Dexter’ season 7 braves the current of its fifth episode of the season, as Dexter finds himself fending off a vengeful Isaak Sirko, while Deb attempts to throw LaGuerta off the trail of her brother, and Quinn finds himself falling into some old habits.

Last week’s ‘Dexter’ episode “Run” saw both Dexter and Deb trying to get Ray Speltzer off the streets with their respective methodologies, while Isaak began his investigation into Dexter and tied up a few loose ends along the way.  So how does “Swim Deep” 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 5, “Swim Deep”!

Dexter cleans his boat in anticipation of Harrison’s return, all the while attempting to convince his manifestation of Harry that things are getting back to normal.  Just then, Dexter sees blood residue on the boat, and takes a swab for further analysis.

Back at the station, Masuka worries that he’ll be fired after finding out that LaGuerta sent evidence to be processed at another lab, and brings it to Deb’s attention.  Deb confronts LaGuerta on the matter, who reluctantly reveals that she believes the Bay Harbor Butcher might be alive and well, and that she's been using Lundy’s notebook to investigate.  Deb offers her support in the investigation, but once alone freaks out and curses up a storm.

Dexter finds the blood from his boat to belong to Louis Greene, confusing him, before Deb walks in to explain the situation with LaGuerta.  Deb plans to help LaGuerta interview families of disappearances that occurred after the Bay Harbor Butcher “died,” three of which Dexter recognizes to be his own victims.  Dexter advises his sister to stay away from the matter, but she insists on checking out the family of a murderous wedding photographer who may have snapped a picture of her brother.

Dexter returns to his apartment, noting that the curtains have been drawn, as we see Isaak waiting inside to kill him.  Dexter calls in a phony message to his machine saying he’ll be meeting someone for lunch at a local café, and observes Isaak leaving the premises.  When Isaak arrives at the café, Dexter calls him to ask his purpose.  Viktor explains that he killed Louis, and plans to kill Dexter, his sister, and everyone involved in the death of Viktor, though Dexter insists that he works alone.

Later, Dexter explains the situation to Deb in a parking garage, unfortunately revealing in the process that he was the one to kill Viktor, not under his “fell through the cracks” rule.  Furious with her brother for hiding evidence, Deb resolves to arrest Isaak, but Dexter convinces her to lay low with him for the moment, staying with him in a motel.  Deb makes him promise not to steal cases again, but admits to having no way of knowing if he’s genuine.

Dexter observes Isaak outside the Foxhole, but gets called back to the station as Hannah McKay has agreed to come in and help locate more of Wayne Randall’s bodies.  Later, Hannah looks over the items, noting that three items belong to a missing couple that the pair killed out of desperation by a local motel.  Batista leaves to begin setting up the dig, as Dexter notes that she seems nostalgic about the items rather than upset.

At a crappy motel, Dexter notes that rival Colombian drug dealers would be happy to take out Isaak, as Deb complains about the conditions.  As the two ready for bed, Deb remembers she and her brother taking a trip to visit their aunt, and their fond memories of swimming in the ocean together.

The next day at the dig site, Batista raises his suspicions about the bartender Alex taking the fall for Mike’s murder, while Hannah somewhat flirtatiously shares with Dexter her first experience being overwhelmed by blood.  Elsewhere, LaGuerta horns in on Deb’s visit of the possible Bay Harbor Butcher victim’s family.  The man’s son happily shows them wedding photos of the night his father was taken, which he notes to have been a good thing considering his abuse toward the family.  Deb spies Dexter in one of the photos, but sweeps it under the rug and the two conclude their questions.

Back at the dig site the bodies are finally exhumed, as Dex notes that the wounds on the female seem inconsistent with Hannah’s story, but doesn’t raise the matter.  In a moment alone, Hannah asks what happened, to which Dexter points out a scar on her hand and pieces together that she participated in the killings rather than comply with them.  Hannah doesn’t deny it, but instead flirtatiously points out that she has immunity for past crimes regardless.  After she leaves, Dexter notices that Isaak is following him.

Keeping Isaak at a distance, Dexter leads the man to a Colombian cartel-friendly bar, and announces to the men present that a Koshka will be following him, before slipping out the bathroom window.  Once Isaak steps in and the men eye him, he realizes the gravity of the situation, as Dexter hears gunshots coming from within the bar.

Shortly after Dexter arrives, the team gets the call about the shootout, and all head down to the bar.  Dexter arrives to find that all the Colombians were instead killed, and pieces together how a brutal, efficient killer like Isaak could have taken down all three men, though not without sustaining a wound himself and leaving blood at the scene.  Dexter admits to Deb that he thought it would go differently, but they at least have a DNA match for an arrest.

Afterward, Quinn fools around with Katia at the Foxhole, which George and Isaak observe as he tends to his arm.  George points out that he and Quinn formerly had an arrangement, and Isaak has Jurg plant a bag of money in the detective’s car.  Quinn finds it upon his exit, and reluctantly places it in his glove compartment.

With the DNA a match, Isaak is brought into the station in handcuffs, sharing brief words with Deb and giving Dexter a smug look on his way out.  Later, Batista drops by to congratulate her, but re-voice his suspicions about the bartender’s suicide.  Knowing the truth, Deb instructs Batista to drop it, pulling rank and pressing her former friend to let it go lest the department look bad.

Dexter visits Isaak in prison, hoping to understand why Isaak so intensely sought vengeance for Viktor’s death.  Even with his prison sentence, Isaak refuses to drop the vendetta, noting how his grandfather once waited years for the collapse of the Soviet Union to avenge his brother’s death at the hands of a corrupt party official.  Dexter points out that he won’t be so easily killed, and the two part ways at a momentary stalemate.

Deb arrives at her brother’s to show him the photo, and explain that she doesn’t feel she can be a part of Dexter’s killer lifestyle.  She once more muses about their past vacation, noting how her brother was always out of reach in their chases, and asks if Dexter learned anything from the dig site with Hannah McKay.  Dexter lies to cover up Hannah’s deeds from his sister, and burns the photograph musing that like their vacation, Dexter will have to brave the depths alone.

While "Swim Deep" certainly takes things in an intriguing direction with both Hannah McKay's story and Isaak's incarceration, we're hoping that the final scene isn't a way of shaking off the big reveal between Dexter and Debra.  We're also not terribly thrilled to see Quinn falling in with yet another bad element, but for now the episode certainly keeps things moving.  The real question is, how long can Isaak stay neutralized in prison?  Will he find a way to hurt Dexter from the inside?

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 “Do the Wrong Thing” on Showtime!

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