Dexter is quickly becoming a must-see show. In the first season the writers and producers make sure the main plot is never out of focus, even if they deviate from time to time. By the last three or four episodes it's all just on the Ice Truck Killer - and his "other" personality, Rudy. This is the second to last episode of the first season, and it's mostly concerned with plot, but very strong and compelling ones as Dexter keeps looking for clues about the bloodbath and where he actually came from, and Debra is all excited (at first worried-excited then overjoyed) to hear that Rudy "needs to talk" with her about something and that they may go away for a weekend. But it's really all wrapped around the other plots - the stabbing of the officer, the lieutenant's firing, and the general tenor of unease as to the reemergence of the Ice Truck Killer with his "surprise" drop-off of body parts.
It's mostly based around 'when will it happen', as one knows Rudy will reveal himself finally to Debra, a real horrorshow waiting to happen. But it's the anticipation, and Dexter's own quest for the truth, that makes it so suspenseful and dramatic. It's actually one of the best episodes of the first season (not quite as edge-of-your-seat as the finale, but close, certainly in the last few minutes), and you get a sense of the impending tragedy that will befall at least some of the characters.
It's mostly based around 'when will it happen', as one knows Rudy will reveal himself finally to Debra, a real horrorshow waiting to happen. But it's the anticipation, and Dexter's own quest for the truth, that makes it so suspenseful and dramatic. It's actually one of the best episodes of the first season (not quite as edge-of-your-seat as the finale, but close, certainly in the last few minutes), and you get a sense of the impending tragedy that will befall at least some of the characters.