Dexter: Game Over (recap)

By: Jen Smith
Fancast.com

Last week on Dexter, the hunter became the hunted. Miguel finally showed his true colors and exposed his black soul to Dexter, who didn’t take too kindly to being screwed over by his so-called best bud. This week we see more of the manipulative side of our newest enemy. Miguel pulls out all the punches to maintain his “innocence,” including framing an innocent man for murder, blatantly cheating on his wife, and trying to one-up Dexter in a game of cat and mouse. Oh, Miguel. You’ll never learn, will you? Dexter always wins. Always.

Dontcha just hate those annoying couples who do everything together– like going to dinner, frolicking on the beach, and barbequing fish that then men caught that day while the women watched the children play? Yeah, we all hate those couples. Dexter, Rita, Miguel, and Sylvia have become them before our very eyes. Only Dexter (Michael C. Hall) and Miguel (Jimmy Smits) know it’s all a load of crap. Tonight’s episode begins at an overly-pretentious restaurant that probably serves amuse-bouche. Miguel proudly announces that he and Syl have purchased this place’s catering service for Dexter’s upcoming wedding reception. Dexter is not amused. He weighs his options on how to get rid of his rival. He could kill him, but that would mean public grieving for our emotion-free friend. He could try to dump him as a best friend, but Rita (Julie Benz) and Syl are way too close for that to work. So, Dex chooses the only option possible: beat the player at his own game. On the way home, Rita’s whininess has somehow made her come to the conclusion that Miguel is indeed having an affair with none other than Maria LaGuerta. Dexter lets her think it’s true. Phase one was officially commenced.

Dexter may have a plan for phase two: Maria has nailed a “suspect” for Ellen Wolf’s murder. The suspect called Ellen three times the night of her murder, including once right outside her home. Maria thinks this is their man, but only Dexter knows this isn’t the case. However, he could be a witness to Miguel’s wrong-doing. They’ve also figured out that one of Ellen’s rings was missing. Someone perhaps took it as a trophy? Meanwhile, our favorite jokester Masuka is taking donations for Dexter’s bachelor party. Angel warns him to maintain legal activities. AKA—no hookers. All the fun and games comes to an end when Angel gets a call that his girlfriend Barbara is in the hospital. It seems she was beaten up by one of her johns while she was on the prowl as a fake hooker. He ends up pocketing some evidence, for reasons we find out later.

Debra’s (once again) having man issues. First, she slept with a CI. Then, she went ahead and let him stay the night with her. She forgot one little thing… his protective detail will report this little tidbit to the higher-ups. She’s totally screwed. Quinn confronts her about it, but Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) launches into yet another one of her tirades so he throws his hands up and walks away. Later, Anton shows up at the station looking for Deb, but she’s out. Quinn takes the opportunity to apologize to Anton for keeping him off the books. Well, Anton was under the impression that it was a clerical error. So, he punches Quinn’s face in. Deb shows up in the nick of time, only to have Anton dump her sorry ass and threaten to sue the station.

Dexter tries to make a deal with Miguel. He tells him about the new “suspect” and how he might have seen something. Miguel seems to think that this is impossible, presumably because he’s that damn awesome. Dexter knows better, and offers to make sure the evidence will point away from Miguel if he would just agree to walk away from their “partnership.” He seems to agree to it, but Dexter knows it’s not over. Maria has brought in the suspect, who turns out to be the bartender that Ellen had been flirting with the night she died. Dexter and Miguel watch as Maria ruthlessly gets the truth out of the guy. He had called her on his break and she invited him over. When he got there, she never answered the door. Quinn pulls Maria aside and confirms that the bar’s surveillance tapes clear the guy of the charges, so Maria shifts her questioning. Now she wants to know if he saw anything unusual. As a matter of fact, he did. He saw someone leave the scene. He or she was driving a dark SUV with bright halogen headlights. Wait, Miguel—don’t you have a car that matches that description? Yeah, thought so.

Dex is paranoid that Miguel is going to manipulate Maria, and his concerns are warranted. It seems Miguel has invited himself over to his ex’s house for a little night cap. He’s gotten Maria good and drunk and proceeds to reminisce about the good times of their relationship. Then, he starts to make out with her. Even though Maria has a naughty side, I couldn’t have pictured her doing this unless she was drunk. They’re interrupted by a knock on the door. It’s Dexter, here to shove his nose in Miguel’s business. His unexpected visit brought Maria back to the sober world long enough to show Miguel out the front door. Too bad Sylvia was waiting for him outside. Busted! Our whiny little Rita has told Syl about Miguel’s indiscretions. Now Syl wants him out of the house and out of her life. Awesome. As Miguel drives away, Maria notices something unusual… the dark SUV and halogen lights. Wait a minute…

This is when the game really begins to pick up steam. Miguel threatens to expose Deb’s affair with Anton; Dexter sneaks into Miguel’s house, finds Ellen’s ring, and replaces it with a dry cleaning slip; Miguel picks up the dry cleaning… it’s the bloody shirt. This is getting intense! Meanwhile at Miami Metro, Masuka has hired a bachelor party planner named Tammy to work out all the naughty details. He seems smitten. Also, Angel gets the identity of Barbara’s attacker thanks to his private investigation and almost decides to take care of it himself until Dexter reminds him not to do something he’ll regret. He arrests the perp instead of beating the shit out of him with his night stick.

Nothing good ever happens on the roof of a police station. Miguel and Dex meet up there to basically have a pissing contest while baring their enormous fangs. Dexter threatens to turn in Ellen’s ring (which has a nice little fingerprint belonging to Miguel), but Miguel threatens to tell Rita about Dexter’s homicidal tendencies. The two leave without resolving anything, but apparently someone is watching the whole scene go down. It’s George King, who has recently become acquainted with Miguel. Miguel has led King to believe that Dexter knows where Freebo is. Get Dexter to talk, and King will get his money. Dexter, meanwhile, is pulling into his apartment and has realized that the only option to get rid of Miguel is to kill him. He doesn’t get very far in his plan, though. As he’s exiting his car, someone incapacitates him, throws him into the trunk of a car, and speeds away. It seems now that Miguel has the one-up in the game this week. With two new episodes left in the season, has Miguel merely won the battle? Who will win the war?