Dexter: Season 3

Dexter, O My Dexter! Wise, understated, committed (ahem, to various things), surprising, loyal--both Dexter Morgan and "Dexter the Third Season" do not disappoint, and always continue to dazzle with insights and reversals, with surprises and fulfilled expectations.With the advent of Jimmy Smits, as Miami's charismatic Assistant District Attorney with eyes on bigger prizes, no matter the method, the show takes a shocking direction. Dexter takes on a partner! No, Dexter, don't tell anyone! But he does. Miguel Prado (Smits) recognizes in Dexter a kindred spirit--and I'm telling you, Reader/Viewer, you cannot guess what direction the program will go with this character and his own secrets. Like Tom Hanks' Forrest Gump, "That's all I can say about that." But suffice it to say that Smits brings to the series an exciting dimension and some over-the-top acting. He must have gone home after every shoot, saying, "Whooeee, that was fun!"If Season One was an introductory/explanatory show, and Season Two was about Dexter developing his relationship with Rita, his girlfriend, while his sister Debra exposed her raw, but tender heart to the FBI profiler, then Season Three is about deep relationships, deep commitments all around. In some ways I like Season Three best (only with the two preceding seasons laying groundwork).Again, trying not to reveal any secrets, I want to state that THE most significant scene in all three seasons comes in the last episode when Dexter confronts Ramon Prado in jail (Miguel's brother). Dexter was under the assumption that Miguel covered for his bad brother all his life. Dexter was about to reveal to Ramon just who Miguel was. In an act of reversal--one of several the season takes, Ramon reveals that, no, he, Ramon, covered for the dark secrets of his famous, respected brother. Dexter takes that reversal of information and does a reversal himself. My throat tightened with Dexter's extreme compassion and consideration, making the series just balloon with the power of human empathy and dignity. Quite ironic-- yes?--in the framework of a brutal serial killer, but there it is--a deeply moving moment in television historyHow Dexter manages another reversal in his confrontation with the Skinner--this season's notorious front candidate for "baddest" villain, is again, a moment of television triumph. Oh, how I love this series!Deep relationships. Deep commitments. Another impending and important moment is Dexter's proposal to Rita and her acceptance, then season-long wedding plans. Not to be excluded, Dexter's long-time police friend and friend of his father's, is the subject of several episodes, all with the intent of showing Dexter's deep loyalty and commitment. He is one caring friend.The new sergeant gets a love interest in a most unusual manner. The old saying, Looking for love in all the wrong places, sometimes can be reversed. Sister Debra also has a new love interest--and conflict of interest with an ongoing case. Decisions about commitments must be made here, too, all adding reversals and genuine compassion to the series.But Dexter's relationships are foremost and they do not disappoint. Nor does the series. Nor does this season. Actually, I find "Dexter, the Third Season" to be the best so far.

Everyone wants a friend. In Dexter's case its not that different. Considering all the things that are going on in his life - his brother (Season 1), the Bay Harbor Buther (Season 2), and the things that happened between himself and Rita (Paul, Lila, the changes in rita's characters, and other surpises) its only normal to want someone to share with. But to share your firend with your dark passenger, explainign things that stay better by darkness - that can be a problem.As far as Dexter goes, I have to say that it has remained one of my favorite shows on television. There have been so many plots that have surprised me, from the things with the Ice Truck Killer to the way that Dexter slipped the noose in Season 2, and things continue to grow from here. Now we have Dexter attempting to make sense of his life as Rita grows, thinking about what a family is and how it could fit into his world. Rita has undergone changes as well (I've foudn some of those bad, but that is totally an opinon of my own), as have so many of the characters that Dexter calls "friends." Of course, these firends are just cover and Dexter mixes it up with somoen that promises him more than that. The development of this story, coupled with the already great stroytelling that Dexter brings to the scrceen, is amazingly fresh. The acting is superb, too, with everyone from the sister that still feels the torment of rejection to the drinking frinds and lab partners that have storylines all their own. In many ways this sets the show apart because, unlike other series, it does not ignore the things that happen to the people around Dexter. It merges them and changes them, making waves that sometimes help and sometimes threaten.I personally give the show my highest seal of approval, noting just how fast I went throught the seasons on DVD. They are addictive things, and they are not horrific like they could be. Bloody - yes, horric - not so much. Even people in my family that can't stomach some CSI episodes watch the show with passion. As I write this I have already entered the fourth season as well, with even the newest addition to the force (one Quinn for a likeable Dokes)making this reviewer happy. Sometimes I feel like I have Dexter fever, even wanting a "bowl till you Bleed" team shirt.It truly makes you love it in ways you wouldn't have thought possible.