Dexter season 3
| Dexter | |
|---|---|
| Season 3 | |
 DVD cover | |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Showtime |
| Original release | September 28 – December 14, 2008 |
| Season chronology | |
The third season of Dexter premiered on September 28, 2008,[1] and ended on December 14, 2008.[2] "Our Father", the season premiere, attracted 1.22 million viewers in the United States, making it Showtime's highest-rated drama season premiere since Nielsen Media Research began compiling ratings in 2004.[3] The season's finale, "Do You Take Dexter Morgan?" attracted 1.5 million viewers.[4] Season three was watched by an average of 1.1 million viewers a week.[4] It received largely positive reviews from critics, which ranged from being praised as "truly and incredibly exciting television" in the San Francisco Chronicle,[5] to "lack[ing] the crackling tension the drama had supplied in previous years" by the Chicago Tribune;[6] the aggregate site Metacritic scored the season at 78 out of 100 based on 13 reviews.[7] Smits and Hall received Emmy nominations for their roles as Miguel Prado and Dexter Morgan respectively, while the show as a whole also received a Best Drama Emmy nomination.
In this season, Dexter kills a man in self-defense and initiates a friendship with the man's brother, Assistant District Attorney Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits).[1] In the meantime, Rita discovers that she is pregnant, and Debra investigates the murders of a new serial killer, called "The Skinner", hoping to gain a promotion to detective.[8] In addition to Smits, Dexter's third season introduces two recurring characters: Desmond Harrington as Det. Joey Quinn, who becomes Debra's partner when he is transferred from the narcotics department to homicide, and Anne Ramsay as Ellen Wolf, a defense attorney whom Miguel detests.[9]
Plot
Rita discovers she is pregnant, informing Dexter that she will keep the baby and raise him with or without his help. He ends up proposing marriage to Rita, which she eventually accepts.
While stalking a murderous drug dealer, "Freebo", Dexter stumbles upon a fight between Freebo and another man, whom he is forced to kill in self-defense. This is the first time Dexter kills someone of whose guilt he wasn't completely sure. This victim turns out to be Oscar Prado, brother of Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits), a prominent assistant district attorney and old flame of Lt. LaGuerta. Miguel comes to confide in and trust Dexter after he helps assist with the case. Dexter tracks down Freebo and kills him, but as he leaves he encounters Miguel, who has followed a lead to Freebo's location. Dexter tells Miguel he had discovered Freebo and killed him in self-defense, but instead of reprimanding him, Miguel thanks him and offers to help him cover up the crime. As Dexter and Miguel cooperate to conceal Freebo's true demise from everyone else, the duo end up becoming close friends, as do Rita and Miguel's wife, Sylvia.
Miguel feeds Dexter information regarding a killer who continually gets away with it, in hopes Dexter will once again take matters into his own hands. When he discovers that Dexter indeed took such action, he realized what Dexter was doing and encourages him. Miguel hopes they could form a partnership and wants to be more hands-on in the future, with the guidance of Dexter. Trying to discourage Miguel, Dexter proposes a risky operation to free an infamous Aryan Brotherhood leader from prison in order to kill him. Miguel agrees with the idea and the plan succeeds. Dexter starts to recognize Miguel as his first and only true friend, to the point of inviting him to be his best man at his wedding.
Debra starts working more seriously to earn her detective shield, and also starts working with a new partner, Joey Quinn. They investigate a serial killer, "The Skinner", who skins his victims alive. She also starts a relationship with Anton Briggs, one of Quinn's confidential informants.
Miguel and Dexter's partnership takes a new step when Miguel offers to be the one to kill their next target. With some reluctance, Dexter agrees, only watching as Miguel kills without hesitation. The next day, Ellen Wolf, a ruthless defense attorney and old courtroom adversary of Miguel's, goes missing, and Dexter discovers that Miguel has killed her alone. Dexter also learns that Miguel has been manipulating him since the beginning.
Dexter and Miguel both try to gain leverage over the other, with Dexter leaving Wolf's body to be discovered and investigated, while Miguel starts an investigation into Anton (the key witness to identifying the Skinner) and Deb's relationship. Dexter eventually realizes that Miguel cannot be allowed to run loose any longer, at which point Dexter decides to kill him and make it look like The Skinner did it. Meanwhile, Miguel uses his position to help The Skinner escape police custody in return for his agreeing to kill Dexter. Striving to discover the truth about Wolf's death, LaGuerta ends up obtaining evidence which links Miguel to the crime. Miguel discovers that LaGuerta was investigating him and decides to kill her, but Dexter discovers Miguel's plot and captures him. Before killing Miguel, Dexter confesses to him that he was the one who killed Oscar.
After Miguel's body is discovered, he is immediately identified as a victim of The Skinner, just as Dexter planned. Miguel's other brother, Ramon, however, becomes suspicious of Dexter. After pointing a gun at Dexter during a dinner with Rita, he is taken into custody. During a visit to him in jail, Dexter helps Ramon put his demons to rest.
On the night before his wedding, Dexter is captured by The Skinner, but breaks free by taking advantage of a moment when the Skinner is distracted, shattering his hand in the process. After a short but vicious fight, Dexter snaps The Skinner's neck and makes it look like suicide by dumping his body in front of a moving police car. Dexter gets his broken hand put in a cast and attends his wedding.
Cast
Main cast
- Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan
- Julie Benz as Rita Bennett
- Jennifer Carpenter as Debra Morgan
- C.S. Lee as Vince Masuka
- Lauren Vélez as María LaGuerta
- David Zayas as Angel Batista
- James Remar as Harry Morgan
Special Guest Star
Recurring cast
|
Guest cast
|
Crew
Longstanding executive producers John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton and Clyde Phillips all returned for the third season. They were joined by new executive producer Charles H. Eglee. Eglee was accompanied by consulting producer Adam E. Fierro, the two had previously worked together on The Shield. Second season co-executive producers Scott Buck and Melissa Rosenberg retained their roles. Series star Michael C. Hall also became a co-executive producer for the third season. Executive Story Editor Timothy Schlattmann and Story Editor Lauren Gussis were promoted to the production team as producer and co-producer respectively. Robert Lloyd Lewis returned as the on set producer. Gary Law joined the production team as a co-producer mid-season. Chad Tomasoski remained an associate producer.
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | US viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1 | "Our Father" | Keith Gordon | Clyde Phillips | September 28, 2008 | 1.22[10] |
| 26 | 2 | "Finding Freebo" | Marcos Siega | Melissa Rosenberg | October 5, 2008 | 0.79[11] |
| 27 | 3 | "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" | John Dahl | Scott Buck | October 12, 2008 | 1.07[12] |
| 28 | 4 | "All In The Family" | Keith Gordon | Adam E. Fierro | October 19, 2008 | 0.86[13] |
| 29 | 5 | "Turning Biminese" | Marcos Siega | Tim Schlattmann | October 26, 2008 | 1.00[12] |
| 30 | 6 | "Sí Se Puede" | Ernest Dickerson | Charles H. Eglee | November 2, 2008 | 1.04[12] |
| 31 | 7 | "Easy As Pie" | Steve Shill | Lauren Gussis | November 9, 2008 | 0.83[12] |
| 32 | 8 | "The Damage A Man Can Do" | Marcos Siega | Scott Buck | November 16, 2008 | 0.96[12] |
| 33 | 9 | "About Last Night" | Tim Hunter | Story by : Scott Reynolds Teleplay by : Melissa Rosenberg | November 23, 2008 | 1.13[12] |
| 34 | 10 | "Go Your Own Way" | John Dahl | Tim Schlattmann | November 30, 2008 | 1.34[12] |
| 35 | 11 | "I Had A Dream" | Marcos Siega | Charles H. Eglee and Lauren Gussis | December 7, 2008 | N/A |
| 36 | 12 | "Do You Take Dexter Morgan?" | Keith Gordon | Scott Buck | December 14, 2008 | 1.51[14] |
References
- ^ a b McDuffee, Debra (2008-09-28). "Dexter: "Our Father" (season premiere)". TV Squad. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^ Goldman, Eric (2008-12-15). "Dexter: "Do You Take Dexter Morgan?" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ Mittovich, Matt (2008-10-02). "Ratings: Dexter Slays Last Season's Premiere". TV Guide. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- ^ a b Frankel, Daniel (2008-12-16). "Dexter kills for Showtime". Variety. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ Goodman, Tim (2008-09-26). "Dexter takes a stab at normalcy". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ^ "The Watcher: Brace yourselves, Dexter fans: The new season's not pretty". Chicago Tribune. 2008-09-26. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ^ "Dexter Season Three (SERIES: Showtime, Sunday 9:00p)". Metacritic. 2008-09-28. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ^ McDuffee, Debra (2008-10-12). "Dexter: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"". TV Squad. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
- ^ del Castillo, Valerie Anne (2008-08-28). "Dexter Executive Producer Talks About Upcoming Season's Supporting Characters". BuddyTV. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ "Ratings: Dexter Slays Last Season's Premiere". TV Guide. October 2, 2008. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (October 7, 2008). "Football, Veep Debate, Baseball Playoffs Lead Weekly Cable Viewing". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g Berman, Marc (February 25, 2010). "Dexter Ratings". Mediaweek. Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
- ^ Seidman, Robert (October 21, 2008). "ALCS Game 7 More Watched than MNF, Future President and SpongeBob". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2011.
- ^ Reynolds, Mike (December 16, 2008). "'Dexter' Third-Season Finale's A Killer". Multichannel News. Archived from the original on July 25, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
External links
