The final few
As usual, we are entering the third act shift. The tension is ratcheted up while we wonder how Dexter will get out of his predicament. Since I've been underwhelmed by the season as a whole — though the Miguel/Dexter (Smits/Hall) dynamic has turned out to be much more fun than I would have expected —…

Also, the notion that Walter regularly electo-shocked Peter, who only barely remembers this, was far creepier than anything else in the episode.

The plot of this episode made absolutely no sense…
…And yet I'm okay with that. I'm trying to watch under the assumption that none of the crazy-ass mythology stuff will pay off, anyway. I'm also fine if they just shock Joshua Jackson every episode. But I really do feel bad for Lance Reddick. He has to give the most…

As far as I can tell, someone's slowly killing every women in Bon Temps, and the town seems at best mildly perturbed. I think vampires could take whole swaths of the state without issue. Also, if the background vampires in the junkyard-of-evil are any indications, standards aren't so high anyway.

The PieMaker
I know death scenes are built for showiness, but still, I thought Margo Martindale was quite good in this episode. Seeing just how expressive she could be using only her face made for a nice contrast with Michael C. Hall's great stone face as Dexter.

Touche.

An odd thought process
I was primarily interested in Dexter's scenes with ghost Harry. In particular, Dexter's childish petulance with the ghost of Harry ("Miguel wants to be my FRIEND, Dad!") reminded me of Jon Hamm's similar evocation of childishness (of a more friendly kind, but childish glee nonetheless) with…

Heart of Gold
You forgot an even more forgettable moment than Masuka's — Angel and the non-hooker.

CC
It's been interesting to watch this show with closed captioning. A few weeks ago the voiceover associated with Jax reading his father's journal was completely different from the captioning, and last night the captioning suggested that Clay show Lowell, Jr.

I think what he really meant to refer to was the half procedural/half serial ambit.

His name is Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and I think his last major gig was playing John Adams in the HBO miniseries. And as with Zak Orth a few weeks ago, I found him more compelling than most of the series leads.

Demetri Martin's Trends
I assure you, you are not the only one.

I didn't think the old man getup was funny — please oh please let Barney be a bit more like a person again next week — but I did think it was eerily well-done. Maybe it was just because they focused on the facial features and the hair, but still, it looked good even closeup. I imagine they''ll use the same look…

The Wild Card
I irregularly watched most of the first season, and I caught the first two episodes of this season. I still don't see the appeal of the show beyond Sheldon. In fact, it seemed like the first two episodes pretty leaned on Sheldon throughout. What's particularly odd is that in an otherwise…

You could certainly insert self-centered for self-righteous. At the same time, I think while _Dexter_ thinks he is strictly emotionless and pragmatic, the show has sometimes cut against this self-perception. The most relevant example here is whether or not he _truly_ cares for Cody and Astor or only if it is…

No, wait, this is the worst moment in my life
I was glad to see the pregnancy storyline get some more play this week. The sudden appearance of the predator was just as plot convenient as Dexter's flyer — well, maybe not that convenient, since I don't see how the police wouldn't be curious about who the hell put up…

Noel,

There can be only one
So does that mean Scott is going to watch the show on NBC in February, or does that mean he's watching it illegally and didn't want to cop to that at the AVClub? Or are you taping things off DirecTV for him?

The mind-reading gag came from the Dr. Who episode, right?
The thing is, Peter's comments at the top of the show were a bit of meta-commentary — he _is_ a superfluous character the way the show is written, and the idea that the government needed his signature to spring Walter _is_ silly. But his comments at the end…

Momentum
For what it is worth, I thought you whined just enough about the blackmail box. It is kind of hilarious, after all. I bet it also contains info on Claudette's lupus and the fact Dutch killed a cat (there was a witness!).