(S01E10) Wow... I am just so in awe of this show. It does everything that good TV is supposed to do. I'm not quite sure how to talk through all of this, but let's get one thing out there: Malcolm-Jamal Warner gained a ton of weight. As much as I enjoyed seeing him guest star as Dexter's lawyer buddy, every time he was in a scene I couldn't stop picturing him tap-dancing in the opening sequence of The Cosby Show. That guy is forever Theo Huxtable.

Moving on, let's talk about blood.

I loved when Deb and Doakes first approached the hotel room and rather than show us the gruesome scene (at first I didn't think we would get to see it at all), all we saw was the glow of red on their faces. The room was disgusting though. When Dexter went in it and fell in the pool of goo... nasty. I have to admit I called it right away. Ever since we saw Rudy's freezer with those big jars of blood, I kept wondering what he'd do with them. So once we saw all this blood, I had a good feeling I knew where it was coming from.

So obviously the blood matched all five of Rudy's victims which prompted LaGuerta to reopen the Ice Truck Killer case during an unannounced press conference. I really like how this story is progressing. She's completely turning on the captain. He put her where she is, and rather than bend over for loyalty's sake, she's doing the right thing. I think it's noble and despite her bitchiness towards Deb, I've got a lot more respect for Maria than I did at the beginning of the season. It'll be fun to watch Matthews flounder in a press conference when he tries to explain the Neil Perry blunder.

Angel's predicament is something I didn't see coming. His random encounter with the hooker and her nails of various colors (remember those?) was pretty creepy. Everything is starting to fall into place though. How great was it when when Angel went to question Rudy about amputee fetishes and we saw Rudy's drawer, filled with nail polishes of assorted colors? I didn't expect Rudy to go after Angel though. But I guess it is his standard reaction if you think about it. Angel got too close and Rudy had no qualms about taking out the old lady that lived across the street from Joe Driscoll. I just hope Angel lives. He's a great asset to this show. (Note: The previews for next week clearly give this away, but let's ignore that for now.)

I'm glad that Dexter finally decided to do something about Paul. That guy was a total ass. Clever how Dexter took care of him though. The heroin. Calling the cops. Paul back in jail. Very simple, very effective, and no blood spatter to worry about. The only issue this creates is that it might bring Rita even closer to Dexter and his "lifestyle." I like how Dexter now seems to be OK with breaking Harry's first rule: don't get emotionally involved. He definitely is. Would Rudy go after Rita under certain circumstances I wonder?

Back to the hotel room. First off, have there been any clues indicating the significance of 103? The hotel room number. The radio station set to 103. And the Bible, opened to Leviticus 10:3? The passage reads: "Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying, 'I will show myself holy to those who come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified.'" Aaron held his peace." So Rudy/ITK wants his message to be heard? To be glorified to the masses? I don't know, I was never good at Bible interpretations.

The room itself held significance though, especially to Dexter. Rudy did it for Dexter and if you ask me, it supports my "they're brothers" theory. First off, the two of them had a conversation about repressed memories and Rudy claims his mother was hit by a truck. Dexter's mother, we found out, was butchered by someone with an electric chainsaw. Rudy knew this (was he in the room too?) and used an electric chainsaw to splatter his five victims' blood all over the room. The patterns are what triggered Dexter's memories. Crazy, huh?

Who killed Dexter's mother though? I don't think it was Joe... he never would have gotten out of jail and more than likely would have received the death penalty. But how would Rudy know this so intimately? In Dexter's flashback, we never saw the whole room. Is it hard to imagine that he had a brother sitting next to him? Rudy easily could have lied about his mother's death because he shared the same memory as Dexter.

Two other things I wanted to talk about. First, does it bother anyone else that Masuka apparently has an easy time picking up women? Second... this is more of a predication. There's been flirtation between Doakes and Deb all season. He clearly likes her. It's a safe bet that Rudy will harm Deb before the finale. So I'm guessing Doakes will save her and something clicks with them. Anyone else have some guesses? Only two episodes left for Dexter to figure out who he's dealing with.