(S03E10) So much is going to happen in the last two episodes of Dexter, and this episode set it all up. It was a tense one, and I enjoyed watching Dexter's and Miguel's little game of cat and mouse.
However, I really missed some of the lighter moments we often see in Dexter, like the quotes with double meanings, the underlying serial killer humor, if you will. There was one at the very beginning, though, that was classic Dexter. On toying with the idea of killing Miguel, Dexter says in his voice over: "He's also my best man. I'd be expected to grieve."
Join me after the jump as I delve into some of the foundations that have been laid for the last two episodes.
Maria is a smart lady, and she is clearly beginning to put the pieces together that Miguel may have something to do with Ellen Wolf's death. Very nice direction in the scene where Maria gets blinded by Miguel's halogen headlights. What worries me, though, is that Maria is also lonely and vulnerable; will she allow herself to fall victim to Miguel's manipulations? It looks as though she may have gotten her head screwed on straight when Syl came to her house. Let's hope.
We really see that Dexter has learned his lesson -- that he went too far with Miguel -- when he takes great pains to steer Angel away form any vigilante justice on Barbara's attacker. Is that really all there is to this storyline, though? I am really wondering if it will somehow connect to Masuka's accusation of last week, when he says that she was the one talking lewdly to him.
Where are you all on the Quinn storyline? I am respecting him a bit right now, and I think the writers really want us to like him. Have you noticed that Yuki and the internal affairs investigation haven't reared their ugly heads recently? I expect this to come back in the last two episodes, maybe making us feel like dopes for warming to Quinn. There's something there....
Anton and Deb; really? Is Anton upset that Deb lied to him about the clerical error? Is he really so insecure that he believes she's with him because she feels guilty he got Skinner-napped? Can't imagine this one's for the long haul, and I can't really figure out where they are going with it, except to give Miguel the blackmail to hold over Dexter.
I'm not going to list the whole, amazingly entertaining cat and mouse game that Dexter and Miguel played, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention Dexter's masterpiece: trading out the ring for the dry cleaners slip was sheer brilliance.
So, for all of our speculating about Miguel pulling King's strings, I am thinking that he wasn't all along. But when he visited King when he was in custody and we didn't see their exchange, Miguel was setting up a little insurance by giving Dexter to the Skinner. The cat and mouse game began long before Dexter thought it did, so Miguel gets a point there.
Who am I kidding? I'll sacrifice a bit of the humor every now and then for an episode as clever as this one. I love seeing Dexter back in full form, a step ahead of Miguel (until the unfortunate Skinner-napping) and playing the game to its fullest. Are you looking forward to the resolution of this season as much as I am?
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
12-01-2008 @ 3:18AM
bruce said...
Great episode. Here's the thing, though, - why can't Dexter tell the Skinner exactly where Freebo's body is? And say Miguel killed him. Miguel certainly had motive. It would make for an interesting conversation, anyway. Yes, I know where freebo is, I saw miguel kill him (or he told me where he put the body) - in the graveyard. Go dig it up somehow... Freebo's dead. And that would link in to the way Ellen Wolf was killed.
I just hope Dexter kills the skinner, and while I don't see how Dexter could kill Miguel (as he pointed out, he's too high profile), I certainly want to see that, rather than Miguel simply getting arrested and charged for murdering Wolf. That can't happen b/c he'd say Dexter killed other people, and that they killed that one guy together. Not that he has any proof - at least not that we know about.
Reply
12-01-2008 @ 1:27PM
Dan said...
Except that Dexter DIDN'T put Freebo in the graveyard, he just SAID he did. However, telling the skinner that he killed Freebo might just make the skinner even more angry because he can't get his own revenge for being disrespected.
And does anyone else think that he (the skinner) looks just like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?
This episode was amazing, I was so pissed when it ended. Clearly, Dexter is the best drama on TV right now.
12-01-2008 @ 6:09PM
DedTV said...
To the outside world, he's just gotten tossed out of his home by his wife, his brother was recently killed and they haven't been able to capture his killer, and he's been behaving quite erratically lately to the concern of Maria, and Dex has Ellen's ring which presumably has Miguel's print on it.
Dex was able to use a lot less to get rid of Rita's Ex.
12-01-2008 @ 4:55AM
Harrison said...
Hello? What about Masuka and the bachelor party planning woman?
Reply
12-01-2008 @ 1:36PM
Keith McDuffee said...
Yeah, because *that* was compelling television right there.
12-01-2008 @ 6:58AM
K.V.C said...
Freebo's body is probably in pieces scattered in the ocean... Miguel left Dex to clean it up remember.
Killing Miguel is becoming easier. Maria seems to be putting it together, Dex also has the ring. He can kill him, get rid of the body and have it look like Miguel ran to save himself.
Dex has been disappointing this season. He just seems to get dumber each season.
Reply
12-04-2008 @ 8:40PM
Justin said...
He hasn't been getting dumber--at least in the terms I think you are presenting--he's just trying to open himself up. You let your guard down when you make a new friend or find a new love interest. In Dexter's case, he thought he had found a friend--someone to share his dark place with--and was played and betrayed.
What's great about Dexter is he learns from his mistakes. This all will play into a wiser, quicker, more alert Dexter next season whatever the plot may be.
12-01-2008 @ 7:22AM
bruce said...
I disagree, I think this season has been great. I'm enjoying it every bit as much as last season, though the stakes were certainly higher/highest in season 2. If TV shows could be given guaranteed runs for X number of seasons, I'm sure they would have saved the "Dexter almost getting caught" plotline for the final season. But I've really enjoyed this season so far, Jimmy Smits has been fantastic, and it's been very interesting, plot-wise.
As a criminal defense lawyer myself, Miguel Prado is the ultimate horrific stereotype of every prosecutor I've ever dealt with. I can think of one prosecutor who most certainly wished me dead after a 3-week rape trial resulted in an acquittal. She broke every rule during that trial, short of literally stabbing me in the back with a 12-inch blade. Fortunately she left the DA's office right after that trial, I never found out whether or not she left voluntarily or not. Anyway, working in Harris County, Texas, the death penalty capital of America, I've dealt with many prosecutors one notch below Miguel Prado, though honestly, if some Harris County prosecutors have killed a few defense lawyers or acquitted defendants, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised by it.
Anything to "uphold the law" and placate the "victims" and protect the children. Screw fair play, justice, and the constitution. They're prosecutors, if you're not with them then you're the bad guy (until they or their family members get charged with a crime, then technicalities like due process and fair trials suddenly matter to them).
If Miguel Prado does get charged with murder, it will be a shame he won't have Ellen Wolf there to represent him, as she said she would.
Reply
12-01-2008 @ 11:17AM
C C said...
Great episode. I hope the viewers understood why Dexter used the "Garcia Marquez book" excuse to get into Prado's den-he was jokingly referencing Gabriel Garcia Marquez's classic Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I also loved how the chessboard was in the backdrop as Dexter searched the den-I know what that was an allusion to!
Reply
12-01-2008 @ 12:57PM
JoyceN said...
I love, love, love Jimmy Smits as a BAD guy! He is definitely Emmy material next year, along with DEXTER.
I can't wait to see the last two episodes.
Reply
12-01-2008 @ 1:00PM
cdawg said...
good call on the chessboard! Didn't know about Marquez so thanks for that info.
Fabulous episode. Not your typical Dex episode, and I know I've complained all season long about the lack of "kill of the week." However, the cat and mouse game totally made up for it.
Note to all paranoids out there... if you're ever kidnapped and thrown in a trunk, your best bet is to kick out one of the taillights and stick your hand or foot through, hopefully a driver in another car will notice and alert the police.
Reply
12-01-2008 @ 1:37PM
C C said...
It just occured to me that they referenced a second Gabriel Garcia Marquez work (one I haven't read yet): His non-fiction News of a Kidnapping. What happened at the end of last night's episode?
The more I think about it, this entire season of Dexter has been modeled like a Garcia Marquez book, which may be why a lot of people haven't warmed up to it. Garcia Marquez's storytelling is fragmentary; a lot of little stories and narratives adding up to one big picture. I think we will see what the Dexter writers' fictional intentions were with the next couple of episodes.
Reply
12-01-2008 @ 4:01PM
BB said...
It seems to me the only way this season can end is if Miguel is killed - and the only way this can happen is if Miguel takes his own life - or more to the point if Dexter stages Miguel's suicide.
This is the most plausible conclusion I can come up with.
Reply
12-01-2008 @ 4:22PM
Key Rick said...
Lauren Velez's performance last night was heartbreaking - going from shock over the Ellen Wolf character's sudden murder to first succumbing and then thwarting Jimmy Smits' moves to console her. She'd get my Emmy vote were I eligible. I'm hoping Lt. LaGuerta gets a whiz bang wrap-up confrontation of Miguel Prado by the season finale.
Reply
12-01-2008 @ 8:41PM
bruce said...
Ok, I took Dexter at his word that Freebo was under the grave. I know Dexter typically dumps his kills into the ocean and lets the currents carry them away, but I'm not sure he had time to do that the night he killed Freebo. Was Dexter lying to Miguel about where Freebo's body was? He could have easily just said "I dumped it into the ocean and let the current carry it away." So why say it was under the grave? It's a clever way to dispose of a body, and Dexter said later on that he never taught Miguel how to dispose of a body... ooops, yes I did - at the graveyard.
I dunno. I've always figured the body was truly at the graveyard. Dexter would have told us in voiceover if it really wasn't.
Also, will Miguel ever find out (by dexter telling him) that it was Dexter who killed his brother Oscar, by accident? That would be a great thing for Dex to say to miguel while Miguel is strapped down, about to get killed by Dexter.
Reply
12-02-2008 @ 12:58PM
Robertson said...
He didn't say he dumped it in the ocean, because Miguel could have thought he is the Bay Harbor Butcher (same method of disposal).
12-01-2008 @ 9:28PM
Chris said...
I think the ultimate win for Dexter (besides getting out alive from the Skinner's grasp) would be trapping Miguel to the point where he took his own life. Prado's already thrown everything away, but his pride remains. Either that or his other brother (he's still alive right?) offs him himself because he thinks he killed Oscar.
Reply
12-02-2008 @ 1:16AM
gabbyd said...
Great episode! :) the last few minutes left me riveted.
can't wait for next week! as for humor, i found how dexter was trying to keep himself from asking angel why he wanted blood checked to be very funny; also the masuka's stripper conversation was so cute...
Reply
12-02-2008 @ 7:50AM
Nino said...
I was hoping this week's quote would be "Some doors should stay shut".
I see why Miguel now wants to get rid of Dexter, but why hang the other victims out to dry. There's gotta be some connection between the skinner and Miguel. I for instance can't see why Miguel gave Anton away to the skinner (which he must've done) when he knew Freebo was dead. Anton didn't do nothing to Miguel, hell, Anton didn't nothing to anybody.
Plus, since the skinner is a sick twisted cuban ex-military he must know better than to trim the trees before he kidnaps his victims.
Reply
12-02-2008 @ 12:51PM
Robertson said...
I'm wondering... the car you see at the end (the one which Dexter was threw into) is a 2002-2004 (most likely those years) Cadillac DeVille (that's for sure). Is it possible that George W. King, a poor tree trimmer (notice what junk he drives at work - an old, rusty truck) drives a Cadillac? Is it possible that it was King who kidnapped Dexter? Could we have another plot on the way?
PS Though it's Cadillac, it's not the Quinn's car.
Reply