‘Dexter’ Review: “Chemistry”

‘Dexter’ season 7 introduces into our system its seventh episode of the season, as Dexter's tryst with Hannah lands him in hot water with Sal Price (Santiago Cabrera), while Isaak Sirko (Ray Stevenson) gets out of prison and Quinn attempts to break away from the Koshka brotherhood.

Last week’s ‘Dexter’ episode “Do the Wrong Thing” saw Dexter on the trail of Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski), perhaps getting closer than he should, as Deb accepted a date from a connected author, Batista debated retiring, and Quinn reluctantly agreed to break bad.  So how does “Chemistry” play with the new status quo between Dexter and Deb?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Dexter’ season 7 episode 7, “Chemistry”!

As Dexter revels in his post-coital bliss, he wonders about “chemistry” as it applies to his loss of control.  Hannah mounts him again and places a knife to his throat, asking how he likes it, when Dexter comes clean about his usual habits of killing bad people.  The prospect of Dexter thinking her bad turns Hannah on even further, and they go again!  Meanwhile back at Deb’s house, Deb finds her curiosity about Hannah’s murders preventing her date with Sal from going any further, and they say goodnight.

The next morning, Dexter drives Hannah back to her home, either insisting that they shouldn’t see one another again.  Once Hannah goes inside, Dexter observes Sal Price to have seen them from his own car!  Sal pieces together Dexter’s suspiciously spotty blood-work from earlier, only agreeing not to write about what he’s seen if Dexter gives him an exclusive about Wayne Randall’s last words.

Deb tries to throw LaGuerta off the Bay Harbor Butcher case once more, noting their lack of any conclusive leads, while Dex fails to find any dirt on Sal Price either.  Deb points out to her brother that Sal’s blood guy found the evidence of Hannah’s guilt that he hadn’t, leading her to suspect Dexter of attempting to steal the case for himself, though Dexter denies it.  Meanwhile, the department learns that Isaak Sirko’s lawyers want to re-test the blood samples, only to find them missing, guaranteeing Isaak’s release!  Thanks, Quinn.

The team returns to Isaak Sirko’s crime scene hoping to salvage some of the evidence, but find the sewage system contaminating the scene.  Batista drags Quinn outside, pointing his name out on a list of recent visitors to the evidence locker, but Quinn scoffs at the insinuation.  Separately, Deb orders Dexter to stay away from a released Isaak, , hoping a tail on him will prevent any serious bloodshed for the moment.

Sal drops by the precinct to give Deb the address of Hannah’s deceased husband’s sister and solicit another date, while Quinn finally finds Nadia at home and assures her that they’ll soon be safe from the Koshkas.  While Isaak  is released from prison, Deb visits with the husband’s sister, explaining that the man’s death might not have been an accident, when his sister reveals that Hannah was pregnant at the time of his death, and broke off contact with the family afterward.

Elsewhere, Sal badgers Hannah at a marketplace, and manages to solicit an interview if he agrees to leave Dexter alone.  Immediately after, he calls Dexter confirming their appointment for the following day, while Dexter plots to tie Sal to one of the unresolved murders he’d written about in the past.  Ghost Harry on the other hand thinks he’s merely looking for excuses to protect and see Hannah.

Having done what they asked, Quinn demands of George that the Koshkas leave he and Nadia alone, but George assures him it isn’t that easy.  Dexter meanwhile visits Hannah to assure that he’ll take care of Price, fighting his chemistry with her, as she questions if Dexter would be happier without his set of rules for killing.  As he leaves, he realizes that Hannah accepts both sides of him in ways that Lumen, Rita or even Lilah never did, yet must still walk away.

Having exhumed the body of Hannah’s late husband, Deb and the coroner find that because the body hadn’t been embalmed, no tests can be performed to determine if Hannah poisoned him.  Deb takes her findings to another date with Sal, who comforts her and offers to report back from his interview with Hannah later that day.  At her home, Hannah tearfully relays her involvement in the Wayne Randall murder to Sal, while Dexter borrows a few items from the man’s apartment to obtain his DNA signature.  While in his home, Dexter also deletes all of Sal’s research on Hannah, something Ghost Harry notes as out of character for him.

Later, Dexter eats alone before a freed Isaak Sirko confronts him, but rather than attempt to kill him merely notes that Dexter seems to be a different animal than he’d given him credit for.  Dexter eggs him on by revealing precisely how he killed Viktor, noting to do the same to him, and Isaak departs assuring him he’ll regret it.

That night, Sal arrives to Dexter’s apartment joking about using him for his next book, but Dexter rebuts that he could tie the author to one of his murder subjects if he doesn’t back off.  Sal gets heated at the suggestion, but suddenly clutches his chest and collapses to the floor, hitting his head on the coffee table in the process!  Dexter attempts compressions, but to no avail.

Later, Sal’s body is wheeled out of the apartment as Dexter answers his colleagues’ questions, Masuka confirming that the blow to the head shouldn’t have killed him.  Both Dexter and Deb separately assume Hannah must have been responsible, Deb vowing not to let her get away with it.  Hannah shows up for an interrogation the next day at the police station, but Dexter watches over the security feed as she easily refutes his sister’s questions.  Deb’s mention of the baby Hannah lost does seem to rattle the woman however, who storms out.

That night, Dexter shows up to Hannah’s house, as she freely admits to having taken the opportunity to kill Price by lacing his oft-chewed pens with an untraceable toxin.  She also clarifies that while she did kill her husband, it wasn’t because of her desire to be free of the family.  Rather,  it was the husband who didn’t’ want her to go through with having the baby, though afterward it ended up miscarrying anyway.  Hannah notes that both she and Dexter instinctively protected one another through all of this, and both give in to their desire once more.

Back at the station, Quinn puts his bribe money to a good cause by investing in Batista’s restaurant, while Deb finds the tox screen from Sal Price came back negative after multiple tests.  In her own apartment, LaGuerta pores over more Bay Harbor Butcher research, curiously noting Dexter Morgan as fitting one of her searches.

Deb listens to Sal’s recording of his interview with Hannah, growing increasingly frustrated, while Dexter observes a sleeping Hannah and wonders if their chemistry means he could be falling in love with her.  While still in bed, Dex answers a call from Deb, who angrily demands that her brother “do what he does” now that Hannah will have gotten away with Sal’s murder as well.  Uh-oh!

And to think, it only took seven episodes for Deb to begin considering her brother as a personal attack dog to be let off the chain.  We really are elated how 'Dexter's seventh season has managed to inject so much intrigue into a series that sputtered for two seasons after its peak.  It certainly doesn't hurt that episodes like "Chemistry" don't mind calling attention to past characters like Lumen, Rita, or even Lilah in comparison of Yvonne Strahovski's Hannah, who feels more and more like a worthy addition to the series.  Now that we're in the back stretch however, it's time for the blood to really spatter the fan.

What about you? Did you get your fill of darkly dangerous ‘Dexter’ drama? What did you think about the episode? Join us next week for another all-new ‘Dexter’ episode recap of “Argentina” on Showtime!