(S03E05) The predictability of Dexter really comes into play in tonight's episode. All season, they've been setting us up for things that took place tonight. I've always said that although Dexter can be predictable, for some reason, it never ruins the suspense of the show.

And that stands true tonight. We knew nearly everything that was going to happen, yet still I sat breathless, watching with my mouth hanging open, as the episode unfolded. Predictable? Yep. Boring? Never.

Poor Rita; you know when they say everything looks perfectly normal, that something is going to go wrong. Although Rita didn't miscarry as I had suspected, it was a moment that helped Dex realize that he wants the baby. He calls it relief that he felt, but I think we viewers know Dexter better than he knows himself; he really does have true emotion for this child and is more ready for the changes in his life than he knows. Harry tells Dex he needs to make a choice about Rita and his "hobby" -- which will be the wife, which will be the mistress. I think when Dexter sees Deb at the hospital and she begs him not to be like Harry, we know Dexter's choice.

And we now know that everything we suspected about Miguel is true. Coincidence that Miguel tells Dexter of a guilty man who has gotten away with murder? I think not. Tell me why Dexter doesn't see it, though. He's a smart guy, who has been so blinded lately. I mean, Miguel shows up at the boat as Dexter is heading off to kill the guy Miguel told him about. Did you just about hyperventilate, though, when Miguel called Dexter's bluff: that he knew Dexter wasn't fishing, that he was on the cruise ship? One thing I didn't expect was for Miguel to admit that he set Dexter up so soon. Will Dexter partner with Miguel, since he is proud of him, and not repulsed? The coming attractions seem to indicate that he will. Yikes.

I wondered how Dexter would feel about giving up his "sanctuary," as he called his apartment tonight. Actually, I didn't wonder; I knew. I just didn't know how he'd handle it. Funny that Dex had the same worries as me -- what would he do with the slides?

Deb and Anton flirting? No way. I never suspected that. Yeah, right. Love that Deb found him with a girl, though.

We always thought something was fishy about the hot-headed Ramon Prado, and tonight we may have just found out what. The new skinning victim conveniently put Prado into the department, a spot Ramon wants to be in so he can find out more information about Oscar's killer. Did Ramon kill the latest victim in a copycat "Skinner" fashion, just to get on the inside? Seems a likely scenario to me. What Ramon didn't expect was for Masuka to be so good. Glad he's back in true Masuka-ness, and that's he's found out how he fits into the department.

Batista asks out the undercover vice cop. No one saw that coming, right?

So here's the latest little clue for us to follow and predict: who is watching Windell, the witness, with binoculars? Whoever Freebo owed money to, would be my guess, and something tells me that we may already know who this person is. Could it be Miguel? Ramon? Quinn?

Even though our beloved Dexter can be predictable, the way the writers drop the little nuggets for us and how they unfold is still done in such a suspenseful way that we can't help but be on the edge of our seats, even if only to yell out that we saw it coming.