Dexter fans, rejoice! Our avenging angel has returned! Season 5 of Dexter dealt with the death of Rita, the loss of the Trinity Killer, who was the closest thing to a normal family man that Dexter could see, and the evolution of feelings that Dexter now has to deal with. We were introduced to Lumen Pierce, a young woman who Dexter feels an emotional connection to, who inevitably leaves because her “Dark Passenger” left.

Season 6 begins with Dexter telling us that things are going well; he’s feeding his Dark Passenger regularly with the scum of the earth, while killing two ambulance drivers, Ben and Roger, who were killing their passengers to harvest their organs for money.

He still has his apartment with Harrison, only now Angel’s sister stays there as well, helping Dexter cope with the loss of Rita and taking care of Harrison when Dexter has one of his late nights.

He’s getting ready to go to his 20 year High School Reunion, where he has no intention of actually making contact with any of the people he went to high school with, but to stalk his prey. Joe Walker married Janet, a girl whom Dexter was friendly with in high school. Janet killed herself three years prior, but there was blood under her fingernails. Dexter decides that with Joe’s history, it was time for some investigation. But first, he takes Harrison to a prestigous preschool, where he is asked if he is Catholic. He replies that he’s not. The nun who is giving the tour of the school lists off a few more religions, all of which Dexter replies that he’s not. When she asked him what he believes in, Dexter says simply “Nothing.” Deb was concerned, and asked him how he had no faith, what did he believe in. Dexter says he believes in a set of rules to keep himself out of trouble, but throughout the episode you can tell he doesn’t understand faith or the concept behind it.

Faith will be playing a big role in this season, as we see Professor Gellar (played by Edward James Olmos) and Travis Marshall (played by Colin Hanks) going freshwater snake hunting. Gellar says they are looking for a pregnant snake, because freshwater snakes do not lay eggs, they give birth live. They capture a female, and you can see the babies crawling in her belly.

Later, Travis talks to a fruit stand owner, whom we assume he clubs over the head with a fence post when his back is turned. Dexter is called to the scene where there are 3 pounds of intestines in the scale. Using his natural ability to place a scene together, it is decided that the victim was deceased or unconscious when the intestines were removed.

A day later a body washes to shore, and again Dexter is called to the scene. There is an Alpha/Omega sign carved into the body with weird stitching. After they determine it is the body of the fruit vendor, they see something moving in the belly where the carvings are. Dexter snips off some of the stitches, and 7 snakes come pouring out. Dexter knows this is planned, and is intrigued to find the killer.

Meanwhile, back in the world of High School Reunions, Dexter is trying (and failing) at getting a drop of Joe’s blood. He finally succeeds when playing Flag Football, and it turns out the blood is a match. Dexter plots to get rid of Joe, but gets a little sidetracked from the high school Prom Queen Tricia. After receiving her “Thanks” for letting her copy off of all of his tests, he swipes her phone and sends a text to Joe to meet in the groundskeeper shed. Joe, thinking its time for a little fun, heads that way, only to get put to sleep by Dexter.

Dexter confronts him about Janet’s death, and when he asked why Joe did what he did, he replied that divorces are too expensive. In disbelief, Dexter questions Joe’s faith. Joe tries to explain that because he repented for killing Janet he will receive everlasting life, and tries to talk Dexter out of killing him so that he can do the same, but Dexter refuses, and makes Joe his third victim for this episode.

Quinn has been acting strangely the whole episode. He asks Deb out to dinner to talk privately. Deb, not thinking much of it, starts talking about work. Quinn tells her he doesn’t want to talk about work, but leaves to go to the bathroom. In there, you see the ring and realize that he is going to propose to Deb. While he’s in the bathroom, a shooter comes in and starts shooting up the place. Deb takes action immediately, and after Quinn emerges from the bathroom the two of them take down the shooter.

Harrison is accepted in the preschool, and Dexter laments that he might not understand faith, but he wants his son to have as close to a normal life as possible. “And who knows, maybe he’ll grow up to think of those kinds of things”

So it looks like this season we’re looking at a lot of faith, and how does a serial killer have it? In the previews for next week it looks like we’ll be introduced even more to Professor Gellar and Travis, and a new character named Brother Sam.

What are you looking forward to most this season? Are you excited to see how faith plays out?