Another way in which this episode stresses Dexter's monstrousness is the hair-splitting solution he comes up with for the Doakes problem. He won't kill Doakes himself, but he will hand him over to the state to kill. I can't describe how pleased I am with the way this season has been subtly undermining the framework of the vigilante story, forcing us to acknowledge its hollowness and the ugliness of what Dexter does.

I really didn't expect to be so impressed with the Dexter/Doakes interaction in this episode. In spite of his reaction to Dexter, I've never thought much of Doakes's intelligence or powers of perception, but he turns out to be a good observer, and a surprisingly empathic one. Towards the end, there seems to be something almost like affection or respect between them, which Dexter of course demolishes by allowing Doakes to see his true self.