"Father Knows Best" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American

television drama series In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

Dexter Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...

'', which first aired on November 26, 2006 on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

in the United States. The episode was written by

Melissa Rosenberg Melissa Anne Rosenberg is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She has worked in both film and television and has won a Peabody Award. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two Writers Guild of A ...

and directed by Adam Davidson.

Plot

Dexter learns that Joe Driscoll, his biological father who he assumed had been long dead, has only recently died and left all of his belongings to Dexter, including his house in Dade City. Dexter travels to the house with

Rita Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, a ...

. Later,

Debra Debra is a feminine given name. Debra may refer to: People * Debra Adelaide (born 1958), Australian writer * Debra Allbery (born 1957), American poet * Debra R. Anderson (1949-2022), American politician * Debra Austin (born 1955), American bal ...

and Rudy who unbeknownst to her is the Ice Truck Killer arrive to assist Dexter in cleaning out the house. Dexter suspects Driscoll was murdered. Flashbacks to Dexter's childhood show his questioning his adoptive father Harry about his real parents, learning that Driscoll had donated some of his blood to the young Dexter for surgery. Irma, Driscoll's elderly neighbor, recognizes Rudy as a cable repairman who happened to be Driscoll's last visitor before he died. After Rudy leaves the premises with Dexter and his family, he later returns to the elderly woman's house dressed as the cable repairman. Paul begins to slide back into his old abusive habits when Rita attempts to prevent him from seeing their children. Back in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Batista Batista is a Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player * Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also ...

is questioned about a shooting incident involving Doakes, who claimed to have fired in

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

. Dexter's analysis of the blood spatter evidence suggests that the suspect was not shot from where Doakes says he had shot him. Batista decides to report his actual observations, the forensic evidence, and the discrepancies with Doakes' story to Internal Affairs, even though this will brand him as a rat. It turns out that the man Doakes killed was a former Haitian terrorist militia member of the Tonton Macoute, whom he had encountered during a black ops mission overseas. In the end, the situation gets kicked under the rug.

Medical inaccuracies

In the flashback scene where young Dexter is being wheeled to the operating room, the physician informs him that he is fortunate that his father knows a donor with blood compatible with Dexter's (i.e. AB negative). Although technically AB negative blood is rare (approximately 1% of U.S. population), AB negative blood type patients are in fact able to receive blood from all negative blood types.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Father Knows Best 2006 American television episodes Dexter (TV series) episodes Television episodes directed by Adam Davidson (director)