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Return to Sender (Dexter)
Encyclopedia
"Return to Sender" is the sixth episode of the first season
of the American television drama series Dexter
, which first aired on November 5, 2006 on Showtime in the United States
. The episode was written by Timothy Schlattmann and was directed by Tony Goldwyn
. In the episode, Dexter Morgan
(Michael C. Hall
) investigates a murder scene where one of his own victims has returned after he disposed of the body. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Rita Bennett (Julie Benz
) tries to prevent her husband Paul from attending their daughter's birthday party, and Lt. María LaGuerta
(Lauren Vélez
) considers adopting a young witness of the murder whom she finds at the crime scene.
Though set in Miami, Florida
, the episode was filmed at various locations in and around Los Angeles
, California
including a salvage yard, a field by Tujunga Wash
and a waterfront house on Hibiscus Island
. Goldwyn, who Erik King
said was "a joy to work with", allowed actor C.S. Lee
to improvise and David Zayas
to memorize his Spanish lines in English and translate them mentally during each take. "Return to Sender" received generally positive reviews from critics.
the previous night. He finds Valerie Castillo's (Valerie Dillman) body lying in the Airstream
trailer where he killed her and her husband Jorge (José Zúñiga
), despite having thrown the corpses into the ocean. He deduces that the "Ice Truck Killer"—a serial killer with whom Dexter has a personal connection—dived underwater to retrieve the woman's body and plant it in the trailer. In the yard, LaGuerta, Sgt. James Doakes (Erik King
) and Dexter's sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter
) discover a young Cuban boy, Oscar (Cesar Flores
), hiding in the trunk of a car who claims to have seen somebody take Valerie into the trailer. He begins to fear discovery, and experiences his first nightmare: Debra is a serial killer with an identical modus operandi
to Dexter. As the investigation proceeds, he attempts to shoot down each of his colleagues' leads on the case. When Debra asks him to read through her report on the killer, profiling a man sharing many of Dexter's characteristics, he second-guesses her theory and she is hurt. Worried about coming under suspicion, he throws all of his knives overboard from his boat, but while looking at the blood drops from his victims, he notices that Valerie's slide has a happy face
etched into the blood. He realizes that this is a hint from the Ice Truck Killer, and plants Jorge's fingerprints and a dry drop of Valerie's blood onto a knife, which he hides in a car at the salvage yard. He convinces Doakes to organize another search of the yard, where an officer (Denver Dowridge) finds the knife. After successfully framing Jorge for Valerie's murder, Dexter discovers that Oscar's description of the man who "saved" him from Valerie is in fact Jesus Christ.
Meanwhile, Rita dissuades her abusive husband Paul from attending their daughter Astor's (Christina Robinson
) birthday party after he is released early from prison. Doakes takes Debra to dinner with his mother (Vernee Watson-Johnson
) and sisters, while LaGuerta bonds with Oscar and considers adopting him until his uncle (Gabriel Salvador) arrives to take him home.
In flashbacks, a teenage Debra (Haley King
) pleads with her father Harry (James Remar
) to bring her on his and Dexter's (Devon Graye
) hunting trips. When Harry forbids her from joining them, she steals his gun and practices shooting cans by herself. Later, Debra lashes out at Dexter in jealousy of the time that he spends alone with their father.
The day of filming in the salvage yard, which took place at LA Japanese Auto Parts in Sun Valley
, California
, was abnormally hot according to Lauren Vélez. The Airstream
trailer in which Dexter's victim is found was brought into the salvage yard for filming externally, but was assembled on a studio sound stage
for shooting scenes inside the trailer. Erik King remarked that the trailer was dirty, odorous and humid—"all the things we needed it to be". Other filming locations included a waterfront house on Hibiscus Island
in Biscayne Bay
, Florida
as the Castillos' home, an empty field next to Sun Valley's Tujunga Wash
where a young Debra practices shooting with Harry's pistol, and a house in a residential neighborhood of Long Beach, California
which stands in for Dexter's childhood home.
King said that Tony Goldwyn was "a joy to work with", while Vélez called him "an absolute actors' director". Shooting a scene in which Det. Angel Batista converses with a witness entirely in Spanish
, David Zayas did not feel confident to memorize all of his Spanish lines. Instead, he learned his lines in English and translated the dialogue mentally during each take. In a scene between Dexter and Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee), Masuka pauses after examining a corpse and says, "I'm hungry." Michael C. Hall said that "C.S. [Lee's] ad libs
are different every time. When he said, 'I'm hungry,' that was the only take that I didn't laugh." When asked about improvising on the show, Lee said that the writers "come up with some good lines themselves. [...] So I pretty much leave it up to them."
wrote that the episode's "most interesting facet" was its flashbacks to Dexter's youth from Debra's perspective, though he felt that the young Debra's hasty apology to Dexter after insulting him was "a slightly cheesy moment". He thought that LaGuerta's bonding with Oscar "was okay, but [the storyline] fell a little flat". TV Guide
s Paula Paige "love[d]" the episode, saying that "It just keeps getting better and better", but was unsure "what Deb having dinner with the Doakes' family has to do with anything". Writing for TV Squad, Jonathan Toomey opened his review of "Return to Sender" by saying, "Dexter did it again. Wowed me. Amazed me. Edge of my seat for the whole hour." He was amused that Debra's profile of Valerie's murderer matched Dexter, but was uninterested in Rita's storyline with her husband.
Both Malene Arpe of the Toronto Star
and Daniel Fienberg of Zap2it
were disappointed with the episode's audio commentary featuring Jennifer Carpenter, Erik King, Lauren Vélez and David Zayas on the first season DVD.
Dexter (season 1)
The first season of Dexter is an adaptation of Jeff Lindsay's first novel in the Dexter series, Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Subsequent seasons have featured original storylines. This season aired from October 1, 2006 to December 17, 2006, and follows Dexter's investigation of "The Ice Truck Killer"...
of the American television drama series Dexter
Dexter (TV series)
Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
, which first aired on November 5, 2006 on Showtime in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The episode was written by Timothy Schlattmann and was directed by Tony Goldwyn
Tony Goldwyn
Anthony Howard "Tony" Goldwyn is an American actor and director. He portrayed the villain Carl Bruner in Ghost, Colonel Bagley in The Last Samurai, and the voice of the title character of the Disney animated Tarzan.-Early life:...
. In the episode, Dexter Morgan
Dexter Morgan
Dexter Morgan is a fictional character in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay, including Darkly Dreaming Dexter , Dearly Devoted Dexter , Dexter in the Dark , Dexter by Design , Dexter is Delicious and Double Dexter...
(Michael C. Hall
Michael C. Hall
Michael Carlyle Hall is an American actor whose television roles include David Fisher on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and Dexter Morgan on the Showtime series Dexter. In 2009, Hall won a Golden Globe award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in Dexter.-Early life:Hall was born in...
) investigates a murder scene where one of his own victims has returned after he disposed of the body. Meanwhile, his girlfriend Rita Bennett (Julie Benz
Julie Benz
Julie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...
) tries to prevent her husband Paul from attending their daughter's birthday party, and Lt. María LaGuerta
Maria LaGuerta
Captain María Esperanza del Alma LaGuerta , known in the books as Migdia LaGuerta, is a fictional character in the Showtime television series Dexter and the novels by Jeff Lindsay upon which it is based. She is portrayed by Lauren Vélez in the television series...
(Lauren Vélez
Lauren Vélez
Lauren Vélez is an American actress of Puerto Rican descent and the twin sister of actress Loraine Vélez. Her most notable roles are as María LaGuerta on Dexter, Detective Nina Moreno on Fox's New York Undercover, and Dr...
) considers adopting a young witness of the murder whom she finds at the crime scene.
Though set in Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, the episode was filmed at various locations in and around Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
including a salvage yard, a field by Tujunga Wash
Tujunga Wash
Tujunga Wash is a stream in Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Los Angeles River, providing about a fifth of its flow, and drains about...
and a waterfront house on Hibiscus Island
Hibiscus Island
Hibiscus Island is a neighborhood on an man-made island located in Biscayne Bay, in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Hibiscus Island lies just north of Palm Island. It is an exclusive residential neighborhood with relatively high property values...
. Goldwyn, who Erik King
Erik King
Erik King is an American actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sgt. Doakes on Showtime's television series Dexter.-Early life:King attended Morehouse College, where he won a varsity letter in track and field and graduated summa cum laude. For his honors thesis, he adapted the 1985 film...
said was "a joy to work with", allowed actor C.S. Lee
C.S. Lee
Charles S. "Charlie" Lee , known professionally as C.S. Lee, is a Korean American actor, most notably known for playing Vince Masuka on the Showtime series Dexter.-Personal life:...
to improvise and David Zayas
David Zayas
David Zayas is a Puerto Rican theatrical, film, and television actor. He is most known for his roles as Angel Batista on Showtime's series Dexter and as Enrique Morales on the HBO prison drama Oz.- Life and career :...
to memorize his Spanish lines in English and translate them mentally during each take. "Return to Sender" received generally positive reviews from critics.
Plot
While eating breakfast at Rita's house, Dexter is called to a crime scene, only to discover that it is the same salvage yard where he committed a double murderDouble murder
Double murder is a term used to describe the act of unlawfully killing two people. This is commonly punished by back-to-back life sentences. It is possible but rare for a double-murder charge to be enforced in cases of homicide in which a pregnant woman is murdered, thereby killing her unborn...
the previous night. He finds Valerie Castillo's (Valerie Dillman) body lying in the Airstream
Airstream
Airstream is a brand of luxury recreational vehicle manufactured in Jackson Center, Ohio, USA. It is currently a division of Thor Industries. The company, which now employs fewer than 400, is the oldest in the industry. Airstream trailers are easily recognized for their distinctive rounded...
trailer where he killed her and her husband Jorge (José Zúñiga
Jose Zuniga
José Zúñiga is an American actor.Zúñiga was born in Honduras. He is best known for his roles in films such as Alive, Ransom, Con Air, Fresh, Crooklyn, Next Stop Wonderland and Twilight...
), despite having thrown the corpses into the ocean. He deduces that the "Ice Truck Killer"—a serial killer with whom Dexter has a personal connection—dived underwater to retrieve the woman's body and plant it in the trailer. In the yard, LaGuerta, Sgt. James Doakes (Erik King
Erik King
Erik King is an American actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sgt. Doakes on Showtime's television series Dexter.-Early life:King attended Morehouse College, where he won a varsity letter in track and field and graduated summa cum laude. For his honors thesis, he adapted the 1985 film...
) and Dexter's sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter
Jennifer Carpenter
Jennifer Leann Carpenter is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Emily Rose in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Debra Morgan on Dexter, and the lead role in the 2008 horror movie Quarantine.-Early life:...
) discover a young Cuban boy, Oscar (Cesar Flores
Cesar Flores
Cesar D. Flores is a Canadian actor who has appeared in various shows and movies such as Yes, Dear, ER, My Name is Earl, Dexter, Numb3rs and Daddy Day Care. Currently, he voices Chris in W.I.T.C.H., replacing Toby Linz...
), hiding in the trunk of a car who claims to have seen somebody take Valerie into the trailer. He begins to fear discovery, and experiences his first nightmare: Debra is a serial killer with an identical modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
to Dexter. As the investigation proceeds, he attempts to shoot down each of his colleagues' leads on the case. When Debra asks him to read through her report on the killer, profiling a man sharing many of Dexter's characteristics, he second-guesses her theory and she is hurt. Worried about coming under suspicion, he throws all of his knives overboard from his boat, but while looking at the blood drops from his victims, he notices that Valerie's slide has a happy face
Smiley
A smiley, smiley face, or happy face, is a stylized representation of a smiling human face, commonly occurring in popular culture. It is commonly represented as a yellow circle with two black dots representing eyes and a black arc representing the mouth...
etched into the blood. He realizes that this is a hint from the Ice Truck Killer, and plants Jorge's fingerprints and a dry drop of Valerie's blood onto a knife, which he hides in a car at the salvage yard. He convinces Doakes to organize another search of the yard, where an officer (Denver Dowridge) finds the knife. After successfully framing Jorge for Valerie's murder, Dexter discovers that Oscar's description of the man who "saved" him from Valerie is in fact Jesus Christ.
Meanwhile, Rita dissuades her abusive husband Paul from attending their daughter Astor's (Christina Robinson
Christina Robinson (actress)
Christina Robinson is an American child actress, best known for playing Astor Bennett in Showtime TV series, Dexter. Twin sister of Courtney Robinson.-Career:...
) birthday party after he is released early from prison. Doakes takes Debra to dinner with his mother (Vernee Watson-Johnson
Vernee Watson-Johnson
Vernee Watson-Johnson is an American actress. She is best known for her recurring roles as Vernajean Williams on Welcome Back, Kotter and as Viola "Vy" Smith on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, playing the mother of Will Smith's character.She played a small role on Sister, Sister as Lisa's best...
) and sisters, while LaGuerta bonds with Oscar and considers adopting him until his uncle (Gabriel Salvador) arrives to take him home.
In flashbacks, a teenage Debra (Haley King
Haley King
Haley King is an American teen actress.. She is the younger sister of Kelli King and older sister of Joey King who are also actresses. King has landed guest roles in many TV shows and has been nominated several times for Young Artist Award: best guest-starring young actress.- Filmography...
) pleads with her father Harry (James Remar
James Remar
James Remar is an American actor and voice artist. He has appeared in movies, video games, and TV shows. He is perhaps best known as Richard, the on-off tycoon boyfriend of Kim Cattrall's character in Sex and the City, as Ajax in The Warriors, as the homicidal maniac Albert Ganz in the 1982...
) to bring her on his and Dexter's (Devon Graye
Devon Graye
Devon Graye is an American actor.-Biography:He is best known for his role as Teenage Dexter in the American television drama series Dexter airing on Showtime and the lead role Scott in After Dark Original's Husk.and as the role of Marco in the movie adaption of Meg Cabot's Avalon...
) hunting trips. When Harry forbids her from joining them, she steals his gun and practices shooting cans by herself. Later, Debra lashes out at Dexter in jealousy of the time that he spends alone with their father.
Production
Sun Valley, Los Angeles, California
Sun Valley is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, about 15 miles away from Downtown Los Angeles....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, was abnormally hot according to Lauren Vélez. The Airstream
Airstream
Airstream is a brand of luxury recreational vehicle manufactured in Jackson Center, Ohio, USA. It is currently a division of Thor Industries. The company, which now employs fewer than 400, is the oldest in the industry. Airstream trailers are easily recognized for their distinctive rounded...
trailer in which Dexter's victim is found was brought into the salvage yard for filming externally, but was assembled on a studio sound stage
Sound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
for shooting scenes inside the trailer. Erik King remarked that the trailer was dirty, odorous and humid—"all the things we needed it to be". Other filming locations included a waterfront house on Hibiscus Island
Hibiscus Island
Hibiscus Island is a neighborhood on an man-made island located in Biscayne Bay, in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Hibiscus Island lies just north of Palm Island. It is an exclusive residential neighborhood with relatively high property values...
in Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
as the Castillos' home, an empty field next to Sun Valley's Tujunga Wash
Tujunga Wash
Tujunga Wash is a stream in Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Los Angeles River, providing about a fifth of its flow, and drains about...
where a young Debra practices shooting with Harry's pistol, and a house in a residential neighborhood of Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
which stands in for Dexter's childhood home.
King said that Tony Goldwyn was "a joy to work with", while Vélez called him "an absolute actors' director". Shooting a scene in which Det. Angel Batista converses with a witness entirely in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, David Zayas did not feel confident to memorize all of his Spanish lines. Instead, he learned his lines in English and translated the dialogue mentally during each take. In a scene between Dexter and Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee), Masuka pauses after examining a corpse and says, "I'm hungry." Michael C. Hall said that "C.S. [Lee's] ad libs
Ad libitum
Ad libitum is Latin for "at one's pleasure"; it is often shortened to "ad lib" or "ad-lib"...
are different every time. When he said, 'I'm hungry,' that was the only take that I didn't laugh." When asked about improvising on the show, Lee said that the writers "come up with some good lines themselves. [...] So I pretty much leave it up to them."
Reception
"Return to Sender" was generally praised by critics. Eric Goldman of IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
wrote that the episode's "most interesting facet" was its flashbacks to Dexter's youth from Debra's perspective, though he felt that the young Debra's hasty apology to Dexter after insulting him was "a slightly cheesy moment". He thought that LaGuerta's bonding with Oscar "was okay, but [the storyline] fell a little flat". TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
s Paula Paige "love[d]" the episode, saying that "It just keeps getting better and better", but was unsure "what Deb having dinner with the Doakes' family has to do with anything". Writing for TV Squad, Jonathan Toomey opened his review of "Return to Sender" by saying, "Dexter did it again. Wowed me. Amazed me. Edge of my seat for the whole hour." He was amused that Debra's profile of Valerie's murderer matched Dexter, but was uninterested in Rita's storyline with her husband.
Both Malene Arpe of the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
and Daniel Fienberg of Zap2it
Tribune Media Services
Tribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...
were disappointed with the episode's audio commentary featuring Jennifer Carpenter, Erik King, Lauren Vélez and David Zayas on the first season DVD.