‘Every Silver Lining’ was a very dramatic episode. Since this is the final season of Dexter, every episode counts, and I think this is a great example of that. With the introduction of Evelyn Vogel, plus Deb’s apparent breakdown, this will hopefully be one season we will not soon forget. This and the first episode seem very predictable and at times dull because we Dexter fans are used to being exposed to amazing kill scenes and other psychopaths. However, I must hold out hope for season 8!

This episode begins with a videotaped session between Harry and Evelyn Vogel. Harry is going on about how he showed Dexter a crime scene and how his deranged son reacted. Dexter even took a piece of bloody glass as a souvenir… his first blood slide.  Evelyn has known all about Dexter for a very long time. She is the one who convinced Harry that Dexter’s urges could be controlled, and she helped come up with his code; the code that Dexter has lived his whole life by. What is that going to do to Dexter emotionally, assuming he has those types of emotions? Is he going to take Evelyn on as a mother-figure knowing that she had such a large hand in raising him? Or is he going to lose that sense of morality when choosing his victims, because the code wasn’t really Harry’s? Or Vogel could just be manipulating him in an extreme way and using what he does only for personal gain.

Vogel reveals to Dexter that the killer from the previous episode could be one of her former patients. Dexter at first shows no interest in helping her, but later agrees after finding the second dead body missing a piece of his brain.

Deb and her boss go to check out the place that she lived with Briggs, her now deceased boyfriend. As they head out to go to the storage unit, El Sapo (hitman from the last episode) sees Deb. When she goes to the storage unit alone to look for the stolen jewelry, she finds it in a dresser drawer, but it gets stolen by El Sapo. She attacks him with little regard for her own life, and he kicks the shit out of her. Which is easy of course, she is the size of a ragdoll.

After checking out Sussman’s (the man who matched the fingerprints found at the Brain Surgeon crime scene) home, Dexter and the team get called away because of a man found dead in his vehicle…. El Sapo! Masuka finds another gun in the glove box… which is obviously Deb’s gun! Dexter drives over to her place and she is sleeping soundly on the couch. She wakes up and they talk. She explains that she didn’t want to hate her brother, she wanted the opposite (sexy time!). Then she kicks him out. I cannot help but think that Deb and Dexter may be perfect for one another now, both having killed. I wonder if Vogel can provide that type of therapy… yikes!

Dexter gets to the Sussman’s cabin. He sees that Sussman hung himself. Dexter goes to Vogel who helps him understand her views on psychopaths and how they are a gift to society. She explains that psychopathic traits can be found in CEOs and politicians.

Dexter ran the blood on the window glass from El Sapo’s car. He realizes that it was Deb who killed El Sapo (totally called it!). Right after he realizes this, Deb walks into the precinct to answer some of Quinn’s questions about the El Sapo case. Dexter pulls her out of the room and takes her outside to talk to her. He tells her he knows she killed El Sapo. She asks Dexter to switch the gun that Masuka found from evidence so that they don’t know it is Deb’s. Deb tells Dexter that El Sapo is not the first person she shot, and he may not be the last. This is either a cry for help, or (more probably) a confession of her intentions. She seemed pretty shaken up when Quinn showed her the photos of the El Sapo crime scene, but I do not think that will stop her. Especially since she now has drugs to calm those worries.

Vogel calls Dexter and tells him that someone is inside her house. He comes over and makes sure that it is empty. She realizes that she was left a DVD. On the DVD you see that Sussman was forced to suffocate the victim because he was held at gunpoint. Whoever the real killer is, he was not Sussman and he is still out there.

Dexter also tells Vogel that he destroyed Deb and that he is a mistake.
Vogel then hugs him in a somewhat creepy & motherly way and tells him he is perfect.

In many ways I am excited for season 8. First off, I would never have guessed to see Deb on the wrong side of the law. She is now a liar, a druggie, and even a murderer! But how far will she go? What I do love about this season so far is that it leaves me asking questions. For example, will Dexter and Deb ever make up? Will Deb keep killing? Will she and her brother join forces and create a brother/sister dynamic duo of vigilante superheroes? Will Deb kill Dexter, since she has already admitted that she should have? Will Dexter have to kill his sister? Wouldn’t he have to if she kills someone innocent? If he had to kill his sister, would he then kill himself? Where the hell is Harrison if Jamie is trolloping around with Quinn and Dexter is out the whole episode? What ever happened to Astor and Cody? And with Quinn’s suspicious eyes and his constant tracking of Deb, will douche-of-the-century Joey Quinn be the man who finally takes down Dexter Morgan? There are too many questions to be answered just yet… but I cannot wait to see what happens next!

I give ‘Every Silver Lining’ a 2.5/5 – On pace with the season 8 premiere.