‘Dexter: New Blood’ Recap: Episode 8 “Unfair Game”
This week on Dexter: New Blood, Angela begins to connect more and more dots about Jim Lindsay/Dexter Morgan. Meanwhile, Dexter leads an attacker through the woods while his son begins to bond with Kurt. Read on to find out what happens in “Unfair Game.”
Warning: These spoilers are anything but fair. Proceed with caution.
Into the Woods
Dexter lies bound and unconscious in the back of Elric Kane’s truck. Before he wakes, he has a dream (more like a nightmare) that two Moose Creek kids attack Harrison at home. A fight ensues, and Harrison uses the straight razor to defend himself. Eventually, Harrison violently kills the MC kids, his face covered in blood, smiling when Dexter walks through the door. Shortly after, Dexter regains consciousness. Kurt calls Elric, who says he’s taking care of Jim while Kurt takes care of everything else – including Harrison.
While Elric drives, Dexter manages to gag him with the restraints. The car swerves and hits a pole, which sends Dexter flying out the window. (And somehow, he manages to remain relatively unscathed?!) He begins to run towards the woods when Elric pulls a rifle, managing to shoot Dexter in the leg. Dexter runs through the woods while Elric chases him. Soon, he reaches a creek and remembers that snow equals tracks. He carefully backtracks and waits for Elric, who knows what game Dexter is playing. But Dexter manages to sneak away and heads towards the abandoned summer camp. (As an aside, this vaguely reminded me of when Dexter and Lumen confronted Jordan Chase for the final time in season 5, which also happened at an abandoned summer camp.)
Harrison’s New Father Figure
Harrison walks through town when Kurt calls him. Kurt asks if Harrison has heard from Jim, along with a couple other questions meant to paint Jim as a bad father. Kurt asks where Harrison’s at, saying to stay put; he has a surprise for Harrison. The surprise is a trip to the school, which is closed for winter break. Inside, Kurt shows Harrison a trophy case full of Matt’s awards. Kurt mentions that he and Matt don’t communicate the way he and Harrison do, and Harrison tries to offer some comfort. (Don’t fall for it, kid!)
They head to the gym next, where nets for batting practice are set up. Kurt starts up the pitching machine and hits first, and he’s (annoyingly) decent. Then it’s Harrison’s turn, and… he misses every pitch. So, Kurt helps him out, and Harrison’s able to hit nearly every ball. Kurt decides to change up pitches, setting the machine to curveballs. They all hit Harrison, hard, as he remembers every negative thing that’s happened so far: arguing with Dexter, the podcast, breaking the MC wrestler’s arm, among others. He’s punishing himself. When there aren’t any baseballs left, Kurt leads him out. Next, they head towards Kurt’s cabin.
The Ties That Bind
Dexter arrives at the camp, deliberately leaving a blood trail before heading into the kitchen to grab a knife. Elric arrives and spots the empty knife slot, thinking he has the upper hand. He works his way into a cluttered storage room, landing in front of a mirror. He examines the wounds the restraints made when Dexter crashes through the mirror and holds the knife to Elric’s throat. Once Dexter learns where Harrison is, he kills Elric. He takes Elric’s coat and hat, then notices an angry text from Kurt. He uses Elric to unlock the phone and respond before covering Elric with a tarp and leaving.
Dexter speeds to the cabin. Deb tells him to warn Harrison, but Dexter thinks it’s too risky. Meanwhile, Kurt and Harrison continue their bonding. When Kurt gets up to cook, Harrison spots Dexter’s text messages and finds an excuse to head outside. Harrison ultimately decides not to respond and puts his phone on airplane mode. Dexter later tries to call, but he gets sent straight to voicemail.
Kurt shares a story about an awkward run in with a girl he used to like, leading it into Audrey. Harrison says that’s probably over, thanks to what happened during wrestling. Kurt chalks it up to people not understanding them. Then, Harrison asks about jail, to which Kurt says it was a DNA mix-up. He was there for something his father (allegedly) did, saying how kids pay for their parents’ choices. He uses this to again show Jim in a bad light, asking about the fight he had with Harrison. Harrison clarifies it was more him being angry than anything. He shares why he came to Iron Lake, but he and Jim are so different, they don’t have the kind of father/son bond most people do. He thinks Jim is always holding back something. (You have no idea, Harrison.) Kurt consoles him, adding that if Harrison was his son, he’d never abandon him. After, Kurt notices the time and becomes a little irritated. There’s something he needs to take care of.
The Curious Case of Jim Lindsay
In the meantime, Angela continues her Dexter Morgan investigation, staring at a photo of the Bowl Till You Bleed team. Logan checks in, mentioning how he had drinks with Jim. This eventually leads into Jim nearly killing Miles the drug dealer, which shocks Angela. Logan says it was probably just Jim’s anger about Harrison, but Angela doesn’t seem so certain. So, she heads to Crystal Bar to talk with Miles. He tells her what happened, including the needle and that Jim began to punch Miles AFTER the cops arrived. Before leaving, Angela takes a photo of the puncture wound.
At the station, she asks Logan to tell her about the drug bust. He tells her the events as he knows them, including how Jasper overdosed. Angela thinks it’s weird, though, thinking maybe Miles tipped him off. Logan says he didn’t; both Miles and Jim were at the station and Miles gave up Jasper. The timeline’s not quite adding up, so Angela asks how long Jim stayed. She then heads to the ME, who shows her Jasper’s body. The ME says there was fentanyl and ketamine in his system, but nothing really out of the ordinary. Again, Angela checks for a puncture wound and snaps a photo of it.
Later, Angela pours over the case file, with a Google search pulled up for Dexter Morgan and Miami homicide. Unable to shake the ketamine information, she replaces Dexter’s name with ketamine (still including Miami homicide in her search). And this shift leads her to a new slew of results… for the Bay Harbor Butcher. She examines Dexter’s obituary again, right on the cusp of making that massive connection.
A Real Breakthrough
With Kurt out of the room, Harrison turns off airplane mode and sees several missed calls. A moment later, Kurt returns, dressed to kill (literally). Harrison becomes frightened as Kurt guides him out of the cabin using the rifle. Harrison is scared and confused, begging Kurt not to hurt him. Kurt tells Harrison to run, and so, he runs. Thankfully, Dexter shows up. However, when Kurt realizes it’s not Elric in the car, he begins shooting. Dexter slams the gas, nearly hitting Kurt but instead driving over the rifle. Dexter steps out, and he and Harrison tightly embrace. For now, Kurt is in the wind.
On the drive home, Harrison wants to know what’s happening. So, Dexter begins to follow through on his goal from the previous episode: he’s going to tell Harrison everything. Dexter wants Harrison to know he’s not alone with his dark thoughts. He tells Harrison he was probably drawn to Kurt because Kurt seemed to understand him. Then, Dexter reveals he was born in blood, too. Like Harrison, he had violent urges which his father helped him channel with a code. It’s not everything yet, but it’s a start, and soon enough, it will be everything. When Dexter’s said what he needs to (for now), Harrison again tightly hugs Dexter, and both seem to finally have some relief.
Dexter: New Blood airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on Showtime. Keep up with our weekly recaps here, and the rest of our coverage here.