Born Free (Dexter) - Plot

Plot

After uncovering the identity of the "Ice Truck Killer", a serial killer who chops up the bodies of his victims and drains their blood, Dexter hurries to find his sister Debra. Since the murderer had always sent secret messages to Dexter, he searches his apartment for clues that Rudy could have left, and finds a picture of the shipping container where his mother was killed. When Dexter is about to leave, Doakes and LaGuerta arrive, telling him that they think Rudy Cooper was the one who stabbed Batista. Doakes insists that Dexter knows something, and he reveals that the blood on Angel's collar matched Rudy's. The pair leave, and Dexter goes to find the shipping container. At the station, LaGuerta orders a search for Rudy. Matthews walks in and introduces Esmee Pascal, the new lieutenant replacing LaGuerta.

At the shipping yard, Dexter breaks into the container in the picture, only to find it full of bananas. Doakes appears and asks him what he is doing, and after a fist fight, a foreman arrives and orders them to leave. Doakes tells Dexter that he knows that he is up to something, and says that he will be watching him. Meanwhile, Rita is contacted by an imprisoned Paul, who contends that Dexter knocked him out and set him up. Rita becomes annoyed as Paul persists that Dexter is dangerous and should not be around their children. Rita is visited by Paul's Narcotics Anonymous sponsor, who attempts to convince Rita that Paul is telling the truth. In a final plea, Paul calls Rita and tells her to search their house for a shoe which he believes came off when Dexter knocked him out. Rita hangs up, but discovers the shoe while taking out the trash at the end of the episode.

After finding a clue at Rudy's house, Dexter arrives at the house of his mother, Laura Moser. Flashbacks reveal that Rudy, whose real name is Brian Moser, is in fact Dexter's biological brother. He also witnessed the murder of their mother, but did not repress the memory; instead, he grew up in a mental institution being treated for antisocial personality disorder. Dexter meets Brian in their childhood home, where he is keeping Debra. He intends to kill Debra with Dexter as a sort of "family reunion", but Dexter stops him. As Doakes and the rest of the homicide unit close in on the house, Brian escapes through a trap door and Dexter is left with Debra, appearing to have saved her.

Doakes tries to question Dexter about his involvement, but is stopped by an indignant Debra, who says that Dexter is a hero. Dexter accompanies her to the hospital and then returns home, apparently with Debra. In the middle of the night, Brian breaks into Dexter's apartment and attempts to stab Debra, only to find a prosthetic body in her place; Dexter then chokes him unconscious with a garrote. In the refrigeration unit in Brian's apartment, Dexter ties him to the killing table with plastic wrap. After an emotionally charged conversation, Dexter slices his brother's throat and leaves him upside down to drain, staging it as a suicide. Dexter and Debra arrive at a crime scene, and he imagines what it would be like if everyone knew the truth about him.