Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
After finding Rita murdered by Trinity, Dexter struggles with guilt and anger while Miami Metro investigates the killing. Astor blames him and takes Cody to live with their grandparents in Orlando, leaving Dexter to care for Harrison. He kills Boyd Fowler, a sanitation worker who has murdered several women, and discovers that Fowler’s captive, Lumen Pierce, witnessed the killing. Lumen has survived a group assault and is wary of Dexter, but she asks him to help identify and confront the men responsible.
Dexter first tries to send Lumen away, then agrees to work with her after she remains in Miami and kills one of her attackers. They carefully trace the group to motivational speaker Jordan Chase and his associates, taking them one by one as Lumen seeks the men who tortured her. Dexter teaches her to verify guilt before acting, while his grief over failing to protect Rita shapes his decision to help. At Miami Metro, Debra investigates the Santa Muerte killings; separately, Quinn hires Stan Liddy to investigate Dexter after recognizing the Kyle Butler sketch.
Liddy’s surveillance catches Dexter and Lumen, and Dexter kills him during a struggle before destroying the evidence. Jordan kidnaps Lumen, but Dexter finds the camp where the assault began and frees her; Lumen kills Jordan. Debra reaches the scene and, unable to see their identities through the plastic, lets the pair escape because she believes one is a victim. Lumen later tells Dexter that she no longer feels driven to kill and leaves Miami. Dexter falsifies Quinn’s blood test to clear him of Liddy’s murder, and reconnects with Astor and Cody at Harrison’s first birthday.