Dexter - "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (Episode 303)

Dexter was on the hunt - for groceries with Rita and the kids. (Fun fact: Dexter alphebetizes his grocery list. I definitely could see that.) Dexter finds Rita's daughter Astor talking to a creepy older man. He just wanted to know where the Cheerios were. Sure he did. As they left the parking lot, Dexter spied the wannabe predator getting into his car and jotted down his tag number, "just in case." Back at Miami Metro, Vince was delivering (autographed) copies of "Forensics Quarterly" (featuring the article he penned) to all of his co-workers. Deb told Angel and Quinn that Jane DOe was still Jane Doe and that Freebo was still M.I.A. Miguel entered and Angel told everyone to get back to work. He told LaGuerta that he missed his brother and was glad to have Dexter working on the case. Dexter can't understand why Miguel is trying so hard to be his friend. Miguel tells LaGuerta that she's tying way too many of her people up in the case - obviously trying to wrap the case up, since he knows Freebo is gone for good. LaGuerta tells him not to give up. Miguel invites Dexter out for a little beer and medianoches after work. Dex says he's not sure Rita would be up for it, but Miguel already had his wife Sil invite her. Angel asked LaGuerta what Miguel was going to do about the Chickie Hynes case, because he still had a witness in custody. LaGuerta was surprised that Miguel hadn't questioned the witness.

Deb announces that Freebo has struck again - another body with missing skin was dumped in a local park. It wasn't Freebo's doing, because he was kind of dead. The crime victim was junior pimp Javier, who Deb spoke with last week. Everyone thinks it's the work of Freebo, but Dexter knows otherwise. Deb questions the tree trimmers who found the body and Quinn interviewed some bikini-clad ladies. Deb asks Dexter to go out for a beer and he says he can't because he's got a lot on his plate and - when prodded - tells her that Rita's pregnant. Deb can't believe her brother is going to have a "roly-poly, chubby-cheeked sh*t machine," but she's happy for them. Rita was having some late afternoon morning sickness and Dexter secretly hoped she wouldn't feel well enough to meet Miguel and Sil, but no such luck. Rita had to fill out all kinds of paperwork for the doctor and asked Dexter is he knew anything about his biological parents' medical history. All he knew was that his mother died by chainsaw and his brother was killed by...him, but he saaid he'd be more than happy to go to the doctor and get a full medical screening. Rita thinks he'll make a good father...if he wants to be one.

Dex and Rita hang out with the Prados. Rita tells Sil she's finally excited about the baby, but Dexter is still a little reluctant. Dexter formally met Ramon, Miguel's hot headed brother who works for the sheriff's department. Miguel and Dex share a free beer (a perk of being the ADA.) Dexter tells Miguel he's got "mixed feelings" about fatherhood when Miguel congratulates him on the upcoing arrival. Miguel asks is the latest "Freebo killing" was a mistake on the part of Miami Metro and Dexter assures Miguel that Freebo is dead. Miguel senses that Dexter is "unsettled" which Dexter sees as his cue for showing that he's normal, trying to look like he doesn't kill people on a semi-regular basis. Miguel tells him he did the right thing - and it will never be forgotten. After the fiesta, Dexter does a little digging into the past of "Cheerios man." His name is Nathan Marten and a little extra digging shows that he is, indeed, a registered sexual predator. There's a knock at the door and Dexter encounters Miguel and a bottle of rum at his home. Dex didn't know if Miguel was being creepy or just being a friend. They did a little bonding - Miguel told horror stories about his alcoholic father, saying he could never measure up in his father's eyes; and Dexter admitted (for the first time ever) that his father was "disgusted" by him. Miguel tells Dexter that they had to get Freebo's body and dump it somewhere. Miguel would tell Ramon that he got an anonymous tip as to where the body was and they could close the case. Dexter said it wasn't possible because the body was gone. Dexter knows that Miguel needs to see "something" and agrees to take Miguel to Freebo's resting place the next day. Deb tracked Anton down and tried to get more information from him. She chased him into the mens' room and asked him about Javier. Anton didn't want to give her anymore names as it seemed everyone who got close to her ended up deceased. He decided the best way to get rid of her was to light up a joint. His little plan backfired as Deb put him in cuffs and dragged him back to the station.   

Dexter underwent the tests for Rita and flashed back to the day that Harry showed him the x-ray of a serial killer's brain, which matched up exactly with a scan of Dexter's brain. Later, Dexter took Miguel to a cemetery and told him that he put Freebo's corpse into one of the freshly-dug graves, which was then covered by someone else's casket. Miguel says he can order to get the body exhumed and Dexter begs him not to, because he didn't know if he left any telltale evidence behind. Miguel agreed, much to Dexter's delight. Miguel said they now had to figure out who was doing the killing that was being attributed to Freebo.

Rita, Dexter and the kids were at the beach and Dexter spotted Nathan taking photos of Astor. What a creep. Dexter went to a maternity yoga class with Rita, which he said was the "worst moment of his life" (until the instructor told everyone to do a little free-form dancing. Dexter was instructed to put his hand on Rita's belly and direct all of his "positive intentions" toward his unborn baby (this was the part of the show where my husband thanked me for not wanting to have kids.) The next morning, Miguel was interviewed after sentencing Chickie Hynes to the maximum sentence possible. LaGuerta was confused because they had a witness. Miguel said he read his statement and it sounded sketchy. LaGuerta is again puzzled by the actions of one of her colleagues. Poor Deb still can't get an ID on her Jane Doe and Dexter gets an epiphany regarding milk cartons and scoots off. Quinn confronted Deb about why she locked Anton up. Deb told Angel and Quinn the whole story and Quinn stomped off. Angel told Deb to "cut him loose." Nathan was up to his old predatory tricks at an outdoor cafe when Dexter came up and sat at his table, telling him to stay away from his kids. Nathan told hm that he made a terrible mistake and has paid the price for it - and he's changed. Dex doesn't buy it. Later that night, Dex pays Nathan a little drive-by visit and heads home to pull up a photo of Teegan. Miguel just won't leave him alone.

The next day, Dexter helps Deb help herself, by posting Teegan's photo in a place where Deb would be sure to find it - a place where they met up for lunch. Deb bought a baby-sized Miami Police t-shirt for her future nephew (or niece.) Dexter tells Deb that he's not sure if he could be a father and Deb smacked him and told him he was being stupid. She lectures Dexter until she finds the picture Dexter posted for her to find. Deb and the gang went to Teegan's place and found that Freebo had been hiding out there. They also discovered that Freebo had an alibi for the time of Teegan's murder. LaGuerta assumes he's skipped town. Vince found the copy of FQ he gave Quinn in the trash, with used chewing gum on it and said that was an insult to "his people", which Angel assumed were "little scientists, I guess." Angel put Deb and Quinn on the "skinner" case and told Deb to make nice with Anton. Dex called Miguel and he said they needed to meet. Miguel said he heard that the cops were off the "Freebo trail" and thanked Dexter for doing whatever he did to shift focus from Freebo. Dex credited Deb and Miguel reminded him that they were on the same side. Miguel gave Dex a gift, the bloodstained shirt he was wearing the night Dex killed Freebo. He gave it to Dexter because he trusted him and wanted him to do the same - because he likes him. Miguel says he's got a lot of potential. Did Dexter really make a friend or was he just being foolish? Deb showed up at the club Anton played at and apologized. He said he was working on an apology for her in the form of a song. Dexter told Rita he had some "work stuff" to take care of and said he'd try to pick up some milk for the kids. Anton sang his song to Deb, called "Puta Flaca Mala." I can't believe Deb doesn't know enough Spanish (working for the Miami Police Department too!) to know she was being insulted (the song's translation was "Skinny Mean Bitch.") To Deb's credit, she took the discovery in stride. Dexter again went to Nathan's house. Since he hadn't killed anyone, he was outside of Harry's code - but he had stepped uninvited into Dexter's world. Dex caught him looking at the photos of Astor that he took at the beach and rapidly dispatched him, by way of strangulation. But hey, at least he grabbed some milk from his fridge before he headed to Rita's. He also gave some "positive intentions" to his baby.