Dexter’ season 8 slices up the 8th episode of its final year with “Are We There Yet,” as Dexter and Hannah pursue Zach Hamilton (Sam Underwood) for killing Dexter's neighbor Cassie, while Deb debates whether or not to turn in Hannah herself.

Last week’s ‘Dexter’ episode, “Dress Code,” saw Dexter tracking down Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) to find her true purpose in returning to Miami, while Deb worried he wouldn’t be able to face her, and Masuka tried to make things right with his daughter. So how does “Are We There Yet” continue the 8th and final season?

Read on for your in-depth recap of everything you need to know about ‘Dexter’ season 8, episode 8, “Are We There Yet”!

Dexter photographs the scene of Cassie’s murder, while the police rule out her boyfriend Oliver Saxon as a suspect, and Dexter finds blood under Cassie’s fingernails. Deb enters the scene to discuss Hannah, but quickly finds herself interrupted by Batista. The next morning, Dexter visits Hannah on her boat and updates her on the escape plan.

Dexter confirms the blood under Cassie’s fingernails to be Zach’s, as Masuka shows his daughter around the lab. Meanwhile, Quinn observes the similarity to Norma Rivera’s murder, and also begins to suspect Zach, even as Dexter brushes off the idea. Dexter meets with Vogel to share his findings on Zach, as the woman wonders if the kill will be difficult for Dexter.

Later at home, Dexter admits to Deb that he’d been helping Hannah, who won’t threaten them anymore, though Deb insists he can’t see the matter clearly. Jamie finds herself continually distraught by Cassie’s murder, and elects to take Harrison to stay at Quinn’s for the time being. Later, Deb presents Hannah McKay’s case to Elway to claim the reward, but the pair find that Hannah’s boat has already left its marina.

Deb returns home to find Dexter’s GPS taking him down to the Keys, but Dexter denies his location over the phone, and any knowledge of Hannah’s whereabouts as well. Along their trip to find Zach, Dexter brings Hannah up to speed on Dr. Vogel, and his spiritual protégé of sorts. Hannah questions why Dexter never tried to find her, and Dexter admits he liked knowing her to be out there.

The next day, Dexter and Hannah flirt over lunch, before heading over to Zach’s hotel suite to find a crude replica of a killing room. Dexter confronts Zach upon his return, though Zach professes to have been stalking his own first kill, a high school friend, producing photographic evidence of his alibi for the time of Cassie’s murder. Back in Miami, Quinn meets with Oliver Saxon over coffee to ask if he recognizes Zach Hamilton, though Oliver denies remembering him.

While Dexter and Zach dispose of the body in his trunk, Hannah cleans out the kill room and returns to find Deb waiting for her. Hannah swears that she loves Dexter enough not to cause any more problems for Deb, before Dexter himself returns and diffuses the situation. Unfamiliar with Zach’s role to Dexter, Deb gives up on her brother and leaves. On the road home, Dexter and Hannah share a smile over Zach’s backseat impatience.

Dexter informs Vogel of Zach’s innocence, before the woman insists they all stay for dinner. Over the meal, Vogel admits her surprise to find the love between Dexter and Hannah genuine, before Dexter shows the group photos from Cassie’s murder. Noting Zach’s blood under her fingernails, the group realizes someone planted the blood to frame him.

Deb returns to her office and discards pursuing the Hannah case any further, though Elway admonishes her for throwing away opportunities, and potentially returning to a less lucrative career at Miami Metro. Meanwhile, Dexter returns Hannah to her hotel and prepares her for the flight the next morning, though the two quickly give in to their renewed passion.

A while later, Dexter returns home to find Zach dead in his desk chair, his brains cut out while an iPod plays “Make Your Own Kind of Music” on repeat. Vogel too finds another jar in her possession, while Deb fishes out her old uniform, and Elway calls an unseen figure about Hannah. Dexter dumps Zach’s body, before interrupting Hannah at her flight, and begging her to stay after all.

No doubt many will find the title "Are We There Yet" to be oddly prophetic, as 'Dexter''s final season has begun to drag a bit without any real focus or clear endgame heading into the final hours. We're certainly glad to be rid of the Zach Hamilton character, as well as any potential talk of his spin-off, but revealing the Brain Surgeon to still be alive doesn't increase our excitement any more.

Not only that, but the episode certainly seems to suggest that Vogel herself would be the killer, though the idea of such a twist seems ludicrous in retrospect, even for 'Dexter.' Instead, our money's on Cassie's mysterious boyfriend Oliver, whose spotlight tonight entirely seems to telegraph the punch.

Elsewhere, Deb seems to have become largely impotent to the storyline, even as her involvement with Elway will likely bring about a new consequence to Hannah's decision to stay in Miami. The love scenes certainly feel a bit gratuitous as well, with plenty of padded peripheral character scenes taking up real estate.

An interesting hour for 'Dexter' to be certain, but not the excitement we crave going into the final four episodes of the series. In other words, "Are We There Yet?"

What say you? Did you get your fill of darkly dangerous ‘Dexter’ drama? What did you think about the latest episode of the final season? Stay tuned for the latest from ‘Dexter’ season 8, and join us next week for a new episode recap of “Make Your Own Kind of Music” on Showtime!

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