I was a little concerned that the ending reveal would make much of this episode feel pointless, but iirc, they avoid that by having it have legitimate consequences later on. Otherwise, enjoyable episode. One of my least favorites in the season, but still really good. Love seeing the continuation of Dexter’s morbid fascination with the Ice Truck Killer. Also love seeing Dexter meet Paul for the first time. Definitely provides more compelling character work that continues to show that Dexter is far from the heartless, empty monster he constantly tries to tell himself (And by extension, us as the audience) he is. While the whole show definitely has the overarching theme of Dexter slowly discovering his humanity and realizing he’s not the monster Harry told him he was his whole life, imho, S1 explores that theme the best so far (S4 as a close second) because when we meet Dexter, he’s legitimately disconnected from his emotions and sense of human connection. This inevitably makes his character development all the more interesting, thought provoking, and investing because it feels like we’re actually taking a meaningful journey from point A to point B. This is a great episode to showcase that especially with the character of Jeremy Downs being a physical depiction of what Dexter may’ve become without Harry’s help or without anyone being there to help with his emptiness especially at this stage in the season when he’s starting to question his supposed sociopathy. Great episode, I think.