'Dexter' Season 6, Episode 1 Recap - 'Those Kinds of Things'

We're back for another season of "Dexter," and our charming little serial killer has had a rough couple of years. The loss of Rita means Dex is now a single father, and though he found a real connection with Lumen, she has moved on.

In fact, everyone seems to be moving on: LaGuerta is being promoted to captain, Angel is likely to move up to Lieutenant, Harrison is about to start school, Quinn has a ring for Deb... heck, even Masuka is teaching a class at a local (online) college. Everybody's moving on except, of course, for Dexter.

Why would he bother? Dex has always been happy with the status quo. And now that he's happily on the hunt again, he really seems to be back to his old self. The "stabbing" at the beginning of the episode was a nice way to start (admittedly, they really had me going there) and you had to love the first kill of the season (clear!).

Plus, Dex had a class-A douchebag to take down this week: Joe Walker, former high school quarterback, who killed his wife and made it look like a suicide. Dex tracks him down at his 20th high school reunion, which is not only convenient but also a perfect manifestation of Dexter's stasis while everyone else is moving forward. Heck, it's weird enough that he still talks to his dead dad... Dex is truly stuck in the past.

But it's a good old-fashioned hunt as Dexter must pull out all the stops to figure out if Joe actually did it... among his many tactics are playing flag football, getting a BJ in the chemistry classroom, and using his newfound popularity amid his fellow alumni. Dex even manages to dance... but don't worry, he's still the same old Dexter: "I have no idea what Hammer Time is. Or how it differs from regular time."

Things are clearly going to get more complicated down the road, however. We're introduced to a couple of truly creepy dudes, played by Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks, who go around quoting weird scripture, disembowling people, and leaving the bodies at the beach with seven baby water snakes sewn up where their intestines were. It's all super gross, but you can see Dexter enjoying the morbidity of it all... and that's why Michael C. Hall is up for the Emmy every year. A very detailed performance.

Through it all, it's clear that Dexter is going to be struggling with the idea of religion and faith this season, as the ad campaigns told us he would. Harrison's school is a Catholic one, and Dex isn't all the comfortable with the idea... and Angel's nonsensical explanation doesn't help much. "I don't believe in anything," he tells the nun at the school. Perhaps by the end of the season, that will change... but for now, Joe Walker's desperate preaching seems to have fallen on indifferent ears.

A few notes on "Those Kinds of Things":

- Dude, Angel's sister is really hot.

- Looks like the chief is involved in some crap that LaGuerta got pulled into. Get ready to be totally bored by that storyline this season.

- The scoreboard, panther mascot head, and football were all really nice touches in Dex's kill room. He went all out this episode.

- What was with that random shooter in the bar with Quinn and Deb? Is he also a religious zealot? That came out of nowhere.