Dexter Should've Ended At Season 4

*spoilers from season 4-8 below. Will try and keep spoilers from season 8 to a minimum*

It should come as no surprise that I watch Dexter, I think i've mentioned it a couple of times and also mentioned my fascination with serial killers. When I first started watching the show I was enamoured, there's nothing better than a good anti hero and trying to decipher Dexter's psyche was fascinating which is why it pains me to say that the show really should've ended at season 4. You see Dexter isn't just about Dexter and his thoughts and feelings, it's about the whole ensemble and ever since season 4 I think the character of Dexter, as well as the others that feature in the show, has gone downhill. Characters that were introduced that had so much promise have also ended up being, well how should I put this, pants.



I get it, season 4 was magnificent with the trinity killer and John Lithgow's portrayal was chilling. And the death of Rita with Harrison lying in a pool of her blood was a definite game changer. So I thought anyway. In my eyes season 4 was definitely the best and I get that it's hard to follow that, I knew Dexter probably would never be as good as it was in that season but I thought it could stay on the level of its predecessors. Boy, I was wrong. Take season 5 for example, could've been fantastic with Dexter dealing with his loss and trying to raise Harrison by himself while dealing with his serial killer urges, and my god they cast real talent to play the antagonists but it fell flat. Way too much Lumen in the show, not enough of the bad guys and Rita was pretty much forgotten about and Dexter hooked up with Lumen which kind of made my respect for him plummet (I know, it's weird that I have respect for the serial killer.

Season 6, well, erm, pretty much the only thing that I like about that was Brother Sam. The antagonist in this season was ridiculously laughable and I don't think anything else needs to be said. Other than the Deb loving Dex thing was stupid. Season 7 was kind of getting back on the right track in my opinion (I know others hated it and disagree with me on this one), I loved the casting of Yvonne Strahovski who I was a big fan of from Chuck and felt she had so much more to give that she did. I knew that she could be very chilling and awaited season 8 to see more of her. Like season 6 the antagonists fell flat, but one thing that I did like about Isaak Sirko was that all his actions were do to love and vengeance. He wasn't really the senseless serial killer that we'd seen in the past, I would say he's on a par with Dexter. One highlight of the season was LaGuerta. Seasons 1 and 2 were amazing, partly due to the character of Doakes, who always had his suspicions about Dexter, rightly so, and the audience was left on the edge of their seats watching the cat and mouse game between the two. LaGuerta stepping up bought that back a little. I will say the last 5 minutes of the season was jaw dropping.

All shows have dips, a lot of fantastic shows have truly terrible seasons and Dexter isn't immune to that and could get back into its stride. So I thought. Season 8, Dexter's final season so the writers would pull out all the stops! We were already introduced to the character of Hannah who I was expecting to go all single white female and ruin Dex and Deb, but no, we get to see Dexter and Hannah all lovey dovey. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so forced, I mean even the sex scene felt awkward. And what happened to Deb's drug problem and psychological scarring? That would've been interesting to see play out but it disappeared. And the character of Zack, really? I'd rather watch Astor go through some teen rebellion. Now onto the antagonist. Somehow the brain surgeon isn't even a little bit compelling, I mean I even forget that he exists, even though thats probably more to do with Dexter staring into Hannahs eyes from 60 minutes. The latest had a big reveal in it in regards to the surgeon which I won't disclose here in case you haven't watched it, but it made me realise the similarities between him and the Ice Truck Killer, so it seems as though the writers are trying to relive the glory days by rehashing old storylines but this season pales in comparison. It pales in comparison to all the other seasons. I realised watching the last couple of episodes that I was bored, that never happened to me before while watching Dexter. This is really the big send off? Well I'm sad to say I'm disappointed. I'll carry on watching till the end in the hopes that the writers can turn this around.

Live Long (unless Dexter vigilantes your ass) and Blog!

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