Dexter 3.03 "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

After a few episodes of laying the groundwork, this season's story arcs seem to be coalescing and Dexter finally looks like it's settling into its groove. Last week I worried that Dexter was getting too soft and likable but a few of tonight's developments point to him getting some of his edge back. The most significant is that in taking out a pedophile he spotted scoping out Rita's daughter he has for the first time intentionally broken his code to only kill other killers. With that barrier gone, there's a chance that by the end of the season we might see Dexter killing people for increasingly minor offenses. Death to jay-walkers and movie-talkers alike!

It also seems that his impending fatherhood, instead of making him softer, is actually contributing to his newfound vigor and viciousness. After telling Debra that he's going to be a father- in response to her asking him to have a beer with her, no less (that's the old socially awkward Dexter!)- she gives him the whole “man up and be a father” speech and he realizes that his priority should be for the child and not himself. Exit the dark loner serial killer, enter the overprotective father serial killer. This could get interesting. By the end of the episode he's even confident enough to project his good feelings and intentions to the baby, just like he learned in that horrifying pregnant yoga class that Rita dragged him to.

Dex also has to deal with his new sidekick and bestest friend Jimmy Smits, who is getting a bit over-exuberant with the whole the “brothers in murder” thing. To prove his loyalty, though, he does hand over the bloodstained shirt he was wearing when he blundered into Freebo's murder scene which essentially gives Dexter the power to implicate him as an accessory (perhaps more) to the murder. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a McGuffin and one that could play out in a number of interesting ways to boot.

The boring cop show part of Dexter was thankfully pretty minor in this episode. Anton, the informer Quinn put Debra on to, got into a dick-measuring contest with Debra and lost. In response he wrote a song for her which she enjoyed even after finding out what “puta flaca mala” means. That's our girl. She also gets bonus points for referring to Dexter's unborn baby as a “motherfucking roly-poly chubby-cheeked shit machine”. What a woman! As for the other cops, Maria continued to be the poor man's CCH Pounder and Angel continued to dress like the trombone player in a ska band. Yawn.