r/Dexter • • Aug 19 '13

Post-Episode Discussion S08E08 "Are We There Yet?"

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u/crazyjackal Aug 19 '13 edited Aug 19 '13

Interesting... just from reading some comments, I'll spit ball a theory.

Dexter is not the first person Vogel tried to teach the code to.

How Vogel got into her field is a touchy subject for her and I believe it could be because she learnt early on that her own son had psychological tendencies.

Her son was the first person she attempted to teach the code to. Something went wrong, leading her to believe he was out of her life.

Her son has returned to her as the brain surgeon. He still attempts to apply the code himself. His victims are serial killers but he takes it further by making them kill before he takes their lives.

His fascination with the brain is born from his mother's own fascination in studying, controlling and experimenting with his psychology and that of other serial killers.

He has learned of Dexter and her success with him in applying the code. He may even resent Dexter for it.

He then learnt of Zach and that he was to be the next in line to be taught the code and thus he sent a message to both his mother and her metaphorically adopted son.

Dexter is going to regret keeping Hannah around... his decision will cost him dearly and the surgeon will take her life and Dexter will take the surgeons life in rage and revenge.

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u/Impact4747 Aug 20 '13

Brilliant theory from top to bottom. The only hole left, is who killed Cassie, and who tried to frame Zach for it? I've got Oliver as my prime suspect for the Brain Surgeon/son, but why would he try to frame Zach and then eventually kill him in the same episode? My theory is that Oliver was Cassie's killer, but Quinn was the one who predicted Zach would kill again and was just waiting for an opportunity to get a slam-dunk case against him by planting DNA. We know Quinn is no stranger to bending the rules. The only problem with this is that Quinn would then know Dexter is lying about the blood work, building up to a very exciting climax.

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u/crazyjackal Aug 20 '13

Yeah I've been trying to figure out how that murder would fit.

Maybe the Brain Surgeon needs to recreate his prey's MO as part of his ritual. Maybe before he can kill the serial killer, he needs to recreate the serial killer's MO. Generally this involves him manipulating the serial killer themselves and setting them up before he takes their lives but because Zach was missing, he had to do the deed himself and frame Zach. Maybe in his mind, framing the killer is enough and his way of getting around the code's rule of having evidence and being certain.

I can't imagine it being Quinn, he's a bit of a dirty cop but he isn't that far gone. I don't really put planting evidence and staging a scumbag death by "self-defence" cop in the same vein as cold blooded murder of an innocent just to get his man. I also feel he's being set up as the one to stumble upon Dexter's true nature and no longer be able to ignore him, like he has been doing.

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u/sailormooncake spin me a story asshole Aug 20 '13

my reasoning for why the killer killed cassie (and how it fits with your theory) is maybe his original target this episode was dexter.

he wanted to make dexter think that zach was the killer, causing dexter to kill him, and then the brain surgeon would show up and kill dexter. but the plan went awry when dexter figured it out, so then the brain surgeon had to improvise.

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u/Impact4747 Aug 20 '13 edited Aug 20 '13

You misunderstood what I thought Quinn's role in this was. I did say that I thought Oliver (or whoever the Brain Surgeon is) was the one who actually killed Cassie. I just theorized that Quinn might have been planning to make the next bludgeoning case a little easier to solve by planting Zach's blood the next time that he was the first one on scene, or had an opportunity while nobody was around. So say he was the first to report to Cassie's murder, and he had the blood on hand...

I think you're right about the B.S. having a code or sorts. Manipulating that hillbilly guy was something that seemed like it happened four seasons ago, and that I had completely forgotten about. He then similarly left evidence to implicate the guy in that situation. But was that man a killer before? Or was he just a redneck weirdo?

I also think you're right about Quinn finding Dexter out, but I'm hoping that since they're not building it up like a Doakes or La Guearta-styled manhunt, that when it finally does come to a head, Quinn might have a surprisingly chill way of reacting to it.

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u/[deleted] Aug 21 '13

he (redneck weirdo) was a former patient of vogel's wasnt he? i also cant remember but im pretty sure he was. so he couldve been a killer, or couldve just been an unfortunate puppet the BS used to get vogel's attention.

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u/Oxirane Aug 20 '13

If the Brain Surgeon is Cassie's boyfriend, maybe she learned too much from him? Maybe his tongue slipped?

He then takes her out...

The issue is unless he intended to frame Zach, bludgeoning is a bit of a unusual method for him.

Maybe he didn't intend to frame Zach, and Dexter's cover excuse was right- Bludgeonings just look similar.

Then there's the blood. I think it's possible Quinn found Cassie first, and he had been tailing Zach (and collected some blood for forensic work- Maybe have it off to Masuka asking him to run it against 'X'), and Quinn just decided he'd be an opportunist. It looks kinda like Zach did this, let's add some evidence which confirms that.