Dexter Anthology Review: Season Three

THIS SEASON IS TWO YEARS OLD SO YEAH THERE'S GONNA BE SOME SPOILERS.


"I've lived in darkness a long time. Over the years my eyes adjusted until the dark became my world and I could see ."


Season three begins with things back to normal for Dexter, well as normal for someone like Dexter can be. With Doakes taking the fall for being the Bay Area Butcher and Lila 86'ed, Dex is able to go back to his favorite hobby.

The serial killer serenity he experiences doesn't last for too long when Dex accidentally kills the wrong person during a botched ritual attempt. To make things worse, the person Dexter did kill is the younger brother of Miami's Assistant D.A. Miguel Prado (played the awesome Jimmy Smits) - meaning that resolving this case is going to be a high priority. The police decide that Dex's original target, Freebo, is the one responsible for the younger Prado brother murder which complicates Dex's continued pursuit of him.

Dex finally tracks down and kills Freebo, but is caught in the act by Miguel. Instead of turning Dex in for murder, Miguel embraces Dex for killing his brother's supposed killer and winds up forming a bond with Dex. In fact, he does everything he can to force a friendship between them, like making Rita and his wife close friends as well. Too bad Freebo is not the killer Dex was looking for when in fact it was another murderer, nicknamed the Skinner. The Skinner is the mysterious main story arch killer that is pursued by the police force through the entire season once they figure out that Freebo is not the murderer they are looking for.

Meanwhile, Dex's personal life even gets more complicated as the season progresses. First, Rita's pregnancy with Dex leads them to marriage. Then Dex feels conflicted when he finds out that Harry committed suicide once he saw Dex evolved into a "monster", rather than via heart disease as he wa previously informed. He begins to question the "code" and all of the programming Harry has provided to him once he makes this discovery.

After Prado learns about Dex's killing sprees, Prado actually endorses and supports Dex's vigilante behavior. Harry killed himself once he saw what Dex actually was inside, but Prado actually accepts Dex for who he truly is. It is the first time Dex has experienced a real friendship while being his true self, which is something he never had the pleasure of enjoying before. The inner conflict between remaining loyal to Harry's code and having openness with someone he barely knows eventually leads Dex to strengthen his friendship with Prado to BFF territory. In fact, Dex asks him to be his best man at the wedding. Their friendship hits a major peak so quickly and that allows Dex to feel comfortable enough to teach Prado the code and bring him along for the rituals.

Things go bad once Prado expresses his need to kill off a political enemy, who is an innocent person. Dex warns Prado to not violate the code by taking the life an innocent soul, but Prado still blatantly goes off on his own to kill his enemy anyway. This act of betrayal by Prado signals that the honeymioon is over. Dex and Prado get into a heated pissing match that leads to Prado convincing the Skinner to kill Dexter. Of course once Dex gets backed into the corner with Prado's threats, he winds up at the receiving end of the ritual. Just when Dex thinks he is in the clear, Skinner kidnaps Dex. Dex but gets outsmarted (via Dex breaking his wrist), slaughtered and then fingered as the killer. Dex is in the clear and marries Rita. End season.

Bonus Bits:

- In my opinion, this is the weakest of the four seasons, but that is not to say that I disliked it. Hell no! It's like saying that the french fries are the favorite part of my McDonald's Value Meal and the soda is the least...but you better not touch my soda dammit because I like it and am going to drink the whole damn thing. Wow that was a fucking weird analogy. I don't even eat McDonald's.

- Jimmy Smits is a terrific actor, like him or not, and his presence kept me interested in what was a bit of a slower season than the previous two. Once again, the man is a chameleon in his roles.

- Geof Trivia: One time my friend and I named our fantasy football team "Jimmy Smits", but lost in the first round of the playoffs. The next year we renamed the team "Jimmy Smits with Lazers" and won the league that year.

- Why the hell did they need to darken Jimmy Smits so much in this season? What, did he not look hispanic enough or something? This picture of him here (below) on set doesn't look that bad, but it looks a lot worse when watching the actual show. They made him look like Juan Valdez with that funky 'stache for Coffee's Sake! So when I tell Jimmy to lighten up, I'm not talking about his dispostion. See for yourself...

No. That's not Jimmy. Keep going...

Dude! WTFunky 'Stache?

- It was nice to see Desmond Harrington come aboard in a big role as Joey Quinn, filling a void left by Erik King's (Doakes) departure. Always liked Des. See Love Object right now!

- Next up is the season that is equally as good as the first! And that is pretty much an impossible feat for a series in its fourth season to match the original. Stay Tuned...