[1] In the meantime, Rita discovers that she is pregnant, and Debra investigates the murders of a new serial killer called "The Skinner", hoping to gain a promotion to detective.

[5] In addition to Smits, Dexter's third season introduces two recurring characters: Desmond Harrington as Det.

Joey Quinn, who becomes Debra's partner when he is transferred from the narcotics department to homicide, and Anne Ramsay as Ellen Wolf, a defense attorney whom Miguel detests.

[6] It received largely positive reviews from critics, which ranged from being praised as "truly and incredibly exciting television" in the San Francisco Chronicle,[7] to "lack[ing] the crackling tension the drama had supplied in previous years" by the Chicago Tribune;[8] the aggregate site Metacritic scored the season at 78 out of 100 based on 13 reviews.

Trying to discourage Miguel, Dexter proposes a risky operation to free an infamous Aryan Brotherhood leader from prison in order to kill him.

Dexter starts to recognize Miguel as his first and only true friend, to the point of inviting him to be his best man at his wedding.

Meanwhile, Miguel uses his position to help The Skinner escape police custody in return for his agreeing to kill Dexter.

Striving to discover the truth about Wolf's death, LaGuerta ends up obtaining evidence which links Miguel to the crime.

After a short but vicious fight, Dexter snaps The Skinner's neck and makes it look like suicide by dumping his body in front of a moving police car.

Longstanding executive producers John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton and Clyde Phillips all returned for the third season.

Second season co-executive producers Scott Buck and Melissa Rosenberg retained their roles.