Dexter, "All in the Family": Ac-ting! Gen-ius! Thank you!

Spoilers for "Dexter" season three, episode four coming up just as soon as I get my room upgraded...

I'm going to be brief here. This was the last episode I saw in advance, and it's now been so long that, even with my notes, I don't feel especially connected to it -- and that's even beyond the general dissatisfaction I had with the season when it started. Maybe my opinion will start changing as we move forward, and I don't want to dwell too much on a feeling of unease I haven't been able to entirely place to begin with.

One thing did really bother me about this episode, though, and that's the ease with which Dexter manipulated the brothers Prado. We've known for a while now that Dexter's claim to not have emotion is a lie, that he can't admit those feelings to himself or else it would be harder to cope with his monstrous side. But we also know that Dexter is quite socially stunted, and while he can fake certain basic modes of behavior -- having fun with the kids, buying donuts for the other cops so they'll like him -- he runs into trouble whenever anything more complicated is required. In the same episode in which he handles the pregnancy announcement and the subject of marriage so ineptly for so long, it doesn't feel right to then see him play a very elaborate mindgame on Miguel and Ramon. Either he has a strong understanding of social cues and what makes people tick, or he doesn't. And here, his behavior seemed less about being true to who Dexter is than to serving the needs of the script. Because of that inconsistency, I couldn't even really appreciate Michael C. Hall and Julie Benz's work in the scene where Dexter finally proposes the right way.

Anyway, enough complaining. Hopefully, the season starts clicking for me in the way it seems to be doing for many of you.

What did everybody else think?