Popping Cherry

"Popping Cherry"

"Popping Cherry" is the third episode of the Showtime series Dexter and originally aired on October 15, 2006.

Plot

After the dead body of another of victim of the so-called "Ice Truck Killer" is found on the ice rink at Miami's Hockey Dome, Dexter helps out Debra, newly transfered to the homicide squad to investigate when Lt. Laguerta, ambitious for a promotion and the media spotlight, decides to have the department pursue a security guard whom they believe is the Ice Truck Killer. Meanwhile, Rita receives an unpleasant visit from her imprisoned ex-husband's drug dealer who confiscates her car, leading Dexter to drive her to and from her hotel receptionist job, while at the same time, Dexter zeros in on his next victim, a recently paroled teenage murderer who harbors some dark secrets of his own. Dexter also flashes back to committing his first killing: a nurse who he suspected was poisoning his terminally sick foster father. Elsewhere, Sgt. Doakes continues to hound the drug kingpin Carlos Guerrero, but gets in over his head when a group of dirty cops decide to take matters involving Guerrero into their own hands.

Guest Stars

• Geoff Pierson as Captain Tom Astor
• Rudolf Martin as Carlos Guerrero
• C. S. Lee as Vince Masuka
• William Henke as Tony Tucci
• Scott William Winters as Detective McNamara
• Mark L. Young as Jeremy Downs
• Denise Crosby as Harry's nurse
• Lizette Carrion as Shanda
• Dominic Janes as Young Dexter
• Tom Schanley
• Amanda Wyss

Trivia

• Dexter borrows a red 1973 Cadillac Eldorado convertible from the police impound.
• The episode title comes from the slang term for piercing a woman's hymen, usually during sex for the first time. In this episode, there is a flashback to Dexter's killing a human for the first time.
• The episode title also refers to the dead prostitutes name, Cherry. Popping is also a slang term for killing someone, so it ties into the sex theme of Cherry being a prostitute and also the fact that she has been murdered.
• Mark L. Young previously appeared with Michael C. Hall in the series Six Feet Under episode "In Case of Rapture".

Reception

IGN gave the episode of a rating of 8/10, stating: "Dexter is doing a solid job of developing the roles of the supporting cast, with Rita, Deb, Doakes and Laguerta all getting a good amount of development. The one exception so far remains Batista, who it's hard to get a handle on at the moment.