(S03E10) So much is going to happen in the last two episodes of Dexter, and this episode set it all up. It was a tense one, and I enjoyed watching Dexter’s and Miguel’s little game of cat and mouse.

However, I really missed some of the lighter moments we often see in Dexter, like the quotes with double meanings, the underlying serial killer humor, if you will. There was one at the very beginning, though, that was classic Dexter. On toying with the idea of killing Miguel, Dexter says in his voice over: "He’s also my best man. I’d be expected to grieve."

Join me after the jump as I delve into some of the foundations that have been laid for the last two episodes.

Maria is a smart lady, and she is clearly beginning to put the pieces together that Miguel may have something to do with Ellen Wolf’s death. Very nice direction in the scene where Maria gets blinded by Miguel’s halogen headlights. What worries me, though, is that Maria is also lonely and vulnerable; will she allow herself to fall victim to Miguel’s manipulations? It looks as though she may have gotten her head screwed on straight when Syl came to her house. Let’s hope.

We really see that Dexter has learned his lesson — that he went too far with Miguel — when he takes great pains to steer Angel away form any vigilante justice on Barbara’s attacker. Is that really all there is to this storyline, though? I am really wondering if it will somehow connect to Masuka’s accusation of last week, when he says that she was the one talking lewdly to him.

Where are you all on the Quinn storyline? I am respecting him a bit right now, and I think the writers really want us to like him. Have you noticed that Yuki and the internal affairs investigation haven’t reared their ugly heads recently? I expect this to come back in the last two episodes, maybe making us feel like dopes for warming to Quinn. There’s something there....

Anton and Deb; really? Is Anton upset that Deb lied to him about the clerical error? Is he really so insecure that he believes she’s with him because she feels guilty he got Skinner-napped? Can’t imagine this one’s for the long haul, and I can’t really figure out where they are going with it, except to give Miguel the blackmail to hold over Dexter.

I’m not going to list the whole, amazingly entertaining cat and mouse game that Dexter and Miguel played, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Dexter’s masterpiece: trading out the ring for the dry cleaners slip was sheer brilliance.

So, for all of our speculating about Miguel pulling King’s strings, I am thinking that he wasn’t all along. But when he visited King when he was in custody and we didn’t see their exchange, Miguel was setting up a little insurance by giving Dexter to the Skinner. The cat and mouse game began long before Dexter thought it did, so Miguel gets a point there.

Who am I kidding? I’ll sacrifice a bit of the humor every now and then for an episode as clever as this one. I love seeing Dexter back in full form, a step ahead of Miguel (until the unfortunate Skinner-napping) and playing the game to its fullest. Are you looking forward to the resolution of this season as much as I am?