Season three of "Dexter" was the last one I watched as it aired, before house moves meant that I lost the channel that it was on. I think season three was perhaps a little stronger than season two, if the show is starting to ignore some of its own conceits already (nobody talks about Dexter being a drug user in this season at all).
Whilst hunting his latest victim, a drug dealer named Freebo (Mike Erwin), Dexter (Michael C Hall) gets into a fight and accidentally kills Oscar Prado (Nick Hermz) the brother of the Assistant District Attorney Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits). As Miguel puts pressure on the Miami PD to find his brothers killer, he bonds with Dexter - a bond that will eventually go to some dark places. Meanwhile people with ties to Freebo are being tortured, skinned and murdered so Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) goes to an informant, Anton (David Ramsey) to see what he knows.
Admittedly, it's a stretch that Dexter would manage to find someone else in this city that see things his way - particularly someone in a position to make his life that much easier - but it's testament to the writhers and to Jimmy Smits that they manage to layer in enough to the character to make it feel plausible. The most implausible aspect about the season is actually that Batista manages to turn the vice detective into his girlfriend, despite her knowing that he's previously been consorting with prostitutes.
It's still an easy watch at this stage, the writing is a little funnier, with the voice over conceit starting to be more playful. Performances are good, none of the characters are particularly annoying - though I could perhaps have gone with a sharper introduction for Desmond Harrington's new detective. They all seem to act like he's always been there. Minor quibble though on what is pretty good stuff again.