Only two episodes in, and at first I was kind of down about the way the plot was going... but after the 2nd episode things are starting to take shape.
The psychiatrist chick that is the guest star this season... not really selling me on her character, but her role in the plot is good. And you can kind of tell they are going to go all out with this season... they'll probably dig up the past a lot, you have the "Debra" plotline. And it seems like there are many different directions they can go with the ending of the show/season... and that makes for an exciting season.
So far I'm liking the season. I agree on your point about Dr. Vogel, as in I didn't think it was possible to seamlessly expand the story like they did. But..they did. I get the feeling that Vogel's motives will ultimately turn out to be dubious though. Even though she's assumed the "Mom" roll, I think there's just a whole lot she's hiding.
It'll also be interesting to watch the implosion of Debra. Dexter now has to cover both of their asses.
Lastly, I have to mention Quinn because he cracks me up. I feel like he's an awful actor but that somehow adds to the element of his character. He's also seemingly a shapeshifter, as he physically changes from season to season.
I thought that the last couple of seasons were pretty awful, but this one has been great so far. I'm very interested in seeing how each of the ongoing storylines resolves. As has been said, there are MANY believable ways for things to go, which makes it even better.
So far I'm liking the season. I agree on your point about Dr. Vogel, as in I didn't think it was possible to seamlessly expand the story like they did. But..they did. I get the feeling that Vogel's motives will ultimately turn out to be dubious though. Even though she's assumed the "Mom" roll, I think there's just a whole lot she's hiding.
It'll also be interesting to watch the implosion of Debra. Dexter now has to cover both of their asses.
Lastly, I have to mention Quinn because he cracks me up. I feel like he's an awful actor but that somehow adds to the element of his character. He's also seemingly a shapeshifter, as he physically changes from season to season.
What I mean about Dr. Vogel... I guess I'm just saying I think she's doing a bad job acting... but from a pure plot perspective I'm into it. Again, I really like how they've kind of gone back into Dexter's history and somehow was able to add an aspect to it that made sense.
I'm with you on Quinn. One season he's a drunk that takes too many risks, the next he's seemingly normal. I guess they just do what they want with his character depending on the role they need.
I thought that the last couple of seasons were pretty awful, but this one has been great so far. I'm very interested in seeing how each of the ongoing storylines resolves. As has been said, there are MANY believable ways for things to go, which makes it even better.
I think some of the seasons were hit and miss. Season 5 (Julia Styles guest stars), was decent. A lot of the plot elements made sense but overall was pretty meh IMO.
Season 6 was the "religious" one where you had Colin Hanks and Edward James Olmos as the hardcore Catholic(?) extremists, and then you had Mos Def as the mechanic that was more down to earth about religion and not as extreme as the others. As a Christian person myself, I really like how they broached that subject and the twist toward the end of the season regarding Olmos's character was probably one of the best twists mid-season with this show.
Season 7... eh. I liked how the whole Ukrianian crime boss (I can't remember characters names for the life of me) thing played out. Hannah McKay's plot-line I didn't like. But oh well.
So I guess that's like a 1.5/3 for me regarding the last couple of seasons.
I thought that the Colin Hanks season was just completely boring. The twist didn't surprise me at all. I liked the dynamic between the various 'takes' on religion, but other than that I was just bored.
I loved the Julia Stiles season.
And last season was decent, but so much of the character development was just flatly not believable to me. And thus far they haven't reinforced it. They're doing a good job of developing the choices that they made, but the choices themselves just didn't make sense.
I thought that the Colin Hanks season was just completely boring. The twist didn't surprise me at all. I liked the dynamic between the various 'takes' on religion, but other than that I was just bored.
The twist didn't surprise you? I'm talking about the...
part where you find out Olmos is dead and was a figment of Hank's imagination. They hid it pretty well because you always saw the two of them together, but when they were interacting with other people it was always just Hanks. And of course, they mislead you because Hank's character was kind of hinting that he might turn on Olmos... but then once you realize that Olmos is dead, suddenly all of that plot is reframed as Hanks inner conflict of good vs evil.
I loved the Julia Stiles season.
And last season was decent, but so much of the character development was just flatly not believable to me. And thus far they haven't reinforced it. They're doing a good job of developing the choices that they made, but the choices themselves just didn't make sense.
I'm with you on last season. Other than the whole drama of the cover-up, and the last episode in particular, it really wasn't that suspenseful.
In any case... this season is off to a good start.
So far I'm liking the season. I agree on your point about Dr. Vogel, as in I didn't think it was possible to seamlessly expand the story like they did. But..they did. I get the feeling that Vogel's motives will ultimately turn out to be dubious though. Even though she's assumed the "Mom" roll, I think there's just a whole lot she's hiding.
I hope she won't be the brainsurgeon, but everything is pointing in that direction.
but from a pure plot perspective I'm into it. Again, I really like how they've kind of gone back into Dexter's history and somehow was able to add an aspect to it that made sense.
It does not make sense.
What happened with Laguerta?the six months step forward in time is a too easy solution to the matter. How come no one placed him/herself in her position to check what she thought. The tape of debra tanking for gass to burn the church must be seen by someone else...
This Vogel character literally destroys everything in the story line of Harry. I was very fond of the character. He thought out a plan to deal with his son. Make him a killer in the name justice, well sort off. However when he saw the result of the serial murderer he let go in the world he felt disgusted. Now with the introduction of Vogel he is suddenly a nobody. He didnt come up wiht it. Also, instead of commiting suicide after witnessing a murder by his son, im supossed to believe that he discussed it with miss Vogel first?
I think some of the seasons were hit and miss. Season 5 (Julia Styles guest stars), was decent. A lot of the plot elements made sense but overall was pretty meh IMO.
It was aweful. Her story was blend and dull. A very terrible replacement of rita. Her acting was mediocre and above it all, the villian was the worst of the whole series.
Season 6 was the "religious" one where you had Colin Hanks and Edward James Olmos as the hardcore Catholic(?) extremists, and then you had Mos Def as the mechanic that was more down to earth about religion and not as extreme as the others. As a Christian person myself, I really like how they broached that subject and the twist toward the end of the season regarding Olmos's character was probably one of the best twists mid-season with this show.
The plot twist in this season was very obvious. Not the worst season, but given that the whole season doesnt impact e character of dexter in anyway makes it a complete filler. Same for season 5.
Season 7... eh. I liked how the whole Ukrianian crime boss (I can't remember characters names for the life of me) thing played out. Hannah McKay's plot-line I didn't like. But oh well.
Zirko? Or something:p. Anyway, he was very cool. Although technically also fillerish. I also very much liked hannah mckay's. The actress is very good, storyline wasnt too sappy. And the conflict with debra-hannah made it interesting. But then again, also filler. Sjnce the only bit of this season really important are those minutes of screentime dealing with Laguerta investigating dexter.
The twist didn't surprise you? I'm talking about the...
part where you find out Olmos is dead and was a figment of Hank's imagination. They hid it pretty well because you always saw the two of them together, but when they were interacting with other people it was always just Hanks. And of course, they mislead you because Hank's character was kind of hinting that he might turn on Olmos... but then once you realize that Olmos is dead, suddenly all of that plot is reframed as Hanks inner conflict of good vs evil.
Especially because the old guy didnt communicate wih others, or only with hank is what ive it away for me before the plot was revealed.
hey i have managed to evolve my axolotls by feeding them thyroid glands the thyroxine contained in these gland is enough to change these water dwelling creatures into land based creatures
Posted by: Tay Collins | January 20, 2010 6:45 AM
Tay, that's not evolution. It's metamorphosis. Evolution means descent with heritable modification – individuals cannot evolve, unless they're Pokemon.
Posted by: David Marjanović | January 20, 2010 8:55 AM
I guess the plot twist in season 6 was just me then. I remember going a little ghetto reacting to that reveal (and I'm a chubby white guy that plays magic so that should tell you everything you need to know about how surprised I was).
It does not make sense.
What happened with Laguerta?the six months step forward in time is a too easy solution to the matter. How come no one placed him/herself in her position to check what she thought. The tape of debra tanking for gass to burn the church must be seen by someone else...
The frame up worked. The story was that she confronted that old gangster guy in the shipping container and they both killed each other. And because of how she acted prior to her death, it really drove that story home. They could potentially revisit this if new evidence turns up to suggest something different happened and maybe that could be more plot in this season... but I don't consider them overlooking her murder to be that big of a deal. I'm assuming it eventually comes up though.
This Vogel character literally destroys everything in the story line of Harry. I was very fond of the character. He thought out a plan to deal with his son. Make him a killer in the name justice, well sort off. However when he saw the result of the serial murderer he let go in the world he felt disgusted. Now with the introduction of Vogel he is suddenly a nobody. He didnt come up wiht it. Also, instead of commiting suicide after witnessing a murder by his son, im supossed to believe that he discussed it with miss Vogel first?
Well, not necessarily. The way they explain it is that all of the "Harry Code" was her idea and he just executed it. And then the suicide still potentially make sense. It's possible for someone to commit suicide even if they know they have people to talk to. That's not that big of a suspension of disbelief IMO.
I thought the season 6 twist was pretty good. Sure, you could see it coming if you were looking... but I wasn't. I was just casually watching it and I had just been enjoying the season for what it was (fairly bland but more dexter), and the twist made me like it a lot more. Plus the ending. I wasn't a huge fan of the strip club plot of season 7 and I dunno how I feel about the ending. Pretty hard to buy it. I have yet to see the new episodes, plan on watching them soon.
Sometimes the show feels like it might stall out, but it hasn't died yet. I am glad to see it's in its final season though. Fun show, but I prefer a show to end on its own terms. With any luck they do a good job wrapping it up.
To me seasons 5 and 6 are probably the two worst seasons of the show (although that's speaking comparatively of course as a "bad" season of Dexter is still one worth watching). Season 5 was rather boring and I didn't really find Dexter's relationship with Lumen very realistic at all. Also it had probably the worst main villain of any season in Jordan Chase.
Season 6, I also found the twist to be very obvious though I think if I didn't see that theory on another message board I may have been surprised. Once I read someone's idea that Gellar was dead all along though it just made way too much sense that I knew absolutely that had to be what was happening. I also felt like they killed off Brother Sam too early, seemed like he had more he could have offered to the show. All-in-all it was kind of a weak attempt to show Dexter being interested in religion but they just kind of skirted the edges and played it safe more than anything.
Season 7 I liked quite a bit, at worst it's in my top 4 best seasons, maybe even top 3. I thought Sirko was a really interesting character and enjoyed his interactions with Dexter, even if he was ultimately kind of an unimportant character in the grand scheme. I liked Hannah Mckay too and felt like her relationship with Dexter made a lot more sense than Lumen's did, and it also felt a lot more "real" than his relationship with Rita. It also probably helped that Yvonne Strahovski is just so damn beautiful.
Season 8 has kind of started off on a bit of a slow foot but I can appreciate that they're doing a lot of setup for the grand finale of the series right now. The Vogel character is certainly interesting and adds a new dynamic to the series. It will also be interesting to see if Deb can ever possibly reconcile with Dexter or if she will just continue to fall further into the self-destructive state we've seen her in so far.
This Vogel character literally destroys everything in the story line of Harry. I was very fond of the character. He thought out a plan to deal with his son. Make him a killer in the name justice, well sort off. However when he saw the result of the serial murderer he let go in the world he felt disgusted. Now with the introduction of Vogel he is suddenly a nobody. He didnt come up wiht it. Also, instead of commiting suicide after witnessing a murder by his son, im supossed to believe that he discussed it with miss Vogel first?.
I dunno, I always found it kind of fishy that Harry single-handedly came up with the idea to turn Dexter into a serial killer that only kills people who meet a certain "code". The idea that he had someone help him makes a lot of sense I think. On a slightly related tangent, I've always had a feeling that Mathews is in on it too, that he knows what Dexter is. Will be interesting to see if that proves to be true or not this season.
I also felt like they killed off Brother Sam too early, seemed like he had more he could have offered to the show. All-in-all it was kind of a weak attempt to show Dexter being interested in religion but they just kind of skirted the edges and played it safe more than anything.
I don't think they skirted the edges though. They had the main villain of that season be a fanatic religious nut. They kind of dove right into it.
But again, they did it the right way by showing the other "good" side of spirituality. That's the perfect way to handle it, because now instead of blindly attacking religion for being good or bad, you've shown both sides and left it up to the audience to make their own decision.
Another show that did this perfectly was House. Every 30 or so episodes there would be religious patient and there is always a scene between House and the patient that almost reads as a textbook debate on the merits of religion in society instead of an actual conversation. And of course, in the end neither of them is "proven" right and the issue is left up to the audience.
Season 8 has kind of started off on a bit of a slow foot but I can appreciate that they're doing a lot of setup for the grand finale of the series right now. The Vogel character is certainly interesting and adds a new dynamic to the series. It will also be interesting to see if Deb can ever possibly reconcile with Dexter or if she will just continue to fall further into the self-destructive state we've seen her in so far.
The one thing that is interesting to me is that after last years finale, I probably would've predicted that this season was going to be all about the investigation into the murder. I suppose that could still happen with so many episodes left, but it would've been really easy to make the whole season about that.
Instead, it's about Dexter and Deb's relationship and another sort of "am I a complete monster or do I have some semblance of humanity within me?' question.
I meant they skirted the edges of religion with regards to Dexter's thoughts towards it. They showed him kind of intrigued by it and I believe he enrolled Harrison in a religious pre-school or something but then they never mentioned it again after that season. Obviously Travis was the epitome of religious beliefs taken too far.
So... I watched the finale. It was awful. I wasn't expecting a 'happy' ending, but this one just didn't make any sense.
It was a jumbled mess to cap off two very disappointing seasons.
Building up Dexter's humanity over the course of the show, which included some forced emotions for the son that was never around and the girlfriend who had zero motivation for taking said son, only to have him abandon everything he's been building? That's a good way for the writers to show they had no ****ing idea how to end the show.
Go back and watch the first four seasons of Dexter. Now watch the last two. What's missing? The whole cat-and-mouse games between Dexter and his prey and Dexter and his associates. We got a little bit of it in season 7 with Sirko, but without any payoff. Season 8 was just a complete mess.
What happened to all that jewelry Deb stole at the beginning of the season? Who cares!
Go back and watch the first four seasons of Dexter. Now watch the last two. What's missing? The whole cat-and-mouse games between Dexter and his prey and Dexter and his associates. We got a little bit of it in season 7 with Sirko, but without any payoff. Season 8 was just a complete mess.
I completely agree. The show started to decline a little around 4, but 5-8 were just silly. It jumped the shark completely when he killed a guy in an airport and no one noticed. Around season 5 they stopped caring how he set up his kills and Dexter became almost incompetent, or at least as incompetent as the rest of Miami Metro.
Dexter's always been a show that's never completely passed the 'suspension of disbelief' test for me. (There are that many serial killers in Miami? Two brothers, separated very early on, both grow up to be serial killers and one manages to track the other down and stages a series of kills just to impress him?) And that's from the very beginning. Still, I watched the show slavishly for eight seasons because I liked Michael C. Hall's performance, and despite having the most irrelevant supporting cast in television history, Dexter's adventures were entertaining for the most part.
Seasons one and two were the best.
Season three was hampered with a weak villain.
Season four had an amazing villain, but the writers ran out of ideas for the supporting cast completely at this point. The Batista/Laguerta marriage and Quinn dating Trinity's long lost daughter were cringe-inducing.
Season five... most people hated Lumen, I liked her. The season was pretty dull overall though.
Season six had an extremely predictable twist and was probably the worst of the series... besides season eight.
Season seven had the most interesting villain since Trinity, but it also introduced Hannah McKay and you could tell the writers just didn't care at this point. There is no way someone can drink water that is 40% Xanax and not know - it would have the consistency of mud and taste worse. (I had a pet theory that Deb dosed herself to frame Hannah, but that didn't turn out.)
Season eight had so much potential, but it felt like the writers weren't trying at all. If Zach Hamilton had been Jonah Mitchell instead of a new character, it would have added some weight to his story arc. Vogel felt wasted. Daniel Vogel never came off as the threat he should have been. The scripting felt more and more contrived.
I stopped watching a few episodes before the finale, but I kept following spoilers.
On the ending...
I read a pet theory of someone's that everything after the hurricane is just what Hannah tells Harrison and that Dex is really dead. I kind of like this theory.
On the other hand, Dexter has mentioned moving to Oregon in the past, something about Portland being the serial killer capital or something, so I kind of like the idea of something that was set up off-hand years ago actually paying off for once in Dexter.
Overall, though, the entire ending of Dexter was crap, just utter crap.
Also, I wish Rudy had killed Deb in the first season. Such an annoying character.
I like the idea that the whole thing was just some weird deluded story of some whackjob lumberjack (dexter's narration kinda goes toward this). Nothing to really point toward it, it's purely a 'well that's better than what really happened' theory (okay, well if it had ACTUALLY ended that way I would've been more pissed, it's more of an 'lol that viewer theory is kinda funny and since this finale was so **** I'll pretend that's what happened instead').
I always see people talking about how season 6 was super predictable, but I personally didn't see it coming. Maybe it's cuz when I watch tv for the most part I watch it online in a tv binge. Without a week in between each episode/reading stuff online and just kinda lazing out watching a season in a couple weeks, I didn't bother reading into it. When it was revealed I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
My brother and I almost stopped watching after Doakes bit it. I didn't mind how he died or that he did (something had to happen to him). It just happened too early in the series I think. They had some really good interaction, and most of the other supporting actors were just kind've there.
Dexter was such a 5 season show. Heck, almost every show is. The further they push it the worse it gets. Trinity kills Rita in season 4. Then season 5 they get closer and closer to catching him, linking him with trinity and the bay harbor butcher. Then they catch him/he runs. The end.
Ultimately, there were a lot of small arcs I didn't care for and little things that I didn't like. But Dexter is Dexter, and overall the show was entertaining. So they completely shat on it in the last episode (it fails on so many levels it's just depressing). Happens too often, really. Dexter was one of those shows that could have really used a strong ending. The show was about Dexter, **** Harrison and **** Hannah. Kill or catch Dexter and give Deb a happy ending (or as good as you can, considering...). Without a solid end to it all the show sort've fails to be one of the great tv shows imo. I like it and may rewatch the early seasons sometime (primarily for comparison having just watched the last season), but it doesn't feel like it's complete, and I probably won't ever watch it start to finish again. The Shield, The Wire, Breaking Bad, even like Firefly (cut short). Those shows I'll watch again, to the end. Even if there are some loose parts, a really strong ending can make it so worth it.
I always see people talking about how season 6 was super predictable, but I personally didn't see it coming. Maybe it's cuz when I watch tv for the most part I watch it online in a tv binge. Without a week in between each episode/reading stuff online and just kinda lazing out watching a season in a couple weeks, I didn't bother reading into it. When it was revealed I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
It was because if you only ever see Character A interact with Character B and no one else, it starts setting off warning bells. We've seen this sort of thing too many times now. Call it The Sixth Sense Effect. The imaginary friend twist is really hard to pull off now because of how ubiquitous the mindscrew ending became in the late 90s/early 00s.
While Season 8 was certainly not my favorite, I think the final episode really brought what I personally wanted from Dexter himself, a bit of emotion. It is nice to see him have human emotions after such a long journey.
The idea behind the episode, that Dexter comes full circle and realizes that all these feelings he has wanted and is now feeling, are too much, was a fantastic idea. It has been the primary focus of his character throughout the series and we see glimpses of it only to have him retract. It really was a tug of war throughout the series, and the final episode did a good job of showing us that he has achieved those human emotions and is really feeling them rather than acting them out for the sake of concealing his true nature.
However the execution of all of this just seemed pretty terrible and really left a hole inside of me. I don't feel like the show actually ended, I feel more like it was given notice of cancellation and slapped together to try and have it end before a deadline and that not being the case, they could have done a better job of conveying the story and executing the plot.
I will certainly watch the series again at some point, and reading the directors comments in an interview, I definitely like what they were trying to do but I hate how they did it.
About damn time this series ended! Someone should have euthanised this as soon as it was dragging on, about two or three seasons ago!
I thought the programme's finale was utterly disappointing and ridiculous. I might have liked the concept, but the execution was irredeemably awful, and it's a shame that a pretty good programme ended on such a poor episode.
If the show runners or writers contribute any other works, I don't think I'll consume them.
About damn time this series ended! Someone should have euthanised this as soon as it was dragging on, about two or three seasons ago!
I thought the programme's finale was utterly disappointing and ridiculous. I might have liked the concept, but the execution was irredeemably awful, and it's a shame that a pretty good programme ended on such a poor episode.
If the show runners or writers contribute any other works, I don't think I'll consume them.
I forgot Trinity was Season 4, so in my mind Dexter ended at Season 4.
This is sad. I started the season with really high hopes.
The addition of Dr. Vogel interested me...leaning away from the standard bad guy killing people so I gotta kill him format intrigued me. As did Deb dealing with killing LaGuerta, and developing a drug problem. I liked Vogel developing the code because it seemed to make a bit more sense for Harry to have committed suicide this way. I kinda liked Dex taking someone on as a protoge. Hell, Masuka's daughter interested me because it promised a bit of growth for him as a character. But then...*sigh*
Then Vogel's "long lost son" shows up. So we have the big bad now. Deb's "drug problems" include one cocaine bump, and is not mentioned again. Said protoge is killed off with barely a mention. Masuka's daughter just wandered around and seemed to exist to make sure Masuka got screen time. Jamie and Quinn's respective storylines went nowhere too for that matter. They toyed with so many thingsthis season, just to drop them a minute or two later. Quinn and Deb rekindling a flame? A kiss, then nothing. A more thorough look at Dex's past? Dr. Surrogate shows up, bes enigmatic for a half a season, then is killed. Dex is caught on tape killing Saxon? Oh well. Never liked the guy anyways. Have fun in Argentina. The season had no resolution. If it was a season finale, I might be willing to accept it, but as an ENDING? Blech.
The psychiatrist chick that is the guest star this season... not really selling me on her character, but her role in the plot is good. And you can kind of tell they are going to go all out with this season... they'll probably dig up the past a lot, you have the "Debra" plotline. And it seems like there are many different directions they can go with the ending of the show/season... and that makes for an exciting season.
It'll also be interesting to watch the implosion of Debra. Dexter now has to cover both of their asses.
Lastly, I have to mention Quinn because he cracks me up. I feel like he's an awful actor but that somehow adds to the element of his character. He's also seemingly a shapeshifter, as he physically changes from season to season.
What I mean about Dr. Vogel... I guess I'm just saying I think she's doing a bad job acting... but from a pure plot perspective I'm into it. Again, I really like how they've kind of gone back into Dexter's history and somehow was able to add an aspect to it that made sense.
I'm with you on Quinn. One season he's a drunk that takes too many risks, the next he's seemingly normal. I guess they just do what they want with his character depending on the role they need.
I think some of the seasons were hit and miss. Season 5 (Julia Styles guest stars), was decent. A lot of the plot elements made sense but overall was pretty meh IMO.
Season 6 was the "religious" one where you had Colin Hanks and Edward James Olmos as the hardcore Catholic(?) extremists, and then you had Mos Def as the mechanic that was more down to earth about religion and not as extreme as the others. As a Christian person myself, I really like how they broached that subject and the twist toward the end of the season regarding Olmos's character was probably one of the best twists mid-season with this show.
Season 7... eh. I liked how the whole Ukrianian crime boss (I can't remember characters names for the life of me) thing played out. Hannah McKay's plot-line I didn't like. But oh well.
So I guess that's like a 1.5/3 for me regarding the last couple of seasons.
I loved the Julia Stiles season.
And last season was decent, but so much of the character development was just flatly not believable to me. And thus far they haven't reinforced it. They're doing a good job of developing the choices that they made, but the choices themselves just didn't make sense.
The twist didn't surprise you? I'm talking about the...
I'm with you on last season. Other than the whole drama of the cover-up, and the last episode in particular, it really wasn't that suspenseful.
In any case... this season is off to a good start.
I hope she won't be the brainsurgeon, but everything is pointing in that direction.
She is the worst actress so far in the whole show. I first thought Julia Stiles was the worst actress, but she now is in the lead.
It does not make sense.
What happened with Laguerta?the six months step forward in time is a too easy solution to the matter. How come no one placed him/herself in her position to check what she thought. The tape of debra tanking for gass to burn the church must be seen by someone else...
This Vogel character literally destroys everything in the story line of Harry. I was very fond of the character. He thought out a plan to deal with his son. Make him a killer in the name justice, well sort off. However when he saw the result of the serial murderer he let go in the world he felt disgusted. Now with the introduction of Vogel he is suddenly a nobody. He didnt come up wiht it. Also, instead of commiting suicide after witnessing a murder by his son, im supossed to believe that he discussed it with miss Vogel first?
It was aweful. Her story was blend and dull. A very terrible replacement of rita. Her acting was mediocre and above it all, the villian was the worst of the whole series.
The plot twist in this season was very obvious. Not the worst season, but given that the whole season doesnt impact e character of dexter in anyway makes it a complete filler. Same for season 5.
Zirko? Or something:p. Anyway, he was very cool. Although technically also fillerish. I also very much liked hannah mckay's. The actress is very good, storyline wasnt too sappy. And the conflict with debra-hannah made it interesting. But then again, also filler. Sjnce the only bit of this season really important are those minutes of screentime dealing with Laguerta investigating dexter.
Especially because the old guy didnt communicate wih others, or only with hank is what ive it away for me before the plot was revealed.
Posted by: Tay Collins | January 20, 2010 6:45 AM
Tay, that's not evolution. It's metamorphosis. Evolution means descent with heritable modification – individuals cannot evolve, unless they're Pokemon.
Posted by: David Marjanović | January 20, 2010 8:55 AM
The frame up worked. The story was that she confronted that old gangster guy in the shipping container and they both killed each other. And because of how she acted prior to her death, it really drove that story home. They could potentially revisit this if new evidence turns up to suggest something different happened and maybe that could be more plot in this season... but I don't consider them overlooking her murder to be that big of a deal. I'm assuming it eventually comes up though.
Quinn - "The answer is B, active aggression"
Batista - "A is active aggression and B is wrong"
Sometimes the show feels like it might stall out, but it hasn't died yet. I am glad to see it's in its final season though. Fun show, but I prefer a show to end on its own terms. With any luck they do a good job wrapping it up.
"Oh and you owe me a new Michelin, mother****er."
rip
Season 6, I also found the twist to be very obvious though I think if I didn't see that theory on another message board I may have been surprised. Once I read someone's idea that Gellar was dead all along though it just made way too much sense that I knew absolutely that had to be what was happening. I also felt like they killed off Brother Sam too early, seemed like he had more he could have offered to the show. All-in-all it was kind of a weak attempt to show Dexter being interested in religion but they just kind of skirted the edges and played it safe more than anything.
Season 7 I liked quite a bit, at worst it's in my top 4 best seasons, maybe even top 3. I thought Sirko was a really interesting character and enjoyed his interactions with Dexter, even if he was ultimately kind of an unimportant character in the grand scheme. I liked Hannah Mckay too and felt like her relationship with Dexter made a lot more sense than Lumen's did, and it also felt a lot more "real" than his relationship with Rita. It also probably helped that Yvonne Strahovski is just so damn beautiful.
Season 8 has kind of started off on a bit of a slow foot but I can appreciate that they're doing a lot of setup for the grand finale of the series right now. The Vogel character is certainly interesting and adds a new dynamic to the series. It will also be interesting to see if Deb can ever possibly reconcile with Dexter or if she will just continue to fall further into the self-destructive state we've seen her in so far.
I dunno, I always found it kind of fishy that Harry single-handedly came up with the idea to turn Dexter into a serial killer that only kills people who meet a certain "code". The idea that he had someone help him makes a lot of sense I think. On a slightly related tangent, I've always had a feeling that Mathews is in on it too, that he knows what Dexter is. Will be interesting to see if that proves to be true or not this season.
I don't think they skirted the edges though. They had the main villain of that season be a fanatic religious nut. They kind of dove right into it.
But again, they did it the right way by showing the other "good" side of spirituality. That's the perfect way to handle it, because now instead of blindly attacking religion for being good or bad, you've shown both sides and left it up to the audience to make their own decision.
Another show that did this perfectly was House. Every 30 or so episodes there would be religious patient and there is always a scene between House and the patient that almost reads as a textbook debate on the merits of religion in society instead of an actual conversation. And of course, in the end neither of them is "proven" right and the issue is left up to the audience.
The one thing that is interesting to me is that after last years finale, I probably would've predicted that this season was going to be all about the investigation into the murder. I suppose that could still happen with so many episodes left, but it would've been really easy to make the whole season about that.
Instead, it's about Dexter and Deb's relationship and another sort of "am I a complete monster or do I have some semblance of humanity within me?' question.
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[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
It was a jumbled mess to cap off two very disappointing seasons.
Building up Dexter's humanity over the course of the show, which included some forced emotions for the son that was never around and the girlfriend who had zero motivation for taking said son, only to have him abandon everything he's been building? That's a good way for the writers to show they had no ****ing idea how to end the show.
Go back and watch the first four seasons of Dexter. Now watch the last two. What's missing? The whole cat-and-mouse games between Dexter and his prey and Dexter and his associates. We got a little bit of it in season 7 with Sirko, but without any payoff. Season 8 was just a complete mess.
What happened to all that jewelry Deb stole at the beginning of the season? Who cares!
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I completely agree. The show started to decline a little around 4, but 5-8 were just silly. It jumped the shark completely when he killed a guy in an airport and no one noticed. Around season 5 they stopped caring how he set up his kills and Dexter became almost incompetent, or at least as incompetent as the rest of Miami Metro.
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[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Seasons one and two were the best.
Season three was hampered with a weak villain.
Season four had an amazing villain, but the writers ran out of ideas for the supporting cast completely at this point. The Batista/Laguerta marriage and Quinn dating Trinity's long lost daughter were cringe-inducing.
Season five... most people hated Lumen, I liked her. The season was pretty dull overall though.
Season six had an extremely predictable twist and was probably the worst of the series... besides season eight.
Season seven had the most interesting villain since Trinity, but it also introduced Hannah McKay and you could tell the writers just didn't care at this point. There is no way someone can drink water that is 40% Xanax and not know - it would have the consistency of mud and taste worse. (I had a pet theory that Deb dosed herself to frame Hannah, but that didn't turn out.)
Season eight had so much potential, but it felt like the writers weren't trying at all. If Zach Hamilton had been Jonah Mitchell instead of a new character, it would have added some weight to his story arc. Vogel felt wasted. Daniel Vogel never came off as the threat he should have been. The scripting felt more and more contrived.
I stopped watching a few episodes before the finale, but I kept following spoilers.
On the ending...
On the other hand, Dexter has mentioned moving to Oregon in the past, something about Portland being the serial killer capital or something, so I kind of like the idea of something that was set up off-hand years ago actually paying off for once in Dexter.
Overall, though, the entire ending of Dexter was crap, just utter crap.
Also, I wish Rudy had killed Deb in the first season. Such an annoying character.
I always see people talking about how season 6 was super predictable, but I personally didn't see it coming. Maybe it's cuz when I watch tv for the most part I watch it online in a tv binge. Without a week in between each episode/reading stuff online and just kinda lazing out watching a season in a couple weeks, I didn't bother reading into it. When it was revealed I actually enjoyed it quite a bit.
My brother and I almost stopped watching after Doakes bit it. I didn't mind how he died or that he did (something had to happen to him). It just happened too early in the series I think. They had some really good interaction, and most of the other supporting actors were just kind've there.
Dexter was such a 5 season show. Heck, almost every show is. The further they push it the worse it gets. Trinity kills Rita in season 4. Then season 5 they get closer and closer to catching him, linking him with trinity and the bay harbor butcher. Then they catch him/he runs. The end.
Ultimately, there were a lot of small arcs I didn't care for and little things that I didn't like. But Dexter is Dexter, and overall the show was entertaining. So they completely shat on it in the last episode (it fails on so many levels it's just depressing). Happens too often, really. Dexter was one of those shows that could have really used a strong ending. The show was about Dexter, **** Harrison and **** Hannah. Kill or catch Dexter and give Deb a happy ending (or as good as you can, considering...). Without a solid end to it all the show sort've fails to be one of the great tv shows imo. I like it and may rewatch the early seasons sometime (primarily for comparison having just watched the last season), but it doesn't feel like it's complete, and I probably won't ever watch it start to finish again. The Shield, The Wire, Breaking Bad, even like Firefly (cut short). Those shows I'll watch again, to the end. Even if there are some loose parts, a really strong ending can make it so worth it.
In my mind, Dexter ended at Season 4. That was really, truly, the perfect ending for the series, and of all the finales it was the best executed.
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[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
While Season 8 was certainly not my favorite, I think the final episode really brought what I personally wanted from Dexter himself, a bit of emotion. It is nice to see him have human emotions after such a long journey.
The idea behind the episode, that Dexter comes full circle and realizes that all these feelings he has wanted and is now feeling, are too much, was a fantastic idea. It has been the primary focus of his character throughout the series and we see glimpses of it only to have him retract. It really was a tug of war throughout the series, and the final episode did a good job of showing us that he has achieved those human emotions and is really feeling them rather than acting them out for the sake of concealing his true nature.
However the execution of all of this just seemed pretty terrible and really left a hole inside of me. I don't feel like the show actually ended, I feel more like it was given notice of cancellation and slapped together to try and have it end before a deadline and that not being the case, they could have done a better job of conveying the story and executing the plot.
I will certainly watch the series again at some point, and reading the directors comments in an interview, I definitely like what they were trying to do but I hate how they did it.
I thought the programme's finale was utterly disappointing and ridiculous. I might have liked the concept, but the execution was irredeemably awful, and it's a shame that a pretty good programme ended on such a poor episode.
If the show runners or writers contribute any other works, I don't think I'll consume them.
I forgot Trinity was Season 4, so in my mind Dexter ended at Season 4.
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[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Then Vogel's "long lost son" shows up. So we have the big bad now. Deb's "drug problems" include one cocaine bump, and is not mentioned again. Said protoge is killed off with barely a mention. Masuka's daughter just wandered around and seemed to exist to make sure Masuka got screen time. Jamie and Quinn's respective storylines went nowhere too for that matter. They toyed with so many thingsthis season, just to drop them a minute or two later. Quinn and Deb rekindling a flame? A kiss, then nothing. A more thorough look at Dex's past? Dr. Surrogate shows up, bes enigmatic for a half a season, then is killed. Dex is caught on tape killing Saxon? Oh well. Never liked the guy anyways. Have fun in Argentina. The season had no resolution. If it was a season finale, I might be willing to accept it, but as an ENDING? Blech.
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