This season has been all about Dexter’s crash course in parenting. First, he learned he’s going to be a dad. This week, Miguel emerged as his full-blown sulky wayward teenage son.
“I’m a big boy!†Miguel protests, when Dexter confronts him over killing Ellen Wolf. That’s right — Miguel’s gone rogue! (Oh, Spectral Dad, we’ll never doubt you again.) Not only that, but the bloody Freebo shirt that Miguel gave Dexter as a sign of trust? Totally fake! Too bad that Dexter, the professional blood analyst, is only now getting around to analyzing that blood.
Speaking of being wrong, guess who’s been wrong all along? Everyone who thought the Skinner was Anton, Quinn, Syl, Miguel, Rita, Cody, or any of the other existing characters. No, it’s George King, creepy tree-trimmer extraordinaire. Sure enough, poor Anton gets snatched up and loses a few strips from his back. Meanwhile, the cops can’t hold King after questioning him — even though Miguel offers to bend a few rules, provided the cops turn off the video camera in the interrogation room. Rule-bending cops, won’t you ever learn? How much do you want to bet that Miguel was, in fact, feeding some Dexter-related dirt to Mr. Skinner?
(Investigative-related digression: If the cops were so convinced King was the Skinner, and so sure he’d go straight back to carve up Anton, why didn’t they just release him and then, we don’t know, follow him around?)
Because, let’s face it, Dexter and Miguel’s friendship is splitsville. Not only did Miguel go rogue and lie about Freebo’s blood on his shirt, but, frankly, who can be friends with a guy who goes around whistling “Camptown Races� Though we were disappointed that Dexter discovered Miguel’s simply been deceiving him all along. The idea that he created Miguel, rather than simply being used by him, is much more interesting and morally complicated — you know, like being a parent of a kid gone off the rails. This way, Dexter doesn’t have to deal with the fact that he gave birth to Miguel. He can simply feel sad that he wound up adopting a bad seed.