Season Premiere of Dexter 5.1 "My Bad"

The end of Season 4 had Dexter fans in complete shock. Dexter rushes home, on his way to a romantic rendezvous with Rita, only to find her laying in a tub of her own blood, and his son sitting in a puddle of his mother's blood on the bathroom floor. It was the most talked-about season finale thus far. Anticipation has been growing about what Season 5 would bring, especially considering Michael C. Hall's recent bout with cancer. The 5th season premiere gave us a taste of what is to come for Dexter Morgan.

The title, "My Bad," already alludes to a running theme through the episode: Dexter is suffering from extreme guilt over his wife's death. He already knows that Arthur, a.k.a. Trinity, was the murderer. Had he not chased down Trinity, Rita would still be alive.

The opening of the Season 5 premiere of Dexter opens with a recap of Dexter's relationship with Rita, dating all the way back to Season 1. It also briefly recaps the Season 4 story of the Trinity killer, ending with the final scene where Dexter finds his wife and son in blood: history repeating itself.

A stunned Dexter is sitting on his knees in the yard, holding Harrison. With the voice over stating that he has gotten what he deserves, Deb shows up and asks what happened. Dexter says it was him.

La Guerta asks everyone to pack up their gear, because she knows the FBI will want to take over. Angel acknowledges that Rita is one of them, and wants to maintain control.

Dexter searches for his father, Harry, but can't find him. His soliloquy comments on how it is his neighbor holding his baby and crying over his wife, instead of him. The FBI starts to question him, because of his comment that it was his fault. Deb demands to know why he said that. The next morning, Quinn is already analyzing the 911 call that Dexter made, because it sounds more like a lab report than a husband distraught over his wife's death. Masouka worries about having told Dexter about seeing Rita and Elliott, the neighbor, kissing at Thanksgiving.

Cody and Astor have been with their grandparents at Disney for the past few days. The grandparents call Dexter because they can't get ahold of Rita. He doesn't know how to break the news by phone, so he says that she is in the shower. He tells them to meet him at Deb's apartment when they return. He wants to give them one more day of happiness before their world is torn to shreds. Another sign of human emotions.

Deb and Dexter meet with a funeral director who specializes in cop funerals. Dexter is impressed by how sincere he sounds when he tells them he is sorry for their loss. Dexter quickly excuses himself from the meeting to go observe others dealing with grief, and Deb takes over the preparations.

Dexter flashes back to his first date with Rita, which was set up by Deb. He realizes that he started lying to her that very first moment, as he had chosen the restaurant solely to stalk his next kill.

Back to the present....Dexter is dealing with overwhelming feelings of guilt. Deb has arranged everything for the funeral, which is to take place in two days. Quinn has called to say that the FBI is finished with the house. Deb goes over to start the cleanup process, and Quinn stays to help. When they are finished, Deb falls apart. She and Quinn end up having sympathy sex on the kitchen floor. All of that tension that was building last season finally comes to fruition.

The kids and their grandparents come home a little early, with mouse ears for all. Dexter asks all of them to sit down, and tells them that something horrible happened to their mom. He tells them that a man came into the house and killed her. Astor gets angry and runs outside. Dexter follows and she calls him out on not caring. She says he should have been there to protect her mother and the she wishes he were dead. His guilt deepens.

Debra has remorse about screwing Quinn, gathers clothes for Rita's body at the viewing, and leaves. Quinn walks out and sees Elliott outside. He goes over to question him about the kiss. Elliott tells him how Dexter found out and punched him. Quinn is becoming more suspicious of the entire situation.

When Deb returns to the apartment, she tries to console Dexter, telling him there was nothing he could have done differently. He of course disagrees, then has another flashback to the restaurant. His victim gets up from the table and Dexter quickly follows. He puts his victim into his trunk, and feigns a stomach bug to leave. This memory causes him to blame himself for letting Rita trust him, because now she is dead. He feels toxic and thinks that his family would be much better without him.

The next day, he starts to eliminate all traces of himself, by shredding all of those documents he has stored on his computer. Deb outlines everything he needs to do on this day before Rita's funeral, including an FBI interview. Dexter tells Deb that basically he wants her to be Harrison's mother, because he isn't worthy. She again tries to reassure him.

Quinn goes in to see LaGuerta in the office, to tell her about the "fling" between Rita and Elliott. Meanwhile, Dexter doesn't show up to his FBI interview, causing them to request his personnel files. Deb runs home, only to find the neighbor feeding Harrison. Dexter has disappeared. He turns up at the funeral home, apologizing to Rita for not being honest with her, and confesses his secrets. He leaves to gather a few belongings, including a suit, his tools, and his slides, then torches the storage area. He takes off on his boat to disappear.

The FBI has shown up at the funeral. Deb tries calling Dexter, but he chooses to ignore the phone. He reflects on how the sea calms him. He again flashes back to his night with Rita. She called him later that night, just as he was dumping the body. Their chat was about how they enjoyed each other's company, how they made each other feel good, and made plans to get together again. He is finally able to say goodbye.

Dexter stops off to get some gas for the boat. He runs into a guy being a total jackass in the store. He follows the guy into the bathroom and confesses that it is his fault that his wife has died. The guy makes a crude comment, so Dexter kills him. Harry finally appears. "That's the first human thing I've seen you do since she died, Dexter." Dexter screams in a rage as Harry says his family is better off without him. He slumps to the floor.

Back at the funeral, LaGuerta confesses to her husband that she has conflicting feelings about this case, which prevented her from wanting to fight for it. Part of it was that while Rita was being murdered, Dexter was probably serving as the witness at their wedding, and she didn't want to associate the two events. Quinn starts to tell Debra about his conversation with Elliott when Dexter finally shows up at the cemetery.

Dexter's eulogy talks about how Rita was innocent, with a big heart, and she made him human. He wants to try to fix the wrong that was done to her, and to do it in Miami. He confesses in his head that he did love her.

This episode is the first time that we see Dexter truly starting to feel human emotions. The guilt and eventual love for Rita that he admits to are intense emotions, not usually found in a serial killer. It will be interesting to watch Dexter develop as a father and a man of emotion.

Will Dexter recreate the Doakes affair with Quinn's new suspicions? Fans are not going to want to watch a repeat of that storyline.

What new romances will pop up? Will Quinn and Debra take it to the next level? Will Dexter ever meet someone else? Whatever happens, this fifth season of Dexter is sure to keep us on the edge of our seats!