- A written manifesto from the "Bay Harbor Butcher" sends the task force in charge of capturing him into chaos, which is part of Dexter's plan for keeping Lundy off his trail.
- It's a new morning as Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) leaves new girlfriend Lila Tournay's (Jaime Murray) loft. He notices that her outside hall light is burned out, and suggests that it should be fixed. Lila tells Dexter that she's complained about the light to her landlord repeatedly. Lila impulsively walked across the hall and shatters the light outside her landlord's apartment, claiming that "Now he'll have to fix it." Dexter admires Lila for taking things into her own hands.
Meanwhile, former girlfriend Rita Bennett (Julie Benz) is awakened by her mother, Gail (JoBeth Williams) who tells Rita to take charge of her day.
At Dexter's apartment, he and sister Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) talk. Dexter tells Deb that he and Rita broke up. Deb tells him to apologize to her and that it will all blow over.
At the station, Angel Batista (David Zayas) has news for Dexter - the Bay Harbor Butcher has sent a 32-page manifesto to the Tribune. An excited Dexter privately congratulates himself - he's about to be published. Dexter is happy to be the one controlling the Special Task Force for a change, instead of the other way around.
Sgt James Doakes (Erik King) investigates a pool-side crime scene. Lt. Maria Laguerta (Lauren Velez) asks him if his "issues" have been resolved. Maria warns Doakes that if he bullies Dexter, she won't be responsible for any fallout.
At the station, Camilla (Margo Martindale) visits Dexter in his lab. She tells Dexter that Doakes asked for the 1973 shipping yard murder case files. Camilla confesses that Doakes frightened her, but that she stalled him. Camilla worries that if Doakes finds out that she destroyed the files for Dexter's father Harry, that she'll be fired and will lose her pension. Dexter assures her that Doakes won't be a problem.
Special Agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine) searches his iPod for the right tunes to listen to while he ponders the Bay Harbor Butcher. Lundy explains to Deb that the truth speaks to him from a peaceful place. Deb tells Lundy that she thrives on chaos.
At the poolside crime scene, Dexter photographs the stepfather, Mr. Wilson ,(Dale Midkiff) of the dead girl. Dexter immediately realizes that the stepfather's shirt lacks evidence of forceful blood spatter. The stepfather explains that the blood on his shirt was from performing CPR on his stepdaughter. Knowing that the stepfather is innocent, Dexter nonetheless collects his shirt for evidence. Doakes tells Dexter that the stepfather and girl fought all the time. Dexter deliberately misleads Doakes, telling him that he saw evidence of blood mist on the shirt.
A phone call from Lila interrupts Dexter's work at the crime scene. Lila tells Dexter that she sold her sculpture, "The Cannibals."
Later that evening, Dexter and Lila go out to dinner to celebrate, but find that they can't be seated because they did not make a reservation. After some creative lying by Lila, they are seated by a fountain. Lila and Dexter drink champagne to celebrate. Dexter worries momentarily about whether the alcohol is a slip in his recovery, but Lila assures him that he's a heroin addict, not an alcoholic.
At Rita's house, an overbearing Gail rehearses Cody (Preston Bailey) on his Saudi Arabia talk for school. Cody wonders if Dexter will be at his school program. Gail reminds Cody and Astor (Christina Robinson) that Dexter is a drug addict. Rita arrives home, much to the kids' relief, but Gail immediately sends them to bed. Rita encourages her mother to apply for a teaching job, but Gail informs Rita that she's going to devote all her time to Cody and Astor instead.
At the station the next morning, Lundy briefs the task force. He has secured an injunction against the Tribune so that they can't publish the manifesto. The team searches for clues. Angel points out that the manifesto contains literary references. Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee) argues that it references Deep Space 9.
Later that evening at the gym, Gabriel (Dave Baez) and Deb run side by side on treadmills. Deb tunes him out, listening to Lundy's Chopin on her iPod instead.
Deb arrives at Dexter's apartment to discover a naked Lila in the kitchen. Deb goes into Dexter's bedroom to talk to him. Deb questions Dexter's judgement. Dexter defends himself. Upset, Deb leaves. Lila comforts Dexter.
Doakes grills the stepfather, Wilson, of the murdered girl. Maria is dubious about Doakes' relentlessness. Dexter watches with private satisfaction as the Special Task Force argue about the manifesto. He sees Doakes terrorizing the stepfather of the murdered girl, and slips into Doakes' office. Dexter hids the blood report under other files on Doakes' desk.
Lundy breaks for lunch. Deb tells Lundy that Rita and Dexter broke up. She confesses that she's also been listening to Chopin.
Doakes continues with his relentless interrogation of Wilson. Maria watches with concern. Dexter, in passing, asks Maria why Wilson is still at the station, and why Doakes is interrogating an innocent man. Dexter tells Maria that he told Doakes at the crime scene that there was no blood mist on the shirt, and that the blood report supported Wilson's story.
Maria lets Wilson go. Doakes and Maria argue. Doakes realizes that Dexter set him up, but Maria won't listen to him. Maria and Doakes argue.
At dinner, Gabe and Deb talk. Deb breaks up with Gabe, who is confused and doesn't want to break up. Deb tells him that "the truth speaks from a peaceful place" and that Gabe isn't "the one."
Dexter and Lila take a late night walk. Dexter wonders about the suddeness of all the changes going on in his life. Dexter and Lila break into a random house to have sex.
Cody calls Dexter and invites him to his school program. Gail picks up the phone and hangs up on Dexter. Dexter is depressed.
Rita arrives home, only to find that her mother has sent the kids to bed because Cody called Dexter. Rita informs her mother that she did some checking and found out that Gail was fired from her teaching job. Rita tells her mother that nobody can deal with her. Gail accuses Rita of passing on "ordinary character" to her children. Rita tells Gail to pack up and go home.
At the station the next morning, Angel quotes the manifesto to Dexter, who notes privately that the manifesto was made up of random blog posts - "presto manifesto."
Doakes, hiding in Dexter's office, confronts Dexter. Doakes tells Dexter that he did some checking and found no paper trail on Dexter. Dexter tells Doakes that he'll always be one step ahead of him and head-butts Doakes. Dexter quickly walks away, into the public area of the station. Out of nowhere, Doakes appears, and tackles Dexter in front of the entire station. After Doakes is pulled off of Dexter, Maria takes Doakes' badge, ID and gun, and puts him on administrative leave. As Doakes walks away, a shaken Dexter tells Angel that he had no clue as to why Doakes would attack him. Angel comforts Dexter.
Lundy and Deb sit in on a meeting at the Tribune. Lundy agrees to drop the injunction provided that the Tribune agrees to not print the victims' names and to put the story on page 3.
After the meeting, Lundy and Deb have lunch on a quiet bench at a park. Deb confesses to Lundy that she doesn't like the quiet, but wants to practice while Lundy is around. She tells Lundy that she finds strength in him. Lundy wonders what he's supposed to say, and tries to discourage Deb from being interested in him. Deb kisses Lundy.
At Cody's school, Dexter gives Cody some last-minute encouragement.
Meanwhile, Lila collects a check for $18k for "The Cannibals" at her apartment. Lila sulks.
In the station house, the task force argues about the Bay Harbor Butcher. Lundy watches the ensuing chaos, and then suddenly has a moment of clarity. Lundy realizes that the killer has a law enforcement background.
At school, Cody reads his report. Dexter's phone vibrates. It's Lila. Dexter ignores her call. As Cody continues reading his report, Lila sets The Cannibals on fire with a torch. The sculpture goes up in flames. Lila sets her chair on fire as Cody takes his bows to generous applause. Lila's loft is in flames.
Outside of the school, Astrid invites Dexter to go with them for ice cream. Dexter agrees. His phone rings. It's Lila. Dexter explains to Rita that he has to leave. Rita draws Astrid and Cody close to her as Dexter walks away.
Dexter finds Lila in her burned-out apartment. As Dexter comforts her, Lila pleads with him to never leave her. Dexter looks up and sees that the landlord has fixed her hall light, which now glows brightly amidst the smoldering blackness of Lila's apartment.
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