TV Review: Dexter 3.3 – The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 12, 2008

Dexter, Showtime, Airs Sundays at 9 PM ET/PT

Episode: “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (Season 3, Episode 3)

Synopsis: While grocery shopping with Rita (Julie Benz) and the kids, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) comes across a fellow predator. But this one is a pedophile. After the pedophile is seen talking with Astor, Dexter must decide if he fits The Code. Meanwhile, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) has a new homicide to solve, a mysteriously skinned Jane Doe that they like Freebo for. But Dexter knows that Freebo is not the culprit, so he must find a way to help Debra identify their murder victim, thus proving that Freebo didn’t do the crime. While doing this, Dexter learns that Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) wants Dexter to be his friend. But just how smart is it for Dexter, a serial killer, to befriend an Assistant District Attorney?

Review: With two great seasons in the can, two seasons characterized by their big, sweeping primary storylines, the third season of Dexter has been a change of direction, but a good change of direction. In seasons one and two, every small, supporting storyline always played second fiddle to the one big narrative thread — in season one, it was all about the Ice Truck Killer. No matter how much a particular episode would focus on Dexter’s budding humanity or his rocky relationship with Rita, it would always come back to the Ice Truck Killer. In season two, the overwhelming story was of Dexter’s attempts to stay in the shadows as everyone around him is trying to track down the Bay Harbor Butcher.

But in contrast, season three’s main storyline has been all about the unexpected additions to Dexter’s life — spontaneous kills, new friends, that bun that Rita has in the oven — at least, I hope that is what season three is all about. Because if season three ends up being all about the Freebo case, and this storyline stretches throughout the rest of the episodes, I will be more than a little bit disappointed. That’s not to imply that this season has been disappointing in any way — as a matter of fact, the first three episodes have been among the series’ best — but there it is going to need another jolt in the next few episodes to avoid getting stale. As a reviewer, I can see where the season could be headed, and it has me worried. But as a fan, I am holding on to the faith I have in the show’s writing team — they have always found a way to keep Dexter delivering from week to week, no matter what.

As for this particular episode, we continue to see more of Dexter’s evolution from cold-hearted killer to possible human being. And it is very clear, as if it wasn’t already, that no one sells this sort of transformation better than Michael C. Hall. He is an actor in the perfect role, at the top of his game, and it shows. As well, Jennifer Carpenter, who made a decent sized splash at the box office this weekend in Quarantine, is hinting at giving Deb a bigger slice of the pie in season three. Her budding relationship with the guitar-playing confidential informant played by David Ramsey could get interesting — and lets face it, no one delivers a line like “A baby? A motherfuckin’ rolly-polly chubby-cheeked shit machine, are you kidding me?” better than Carpenter. There’s no denying it — it’s science. It is enough to have me anxiously awaiting next week, just to see what she’s say next.

Up Next Week: Miguel Prado wants to bring his other brother Ramon into the secret about Freebo’s death in order to set his mind at ease about the loss of their brother, but that doesn’t quite fit into Dexter’s plans.

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