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"Living the Dream" is the first episode of the fourth season of the American television drama series Dexter, and the 37th episode overall. It was written by executive producer Clyde Phillips and directed by Marcos Siega. The episode originally aired on Showtime on September 27, 2009.

In the episode, six months after the events of the season three finale, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is now living with three kids and a wife in a new home. Along with his new son Harrison, the complexities of being a suburban father of three is making it difficult for Dexter to concentrate on his work. Meanwhile, recently retired FBI Special Agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine) has returned to finally capture the "Trinity Killer" (John Lithgow), who has been at large for 30 years.

According to the Nielsen Media Research, "Living the Dream" was watched by 1.5 million viewers, making the episode go up by up 25 percent from the season three premiere.

Plot
The episode opens with Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) in a car as he was trying to make his son, Harrison, go to sleep while he drove, but does not work as Harrison is still awake. The next day, Dexter, who is a blood spatter analysis for the Miami Metro Police Department, is due in court for a trial as a witness for a crime scene. At court, Dexter messes up the prosecution's case by bringing the wrong set of notes to the trial, and as a result Benito Gomez (Gino Aquino) is exonerated of the crime he is accused of committing, thus making Joey Quinn (Desmond Harrington) very infuriated with Dexter for botching the case he worked on. This prompts Dexter to locate Benito and kill him.

At the police headquarters, Lieutenant Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez) assigns Dexter, Quinn, and Dexter's sister Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) to a case as a lot of blood was found at the scene. When they arrive at scene, they see a woman dead in a bathtub that contains her blood. The cause of death was that the woman bled from her femoral artery. The next day, at the crime scene, Dexter digs up the bathroom linoleum and tells Debra that he found blood that did not belong to the victim, though, the sample is too old to belong to the killer, however, Dexter finds a sample beneath the floor. Recently retired FBI Special Agent Frank Lundy ([[Keith Carradine) is at the scene, and due to the woman's cause of death he believes it is the work of The Trinity Killer (John Lithgow). Lundy asks Dexter if he can stop by the station so that they can discuss the murder.

Production
"Living the Dream" was the season premiere episode of the show's fourth season. It was written by executive producer and showrunner Clyde Phillips and directed by Marcos Siega. The episode originally aired on September 27, 2009, on Showtime. After Showtime commissioned the fourth and fifth seasons of Dexter, the staff writers convened during February and March 2009 to brainstorm ideas for the fourth season, and filming began in June 2009. Sara Colleton, an executive producer, in regards to the upcoming fourth season told Entertainment Weekly, "This season, we're going to deal with: Can a serial killer juggle a personal life, work, and his 'dark passenger'?" Colleton explained, "In other words, can Dexter have it all? Which is something all of us grapple with every day of our lives. So we're taking something that is a very human dilemma and putting it through the prism of Dexter's special needs." In the same interview, Colleton revealed that a new individual will cross paths with Michael C. Hall's character "in a major, dramatic way. He will illuminate a lot about Dexter's life and force him to make some tough choices."

Another storyline that Dexter staff writers would focus on would be Debra Morgan, played by Jennifer Carpenter, shedding light on Dexter's dark secret, as Dexter is a serial killer. "All the way through the season, Deb – in her need to know her father more – is going to get closer and closer to figuring out who Dexter's mother was and her relationship with her father." When asked if Dexter would be forced to kill Debra if she were to learn his secret, Colleton said "That is inconceivable to me. Deb and Dexter are the best brother-and-sister team ever."

In May 2009, Showtime announced that actor John Lithgow would guest star in all 12 episodes of Dexter's fourth season as the latest and deadliest serial killer. In a news release, Lithgow's character was described as "an unassuming, mild-mannered suburbanite who has been living a dual life as one of America's most prolific serial killers" as he is dubbed the name the Trinity Killer as he kills in threes. In addition, it was confirmed that actor Keith Carradine would return as his television character Frank Lundy for multiple episodes. Carradine last guest starred in the December 16, 2007, episode "The British Invasion" that aired during the show's third season.

The development of the Trinity Killer/Arthur Mitchell character began with a conversation that Lithgow had with Phillips and executive producer John Goldwyn. "I was offered the part on a Wednesday night, and Thursday morning I heard this long pitch from Clyde Phillips and John Goldwyn ... to lure me into playing the role." Phillips and Goldwyn told him the "story to make it as suspenseful and compelling as they possibly could." As a result of the season's storyline, Lithgow was the only individual to know about it, "and nobody else did. The only other person who did was Michael C. Hall [...] I had this extraordinary secret for three months, and even the directors didn't know what was coming next."

Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Living the Dream" was watched by 1.5 million households, according to the Nielsen Media Research. This season premiere episode was up by up 25 percent from the season three premiere "Our Father", which was seen by 1.22 million viewers. It was the most watched show on Showtime since at least 2004.