miguel and Dexter's long lost brother Brian, were never let in fully by Dexter himself. It strengthens the bond even more between Lumen and Dexter. Not only is he avenging what was done to her but she is seeing him more completely than any other character in the show ever has. And what's more she seems to be accepting him.

Back at Quinn's apartment Debra is comforted by her lover but any tenderness is cut short by the arrival of Liddy. Debra leaves to get breakfast and Quinn tells Liddy forcibly that he should have called first. Liddy brushes off the rebuke and tells Quinn what he's learned about Lumen, including the new detail that she arrived in Miami a week before Dexter's wife was killed. While viewers know there is no connection between the two events it clearly looks bad. Liddy then tells Quinn that he'll have to pay him more money before he'll find out any more information. Quinn seems prepared to let the whole thing drop rather than be milked for more cash. However Liddy is quick to point out what a shame it would be if Debra found out that they were investigating her brother. It's become very clear by this point that Quinn is rapidly losing control of their arrangement.

At the station Debra clears out her desk for her disciplinary suspension and as she's leaving Officer Manzon comes into the offices of the homicide department, ready to set up a desk. Debra realizes that it is Manzon who is backing up Laguerta in exchange for career advancement. Manzon tries to justify her actions, pointing out that Debra was the youngest woman to ever make detective and she was striving for that. Debra does not even try to hide her disgust towards the woman she had stuck her neck out for and thought was a friend. In the parking lot Debra is approached by Batista, who tells her that he's going to back up her version of the night club shooting. This will clearly put Batista and Laguerta at odds again, but at least this time it will serve a function in the story rather than having no point.

At the hotel as Dexter is leaving he's approached once more by Jordan Chase, who apologizes for putting Dexter on the spot but says he hopes that it helps him. Before they part Chase points out how little time people have, fingering his watch and saying "tick, tick, tick... that's the sound of your life running out." These are the exact words that Lumen had told Dexter one of her tormentors would say to her while she was blind-folded. This causes Dexter to realize that Chase was part of the group, even though he was not in the picture they found at Cole's house. Dexter relays all this to Lumen that night as the two of them drop Cole's bagged body parts into the water. Lumen is able to smile and feels notable relief when she is able to "just let go" of one of the bags and watch it sink. The episode ends with a reveal of Liddy reviewing pictures on his camera that he has taken of Dexter and Lumen going out on the boat and dumping the bags into the ocean.