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Born Free (originally named "Black Heart Optional" [1]) is the Season One finale of the Showtime series DEXTER, and the twelfth overall episode in the series. It first aired 17 December 2006.

Dexter Morgan frantically searches for clues to Debra's whereabouts when Rudy, finally revealing himself as the Ice Truck Killer, abducts her and forces Dexter into a series of mind games to find her. Dexter and The Ice Truck Killer have a final confrontation.

Summary[]

An unconscious Debra lies on the deck of Rudy's yacht. Her hands and legs are bound with duct tape. Suddenly, her eyes open and she begins to struggle, trying to free herself. Nearby, Rudy is digging through items in a duffel bag.

A fearful Debra asks why he doing this, and he says it’s part of his plan which was a lot of years in the making. At one point, Rudy pretends to care about Debra but then swiftly changes his demeanor, proving that he is a cold-hearted psychopath. He tells Debra not to be ashamed of being fooled by him, since many others bought his act. He admits that his real name is not Rudy Cooper.

Later, when lights are seen on the horizon, Rudy moves Debra to an inflatable motorized raft, and they leave the yacht behind.

Dexter returns to his apartment in hopes of finding clues left there by Rudy, and then sees his "new" screen saver playing the song "Born Free." He suspects that Rudy might be keeping Debra at the cargo container where his mother was butchered and where Harry found him.

At the hospital, the man in the bed next to Angel takes a toll on Angel’s patience. Doakes pay a visit to Batista who is being treated for the stab wound he endured in hopes of finding leads to the Ice Truck Killer. They suspect that Rudy Cooper might indeed be the killer and could have kidnapped Debra, as well. Angel is distressed when they tell him that Monique was murdered. He says that no one but Masuka and Rudy. Doakes and LaGuerta hurriedly leave to chase this lead.

As Dexter frantically searches for the container's location online at home, he is unexpectedly visited by LaGuerta and Doakes, Doakes accuses Dexter of knowing something because he was skulking in the lab ordering secret blood tests from Batista's collar which Dexter reveals is a match to Rudy's blood.

Rita is contacted by the imprisoned Paul who insists that Dexter framed him for his drug possession charge. He tells her that Dexter is not who she thinks he is.

Meanwhile, LaGuerta locks horns against her replacement Lt. Esmée Pascal, who's even MORE officious and pompous than her or Captain Matthews, and who hampers the case by ignoring key evidence to further advance her own personal career. However, the team receives a warrant to search Rudy's apartment and the team heads there.

Dexter sneaks into the shipping yard to find the container "CBAN-348 9" and has a brief flashback of Harry rescuing him as a child. As Dexter nervously opens the container, he finds nothing but bananas inside it. Doakes catches Dexter by surprise and the two engage in a brief brawl until the dock manager arrives.  Doakes is surprised by Dexter's fighting ability and says. "Lab geek, my ass."

Meanwhile, Rudy is driving Debra to an unknown location to wait for Dexter to find them, He has Deb and a man named Fred that he killed in the trunk.

Dexter enters Rudy's apartment where the police have found evidence linking him to the Ice Truck Killer, including his kill room and buckets of blood. Dexter orders Karen, a lab tech, to meticulously collect every bit of evidence and take charge of it. After he rapidly runs through a list of her duties, She asks Vince Masuka if Dexter is in charge. Masuka responds by saying, "I guess he is now." As Dexter searches Brian's apartment, he finds the record "Born Free" and a Barbie doll with "Home Sweet Home" written on it.

In an unknown location, Debra struggles to escape. Rudy kicks her to the floor and sedates her, saying that's not how he usually works but calls it a tribute to a fellow traveler he greatly admires.

Rita is visited by Paul's narcotics sponsor, Bob Hicks, who tries to convince Rita that Paul had been framed.

Dexter suspects that Rudy might be at his mother's house and searches through the database for her address. Rita makes an unexpected visit at his lab, but it is brief as Dexter explains that Debra is in trouble and he can't worry about them both.

At the hospital, Batista watches the news regarding Rudy who's true identity is still a mystery as his prints aren't present in the criminal database. After hearing the nurse talk about how dangerous psych patients can be, Batista calls an I.D. tech. He asks him to run a test on Rudy's prints in the psych mental institution database as he suspects that Rudy might indeed be a psych patient. 

Dexter arrives at his mother's house and has a flashback of his childhood. Rudy appears, revealing himself to be his biological brother, Brian. Dexter marches straight into the house to search for Debra but he's sedated by Brian.

Batista returns to the station handing LaGuerta the file revealing Rudy to be Brian Moser who was institutionalized for anti-social personality disorder. Brian was released at age twenty-one after it was believed that he had been cured of his mental disorder. Lt. Pascal believes that Brian might be twenty miles off the coast by boat, which leads to LaGuerta and Pascal having a brief confrontation with each other.

Brian tries to reconnect with Dexter by revealing his past to him and tries to convince Dexter to kill Debra whom he had wrapped in plastic in a similar manner to Dexter's victims. Dexter refuses and tackles Brian. Doakes and several officers arrive at the scene but Brian escapes before they can capture him. Dexter tries to convince Doakes that Brian had called him. Doakes threatens to give Dexter a suspension, but Debra steps in and yells at Doakes to leave her brother alone because he saved her life and is a hero.

While on the way to the hospital, Debra worries because Brian is still out there and he might try to kill her again. She hugs Dexter and thanks him for saving her life.

Paul contacts Rita again to warn her that Dexter set him up. He begs Rita to find his missing shoe that might have slipped from his foot when Dexter dragged him, but Rita doesn't believe him and hangs up.

At the hospital, while Dexter is waiting to hear about Deb, he begins to wonder if Harry betrayed him because he kept his brother's existence from him all these years.

Brian later goes to Dexter's apartment, where he believes Debra is staying, and tries to kill her. However, it turns out to be a trap set by Dexter. He strangles Brian until he passes out and transports him to Brian's apartment. Dexter suspends him in the air, just as Brian did to his victims as the Ice Truck Killer. Brian tries to convince Dexter that he can be free to be his true self with him. A frustrated Dexter loudly dismisses this, causing a single tear to run out of Brian's eye. Dexter says he can't let Brian live because he knows he will always want to kill Debra. Brian continues to lecture Dexter on how he's choosing to live a lie for people who will never really know or care about the real him. Dexter, though, slices Brian's throat, telling him he can't hear him anymore, while admitting Brian is right. Dexter sets it up to look as if Brian committed suicide by using the same method with which Brian killed his victims. Dexter collapses and cries afterward.

The next day, Dexter returns to Rita's house to make up for the previous visit. He promises to spend more time with her and the kids. When he leaves there for work, he notices that Doakes is tailing him. After Rita waves good bye to Dexter, she notices the shoe outside that Paul mentioned and worries that what Paul said might be true.

Dexter mourns his brother's death while pondering his actions. As he and Debra walk to the crime scene, he fantasizes about a crowd cheering him for what he does. Dexter embraces his shadow self and considers himself one of them -- in their darkest dreams.

Quotes[]

  • "I've lived in darkness a long time. Over the years, my eyes adjusted until the dark became my world and I could see. But then Rudy turned on the light. He flooded my memory and now I'm blind." -Dexter narrating
  • "This is what it must feel like to walk in full sunlight, my darkness revealed, my shadow self embraced." ~Dexter voiceover
  • "The last thing I remember was standing in the kitchen, talking to Dexter. Now, he could have smacked me over the head and dragged me out of the house probably through the backyard.| -Paul to Rita
  • "I don't like this place. Something nameless was born here... Something that lives in the deepest, darkest hole of the thing called "Dexter." -Dexter voiceover in the shipping yard
  • "You're connected to this. I don't know how, but I'm gonna find out, and some of what I find is gonna stick to your ass. -Doakes to Dexter
  • "I can also see why you were reassigned, and it has nothing to do with incompetence and everything to do with the Captain trying to save his job." - Esmee to Maria
  • "I know what you've been going through all these years -- The isolation, the otherness, a hunger that's never satisfied. Well, you're not alone anymore, Dexter. You can be yourself with me -- your real, genuine self. Takes the breath away, doesn't it?" -Brian to Dexter
  • "What did I just do? I drove away a brother who accepts me, sees me, for an adopted sister who'd reject me if she knew and a foster father who betrayed me." -Dexter voiceover
  • "You should know this isn't easy for me. You've done more to deserve my Knife than anyone. You're the only one I ever wanted to set free." -Dexter to Brian
  • "The reality is, there's nobody left alive who can handle my truth. Doakes always sensed I was hiding something. Now he knows. My devil danced with his demon, and the fiddler's tune is far from over." -Dexter voiceover
  • "Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like for everything inside me that's denied and unknown to be revealed. But I'll never know. I live my life in hiding. My survival depends on it." -Dexter voiceover
  • "My tragedy is that I killed the one person I didn't have to hide from. And I'm the only one who mourns him. Everyone else would probably thank me if they knew I was the one who drained him of his life." -Dexter voiceover
  • "This is what it must feel like to walk in full sunlight, my darkness revealed, my shadow self embraced. Yeah, they see me.I'm one of them... in their darkest dreams." -Dexter voiceover

Related Pages[]

Trivia[]

  • According to the original script, the title of the episode used to be "Black Heart Optional". The relation to the episode is the choice between Dexter choosing to kill Debra or spare her, then ultimately killing his brother Brian while expressing his true emotions for the first time after his death.
    • In addition, the title refers to a line spoken by Dexter (imitating an invitation by his "friend") on Page 292 of Darkly Dreaming Dexter: "The honor of your presence is requested at the vivisection of your sister. Black heart optional".[2]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. DexterDaily
  2. Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Page 292.
The Episodes of Dexter
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