'Dexter's' Role of a Lifetime

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer

Will the real Dexter Morgan please stand up?

Enough of the BBQs with the Prados, running to get Rita saltines for her morning sickness, or being Mr. Mom.

I'm missing the edge.

The confusion.

The holy sh*t now what routine.

As such, I find myself in the same conundrum this week as last week, though I did find this week's ep slightly more interesting.

I thought his proposal to Rita was sweet, but I also knew it was half made up from the confession of the psycho-chick killer who offed the boyfriend that wasn't really her boyfriend - except in her deranged mind.

And the Detective Batista sub-plot was beautiful. It was so touching when he confessed to the Vice detective (who had almost busted him the night before whilst undercover in a prostitution sting operation), about his need to connect with someone - anyone, which included hookers - after losing both his daughter and marriage.

And though I normally bag on Lauren Vélez and her Lieutenant LaGuerta monotony, she had the best line of the ep: "I've had enough of the Prado family."

So have I.

Seriously, I need a break with this obsession over the death of baby bro' and/or Dex and Rita's new BFF routine with all-things Prado.

BBQs. Lunches. Happy Hours. Late night rendezvous.

And this whole let's - tell - Ramon - what - we - did thing between Dexter and Miguel ...? Enough. Move on. Drop it. Throw something else into the mix. But stop with the we can tell him / no we can't / yes we can back and forth.

Believe you-me, no one is more surprised than I to find myself tuning out the Dexter stuff and being more interested in what is happening with ol' Deb, detective suspicious Joey Quinn and IA sleuth Yuki Amado, who is being played ingeniously by Liza Lapira.

Seriously, Yuki is just so smart-ass snarky funny, and Lapira can go toe-to-toe with Jennifer Carpenter like there is no tomorrow. They have fantastic antagonistic chemistry, and given the doldrums of Dex's good life routine, I find myself relishing the Deb v. Yuki confrontations.

Not to mention what really is the deal with Quinn.

As such, I'm actually excited about what I saw in the previews for next week - which seems to throw everything off kilter once again for Dexter, possibly reinstating that sense of uncomfortable urgency, need - to - stay - one - step - ahead thing that seems to have gone out the door for these first handful of episodes.

I'm longing for the unpredictable edgy Dexter Morgan. And as I said last week, he's far more interesting of a character when he's under pressure, trying to fit in, not sure where he stands. And though I do still love the relationship he has with Rite, the Mr. Mom-Hubby-to-Be routine is getting a lil' boring.

New episodes of Dexter air Sunday at 9 p.m. on Showtime. Check out the official Dexter Web site for the inside scoop on the series.