Dexter Season 3: Bagging a Killer

By Elaine B
You can almost pity Dexter the situation he’s in at the end of the episode aptly titled “Go Your Own Way,” though he has only himself to blame. First off, so desperate to have one friend who knows him for [almost] exactly what he is, he’s opened up to a psychopath who is far more vicious than even Dexter can imagine. Now it’s clear that the incredible meeting in the rain between Dexter and Miguel after Dex killed Freebo was not, as Prado tried to claim, something he could not have done himself. He planned to do it, and it is likely Freebo would not have been his first kill. His first DIRECT kill, possibly, but he is likely responsible for others and Dexter knows it.

But instead of laying low, waiting until the moment is ripe and taking Miguel out of the picture permanently, Dex actually tries to reform the man. When that doesn’t seem to be working, Dex tries for the alpha position in their relationship, stealing the ring that Miguel took from Ellen’s hand after he killed her. It has Miguel’s fingerprint on it. It’s his trump card.

But then Dex makes the mistake of letting Rita pry too much out of him about Miguel’s personality. Rita jumps to her own conclusion and tells Sylvia that Miguel is having an affair. No shrinking violet, Sylvia heads off to confront her husband at LaGuerta’s house.

What happens there is pivotal to the final two episodes. LaGuerta is almost seduced by Miguel’s obvious charm, until Dexter’s late-night arrival at her door steels her in her moment of weakness. Then Sylvia shows up and her confrontation lets LaGuerta know that Miguel had not come home on the night that Ellen was murdered. And, Miguel drives a dark-colored SUV with super glaring headlights, the same type of car a witness spotted on the street near Ellen’s house. Fortunately, in this cat and mouse game, Miguel is not aware of how much LaGuerta now knows or she’d likely be his next victim.

But Dexter has gone after Miguel’s family — unintentionally, but that was the result of his actions — and now Miguel is out for blood. And, to end his problem, he lets The Skinner know that Dexter is the only one who knows where Freebo is.

So the episode ends with Dexter bound and in the trunk of a car heading for who knows where. But did The Skinner grab him or could Dexter simply be on the way to his bachelor party, as one blogger suggested? I am betting on Skinner, and that he doesn’t survive more than the first few minutes of the next to last episode. We need that killer of the way, so the endgame between Miguel, Dexter and, I suspect, LaGuerta can proceed without distractions.

Let’s close with a thumbs down to Showtime for letting us know there would be a Season 4 just as we were beginning to wonder if Dex would survive Season 3. Yep, that’s the way to keep the suspense high.