Warning: If you read this, you’re going to know what happened last night on the season premiere of Dexter. If you don’t want to know what happened, you should probably check out one of our other stories instead.

Six months after the death of Captain Maria LaGuerta, the Morgan siblings have responded to what happened in last season’s finale in very different ways.

Dexter appears happy – work is good, he’s coaching soccer and gotten the bowling team back to together, and he’s been steadily seeing people on his table whenever his “Dark Passenger” comes a calling.

Deb, on the other hand, appears to have spun out of control.

She’s left Miami Metro, taking a job at Elway Investigations, where series newcomer Sean Patrick Flannery (Boondock Saints) plays the eponymous business owner. Chasing down bail-jumpers and petty thieves, Debra seems to be on the road to destruction, playing boyfriend and girlfriend with the guy she’s supposed to be bringing in, snorting cocaine and sucking back booze.

But as is often the case on everybody’s favourite Showtime series about a serial killer with a code of ethics, things aren’t necessarily as they appear.

Here’s a look at the key elements from Sunday night’s Season 8 premiere, “A Beautiful Day.”

Siblings at Odds

What started as Dexter being concerned for Debra who looked as if she was falling in trouble was really the old bait-and-switch. While Debra seems to be the one losing control, it’s really Dexter that is struggling.

Despite outward appearances, Deb is still doing her job, perhaps better than she needs to. Rather than simply bringing Andrew Briggs in, she’s trying to find out where the half-a-million dollars in jewelry he stole is too, as recovering the merchandise means more money in her pocket.

Unfortunately for Deb, over-protective Dexter starts looking into her whereabouts. He tracks her and Briggs down in a bodega in Fort Lauderdale, where Deb proceeds to tell Dexter that she killed the wrong person six months ago in the shipping container. Briggs comes upon them, but Deb blows it off as no big deal, and walks away.

Undeterred, Dexter keeps digging into Deb’s situation, and discovers that the guy Briggs is supposed to be moving the stolen jewelry through is actually a hitman. With Harrison in tow, Dexter goes to try to warn Debra, and the two get into another shouting match in front of the shady motel she and Briggs are shacked up in.

Briggs comes out the door, recognizes Dexter, and the two wrestle back into the motel room. Briggs reaches for a knife, Dexter beats him to it, and down goes Briggs. Deb tells Dexter to leave, and she calls in the stabbing before leaving a voice message for her boss, Elway, saying Briggs is dead but she has a line on the stolen jewels. As she pulls away from the motel, we see the hitman, El Sapo, parked in his car watching her.

When Dexter returns to his SUV, the back door is open and Harrison is gone. Panic sets in, but Dexter quickly finds his frightened son, picking him up into his arms, trying hard not to get any of Briggs’ blood on him. He later finds Harrison’s stuffed bunny sticking out of his backpack, dotted with blood. While he feverishly tries to wash it off, Dexter realizes that he’s the one out of control, not Deb.

NEXT: This year’s killer and the psychopath whisperer?