‘Dexter’ season 7 billows out its fourth episode of the season, as both Dexter and Deb try to get Ray Speltzer off the streets with their respective methodologies, while Isaak (Ray Stevenson)’s begins his investigation into Dexter and ties up a few loose ends along the way.

Last week’s ‘Dexter’ episode “Buck the System” saw Dexter trying to show his sister the value of his murders when an accused killer lined up his next victim, while Isaak’s (Ray Stevenson) investigation into his associate Viktor’s death led him straight to Louis Greene. So how does “Run” continue adjusting to the new status quo? Will the show be able to keep up its interest now that Deb knows (and even condones) the truth about Dexter?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Dexter’ season 7 episode 4, “Run”!

As he and Masuka sweep over Ray Speltzer’s crypt looking for evidence of murders that Dexter has already solved, Deb reclines into a bath at home.  Drifting off, she has a vision of being in a tub full of blood, while Dexter calls out to her ans asks her to be his.  Deb frantically tries to shut off the blood faucet to no avail, only to realize she’d been dreaming.

The next morning, Deb drags her brother out for coffee, and deduces that he must have been involved in the Trinity killings in a way that got his wife Rita killed.  Deb questions if her brother even has the capacity for love, given his desire for the Trinity kill outweighed his family’s safety.  Before they can finish the conversation however, Deb gets a call that Speltzer has been found.  Better than that, Deb wants to take the lead in the interrogation herself.

Over at the Foxhole, Isaak views both Dexter and Louis’ files, wondering why two employees of Miami Metro would have been connected with Viktor’s death, when the police department continues to bust up the club anyway.  Their latest disruption of the club comes right on cue, and even Victor’s efforts to bribe Quinn out of it fall on deaf ears.  With the club and drug operation hemorrhaging money, Isaak eyes the hapless bartender Alex, and formulates an idea to give the police what they want.

After Batista butters up Speltzer by appealing to his hatred of women, Deb takes her shot at interrogating the killer, connecting his habit of killing pretty girls to his relationship with his mother.  When Deb insinuates that Speltzer had sexual thoughts toward his mother, the man finally breaks, and confesses to killing other girls, giving Deb her victory, at least for now.

Leaving work however, Deb declines the offer of a celebratory drink with her brother, still dwelling on Rita and how Dexter’s murderous exploits put his own family in danger.  Deb puts forth that he should send Harrison to Orlando along with Cody and Astor, but Dexter remains steadfast that he should be the only one to raise his child.  She reminds him that he almost got her killed recently, but he insists that while Trinity was a mistake, from then on everything has been under his control.

Late that night at the bartender Alex’s house, George, Isaak, and his blue-toothed assistant pay a visit.  Pointing out Alex’s beautiful family back in Kursk, Isaak proposes that they will be taken care of financially if Alex writes a suicide note identifying himself as the killer of Kaja, Mike Anderson and Tony Rush, before committing suicide.  Faced with little other choice, the hapless bartender complies with Isaak’s request, and shoots himself in the head.

Over in Dexter’s laboratory (heh), Hannah McKay pays a visit to explain to the lab tech that her lawyer has advised her to comply in the effort to retrieve all of Wayne Randall’s buried bodies.  Dexter mentions that his last words were of her, as she somewhat flirtatiously reminisces about their plans together to find a farm in Argentina.

Meanwhile, LaGuerta pays a visit to Deb to announce that they have a problem: because of a technicality with reading Speltzer’s Miranda rights, the judge threw out the killer's confession and set him free!  From there, the group gets the message of the bartender’s suicide, and visit the scene.  While Dexter knows it to be a lie, he corroborates Quinn’s findings that Alex must have been Mike Anderson’s killer, though Batista notes that it all seems too convenient and out of character for the simple family man.

Dexter returns home to find Jamie getting rid of some of Harrison’s outgrown toys, leading Dexter to wonder if he too should part with his trophy blood slides, as his sister implied.  Shaking off the idea, Dexter pays a visit to Speltzer’s trailer now that he’s back on the street, but winds up face to face with the man himself!  Dexter and Speltzer struggle, but  Speltzer gets the upper hand and knocks Dexter unconscious.

Dexter awakes in one of Speltzer’s elaborate mazes, finding only a note with instructions to “RUN.”  Though not easily intimidated, Dexter decides to evade Speltzer in his imposing bull costume and axe, making his way through the maze,  After a few close calls, Dexter realizes the maze is attempting to force him downstairs, and heads up to the roof instead.  With Speltzer in pursuit, Dexter manages to get down the nearby rooftops and escape on a passing flatbed truck.

Knowing to step up security now that Speltzer has seen his face, Dexter sends Harrison to Orlando at least until the threat abates, while across town Isaak pays a visit to Viktor’s former apartment.  Uncovering a picture of the two of them together, Isaak becomes emotional and vows to avenge his fallen companion.  Elsewhere, Debra attends the funeral of Speltzer’s latest victim, only to fly into a rage when she sees the killer himself happily observing the proceedings from his nearby truck.

Dexter attempts to console his sister at her apartment, though she takes it as gloating that she too wished Speltzer were dead.  Dexter protests that their relationship shouldn’t change much in the wake of his secret, but she insists that she can never look at him the same way again.  Meanwhile back at the station, Batista convinces Quinn to look into Alex as Mike’s shooter once more, noting that it still doesn’t feel right, as Alex was never even a suspect.

Later that night, Dexter makes his presence known to Speltzer, leading him to a freshly dug grave with a note saying “STAY” atop.  Dexter then knocks him out with a shovel, setting up his body in the local crematorium strapped to a gurney.  When Speltzer wakes, Dexter rants about his inability to take blood slides, and his frustration that catching Speltzer didn’t put he and Deb closer together as it should have, but his death might help.  He then impales Speltzer through the heart with a broken shovel handle, before setting his box of blood slides atop the corpse, and sliding both into the inferno.

As Speltzer’s smoke billows out from the vents, Deb pulls up to where her brother called her to drive.  Pointing out the smokestack, Dexter explains that the smoke belongs to Speltzer’s ashes, to which Deb confesses that she feels glad of it.  Worried about what that makes her, Dexter comforts his sister that it makes her human.

Once again, 'Dexter' very much continues its streak of goodwill with "Run," adding even more dimension to the developing relationship between Dexter and Deb.  One has to wonder how many more turns the dynamic can take in future episodes, but for now the characters remain engaging as ever, while the Ukrainian gangster plot largely simmers in the background.  Stories well set up for future episodes, and characters acting rationally for a change make "Run" and even season 7 some of the best 'Dexter' we've seen in years.

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 “Swim Deep” on Showtime!

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