Lots of psychological gamesmanship between Dex and Miguel this time, before the inevitable collision of the killers. As a consequence, there was a lot of setup, and this felt like what it was: the antepenultimate episode of the season. That's right, bitches, there's a word in our great language for third from last. Look it up.
The ep begins with Dexter, Miguel, Sil, and Rita at dinner. Dex is thinking Miguel's too high-profile to kill. Miguel, as a wedding present, gets a fancy restaurant to cater Dex and Rita's wedding. Nice move. But afterward, Rita keeps pestering Dexter about whether Miguel is having an affair. She suspects Maria La Guerta, and Dex doesn't deny it. Anton and Deb are hanging together a lot - between last episode and this one, he's become her official "boyfriend." There's a possible witness to the Ellen Wolf killing, and a missing wedding ring. Miguel may have gotten sloppy. Dex tells Miguel about the witness, says he'll protect him, so long as they never see each other after Dexter's wedding. Advantage: Morgan. But Miguel is buttering up Maria La Guerta, trying to get info on the investigation on his own. Touche, Prado. Meanwhile, Batista's girlfriend, the undercover cop posing as a hooker, gets all roughed up by a john.
The witness, a bartender who's the first suspect in the case, is brought in for questioning. La Guerta is losing her shit while questioning him, but his alibi checks out, so she asks if he saw someone near Ellen Wolf's house. He says all he saw were bright lights on an SUV. Dex sees how far off the hinges La Guerta is, and how easy she'll likely be for Miguel to manipulate. Anton comes into the station looking for Deb, and Quinn tells him he wasn't officially a CI. Anton decks Quinn for almost getting him killed. Deb tries to calm him down, says cops could press charges. Then Anton points out that then he could sue the whole damn department. True.
Miguel goes over to La Guerta's place, butters her up, then kisses her. Dexter knocks on the door and interrupts them. Then Sil shows up, just as Miguel is leaving . Turns out Rita told Sil about La Guerta. In the ensuing fit, in front of Maria, Sil screams "you were out all night Thursday!" - and then La Guerta sees the brights on Miguel's SUV. Will she put it together?
Miguel gets really pissed about what he calls Dexter's "bitch move" - messing with his family. He mentions an ethics probe on Deb Morgan for sleeping with a CI. But then he says he'll just keep an eye on it, so long as Dexter keeps an eye on the Ellen Wolf case. But then Dex comes to the Prado's house when the housekeeper's there, and looks for Ellen Wolf's ring. He finds it in a cigar box, and takes it.
Dex runs a test on keys Gianna, Batista's girlfriend, used on the guy who roughed her up - but it's not official police business, and Dexter tells him, in code, not to kill the guy - "some doors should remain closed." This is a different, more caring, Dexter, getting involved when it's not necessarily in his interest. Thankfully, Batista gets it, and just arrests the guy.
Sil kicks Miguel out of the house, and while he's clearing out his stuff, Miguel finds out Ellen Wolf's ring is gone. Miguel comes to the station, tells Dexter to meet him on the roof. He's furious, says he's not to be fucked with. Dexter's as calm as can be, leaves, and resolves that now he has to kill MIguel. But then Miguel places a call - to George King, the Skinner, who was watching with binoculars, and got a good look at Dexter. So Miguel was already in with a serial killer, before Dexter - and in fact was orchestrating the killings, as a way of getting to Freebo. Nice. The Skinner's after Dexter, and Dexter's after Miguel. Then, as Dexter goes down to the garage, he's grabbed, a bag is thrown over his head, and he's shoved in the trunk of a car. Major advantage, Miguel.
-- Jake Kalish is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights