Dexter Season 5 Recap: Episode 5.3 "Practically Perfect"

In last week's episode, Dexter found himself a new target to chase. He has the freedom to do so, as Rita's children have gone off to live with their grandmother. Quinn is closing in on Dexter's alter ego, Kyle Butler. And there is trouble in paradise for LaGuerta and Batista.

The opening sequence starts with Debra interrogating potential nannies for Harrison. She is ruthlessly questioning them as if they are suspects. According to Dexter, "Only Mary Poppins would make the cut." They find Sonya, with whom Harrison is immediately enthralled, meaning Dexter is, too.

Dexter continues his quest to learn more about Boyd Fowler, Department of Sanitation, Dead Animal pickup. He feels that dealing with him will bring some sanity back to his life.

Miami Metro continues its investigation into the theoretical murder-suicide they started on last week. Conversation about the bar fight ensues, causing a little more tension between LaGuerta and Batista. Quinn and Debra bicker over the details of the case.

Dexter is going to therapy and takes Harrison with him. He is concerned about the impact of Harrison being in the bathroom when Rita was murdered. His therapist tries to convince him that because Harrison is only 10 months old, he cannot cognitively understand what he witnessed. Dexter admits that he had seen something traumatic when he was 3, and that is why he is so worried.

Quinn brings up to Debra that it has been 9 days and 13 hours since they last had sex. To him, that makes them almost married. She gets angry with him, yet the two continue flirting at the same time.

Dexter calls home to check in on Harrison and Sonya while he is eating lunch. He is spotted by Boyd Fowler, who comes over and join him for lunch. He introduces himself as ? Tucker, and pretends that he is looking for a job. Boyd invites him to ride along the following day, to see if he is interested in working for the sanitation department. Dexter begins his hunt for a place to spend some "quality time" with Boyd in the morning. He finds an abandoned welcome center. Harry quickly appears, reminding him that this kill isn't going to bring Rita back. He cautions Dexter to be careful doing a kill in the broad daylight, and to watch for mistakes with the first kill since Rita's death. As Dexter prepares his kill room, he feels like he is starting to put his life back in order.

Debra and the local cop go questioning people in the neighborhood, only people don't want to spill the goods with the white girl around.

Dexter comes home to an empty apartment. Sonya and Harrison are gone. Panic sets in, and Sonya doesn't answer her phone. It turns out she was only walking Harrison to help him fall asleep, and she had left a note on the refrigerator. She feels terrible, and Dexter quickly apologizes.

Masouka makes a comment in the elevator that Maria should be extremely grateful to Angel. She demands to know what happened at the bar. He confesses what really happened. She begs him to stop the bar fights, and to get used to men bad-mouthing her.

Debra and Dexter share a beer on the balcony and chat about their days. Cody had called, and sounds happy, but Astor refused to talk to Dexter. Debra assures him that all will be okay, and to keep trying to get back to normal. So, the next day, Dexter calls in a fake dead animal on Boyd's circuit, near the welcome center. While in the car, Boyd talks about finding empowerment through his tapes, and comments on Dexter's "divorce." (This is because Dexter has a wedding ring line on his finger.) Finally, after two hours, Boyd gets the call about the dead gator Dexter called in earlier.

Back at Miami Metro, Quinn is comparing a collage of the sketches to a photograph of Dexter. He hides it when Masouka walks past. Vince starts laughing and says it is Justin Bieber. The cop comes in to tell Debra all of the information she has gained from her source. They go to talk to him some more, only to find him decapitated, missing eyes and tongue, presumably from squealing on the suspects.

Dexter's kill attempt goes terribly wrong. He injects Boyd with the syringe as they are looking for the supposed gator, then Boyd shoots him with a tranquilizer. When Dexter comes to, they are both being taken to the hospital via ambulance. They pretend that Boyd accidentally shot Dexter with the tranquilizer when aiming at the gator, but have no good reason why Boyd was unconscious. Boyd quickly pulls off all of the medical equipment and grabs a surgical tool while searching for Dexter, who has also disappeared from the hospital.

While investigating the crime scene, Quinn gets a phone call from a friend who knows about the Mitchells and where they are hiding. Quinn asks if he can show them a photograph of someone he suspects is Kyle Butler. He asks for a favor, because he knows he could get into a lot of trouble if someone else found out he suspected Dexter.

Boyd Fowler comes home, and Dexter ambushes him. He calls home to ask Sonya to stay a little longer. It turns out Debra is also running late. Sonya is happy to stay, and tells Dexter that Harrison took his first step. She sent him a video. Dexter is elated to see a normal milestone.

Jim McCourt, Internal Affairs, stops in to visit LaGuerta, because of Angel's fight with Lopez. Lopez collapsed on the job, due to internal bleeding caused by Batista kicking him during the fight. This could be considered "Assault with a deadly weapon," and he could lose his job and serve time.

Dexter has had to improvise a kill room in Boyd's house, using newspaper and Boyd's tools. The pictures are also missing, as they are in the original kill room, so he describes them to Boyd. Fowler claims he was just putting those women out of their misery, because they were suffering animals. Dexter tells him about Rita, and that he is going to be a part of the healing process. Dexter wants his wife back, but is willing to take Boyd's life, instead. He stabs him, and feels absolutely no difference. In fact, "I feel emptier."

Suddenly there is a noise outside the door. Dexter opens it to find a girl stumbling down the steps. She is dirty, bloody, and bruised, probably a victim. The problem is, she has seen Dexter and what he has done. She passes out, and the screen goes black.

Dexter now has a major problem. Someone has caught him in the act. He can't kill her, because she is an innocent. But, she can also turn him in, and his killing days could be over. Is Dexter going to enter into a new criminal activity by holding her hostage? Killing Boyd hasn't helped him feel any better. What is going to cause him to feel more balanced? Quinn is getting closer to the Mitchell family. Will they identify Dexter's picture as being Kyle Butler? What is going to happen to Batista? Stay tuned to find out!