'Dexter: Resurrection' Season 2 Episode 3 Recap & Ending Explained: Is The Sleepy-Eyed Stranger Dead?

The second episode of Dexter: Resurrection season 2 ended with the Five Borough Killer (aka FBK) targeting his second victim on Broadway, in Manhattan (making it the second borough where he killed an innocent). The victim was a maintenance worker, whom FBK lured to the terrace of a building before pushing him off, telling him “nobody cares” about his life. “Nobody cares” is actually this guy’s mantra, sort of, and I am quite sure it will eventually explain the motive behind the killings. I also have a theory about it, but I’ll discuss that in a bit. Dexter saw FBK standing near the parapet and immediately ran inside the building to catch the killer. Dexter knew that FBK would try to escape through the elevator, so he pulled the fire alarm to deactivate the elevators so that FBK had no other option but to use the stairs, making it easier for Dexter to confront him and catch him. Also, while pulling the fire alarm, Dexter mentioned that it wasn’t the first time the alarms had helped him out, probably referring to the events of season 2, episode 6 of “Dexter,” the original TV Show. Anyway, Dexter took the stairs to catch the guy, but his body was clearly giving up (with his breath shortening with each stair he took). In a panic, FBK dropped his smart glasses, which captured Dexter’s face (likely blurred because of the distance), and FBK came too close to getting caught. However, it seemed like FBK had scoped out the building before targeting the victim, so he already knew all the entry and exit points. This was why, when Dexter pulled the fire alarm and decided to give him a chase, FBK took the fire escape and disappeared, meaning Dexter missed his “Two Borough Killer,” but he promised himself that he was going to catch him before he could make it to “three.” But for now, Dexter had another engagement. He had to deal with the Sleepy-Eyed Stranger (aka Ray Ballard), who was going to arrive at the city the next day to attend Prater’s party (or that was what he believed). The rest of the episode revolved around how Dexter and his new partner-in-crime, Charley, laid a trap for the Sleepy-Eyed Stranger, and stopped him before he could take the life of another innocent. So without any further ado, allow me to look a little deeper into that.

Spoiler Alert

Ray Ballard Arrives In New York City

Dexter had been looking for Ray Ballard, aka the Sleepy-Eyed Stranger (I’ll call him Sleepy from here onwards) ever since he got his hands on Prater’s file on him; however, after Prater’s mysterious disappearance, Sleepy went underground, making it difficult for Dexter to hunt him down. Back in season 2, episode 2, Charley Brown, Leon Prater’s former head of security, contacted Dexter (a serial killer with a knack for justice) to help her find penance for the crimes she had committed for Prater. She became a part of Prater’s world to fund her mother’s treatment; however, when she told her mother the truth about her former boss, all her mother had was hatred for her. She told Charley that she should have let her die rather than keep her alive with money coming from a psycho billionaire, which is why, after her mother’s death, Charley decided to seek redemption, believing it would help her find peace. So when Charley met Dexter with an offer to locate serial killers for him (the same work she did for Prater), Dexter accepted the offer with a bit of hesitation, mostly because, like most serial killers, Dexter preferred working alone. But while dealing with his midlife crisis, Dexter realized that he needed some change in his life, and taking on a partner-in-crime became his first.

To kickstart their new partnership, Charley sent an invitation (using Prater’s private mail ID) to bring Sleepy to NYC, where she had rented a brownstone on 67 Beekman for a week, using Prater’s slush fund. It’s actually a smart move that Charley rented the townhouse only for a week (instead of making it Dexter’s permanent hunting ground), because Joey Quinn, Dexter’s old friend from Miami Metro, had traced the brownstone’s location through the payment Charley made to the real estate group that owned the series of townhouses in the area. Fortunately, Quinn didn’t catch Dexter or his new partner this time, but his investigation did make Dexter realize that Quinn had become a much more efficient player in this game, and Dexter needed to be extra careful, especially when Quinn had been looking into the disappearance of one of his former targets, that is, Leon Prater, the man who killed Quinn’s best friend, Angel Batista.

In the meantime, Dexter did his preliminary research on Sleepy (by listening to a podcast and reading Prater’s file on him), and it was here that the episode gave us the boring details about the guy. Sleepy liked to kill his victims in their sleep by jabbing an ice pick into the base of their skull, which is how he got his name: the Sleepy-Eyed Stranger (the stranger who walked into people’s homes to mess with his victims by moving their personal items around for days before eventually killing them). According to Prater’s file, Ray Ballard, aka Sleepy, had no family or friends, which he later confirmed to Dexter, telling him that relationships and connections often weigh a person down. Sleepy worked as a day trader (which is an interesting profession for a guy whose passion demands patience and observation) so he could follow his “true calling” at night.

The Sleepy-Eyed Stranger Brings A Passenger

After Sleepy arrived at the townhouse, Dexter found out that he had brought a living victim with him, to kill him in front of Prater. In the previous season, Prater had told Dexter that he’d always wanted to see someone like him (a serial killer) at work. I guess he had been sharing his desire with every guest, which was why, when Charley mentioned “bring a trophy” in the invitation mail she’d sent, Sleepy decided to fulfil Prater’s desire, probably believing he would give him more money this time. And why not? A day trader, with no other job (than sneaking into people’s homes), needs to diversify his income, right? Anyway, Dexter was about to inject him with a dose of etorphine, but as soon as he heard that he had kidnapped a guy named George (the man of the house that Sleepy sneaked into in the previous episode), Dexter decided to postpone the ritual, because he knew a guy like Sleepy would never talk on the kill table, which meant Dexter needed to befriend him and get George’s location out of him before he could kill him. So over a glass of wine, Sleepy talked and told Dexter that he had George locked away in a U-Haul van, but he refused to share the van’s location. Dexter tried to bring up his own experience with New York’s crazy parking signs (referring to season 1, episode 2, when Dexter’s vehicle was towed away), but Sleepy remained adamant and went straight to his room. This meant Dexter had to involve Charley to locate George and save his life.

From the very beginning of their association, Charley had told Dexter that she wouldn’t get involved in the killings, and would only act as a facilitator, but the way Sleepy’s situation panned out, it seemed like Dexter would eventually find a way to get her involved in his “killing business,” whether she wanted to or not. In simple words, with each hunt, Dexter would either make an error or fail to carry out the task, leaving him no other option but to lean on Charley, who would be forced to step in and clean up Dexter’s mess. Well, that’s what partners are for, right? I guess Charley too would realize this, and make a few exceptions in the course of their partnership.

Coming back to the hunt, Charley showed up at the house, telling Sleepy that Prater had arrived in town early and would stay only for a night, so she wanted him to do his “presentation” on the same night. Because of this, Sleepy had to rush to the parking lot where he had parked his U-Haul. Meanwhile, Charley and Dexter followed him to the location, where Charley distracted him, and Dexter tranquilized him. Honestly, they work better as partners, and I think this friendship will slowly blossom into romance, because Dexter likes talking to her as a “sweetheart.” I guess it’s mostly because Charley understands him much better than anyone else, especially his “sense of justice” and his “urge to kill.” While working for Prater (to locate serial killers), she never came across a murderer who seemed to be so bothered about saving lives, and I think this could be the reason why Charley trusts Dexter so much (or even likes him, for that matter). But can she be trusted the same?

When Dexter received a call from Quinn, he told Dexter that he had found Leon Prater, which Dexter knew wasn’t possible, because Dexter himself had disposed of his body in the New York Harbor (I guess that’s what Dexter can call himself now, the New York Harbor Butcher). So basically, what Quinn had found was the transaction Charley had made through Prater’s old bank account, which made Quinn believe that he was still alive. The transaction had given Quinn the location of the townhouse where Dexter was going to do his next killing, so before arriving at the rented house, Dexter took a short detour and met with Quinn to find out what information he had with him. Turns out, Quinn knew the area where the townhouse was located, but because the real estate company owned a lot of houses in the area, Quinn didn’t know which exact property had been rented using Prater’s money. Dexter was a bit relieved, but he still had to keep an eye on Quinn, just to make sure he didn’t end up knocking on the right door. Furthermore, before leaving, Quinn showed Dexter a photograph of Charley and asked him to look out for her. Ironically, Charley was the same “Love Bug” (Charley’s contact in Dexter’s phone) who had been texting Dexter while he was sitting with Quinn, and Quinn even read her message. So once again, luck favored these two. Well, the thing I want to talk about here is the way Quinn brought up Charley’s picture. It seemed like he was already aware that Dexter knew her, and wanted to catch him off guard, which was why he showed him the photograph just as Dexter was about to leave. My theory is that it’s Quinn who contacted Charley, probably with some incriminating evidence, which was when she told Quinn everything about his deceased friend, Angel Batista, and the identity of the real Bay Harbor Butcher. This means Quinn may already know who Dexter is, but he doesn’t have the evidence to prove it, so he’s enlisted Charley to catch Dexter red-handed, that is, during one of his kills (which is similar to the plan that Batista had devised in the previous season). And if this theory holds any water, then contrary to Dexter’s belief, Quinn didn’t get any better at his job (pointing at how he traced a transaction), but instead it was Charley who told Quinn about the rented property. 

There’s also a second possibility, that it’s Charley who contacted Quinn and brought him to New York City, but I don’t think she had any reason to exact revenge on Dexter, especially when he was the one who helped her get rid of her crazy employer. Honestly, I am not sure about either of these theories, but this photograph does suggest that Quinn and Charley are going to cross paths very soon. It’s probable that Quinn will find Dexter dining with Charley in one of the restaurants, which will expose Dexter’s lie, giving Quinn all the reason he needs to believe that Batista may have been right about Dexter.

At night, while Dexter and Charley were following Sleepy, Quinn arrived at Beekman Street, looking for the rented property in question. Dexter spotted him at a distance, making him realize he wouldn’t be able to return to the house as long as Quinn was hanging around the area, which was why, when Dexter found Sleepy’s U-Haul van, he called Quinn, informing him about the weird box which George was locked in. Dexter told him that a sketchy-looking guy was loading this box right in front of the houses on his radar, which convinced Quinn it could be one of Prater’s guys. So Quinn immediately arrived at the parking lot and rescued George from the box, though I am sure he would have a lot of questions for Dexter about the guy he spotted in front of the house. Now, because it was a rented property, neither Dexter nor Charley would be going back in there, and investigating the scene wouldn’t do Quinn any good, because Dexter Morgan never left any evidence behind.

The Sleepy-Eyed Stranger Is Dead

In episode 3’s ending, Dexter brought Sleepy back to the rented townhouse, where he tied him to his kill table and woke him to confront him about his crimes. Dexter was a bit curious about Sleepy’s MO, especially why he killed his victims in their sleep. Sleepy replied that he didn’t want to talk to them (like Dexter) or hear them cry or beg for mercy, because he was already doing them a favor by killing them. He believed that a person’s relationships made them weak and vulnerable. This could explain why he never contacted his parents after he turned 14, and lived a secluded life thereafter. According to Sleepy, these relationships and personal attachments were a lie that made a person a victim in their lives, and by killing them, he freed them from that lie, which was his way of showing them “mercy.” The thing is, I am not all that interested in Sleepy’s motives (or his reasons) for killing people, because all serial killers, one way or the other, have always found a way to convince themselves that whatever they are doing is justified. However, there was something in his speech that actually caught my attention. He told Dexter that his victims might never know what he did to them (because he killed them in their sleep), but their friends and families lived with the pain of losing a loved one for the rest of their lives, and he fed on that pain, from which they never recovered. You see, that’s actually the whole arc of the New York Ripper, who, even though he had stopped claiming new victims (due to his injury), still tormented his victims’ family members by calling them and reminding them of the night when he targeted their loved ones. And the Ripper’s not the only one here. Det. Claudette Wallace pointed out that FBK picked random victims, but the victim’s identity didn’t matter to him. He fell under the category of power-control killers, for whom the murder itself was almost secondary. Their primary motivation was to control their victims, and they derived pleasure from the victim’s psychological torment. And for FBK, the entire city was his victim. He wanted them to live in fear of the Five Borough Killer. So you see, on one side, we have killers who sought pleasure by tormenting the people their victims left behind, and on the other, we have Dexter Morgan, a family guy, a father who knew what it felt like to lose a loved one, and didn’t want to lose another. So this is what makes Dexter different from these guys, and I believe this is the reason why he wants to go after the Ripper, because even though he hasn’t been targeting any new victims, he has been harassing their family members, and Dexter wants to put a stop to his tyranny.

FBK Is Probably Avenging His Partner’s Death

During the chase, both FBK and Dexter left their fingerprints on the side railings, but the cops didn’t bother investigating, because those railings bore the fingerprints of like a thousand people (the residents and everyone who ever came to that building). Wallace also asked the forensic team to check for fingerprints on the fire alarm, but Dexter Morgan was way too smart (and experienced working for the same department) to leave any prints behind. He had covered his hands before pulling the alarm. And the same goes for our tech-savvy killer, FBK, who had researched the building well before making his move, so he didn’t leave behind any other evidence for the cops to build their investigation. In short, the cops had nothing. However, Dexter, who gave the guy a good chase, had actually seen his face, and while describing his facial features, he remembered that FBK was wearing a silver wedding band, which could establish that the guy was either engaged or married. Later in the episode, we saw two mugs, marked as “Mr.” and “Mrs.” in his kitchen cabinet, which once again hinted at the fact that FBK had a partner. So the theory I am floating here is that FBK might have a wife or a fiance he lost, most likely due to someone else’s negligence, and he blamed the entire city for his partner’s death. This could explain why he chanted “nobody cares” before killing his victim. My guess is that his partner might have died under circumstances where a good Samaritan could have saved her life, but they all acted like ignorant city folks and walked away instead of intervening, and after his lover’s death, FBK swore to take revenge. Another point that supports this theory is that FBK started targeting victims recently, which suggests that a recent tragedy may have triggered his actions. Hence, by psychologically tormenting the city, FBK may seek justice for his lover, and I guess, once he’s targeted one victim per borough, the people of the city will be kinder to each other than they were before.

FBK tried to edit the snap from the video (his smart glasses had captured) to make Dexter’s face clear, but it seemed like the camera on his smart glasses had a low resolution, because of which the image was mostly pixelated. FBK still took a printout of the edited image and put it on his wall. I guess he’ll try not to cross paths with the guy in the image, because he knows that Dexter has seen his face, and if he bumps into him on the street again, he will instantly recognize him, so for him, the safest thing is to stay under Dexter’s radar.

Wallace Has A History With The Ripper

When Wallace and her partner, Det. Melvin Oliva, arrived at the scene of FBK’s second murder, Wallace heard someone singing the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.” This was the song Wallace had been listening to from season 1, and she even danced to it during Prater’s gala, which could make some assume that it was her favorite song, but I don’t think “favorite” is the right word here. Later in the episode, Wallace explained to Oliva her attachment to the song. In her first week as a uniformed officer, she responded to a noise complaint reported by a neighbor, and when she reached the flat, all she could see was a young girl, Vicky Lawson, surrounded by a pool of blood. Wallace reported the homicide and stood at the crime scene for 48 minutes, staring at the body, which felt like an eternity. And all this while, the song “Stayin’ Alive” was playing on the record, but Wallace couldn’t turn it off because she didn’t want to tamper with the crime scene. On her way to the apartment, Wallace had walked past a man whose face she didn’t notice, because she had just come to the building to stop the music. And the moment she realized that it was the same man who killed Vicky Lawson, she started cursing herself for not being attentive enough, and she’s been doing it ever since. If she had taken note of his appearance while walking past him in the stairwell, then she would have been able to help the cops catch him, and stop him from killing another 19 women. I believe this regret of Wallace’s could be the reason why she had always been so attentive, observant, and aware of her surroundings, because she didn’t ever want to miss any face or detail, and in doing so jeopardize her investigation. And every time she needed extra focus on something, she played the song “Stayin’ Alive,” which not only reminded him of the Ripper, but also of her faults, pushing her to do better and better each time. Remember, she played this song on her headphones while scrutinizing the scene of Ryan Foster’s murder, and almost caught Harrison in the process.

Anyway, the man singing this song out loud in the crowd was none other than Don Framt, suspected to be the New York Ripper. Wallace mentioned that the details of Vicky Lawson’s case were never released to the public, so if Framt knew about the song, then it could mean only one thing: he was the man that Wallace brushed past on the staircase. This meant that when Wallace brought him in for interrogation after Prater’s file on the Ripper surfaced, Framt recognized the rookie cop from the night and remembered the song, which he decided to sing out loud to taunt and torment Wallace in public. I think revealing this detail is the show’s way of confirming that Framt is the Ripper. It’s also a sign that Framt thinks he’s invincible because the cops have no solid evidence against him, which gives him the power to psychologically torment them by singing songs in public.

When Wallace heard that song, she got a bit triggered and tried to stop  Framt from singing it in public. You see, that’s what the Ripper does; he torments his victims by reminding them of very specific details from his murderous spree, and in Wallace’s case, it was the song. So even though the Ripper hadn’t directly harmed Wallace in any way, or hurt her loved ones, he was still able to psychologically torment her, which, as Wallace mentioned, was the same thing FBK was currently trying to achieve. During the confrontation, Wallace got too close to Framt, and he used the situation to stop Wallace from coming after him or investigating him (the same thing he had asked Captain Mixon to do in the first episode). When everyone was looking at Wallace shouting at an old man, Framt pulled his electric wheelchair back, which made him fall out of the wheelchair. It looked as if Wallace had attacked a feeble man in public, but I think Wallace didn’t even touch this guy. Afterwards, Framt decided to sue the NYPD for harassment, which was his way of keeping them away from him. When Wallace returned to the station, she found out that someone had removed all evidence boards on the Ripper from her cabin and taken her off the Ripper case. Well, it wasn’t the first time Wallace had been removed from the Ripper case, because if I remember correctly, in season 1, Oliva had mentioned that Wallace almost lost her job because of her obsession with the Ripper. The case was reopened after the cops received the Ripper’s file from Prater’s vault, but it seemed like Framt had once again found a way to keep the police away. So with Wallace off the case, there’s only one person left who can take down the Ripper, and I think you already know his name. But Dexter may need Harrison’s permission to go after the Ripper. In the previous episode, he had asked his dad not to target the Ripper, as he knew what he meant to Wallace, and wanted her to arrest him. But with Wallace losing the case herself, I think Harrison will have a change of heart. I am not saying he’s going to ask Dexter to kill him, but instead, he will request that his father search for evidence against Don Framt and dig up any details that the police themselves may have missed. Any new evidence will convince Captain Mixon to reassign the case to Wallace, and you know the rest. In short, I think Dexter will help Wallace put Don Framt behind bars, which I believe would be the most fitting punishment for a guy who thinks he’ll never get arrested. For now, Wallace could use her hypervigilance to catch FBK.

The Five Borough Killer Has A Pattern

While no killer wants to get caught, they still leave behind small details in their work, as they want someone to chase after them, which adds a thrill to their hunts. In FBK’s case, I noticed that the place he AirDropped his last victim’s recorded video turned out to be the “borough” where he targeted the next victim. For example, he dropped the footage of his first killing in Washington Square Park, and later killed a maintenance worker in Manhattan. For his second killing, he AirDropped the video near the subway, and as the closing shot of the episode suggested, he was likely planning his next killing on the subway itself. I know FBK himself informed the police before killing his target, but this small detail may give Wallace and her team a head start figuring out which borough he was going to target next. There are only 3 boroughs left, so there’s not much of a mystery here; however, for Wallace, every life matters, so stopping FBK from claiming any more victims is her utmost priority, and any small detail may help her catch him.

In episode 3’s ending, FBK woke up early in the morning to plant a device inside an empty subway train in the Bronx (the borough he’s going to target next). This particular device (that he had planted on the camera box) disabled the camera so it wouldn’t be able to record him. My guess is that FBK is planning to shoot a target inside a moving subway to mock the police further.

Charley Is Helping Dexter See Things From A Different Perspective

I think the show has made it kinda obvious that Dexter has grown fond of Charley, and it seems like the feeling is mutual. The duo had decided to act like a couple in order to conceal the true motive of their partnership, but while doing so, the two had started sharing things about their personal and professional lives. In Charley’s case, I couldn’t comment whether she likes to socialize or not, but seeing an antisocial guy like Dexter opening up in front of Charley is indeed a breath of fresh air, and certainly means something. In the third episode, Charley once again repeated her motives behind helping Dexter hunt down serial killers, which made Dexter reflect on his own relationship with his father, Harry. While Harry always knew what Dexter was, and developed a code for his son so he could guide him to walk a righteous path, Harry still couldn’t stand the sight of Dexter’s butcherous feast (seeing his son chopping up bodies made him puke), which I think could have made Dexter realize he had to perform his killing ritual alone as he didn’t want his closed ones further away. Because you see, not everyone is insane like Prater, who desires to see a serial killer at work right in front of him.

There’s one peculiar thing about Dexter that had made Charley curious. She knew that Dexter Morgan didn’t target random victims; instead, he only killed serial killers and murderers. So she wanted to know why; why saving innocent lives matters so much to him. The reason Charley asked this question was because Dexter could have simply killed Sleepy when he had the chance, however, he decided to postpone his killing ritual so that he could save George, whom Sleepy had hidden away. Dexter told Charley that it was because his own mother was ripped apart by a chainsaw. The drug cartel found out that his mother was a snitch working for the police, and they brought him to a shipping container where she was brutally murdered in front of a three-year-old Dexter. Later, it was Harry who found Dexter sitting in a pool of his mother’s blood. When Charley heard the story, she quickly found the connection between Dexter’s killing ritual and his childhood trauma. So the way I see it (and the way Charley sees it), Dexter’s killing room is a recreation of that shipping container where the drug cartel killed his mother. Hunting down serial killers is Dexter’s way of reliving that traumatic incident, remolding it in his own way. When the perpetrators killed his mother in front of him, he was just 3, and powerless. He couldn’t save his mother, but not anymore. Now it’s Dexter who has the upper hand (quite literally, because he puts his hand above his target’s chest before stabbing them to death). In this creation, the tables have turned. He puts his victims on the table, forces them to see the horrors they have committed and the lives they have ruined, and then stabs them to death to serve justice. But this time, it’s not Dexter who’s lying in a pool of blood, it’s the perpetrators who target innocent folks. In simple words, Dexter’s killing ritual is his way of making sure no other victim suffers the same fate as his mother. And yes, because Dexter’s mother was killed by a chainsaw, Dexter chops his victim’s body into nine pieces. Well, that’s the connection Charley tried to establish, but as Dexter said, it was just to make disposal easier, so I think I’ll go with that one. Anyway, the duo are now going after the Jaw Splitter, hopefully with less complications this time.

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