As we ramp up to the finale on Sunday, thought I'd bring over my musings on the latest, penultimate episode (from the onion's tv club).

The show peaks at ten--even if it goes to twelve.

Last season's peak was episode ten, with Dexter and Doakes facing off in the cabin. Their scenes together made for a great one-act play. The actual wrap-up in the final episodes interested me, but the best stuff happened with the two men on either side of that cage. (Similarly the best moments this week struck me as the ones between Dexter and Deb in those mostly wordless close-ups between them that still communicated so much. Michael C. Hall's left eyeball can out-act other shows' entire casts.)

This season's tenth episode will likely be the peak of what has been a better-than-expected ride with Miguel Prado. (Took me over two full episodes to get used to some tall guy who was unmistakably Jimmy Smits walking into frame to interact with these characters.) For me the best moments were the back-and-forth between Dexter and Miguel after the discovery of Ellen Wolf's corpse -- with Miguel's staking out the donut shop ("that was a bitch move") being a sweet stop, before the terrific showdown on the roof. As one commenter said, it was great watching Smits get rage angry. (And Dexter's crack about the cleaners' failure to "get that spot out" was, forgive me, spot on.)

But the promise of a real threat from Miguel ("I will fuck you back!") failed to materialize, as Dexter totally had his way with him in this eleventh installment. All too easy, with the strangely close surveillance tactics and Miguel's complete lack of wariness.

Not that there weren't a couple of payoff moments. Miguel's sadly angled fish face on the slab, croaking out a few last conversational gambits -- and Dexter finally dropping the news about killing his brother, prompting Miguel to let the mask of civility and friendliness slip away for all time. But for me the high point for their failed friendship was up on the roof.

And not that I'm unready to have fun with the finale. Time to get that skinnyass Skinner that made a punk out of Quinn.

(By the way, does something still feel kind of messed up about Quinn? Besides the lingering stink of an IA investigation he carries around, there's just something off about a guy who can see all the emotional angles to work on people but seems to lack real human connections. And Deb's considering getting involved with him only increases his chances of being a fucknut, right? Then I think of the time he recoiled at the sight of that guy getting soda shot up his nose, and I think maybe he's okay after all.)

The mistake with Quinn was that he was a brand new character with no history before the IA investigation and then, like a lot of other storylines in the last two years, it just disappeared.

I think he, as a character, would have worked much better if Deb alone had the misgivings about him and there was the give and take between them. He's done some shady things that lead her not to trust him then he says or does something that turns her around again. No need for IA to tell us "Maybe Quinn isn't a good guy, after all." But he's turned out to be a better character than I initially thought he would.

And casting Smits as Miguel was a great idea, specifically because it was Jimmy Smits. We're so used to him being the Benevolent Ethnic, all big heart and kind words that everyone loves, so it was easy to see Miguel that way because it was in the baggage that Smits carries around with him ever since he died on "NYPD Blue." But they gave him a chance to turn that baggage into a facade and I agree that he and Hall tore it up on the roof. (I also loved Dexter's response to the stain not coming out.)

I will say, though, that the writing, while better than last season which well and truly sucked, is not anywhere near the first season. But the cast, which was always stellar, Rita notwithstanding (always hated her, always will) has really developed these characters into what feels like real people. Even Quinn in his first season is up to their standards. (And Angel's girlfriend is so perfect for him. Even if she wanted to bust him.)

And they're all led by Hall, who I agree is possibly the best actor on TV today. Shame he never got the recognition as David Fisher and probably won't ever win an award for Dexter because it's "creepy."

Hey, so cool to hear your thoughts, and so promptly! The couple of other people I know who watch the show are behind in viewing, so it feels like I'm out here on my own.


<br>Good point.

Regarding Good Guy Jimmy Smits. At a dinner party last weekend a friend told the table how her family bears a grudge against Smits for failing to deliver on something he'd promised. Pretty vague, I know; but I like this woman so agreed to "hate" Smits by proxy. And yes, her family does in fact refer to him as "Jimmy Shits."