Spoilers. As penultimate episodes go, "I Had A Dream" was great, but fell short of excellence. A few juicy possibilities were left unexplored, a key situation was resolved unexpectedly (but unimaginatively), and excitement for next week's finale takes a slight knock...Dexter (Michael C. Hall) has been captured by The Skinner and thrown into the back of the serial-killer's trunk, bound and hooded. Or has he? In one of the show's best twists, it turns out last week's climactic sting was phoney -- as Dex emerged from the opened trunk to punch Masuka (C.S Lee) on the nose; realizing he's just the victim of a bachelor party prank. Mind you, dealing with The Skinner may have been preferable to a party boat full of strippers and debauchery for Dex!
I'm sure many people will have been gnashing their teeth at this moment, but I found it hilarious and credible. But it's still a shame the compelling idea of Dex becoming another killer's prey wasn't explored -- although, given the fact we know Dexter's been commissioned for two more seasons, the fate of our anti-hero is rarely in doubt. I'm sure we'll see Dex at the mercy of another killer at some point in the show's future.
Dex and Miguel (Jimmy Smits) are still putting on a show of friendship in public, but Dex is secretly preparing the groundwork for Miguel's death -- before Laguerta (Lauren Velez) realizes her friend was responsible for Elen Wolf's murder and arrests Miguel. If that happens, Miguel is bound to squeal about Dex's lifestyle, and he can't risk such exposure -- even if he's covered his tracks. Blood sticks. So, Dex is tailing Miguel and trying to learn his new daily routine, now that his wife has kicked him out of their home for supposedly cheating on her with Laguerta.
Miguel is himself preparing to kill Laguerta, once he discovers she's starting to suspect he killed Ellen, and gives Dex some hair fibres she's taken from the back of Miguel's SUV. Dex, of course, has to stall their covert investigation, to give himself enough time to take Miguel out of the picture by framing The Skinner for his death.
Subplots are handled quite nicely this week (which is to say, they take up a negligible amount of time.) Angel (David Zayas) and Barbara (Kristin Dattilo) have a few scenes of little consequence; their whole relationship never feeding into the main plots. I suppose they might both get something interesting to do in season 4, but their romance was pretty dull this year. More entertaining was Masuka, who gets quite a few genuinely funny and distasteful scenes -- from his joy at learning a woman he slept with is a bit rough, to the reveal that he looks at his grey pubic hair under a microscope at work. Masuka's comic interjections can be a bit forced and grubby, but they're also a good pressure release valve.
Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) gets the only subplot of any significance, as she shares a tender scene with Anton (David Ramsey) over his post-traumatic stress following his kidnap and torture. Her investigation to catch The Skinner also continues with Quinn (Desmond Harrington), who later admits he has feelings for Deb (in a roundabout way), which is coming far, far too late in the season.
Quinn's murky past also hasn't explained well enough for me, but I get the impression the writers are intending a few things to carry over into season 4. This would explain the other late-reveal: Dex telling Deb that their whiter-than-white father Harry (James Remar) cheated on their mother with crime informants. I'm predicting this has set in motion Deb's eventual discovery of C.I Laura Moser (Dex's birth mother), and from there it'll be easier for for Deb to realize Dex was Laura's son, and brother of Brian Moser (a.k.a her ex-boyfriend Rudy, the Ice Truck Killer.)
But, expect that to stretch out over next season, and perhaps into the fifth? Or, yes, I could be wrong, and Deb will just hit a dead-end because Dex covered his tracks and destroyed all the incriminating records. It just seemed strange to bring this up in the penultimate episode of a season, unless they're taking the opportunity to lay some season 4 groundwork -- now the show is guaranteed to be around until 2010.
The biggest surprise of "I Had A Dream" was the relative ease Dex had in setting up Miguel and capturing him, before strapping him to a table in shrink-wrap, ready to be killed. It's this scene that causes some conflict in me as a viewer, for a number of reasons. It was certainly a shock to see Miguel caught in the penultimate episode, but also disappointing that he fell so easily into Dex's clutches. After last week's rooftop confrontation, I was expecting a closer contest and a real battle of wits, but things just flopped to the tragic end we'd all been expecting.
I'm glad Dex finally told Miguel he killed his brother Oscar, but no explanation was offered for why Oscar was skulking around in Freebo's house back in episode 1. Still, the whole scene remained compelling thanks to Hall and Smits' gripping performances. Both actors really work well together and kept season 3 on-track during its wobbly start. Smits will definitely be missed.
Overall, "I Had A Dream" was a great episode, but I had issues with how the Dex/Miguel relationship reached its crescendo. Next week's episode will inevitably focus on Dex's nuptials (so Julie Benz may get something to do again!), complicated by the fact Miguel put The Skinner on Dex's tail before he was killed. Will we finally get to see Dex captured after this week's fake-out? Will he get to the church on time and go through with the wedding? Find out in next week's big finale!
7 December 2008
Showtime, 9/8c
Writers: Lauren Gussis & Charles H. Eglee
Director: Marcos Siega
Cast: Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Julie Benz (Rita), Jennifer Carpenter (Debra), Jimmy Smits (Miguel), Lauren Velez (Laguerta), C.S Lee (Masuka), David Zayas (Angel), Desmond Harrington (Quinn), Kristin Dattilo (Barbara Gianna) & David Ramsey (Anton Briggs)
