Dexter: Season Three

Miami is still under attack. Of course, unless you are a degenerate serial killer, child molester or otherwise extremely shady and corrupt character, you need not worry. Dexter may exist with a compulsion to kill, but he diverts his need in the healthiest way possible - by clearing out the seedy underbelly of Miami. Outside of his need to kill, Dexter is a relatively normal blood spatter expert working for the police. He has a serious relationship with his girlfriend and a strong relationship with his adopted sister, who works in homicide.

Everyone around Dexter is moving forward. His friend Detective Batista gets promoted to Lieutenant and his sister earns her detective shield. His girlfriend discovers she's pregnant and decides to keep the child. Dexter moves forward by talking about the tragic death of his mother, proposing to his girlfriend and actually forming an adult friendship (one in which he doesn't have to hide ANY part of himself). This new friendship forms after Dexter accidentally kills the youngest brother of an up-and-coming ADA. The ADA (Miguel Prado) assumes Dexter's interest in the murder is because the case spoke to Dexter's compassion and sense of honor.

Prado discovers Dexter's dirty little secret when he comes across Dexter when he's killing Prado's brother's suspected killer. Instead of getting angry, or having Dexter arrested, Prado is actually excited by Dexter's work. Prado believes that the law fails too often to really help weed out the dregs of society, and that Dexter's vigilantism is the only thing that seems to be working. However, Prado starts to get in too deep and refuses to follow Dexter's careful code.

While season one was gripping and intense, season two - though it had all the makings of a good season - wasn't as good as the first. Season three puts things back on track. The storyline is strong, and the addition of Jimmy Smits as the beleaguered ADA is spectacular. Dexter's relationships get stronger and have more depth - things that should have happened last season. Dexter is back!