All Quiet on the Dextern Front

Dex goes to talk to Sue Lynn about Benny

**All Quiet on the Dextern Front** is the sixteenth episode of the first season and the 16th overall episode of **Stumptown**.

## Short Summary

Dex takes on a new case helping a mother who has lost custody of her children, which triggers parallels to her time in Afghanistan. After memories of Afghanistan reemerge, Dex spirals and must face the reasons behind Benny's death. Back at The Bad Alibi, Grey and Tookie coach Ansel on how to ask a girl out on a date.

## Full Summary

Grey is upset because Dex drove her crappy car to LA and her spare tire was flat. They enter their motel room and discover a single bed.

They have consumed all the alcohol from the mini-bar and Dex turns on the TV to discover that it's tuned into porn. They watch it for a while. Grey and Dex float the idea of having sex, as a one-time thing, but decide against it and go to sleep. They can't sleep until Dex turns off the TV. Then they hear a knock on the door and someone saying he has a pizza with extra meaty sausage.

Tookie asks how their trip to LA was and they say aside from all the things that happened, it was pretty uneventful. They get dodgy when asked about the drive back. Grey then notices Jeremy Stevens entering the bar with a woman and Dex goes to see him.

The woman is Jeremy's cousin, Aimee McBrian. She's reluctant to let Dex help her, but Jeremy encourages her to give Dex a chance. Jeremy explains that she has priors, but she didn't do what they said she did. Her priors were all petty theft, except the armed robbery. She drove her ex to a liquor store and he went in and robbed the place. She didn't know he was going to do that until he came out with a bag of cash. She was charged and took a plea deal, meaning she's guilty according to public record. Now an old man, Mr. Schumaker, has been beat up and robbed and they think she did it. She's facing losing custody of her daughters, Sara and Olive. Dex looks at the pictures and starts to struggle.

Dex has a flashback to Major Volkers interrogating Hajira Abbassin, asking if she ever wants to see her kids again.

Jeremy explains that her children are in foster care, which is especially hard on Olive, who doesn't do well with new people. Jeremy doesn't want history repeating itself.

Dex has another flashback to Hajira being dragged away as she calls out that they took her children.

Jeremy asks Dex if she's okay. She lies and says she is. She then tells them she has to go and leaves.

At home, Dex starts drinking as she's overwhelmed by flashbacks. She tries to calm herself down, but keeps seeing Hajira.

Dex remembers Volkers telling her that Hajira's husband was the leader of an insurgent cell. They believe her husband stole some explosives and is planning to use them. They're looking for her husband, but Volkers wants Dex to make her talk. Dex reminds him she's a civilian.

Dex starts to break things and scream. She's interrupted when Grey comes to the door. He's shocked by the destruction in the house. He says it was a good thing Ansel wasn't there, but she says if Ansel were there, it wouldn't have gotten this far. She doesn't want to talk about it. Grey asks why she walked out on the case and she says it has nothing to do with this, though Grey thinks it does. Dex admits that she's ashamed. She doesn't know where to start to talk about it. She's tired of running away from it. Grey tells her not to.

Dex goes to Jeremy and asks if Aimee did it. She needs to know. Jeremy says Aimee's a good person and a good mom who needs Dex's help. Dex agrees to do it.

Ansel invites Grey to go get frozen yogurt, which they've done every day for a week. Grey wants to know why it's so special. Ansel says Lila works there. She quit the soccer team and Ansel didn't see her for weeks. Grey asks if Ansel will ask her out if they go to the frozen yogurt place. Ansel asks for help. Tookie overhears and tells Ansel not to let Grey help. Tookie offers his help instead.

Dex reviews the case file with Miles, which says the old man said he was beat up by a hooker. Aimee's not a hooker. Dex starts to defend Aimee, but Miles says the old man identified her. Aimee was in the lineup because someone tipped the police off anonymously. Miles defends the arrest and says he's too busy to help her more. Dex looks over to see a woman being questioned and then sees Hajira in her place.

Dex gives Hajira a drink and tries to earn her trust. She then says she needs information about her husband while Wali translates. She wants to know when he's planning to use the explosives. She says she doesn't know, but Dex thinks she does. Dex tells her what they know, but she says she's not involved in his business. Dex thinks she must overhear things when her husband has meetings. Hajira says something and Wali translate it to say she won't tell them. Dex says that's not what she said and says a phrase back to Hajira in Pashto. They exchange Pashto idioms and Dex learns that Hajira speaks English. Dex excuses Wali. Hajira says her Pashto is good and Dex says she has an ear and uses it when she's outside the gates. Hajira says if she tells Dex anything, her husband will never forgive her. Dex offers protection, but Hajira says her husband has her children. If Dex can get her children, she'll tell them what they need to know.

Ansel practices asking a girl out with Grey. Tookie interrupts with his own input, which conflicts with Grey's. Grey then sends Ansel over to talk to another girl in the bar, to practice.

Dex asks Aimee questions about the attack. Aimee is evasive, but then admits that she serves drinks at an illegal gambling ring. That's where was the night of the assault. It's a violation of her parole, which is why she didn't tell the police. She has an alibi, so they just need to prove it. Dex asks her for more information. Aimee says they gamble over video games. They can earn big and like the rush. Aimee remembers who won that night.

Dex goes onto a tech campus, but sees that you need a badge to get in. She sees a guy on a bike there to deliver food and takes the food out of his pack. She pretends to be delivering food to get the location of Cameron Dorsey.

Dex approaches Cameron and asks her about the illegal gaming tournament. She denies any knowledge and gets up to leave. Dex knows she could lose her job if they find out. Cameron asks if they can talk about it somewhere else, because her boss is nearby. She has Dex look and then takes off on a scooter. Dex steals a scooter from someone nearby and starts to chase her.

Dex continues to chase Cameron on the scooter. She gives up on the scooter and chases her on foot. She stops her and says she just needs to know if her client was at the game that night. Cameron says she doesn't remember anything from that night. She won $100,000 and got pretty wasted. She asks if Cameron recognizes Aimee. Cameron says someone may have recorded something. Some of the players stream on Twitch. Dex lets Cameron go.

Grey talks to Denny about his father. Denny gives no response other than a belch. Dex then comes in and tells Grey she took the case. She thanks him for showing up. Dex then sees Ansel nearby with a crowd of woman around him. Grey tells her it's under control.

Ansel talks to the women about scoring a goal in soccer. Dex interrupts and pulls Ansel away, asking if he knows what Twitch is.

Ansel shows Dex gaming videos on Twitch. Dex spots Aimee in the background of the video they're watching.

Dex shows the video to Valerie Kasra, who says it's not enough. It's timestamped 9:17 and the man didn't pick up the prostitute who robbed him until 9:30. Dex finds it hard to believe that she could get from the game to the street in that time. Miles also reminds her there was a game that night, which means extra traffic. Valerie remains firm that it isn't enough. Dex is upset by this, believing Valerie is treating her as guilty until proven innocent instead of the other way around. Valerie leaves, and Miles questions Dex on why this case is so important to her. She says all her cases are important to her. Once she's gone, Kara approaches Miles and already has the case file ready before he can ask for it. Miles wants to take another look at the victim.

Dex is doing shots when Jeremy comes in and tells her to take it easy. She says she's done with the case, because the system has given up on Aimee. Jeremy wants Dex to tell him why she's bailing. Dex has another flashback to Hajira.

Dex tries to convince Volkers to get Hajira's kids for her, but he won't. He tells her to get the intel by any means necessary. She reminds him that torture is a war crime. He tells her they have a team for that. All she has to do is ask the questions. She refuses, so he says he'll get someone else. She threatens to report him. He says it's them or her.

Dex tells Jeremy she keeps playing it in her mind over and over again, thinking if she had done things differently, it wouldn't have gotten to that point. Jeremy asks what she did. She says she threatened them and the torture never happened, but the attack did. Jeremy says that's not on her. She says she disobeyed an order, but Jeremy says it was unlawful. It could have changed things. She blames herself. Aimee reminds her of Hajira. They're both victims of circumstance. Jeremy says she can't hold onto it forever. It's in the past. Dex says not all of it is.

Kara and Miles approach Mr. Schumaker, who is watering his plants. He agrees to talk to them, but tells them to watch the petunias, as he promised his wife he'd keep them alive after she passed. He says he just wanted a little companionship, which is why he picked up a prostitute. He goes through the sequence of what happened to him that night. He mentions that before she knocked him out and robbed him, she smoked a cigarette, so Kara and Miles start to look for it. Kara finds it after a few minutes.

Lila hands Ansel his frozen yogurt.

Outside the shop, Tookie and Grey ask him how it went and he says he didn't ask. Grey tells him to do what he did in the bar and it'll be fine. Ansel goes back inside and asks Lila to get lunch tomorrow, like a date. She says yes.

Miles talks to Dex about Aimee being in AA on Thursdays at 3 PM. They found a cigarette and Aimee doesn't smoke. They got a DNA hit on Paloma Wagner, who had priors for robbery and prostitution. She is also in AA on Thursdays at 3 PM. Miles and Dex look through the glass at her and note that she has a resemblance to Aimee. Miles believes she called in the tip to throw the police off her trail and Mr. Schumaker couldn't tell the difference in the lineup. They don't have enough to hold her and she's refusing to talk. Dex tells him just to let it go.

Dex sits next to Paloma and starts a conversation. She shows Paloma pictures of Aimee's kids: Sara, who is eight and has asthma but still helped her t-ball team win championships last year, and Olive, who is five and super shy and knows a lot about rocks. She says they're in foster care, like Paloma herself was. She then says Sara and Olive have a mother who loves them, but she was arrested for a crime she didn't commit. Paloma tells Dex to leave her alone. Dex tells her if she walks away, she'll regret it. Dex knows that feeling of regret. She tells Paloma she can do something about it.

Aimee and Jeremy come into the bar and tell Dex the cops dropped all the charges. Paloma confessed and Aimee's custody has been reinstated. She thanks Dex for fighting for her. Jeremy then offers to contact a guy he knows in military intelligence, so Dex can learn what happened that night. Dex says she knows what happened that night because she was there. Jeremy reminds her that, like Aimee said, you're only as sick as your secrets.

Lila and Ansel talk while Tookie and Grey watch from nearby and comment how cute they are together. Tookie thinks it's bad to deny your feelings. Grey says that he and Dex might be a thing someday, but not right now. He wants Tookie to let it go. Tookie says he will, but then tells a story from his own past. His girlfriend wanted to get married, but he was busy starting his business. On the night of the grand opening, his girlfriend didn't come and he realized he didn't have anyone to share it with, so he proposed the next day and they're still married. Grey isn't sure what that has to do with him. Tookie says he can't build an empire without an empress. Grey says Dex is fighting demons and he can't take that on. He's not what she needs right now. Tookie asks what she does need.

As Dex drives, she has flashbacks to Benny's death. She finally drives up to where Sue Lynn is working with a horse. Dex tells Sue Lynn she has to tell her something about how Benny died.

Dex says she is the reason Benny is dead. If she had followed orders and done her job ... Sue Lynn asks if she means letting them torture Hajira. Dex says Benny would still be alive. Dex wanted to tell Sue Lynn sooner. She doesn't want forgiveness, but says Sue Lynn deserves to know the truth. Dex says Sue Lynn should hate her and blame her for everything. Sue Lynn says she should, but as Dex goes to leave, she says Benny wouldn't have done it. She asks if Dex is sure it would have made a difference. It may have. Sue Lynn said if she'd let them torture that woman, she'd still be haunted by what ifs. Sue Lynn says she did the right thing, which is something she's always admired about Dex.

Dex arrives at home and is surprised to see Grey there. She tells him the case is solved, but she wishes she felt better. Ansel then comes down the stairs and announces he's moving back home. He can be independent from home. Ansel says Grey said Dex needs him. Ansel leaves to finish unpacking and Dex says she won. Grey says it's not a competition. Dex goes to answer a knock at the door as Grey goes to help Ansel. It's Jeremy and he asks if they can talk.

Jeremy says he talked to his friend. There's stuff that she doesn't know about that night. There was an investigation afterward into the explosion that killed Benny. There's more to the story, a lot more.

## Cast

* Dex Parios
* Grey McConnell
* Sue Lynn Blackbird
* Ansel Parios
* Tookie Alvarez
* Miles Hoffman
* Jeremy Stevens
* Major Volkers
* Cameron Dorsey
* Valerie Kasra
* Kara Lee
* Aimee McBrian
* Hajira Abbassin
* Mr. Schumaker
* Paloma Wagner
* Denny
* Wali
* Lila
* Corbin
* Security
1/20
### Main Cast

* Cobie Smulders as Dex Parios
* Jake Johnson as Grey McConnell
* Tantoo Cardinal as Sue Lynn Blackbird
* Cole Sibus as Ansel Parios
* Adrian Martinez as Tookie Alvarez
* Camryn Manheim as Lieutenant Bobby Cosgrove (credit only)
* Michael Ealy as Detective Miles Hoffman

### Guest Stars

* Robert Adamson as Jeremy Stevens
* Kirk Acevedo as Major Volkers
* Christine Ko as Cameron Dorsey
* Seana Kofoed as Valerie Kasra
* Fiona Rene as Detective Kara Lee
* Toni Torres as Aimee McBrian
* Sitara Attaie as Hajira Abbassin
* Bernie Kopell as Mr. Schumaker

### Co-Starring

* Michele Plaia as Paloma Wagner
* Chris Grace as Denny
* Ali Olomi as Wali
* Jordan Nichole Wall as Lila
* Jared Wernick as Nerdy Guy/Corbin
* Kelly Easter as Security

## Music

* She sees another woman's face reflected.
 "Maniac"
 "Dear God"

## Notes and Trivia

* This episode scored 2.32 million viewers.