I’m not one to bash people…most of the time. But I have to say, I found Rita (Julie Benz) extremely irritating this episode. For the first time, I noticed that she purses her lips when she talks. So, of course, I spent the rest of the episode mocking her every time she spoke.

But on to the important stuff. Dexter (Michael C. Hall) is focused on Arthur (John Lithgow), planning to off him as soon as possible…until things go awry. Instead of driving to the church, Arthur goes to the mall where he then skillfully kidnaps a 10-year-old boy. But this isn’t like Arthur, is it? Dexter has made a tragic discovery: Trinity’s kill cycles aren’t composed of three deaths—they’re composed of four deaths.

And a young boy is the first.

Dexter spends the rest of the episode in a panic, trying to find where Arthur stashed the boy until it’s too late. We’re seeing a different side of Dexter now: the father. I have to say, the more I see of our serial killer, the more I like him. I would trust Dexter with my children any day. Is that sick, or what?

Arthur is another story. He keeps the kid in a bomb shelter and calls him “Arthur.” He makes him dress up in vintage pajamas and play with a toy train. And then he drugs him and plans to preserve him (and his innocence) forever in a cement hole. What a sick-o. Fortunately, Dexter (with Arthur’s son Jonah’s help) arrives just in time to pull the kid out of the cement and save his life. However, he doesn’t get Arthur—yet.

In other news, Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) shares her suspicions with Angel (David Zayas)—she thinks that Christine (Courtney Ford), Quinn’s (Desmond Harrington) girlfriend, is the one who killed Lundy and gave Deb a nice bullet wound. Upon follow-up, Deb and Angel discover that Christine is related to the Trinity Killer, and she is picked up for questioning.

In a strange turn of events, I find myself feeling almost sorry for Christine. We’re given an inside look at her relationship with her father, Arthur, and we can see that he has screwed her up royally. He regards her as a second-rate child, and in an effort to become her favorite, she shot Deb and Lundy to help to protect her father. What a messed-up family.

The previews for next week’s Dexter have me shaking with anticipation. Arthur begins to hunt Dexter? Woah.