Dexter ... is a gift to the world?

Who worries you more on Dexter? Dexter himself or Deb? One of Dexter’s most telling lines from this episode: “It’s the one thing I’m good at: vetting, and stalking, and killing people. And now I can’t even do that anymore.”

Dexter had been sure Sussman was the guy they were after, even when Dr. Vogel said she didn’t think it was the right person. “Forensics don’t lie,” he told her. True, forensics don’t lie, but, as Dexter discovered, they don’t always tell the whole truth. He’d been ready to put Sussman on his table, but Sussman wasn’t really the bad guy, and when he realized that, Dexter’s faith in his own abilities took a hit.

Then there’s the sister. When Dexter thought Deb was going to spill the beans on herself about El Sapo and pulled her from the interrogation room where she’d been with Quinn, Deb told him that El Sapo wasn’t the first person she’d killed and he probably wouldn’t be the last because of the hell that is her life now. Dexter’s gift to her, she said.

So I ask again: Who worries you more?

 Dr. Vogel is telling Dexter he’s a gift to the world, that the world is a better place with him in it. He’s starting to trust her, and he’s starting to lean on her for comfort and strength. Is this wise? And is Dexter a gift? Is the world a better place with him in it?

If you watched the teaser for next week, you heard Dr. Vogel say, “When your sister found out about who you were and what you were doing, why didn’t you kill her--not that I’d ever advocate such a thing.” Is this foreshadowing? Can we take Dr. Vogel at her word?

I’m asking so many questions this week because I don’t know what to think right now, although there a couple things I feel pretty sure about: Deb has been Dexter’s center for a long time. She has helped keep him centered. But now she can’t stand to be around him and worse than that, she is spiraling rapidly out of control. Dexter’s constant isn’t constant. And Deb is losing herself. Maybe it’s even safe to say, Deb has lost herself, past tense. I don’t know if there’s a recovery in Deb’s future.

It’s bleak in Miami. What will the Dexter team bring us next week? What are you hoping for?