After Rewatching Dexter, I Realized Everyone Is Wrong About the Last 4 Seasons

I’m an enormous Dexter fan, having watched the unique sequence when it first began airing again in 2006. I inform anybody who will pay attention that they need to watch. However my advice at all times comes with a caveat; the first 4 seasons are the greatest, season 4 is hands-down the greatest one, the final 4 seasons aren’t nice, and the sequence finale is considered one of the worst. There was a distinct total tone to the again half of the sequence, largely as a result of unique showrunner Clyde Phillips left after Season 4. Fortunately, the present has since develop into a franchise with years later sequels (and a prequel) to proper these wrongs, all dealt with by Philips, together with Dexter: New Blood, Dexter: Authentic Sin, and Dexter: Resurrection.

Nonetheless, in re-watching the unique sequence in the present day, virtually 20 years after it initially aired, I’ve realized that I have not solely been honest. The latter half of the present isn’t as unhealthy as I keep in mind. Even when some storylines do not match with the unique tone and really feel, Seasons 5 via 8 are nonetheless improbable.

Season 5 Units Up the Decline of Two Characters

Season 4 was the spotlight of Dexter, introducing the super villain Arthur Mitchell, a.okay.a. Trinity Killer, portrayed superbly by John Lithgow. It was a tricky season to match, which is probably why Season 5 got here up brief in some many followers’ eyes. Lumen (Julia Stiles), nonetheless, stays considered one of the most unforgettable Dexter characters, a fan favourite. She’s additionally the solely remaining character alive who not solely is aware of and not using a shadow of a doubt who Dexter (Michael C. Corridor) is (Harrison excepted), however has additionally seen him kill, even participated in it with him. Followers weren’t fairly prepared at the time to see Dexter with a protégé, and it appeared all an excessive amount of like a repeat of the Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) storyline from Season 3.

Nonetheless, watching it again, the performing was very good. Lumen is plausible as a lady who was brutally tortured and raped, looking for revenge on her captors. The story is far-fetched, however watching Dexter attempt to stay one step forward of his colleagues to cease them from discovering out the reality so he can deal with the perpetrators himself is thrilling. Additional, seeing him lose Lumen marks a change in Dexter: he realizes that regardless of his efforts, he actually is doomed to be alone together with his Darkish Passenger. Nonetheless, it additionally strengthens his bond together with his son, as a result of, a minimum of for now, Harrison is all he has.

The second when Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) finds Dexter and Lumen, however they’re behind a white sheet, so she will’t inform who they’re, is unbelievable. In hindsight, nonetheless, it is smart. She went via loads with Brian Moser (Christian Camargo), a.okay.a. Rudy, a.okay.a. the Ice Truck Killer. Having to look at a video of the ladies being tortured and raped over and over, in fact, she would let these vigilantes go and really feel a way of kinship with this mysterious feminine sufferer and the unknown man serving to her. What’s extra, the undeniable fact that Debra found out what was happening lengthy earlier than anybody else at Miami Metro did, but nobody would take heed to her concept, solidified Debra’s character as an immensely proficient detective. This solely made her eventual fall from grace much more heartbreaking.

Season 6 Takes Dexter on a Journey of the Divine

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Season 6 is closely angled in the direction of spiritual themes with the Doomsday Killer at the heart. However there is a separate story happening whereby Dexter meets and befriends Brother Sam (Mos Def), a reformed legal (and assassin) who has discovered God and tries to assist Dexter see his gentle, too. It appears cliché, which is why the season is probably going remembered as being corny. It’s, in some ways, with Colin Hanks enjoying Travis Marshall, a sadistic killer who follows the lead of his former professor. He is the darker mirror to Dexter, Travis’ ghost information a person who urges Travis to rid the world of horrible individuals and put together for the finish of days. He is completely different but in addition barely just like Dexter’s information, Harry (James Remar), who tries to channel his urges differently.

What followers actually did not like about Season 6 was the storyline involving Debra realizing that she’s romantically in love together with her brother. It crossed a line nobody wished to see crossed. Nonetheless, it was essential to justify why Debra did not flip her adoptive brother in instantly after discovering who he was and what he did. Nonetheless, Debra was already the sort of sister who would probably have adopted in her father’s footsteps and guarded Dexter anyway.

That main storyline blunder apart, the season is each entertaining and layered. A spotlight is when Dexter viciously kills somebody who does meet The Code, however that he promised Brother Sam he would spare, inflicting Brian to look a manifestation of Dexter’s Darkish Passenger. As the pair go on a street journey, followers see Dexter in a means they by no means have earlier than —a model of the particular person Dexter might need develop into had it not been for The Code.

Season 7 Marks a Huge Turning Level

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That explosive Season 6 finale, when Debra catches Dexter in the act, had followers on the fringe of their seats ready to study what occurs subsequent. Her timeless devotion to her brother is examined by her equally steadfast dedication to her job. Whereas it is clear proper from the get-go that Debra is aware of there’s extra to the story than Dexter is telling, Carpenter superbly showcases the internal torment as she tries to persuade herself that it is not what it appears.

In the meantime, Corridor does a improbable job grappling with the concept that the one particular person he feels any semblance of affection for is a threat to his security, making followers marvel if he may do the unthinkable and kill his personal sister. The season’s victims, in the meantime, are thrilling. The episode with Ray Speltzer (Matt Gerald), also referred to as the Minotaur Slayer, chasing him via his epic kill maze whereas dressed as a bull with an axe, was epic. Actually, Speltzer’s eventual demise is considered one of Dexter’s greatest kills on the present.

The cat-and-mouse sport that shifts to incorporate Detective Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Luna Velez) creates a brand new sense of urgency. The second Maria finds the partial blood facet in the church on the scene of Travis’ supposed demise by suicide creates a weight far heavier than when Sergeant James Doakes was on Dexter’s tail. Maria is chilly, calculated, manipulative, and resourceful, the sort of one that will dot all her “Is” and cross all her “Ts” earlier than she makes a transfer. There was little doubt from that second that Maria would uncover who Dexter actually was, which made followers anticipate her pending demise earlier than it even occurred.

In the meantime, Dexter’s interactions with Isaac Sirko (Ray Stevenson), considered one of the scariest Dexter villains, added one other dimension to his understanding of himself. Dexter was confused by the respect he developed for Isaac, even going out of his means to make sure Isaac bought his closing want in demise to be buried at sea together with his love. It was an empathic facet of Dexter followers hadn’t seen typically, and one which has re-emerged in the sequel sequence Dexter: Resurrection.

The season might need taken the story in a path nobody ever wished to see, with Debra lastly studying who and what her brother was. There’s additionally the first actual and enduring romance with Hannah (Yvonne Strahovski), a femme fatale sort together with her personal darkness who accepts Dexter for who he’s and turns into pivotal to his future storyline. However the story is way extra compelling than remembered. Most significantly, the occasions in Season 7 set the story up for the present’s eventual finish.

Season 8 Provides Dexter Time to Mirror

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The performing is excellent on this season; it is a travesty that Carpenter did not earn an Emmy for her efficiency. The introduction of Dr. Evelyn Vogel (Charlotte Rampling) was a plot twist that modified the complete sequence, inflicting the story to take bizarre turns, as did the introduction of Dexter’s potential (and short-lived) younger apprentice Zach (Sam Underwood). However there’s additionally a realness to the season.

Somewhat than have Debra mud herself off after the homicide of Maria, the season reveals her unhappy descent right into a self-sabotaging, harmful way of life, one which ultimately will get her killed. There is not any pleased ending, no redemption. Debra simply turns into yet one more harmless sufferer of her brother’s actions. That actuality hits arduous however can also be fittingly poetic.

The season explores the deeper relationship between Dexter and Debra, Dexter lastly recognizing that he would not know who he’s with out Debra. Dr. Vogel additional helps him faucet into his emotions of “love” for his sister, an emotion that psychopaths usually haven’t got, and that fascinates her about him. She makes him perceive that his emotions of affection for Debra aren’t selfless; they’re merely about what she will do for him. It is an attention-grabbing approach to clarify why Dexter, an apparent psychopath, would not essentially match all the traits like others do.

Dexter is Value Watching All the Approach Via

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General, there is no denying that Seasons 1 via 4 of Dexter are the better of the sequence. I had typically recalled Seasons 5 via 8 as being expendable, solely marginally driving the story ahead in a significant means (main character deaths excepted). However in re-watching them 12-15 years later, I notice I was a lot tougher on the seasons than they deserved.

Dexter stays considered one of the greatest TV reveals to have graced the small display in the final 20 years. The extremely constructive reception to the sequel sequence Dexter: Resurrection proves that there is nonetheless an urge for food for the vigilante killer. Sure, Phillips needed to proper the wrongs of a narrative that veered astray with Dexter: New Blood. Nevertheless it wasn’t all unsuitable. I implore you to re-watch Dexter. You will get pleasure from the complete sequence from begin to end. The unique ending continues to be terrible. However the journey to get there via even the again half of the sequence is definitely good and deserves extra credit score than I had been giving all of it these years.