Let's get the worst of it out of the way… this was a terrible season of Dexter. I'll defend the last (Lumen) season quite a bit, but I have a hard time doing so here. That's not to say that the entire thing was worthless. Mos Def was a great addition to the cast - shame he wasn't used more - and there was a lot of fun in having Dexter's deadly brother take over for Harry as his voice-over partner in the middle of the season. I don't know about others, but I hate the Harry character (he was absent in the season finale - thankfully), he seems to be there just so that the writers can fill in bad exposition. Often they misuse the voice-over to do the same thing. I don't like to think that the writers think we're idiots but… well… you listen and tell me what you think.
The big-bads this season was pretty lame. I like the idea of tackling a religious fanatic, but it was pretty clear, pretty early on that Gellar was not alive and just a figment of Travis' imagination. But it treaded along and then tried to shock us with the reveal, which was just kind of sad by that point. I think that they tried too hard to make Dexter feel a personal connection to the killer, whereas other seasons it was quite organic. This felt like a stretch, and a majority of this season felt like filler. There were some great moments - the four horsemen, etc… but all-in-all it felt like they were treading water.
Have I written the show off? No. Because they've made a great move at the end. First, I'm curious as to where they're going to go with creepy Louis. But, as everyone is, I really can't wait to see how they deal with Deb having witnessed Dexter killing Travis. On one hand she's going to be relieved that the DDK case will be closed, but on the other hand, she's just found out something about her brother that's going to change their relationship far more than them hooking up romantically. Rita's death was a huge shock, and a great one, but this is actually a far better game-changing-ending for the season. Lots of different ways that it can go, so it'll be interesting to see what they do with it. This could be a chance for the show to return to greatness, putting Dexter under intense pressure, or they could just as easily screw it up the way that they have the rest of the season. We'll have to wait till next fall to find out. With at least two more seasons left the show has an opportunity to go out on a great note, or just slowly die. Hopefully it's the former.
If the writer's are reading this I have but one request for next season - kill Quinn - and make that annoying asshole suffer. LaGuerta can go too if you'd like. Oh, and find a purpose for that new detective 'cause he just kind of stood around this season. Boring. Touch Jennifer Carpenter and we'll have issues - I'll probably stop watching. She annoyed me when the series began, but over the last few seasons she's shown how talented she is, especially in this season finale when she's battling her feelings. I'm fine with an incest subplot so long as they keep Carpenter around.
So all in all, a very very bad season, but I think that there could be light at the end of the tunnel. Or it's an on-coming train. We'll see...
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