Dexter: SPOILERS for Season 7

[Lord of the Night]

The seasons of Dexter according to myself...

Season 1: Fantastic, really good television.

Season 2: A strong second season that was at times better than the first.

Season 3: Some misses but otherwise a good season with a very nice conclusion.

Season 4: Uninteresting arch-enemy and too much of Dexter wishing to be a real boy. Rita's death was surprising as hell but I didn't really care so much about her actually being dead.

Season 5: Dexter pining to be a real boy taken to the max.

Season 6: Dull, predictable and the revelation that Deb loves Dexter is just wrong.

Dexter has gone downhill starting with Season 4 and its because Dexter still cannot accept what he is! He is a serial killer who is also a hero, he needs to get that into his head and stop all this whining about his family and emotions. Frankly they should have kept his relationship with Rita as it was in the books and stop all this angst about Dexter wanting to be a real person.

LotN

[Sci-2]

I think the way Doakes got killed shifted this from a sorta character driven drama to shock-value, what a tweest type show.

[Liffguard]

Season 4: Uninteresting arch-enemy

Huh, obviously tastes vary but you are definitely the only person I've come across who didn't think that Trinity was a great villain.

[GSP]

Ditto on that Liffguard. Best season with the best villian.

[Maia]

He is a serial killer who is also a hero, he needs to get that into his head and stop all this whining about his family and emotions.

ORLy? I don't see him as a hero at all. Both the books (well, at least 1 and 3, had no desire to read more) and the series try to fudge it for all they are worth, of course, with ridiculous assertions that any boy-child who'd been severely traumatized is likely to acquire a dark passenger and become a serial killer and than anybody who successfully murdered and got away with it is almost certain to do it again and turn into a mass-murderer unless permanently stopped.

IMHO, Dexter's problem is that without trying to become a real boy and/or losing control and becoming just a normal serial killer there is nowhere for him to go. And I don't count the clumsy esoterica of book 3 as a valid direction either!

[Lord of the Night]

Huh, obviously tastes vary but you are definitely the only person I've come across who didn't think that Trinity was a great villain.

I just found the whole Dexter befriending him plot to be boring. Its much better when he stalked his prey and observed them from a distance.

ORLy? I don't see him as a hero at all. Both the books (well, at least 1 and 3, had no desire to read more) and the series try to fudge it for all they are worth, of course, with ridiculous assertions that any boy-child who'd been severely traumatized is likely to acquire a dark passenger and become a serial killer and than anybody who successfully murdered and got away with it is almost certain to do it again and turn into a mass-murderer unless permanently stopped.

IMHO, Dexter's problem is that without trying to become a real boy and/or losing control and becoming just a normal serial killer there is nowhere for him to go. And I don't count the clumsy esoterica of book 3 as a valid direction either!

Yeah obviously that isn't going to really happen, but I do think that Dexter is a hero for all the murderers and other criminals that he stops. Every single kill he's made saves lives because all of his victims would have gone on to kill even more people, sometimes he's even stopped them from killing someone by taking them. He may not be a knight in shining armour but he is a hero for every life he's saved and every criminal he's killed. Granted he's accidentally killed an innocent, I don't count Oscar Prado since he tried to knife Dexter which makes his killing self-defence, but Dexter has done far more good than bad.

LotN

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

I just found the whole Dexter befriending him plot to be boring. Its much better when he stalked his prey and observed them from a distance.

I found that to be a cool little twist. From a distance, it looked like Trinity managed to maintain a healthy family life whilst pursuing his career as a serial killer, which was something that Dexter was obviously very interested in achieving.

[Reposado]

RE: season 4. Trinity was good, but the rest of that season was a complete disaster. That was the season when Angel became unbearable, Deb's schtick wore thin. The side plots that they had to do because the main cast wasn't involved in Dexter's story became completely obnoxious. A major step down from season 3 and not anywhere in the league of the first two.

Trinity was a nice high point, but the low points of that year were so low.

That said, it was still better than 6 and the absolutely dreadful 5.

[Lord of the Night]

I felt the best season of Dexter is Season 1, its just the basics of the show that work so well. Dexter's methology as a serial killer, the Ice Truck Killer and Debra trying to fit in in homicide. It doesn't go over the top in Dexter trying to assimilate with humanity or the drama of the side character's problematic and boring lives.

LotN

[Humble Asskicker]

Ditto on that Liffguard. Best season with the best villian.

No way, dude. I'll agree that Lithgow was in strong form and made an excellent villain, but the best villain was the season one villain. The series was fresh, the writing tight, and the family dynamic between Dexter and his brother superb, especially at the end. No amount of acting chops by Lithgow could beat that kind of prime plotting, and it didn't hurt that the actor who played the brother was fantastic.

And calling season four the best season is like saying Phantom Menace is the best of the Star Wars movies because of the fight scene with Darken Maul. Lithgow and Dexter were the only good things about that season. Everything else was painfully bad. I had to fast forward over the Batista-Laguerta scenes because they were so awful, and only through sheer willpower did I follow through the annoying Deb romances - which were somewhat tolerable in season two, but through unwavering repetition had become extremely fucking irritating - and the very old family man Dex scenes.

Okay, Masuka was also good, but Masuka is the only reliably good thing about the show.

[GSP]

I'll agree that Masuka is awesome.

Personally, never found the icetruck killer that interesting. That some of his methods were sophisticated enough to impress Dexter was cool. But besides his relation to Dexter he seemed a pretty cookie cutter 'I kill because I'm fucked up and I like it' villian imho. It was a good game between them, and it'll always get kudos because it was fresh at the time, but icetruck himself wasn't a very deep character. Trinity had a lot more going on.

[red snow]

RE: season 4. Trinity was good, but the rest of that season was a complete disaster. That was the season when Angel became unbearable, Deb's schtick wore thin. The side plots that they had to do because the main cast wasn't involved in Dexter's story became completely obnoxious. A major step down from season 3 and not anywhere in the league of the first two.

Trinity was a nice high point, but the low points of that year were so low.

That said, it was still better than 6 and the absolutely dreadful 5.

I agree that everything else was bad but I'd argue that Lithgow's stuff was almost worth enduring all the side-crap. Personally, I think season 2 was the strongest because it turned the show on its head with Dexter being the hunted serial killer and at the time I thought it was end game material (maybe it should have been). Ever since then it's pretty much being a repeat of season 1 in many respects. The only downside to season 2 was that they copped out with the crazy girlfriend killing Doakes. If the writer's had had the balls to force Dexter into killing Doakes it would have been an amazing season but they robbed us of that and I think that's why shows like Breaking bad and Sopranos will always be better shows because they aren't afraid to have the lead characters do deplorable things.

Least favourite season was season 3 for me as that's when it bacame clear it was going to become a copy/paste show and Dexter's code went right out the window. Then season 6 came along and totally blew season 3 out of the water in terms of being crap.

[denstorebog]

Season 1 was better because it was fresh, not because a "Dexter, I am your equally fucked up brother" twist is an example of prime plotting.

It's ironic, actually. As horrible as season 6 was, it was one of only two (I believe) seasons to do something I feel the show desperately needs, which is to NOT hit a completely implausible reset button at the end of each finale. (The other big example, of course, being Season 4, which worked well.)

[Mad Queen]

If the writer's had had the balls to force Dexter into killing Doakes it would have been an amazing season but they robbed us of that and I think that's why shows like Breaking bad and Sopranos will always be better shows because they aren't afraid to have the lead characters do deplorable things.

+1

I would also mention The Shield.

[3CityApache]

Sad to admit, after this season I'm done with Dexter. Normally I would say that they can not slide any lower, but the final scene clearly shows them the path to do it.

BTW, IMO Trinity was definitely the best villain ever, calling him 'uninteresting' is just wrong. ;)

[Reposado]

Personally, I think season 2 was the strongest because it turned the show on its head with Dexter being the hunted serial killer and at the time I thought it was end game material (maybe it should have been). Ever since then it's pretty much being a repeat of season 1 in many respects. The only downside to season 2 was that they copped out with the crazy girlfriend killing Doakes. If the writer's had had the balls to force Dexter into killing Doakes it would have been an amazing season but they robbed us of that and I think that's why shows like Breaking bad and Sopranos will always be better shows because they aren't afraid to have the lead characters do deplorable things.

Totally agree about season two. I liked it just as much as one at the time. It was significantly different plot-wise , but it had one thing in common with season one, that all the rest didn't. The side characters were all involved in the main plot. And they hadn't yet killed the best of the side characters (Doakes)

Although, I don't think the show fails in not having Dexter do deplorable things. I think he does, even if we allow killing killers to not fall under that category, many times his need to kill allows the others to go on killing longer, specifically Trinity killing Rita. The shows faults are myriad, and at its best it didn't approach a Breaking Bad, but I think Dexter's acts fall into the deplorable range alot.

[Mad Queen]

Although, I don't think the show fails in not having Dexter do deplorable things. I think he does, even if we allow killing killers to not fall under that category, many times his need to kill allows the others to go on killing longer, specifically Trinity killing Rita. The shows faults are myriad, and at its best it didn't approach a Breaking Bad, but I think Dexter's acts fall into the deplorable range alot.

Only up to a point and they also avoid dealing with the consequences. Either someone else takes the blame (Doakes, Lila) or nobody remembers the colateral damage (Rita, as far as I can tell -- I haven't watched anything past the middle of season 3). Stuff like that can't happen just for shock value or to show that Dexter does do deplorable things and then the story can move on. It has to haunt characters forever. One of the things I loved about The Shield was that past misdeeds kept resurfacing in the story and characters had to do even more deplorable things to cover their tracks. And Vic Mackey killed a fellow cop, a member of his own team, in season 1, episode 1. Why couldn't Dexter do the same to Doakes?

[NestorMakhnosLovechild]

For me, the show peaked at Season 2. Really, as others have said, the show tipped its hand at the very end of Season 2, by having Lilah kill Doakes, and then at the very end of the season, by having Dexter take his absurd trip to Paris to kill off Lilah and end once and for all any pretense that there was anything at stake and that the status quo might be upset. None of the seasons since then have been worth watching, and the last two have just been so incredibly godawful.

I also HATED the Trinity season. I could never, ever get over that Dexter would risk everything to befriend Trinity and his family, completely risking his own exposure. And although I think Lithgow is a great actor, Trinity was NOT an interesting character. He was just a jumble of ridiculous and contradictory personality traits the writers thought would make him interesting.

One thing that was notable for me was that the first two seasons of Dexter had some incredibly tight scene construction, framing, and musical integration and that ALL flew out the window starting in the third season. I think back to scenes like Dexter's first face to face meeting with Neil, the taxidermist wanna-be Ice Truck Killer from the first season. The whole scene with Dexter walking in to confront Neil, in slow-motion, with music and his voice-over in the background, culminating in Neil's confused "Who the fuck are you?" and then Dexter's slight grin at the camera - the whole scene is genius. Even little stuff like the introduction of Little Chino in the second season and his slow-mo perp walk through Homicide with that weird pseudo western second season musical riff playing. None of that stuff exists in the later seasons. The shot framing, scene construction, music, etc. It's all just... there. It's lazy and stupid.

The second season also marks the end of Harry-as-window-to-the-past (and really, there's not much more they could have done with that anyway), and the start of Harry-just-exists-to-make-really-obvious-comments-about-whatever-is-happening-at-the-moment which is just terrible. Harry's role, much like Dexter's increasingly obvious voice overs, just don't serve any point.

I also agree with whoever it was upthread that said Dexter's later seasons make the flaws of the earlier seasons even harder to swallow. Some of these flaws are just endemic to the show. There have always been ridiculous leaps in logic - remember Dexter pulling the station fire alarm so he could delete the marina footage of him jetting out on the Slice of Life? That whole scene is ridiculous. But the main plot thread was compelling enough to suspend disbelief. Now the show is all plot holes and ridiculous leaps of logic. And LaGuerta - don't even get me started. Her personality changes dramatically at least twice a season. Remember when she was all about sexually harassing Dexter?

I tend to think the show should have been three seasons with a definitive endgame. I'm glad Deb finally witnessed Dexter do a kill, but the show is just so far gone that it's hard for me to care.

[Maia]

One of the things I loved about The Shield was that past misdeeds kept resurfacing in the story and characters had to do even more deplorable things to cover their tracks. And Vic Mackey killed a fellow cop, a member of his own team, in season 1, episode 1. Why couldn't Dexter do the same to Doakes?

Yea, the Shield was great and with great endgame. A criminally underrated show with a truly awesome villain protagonist, which went out on a high note. It did sag a little in season... 4?5? 6? I don't remember, exactly, but I did think that the show would have been even better if it was a little tighter.

But it runs rings around Dexter as far as consistently maintaining quality and letting things have long-term repercussions is concerned.

[Relic]

One thing that was notable for me was that the first two seasons of Dexter had some incredibly tight scene construction, framing, and musical integration and that ALL flew out the window starting in the third season. I think back to scenes like Dexter's first face to face meeting with Neil, the taxidermist wanna-be Ice Truck Killer from the first season. The whole scene with Dexter walking in to confront Neil, in slow-motion, with music and his voice-over in the background, culminating in Neil's confused "Who the fuck are you?" and then Dexter's slight grin at the camera - the whole scene is genius. Even little stuff like the introduction of Little Chino in the second season and his slow-mo perp walk through Homicide with that weird pseudo western second season musical riff playing. None of that stuff exists in the later seasons. The shot framing, scene construction, music, etc. It's all just... there. It's lazy and stupid.

I totally agree, and noticed quite the same.