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Dexter Season 1 Episode 12

Born Free

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9.3

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 12/17/06

Dexter follows clues left for him by the Ice-Truck Killer in an attempt to find the hostage. Paul tries to convince Rita that she and the children are not safe around Dexter.

Fan Episode Reviews (70)

A perfect finale.

10

By DexterMorgan2, Feb 04, 2013

This was the perfect conclusion to the season with Dexter chasing the Ice Truck Killer trying to rescue Deb but there is a lot more to the story when the Ice Truck Killer leads Dexter to him we find out that Dexter is Rudy's brother but Rudy is not Rudy but Brian Moser which means Dexter's real name is Dexter Moser Dexter Brian knows about Dexter and wants him to work with Brian so he gives her a chance to kill Deb and when he refused he says he chose a sister that would reject him if she found out,Harry who lied to him against a brother who accepts him Dexter then had no choice to kill Brian making it look like suicide even though Dexter didn't want to do it This was such a good season and sets part of season 2 with Doakes more suspicious than ever of Dexter and Rita starting to suspect that Dexter dragged Paul out.moreless
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Dexter = favourite "death" serial :)

10

By drago174, May 08, 2011

Yesterday I finished watching first season "Dexter" so It`s time to write my second review about that serial. When I writing first review Dexter for me was something new , drama serial but "little" different from all serial`s. Now I defienietly can say my first review was wrong , really wrong . I wrote some untrue things and now when I am after all first season I give back honour this serial. He`s full of drama, full of great scenes and full of "dead". On start I think too much bodies , too much blood but now I am sure that everything is nicely fit in this serial.

Michael C. Hall I don`t know this guy before "Dexter", now after "Dexter" I think he is brilliant in that what he doing in this serial. Respect

From 8 after my first review now it`s for one hundred percent only note ten and more, more, more....

Ave Dextermoreless
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One of the best hours of television that I have watched in awhile

10

By addict666, Mar 10, 2011

This show is a little to creepy for me; the first couple of episodes were very hard to watch and the dead bodies and the blood are so hard to watch. But the story lines and the characters make me keep watching. This episode was so perfect. It made me both sympathetic and angry at all of the characters. Deb's story was heart wrenching as she had to deal with a proposal and then a life and death experience. I have hated Rudy up until now but his attempts to connect with Dexter were so genuine in their creepiness. It was so hard to watch the two brothers together. Angel was great in this episode as well as he remains to be the most human and unflawed character on the show. Overall I was shocked and just loved this episode.moreless
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Amazing end for first season

9.2

By Parricida, Feb 24, 2011

So, this is the big game but to be honest, after all that setup and those previous, really thrilling episodes, I expected more. Do not get me wrong, for sure, I am not disappointed. It was stunning episode. The whole brother concept and the hunt (I mean Dexter trying to figure out where Ruby has taken Deb). The memories coming back - I think the only think that little disappointed me was the answer why Ruby has been doing it. I think the brother concept (both seria killers) were good, but the family thing. He spent so much time to get to know Dexter and he did not figured that he did not much cared for the connection and he was able to kill him, turn against him? Ok, but that's probably something writers wanted and in some way, it does make a lot of sense - I mean, Ruby (Brian) had no family for years and he probably wanted Dexter back, look after him. That would have been interesting turn, if they had kept him around.

More worries me, after really stunning first season, what is here to come. Rita becoming suspicious? Doakes looking for the connection? I hope they have as good idea, has they had for this season, for next one.moreless
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I killed the one person I didn't have to hide from and I'm the only one who mourns him.

10

By SMGslayer97, Feb 24, 2011

Through all of season 1 the ice truck killer was captivating to both the audience and Dexter. From his unique and creepy way of killing to his preferences and game playing with Dexter. They formed an almost friendship, a bond if such a thing can exist between two serial killers. I mean it's not as if there's a club but they made good play maters. But like all relationships they had their bumpy patches. The ice truck killer had to manuver Dexter right where he needed him, pulling out memories and showing Dexter is real truth. The real monster within like only another monster could. It was all I could do to wait for their first meeting, the first reveal. But as we discovered who the ice truck killer was, the amazing insight he had into Dexter's personna both in terms of his dark passenger and his past with Harry, and his choice of Debra it became clear that there was still much to reveal. There was as Dexter might say one piece of the puzzle that he didn't leave us. Brian Moser. The last piece, the real piece. The truth that Dexter had needed for so longer was bigger then I could even imagine. Dexter and Brian Moser, brothers in birth and death. Blood brothers. The connection Dexter made with his alter ego Brian was cute but the instant connection he had with Brian was so compelling. Though they had few scenes together as brothers the ones we get are amazing. I can't describe how well they cast Brian, I wish we could have gotten to see more of him earlier in the season and with Dexter, but I digress. The fact that Dex had a brother that was like him, that was with him at his darkest moment of his young life, and was just as affected and haunted by what happened to them was I think the most amazing choice the show could have made. The impact it has in such a small amount of time is just brilliant. Killers, both of them. But as I said all relationships have their rough patches and Brian though connected to his brother forever is different. Both monsters but there's more then one kind of monster. Monsters that kill without remorse or regret are what Dexter does best, he may not be what society would see as righteous but he has a code and he's not like Brian. He is, at least in comparison, a good person. And that's why he had no choice but to kill his big brother and set him free. In the first scene where we see Dexter get really emotional for the first time it achieves maximum impact.

They manage to make Brian both a monsterous murderer and a character you empathize with especially from Dexter's perspective who is now alone in the dark with only his dark passenger to accompany him.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

David Zayas	Angel Batista
James Remar	Harry Morgan
Jennifer Carpenter	Debra Morgan
Julie Benz	Rita Bennett
Michael C. Hall	Dexter Morgan
Erik King	Sgt. James Doakes

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

EDIT

Scott Atkinson	Bob Hicks	Guest Star
Brandon Killham	Little Rudy	Guest Star
Josh Phillips	Indigent Man	Guest Star
Mark Pellegrino	Paul Bennett	Recurring Role
Christian Camargo	Rudy Cooper	Recurring Role
Geoff Pierson	Captain Thomas Matthews	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (3)
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- When Doakes finds Dexter at the cargo dock, and they have a fight, prior to the punch that Doakes throws, the distance between the two is too big for a punch to be thrown.
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- Goof: When the police find Brian's body there are several close-ups of his slit throat. Although he is supposed to be dead, twice his throat moves as he swallows and breathes.
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- The beer Rudy is drinking is named Jekyll Island and features a skull and crossbones logo.
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QUOTES (14)
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- Dexter: (Voice Over) Everyone else would probably thank me if they knew I was the one who drained him of his life.
  Police Officer 1: Good job in there Dex. You sliced him up good.
  Dexter: (Voice Over) In fact I'm pretty sure they'd appreciate a lot of my work.
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- Dexter: (realizing who Rudy was) Biney?
  Rudy: You've always had trouble calling me Brian.
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- Rudy: You can't be a killer and a hero. It doesn't work that way!
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- Rudy: Dex, you don't have a code. Harry did, and he's been dead ten years. You can't keep him sitting on your shoulder like Jiminy fuckin' Cricket.
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- Rudy: I know what you've been going through all these years. The isolation, the otherness, the hunger that's never satisfied. But you're not alone anymore, Dexter. You can be yourself with me, your real, genuine self. Takes the breath away, doesn't it?
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- (at the old Moser house)
  Dexter: Who does it belong to?
  Rudy: Me. I got it for you, actually.
  Dexter: I'm really more an apartment person.
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- Doakes: You tryin' to be smart?
  Dexter: Not trying, no.
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- Dexter: (voice over) 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.
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- Dexter: (voice over) Yeah, they see me, I'm one of them; in their darkest dreams.
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- Dexter: (voice over) 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.
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- Rita: (talking about Debra after embracing Dexter) She must be a mess falling in love with a serial killer.
  Dexter: What are the odds?
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- Dexter: (voice over as he enters Rudy's apartment) This happy place is where he kills more than time. This is where he'll leave me a clue.
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- Psych patient: (Repeating) She knows. She knows.
  Angel: If she knows, you yapping about it ain't gonna change it.
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- Dexter: (voice over at shipping yard) Now what? No cameras. No patrols. No dogs. With billions spent on Homeland Security, it can't be as easy as a couple of snips.
  (Cuts chain holding fence and slips in)
  Dexter: (voice over) So much for the war on terror.
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NOTES (1)
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- This episode was originally listed as Black Heart on a few insider websites.
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ALLUSIONS (3)
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- Rudy: You can't keep him sitting on your shoulder like Jiminy fuckin' Cricket.
  
  Jiminy Cricket is a fictional character from the Disney animated film Pinocchio who serves as Pinocchio's conscience. The film was also referenced in the episode Popping Cherry.
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- Born Free: The pop music hit was created by Roger Williams, Matt Monro, and Andy Williams for a soundtrack to a 1966 motion picture of the same name. The motion picture was about releasing a captive lioness into the wild which others wanted to domesticate.
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- Dexter: (voiceover) Now I know where Dearly Disturbed Dexter was born.
  
  This is a play on the title of Jeff Lindsay's second book Dearly Devoted Dexter.
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