CliqueClackDexter’s eighth season should end with a cliché
So far lots of fans have been vocal about how bad this final season of ‘Dexter’ has been. Perhaps the only way to somewhat save it is to cap things off with a tired and overused tactic.
Let’s face it: Dexter hasn’t been at its best for several seasons now. As each new season would come along, I’d hope the writers would pull off something unthought of, risky or completely out of left field. There were times in the past they pulled that off. This season, in particular, has proven to me that the writers have simply gotten tired. Remember all of the funny quips Dexter would have in his inner monologues? Nary a one this season. How about being on the edge of your seat as Dexter was SO close to getting caught, and you felt really odd about caring for a serial killer? Do you feel that way this season even a little bit? Likely not.
I’ve seen several people comment that the series could have ended pretty well last season, if Deb had shot Dexter instead of LaGuerta. I’m almost on board with that, especially after seeing how this season’s been shaping up so far. And if the massive leaked spoilers are any indication, it’s not getting any better.
So, the cliché I mentioned. Just end the series off with a “this season was all a dream” and bring us back to that night in the storage container. Deb did shoot Dexter, and everything from then on has been what could have been … but Dexter is dead/dying.
No, I don’t like it, but at this point there’s not a lot building up to save this final season from being completely ho-hum. The entire season has been a waste of incredible opportunities to end things off with a bang, and so far it’s failed miserably. Let’s go over all of the strange wastes of time and loose ends:
- Masuka’s daughter. Why in the hell did the writers introduce this character? The comic relief has been little to none, and there’s simply no time to care about one thing she does with us having only known her for such a brief time. It’s an absurd story line!
- Angel’s sister, Jamie. She’s really been a useless character on this series since she was brought in, and her presence is even more pointless this season. Does anyone really care about what’s going to happen to her?
- Could LaGuerta’s murder really be that easily covered up, with no one at all crying foul? And Deb’s truly over her death that quickly, when it seems only a couple of weeks have gone by since she entered Miami Metro and blabbed on about having killed her.
- What about any of Quinn’s suspicions about Dexter? He’s fine with letting them go? And what about any of the promotion stuff this season — why was that even brought up at all? It seems it was just “there” and then thrown in the trash.
- Doesn’t Matthews really know anything about who Dexter really is?
- Besides beauty, I don’t get Dexter’s attraction to Hannah, nor why she was so dumb to have risked coming back to Miami, regardless of what she hoped Dexter would do for her.
There is just so much more that would’ve made for a better season. This is the FINAL season of this show, so why are so many punches being pulled? Start killing off secondary and main characters, get more players on Dexter’s case. Jamie? Gone. Masuka’s daughter? Gone. Are we really going to end things with the law at Miami Metro looking like complete idiots for having let a serial killer work under their roof for all those years? Shouldn’t Quinn figure it out and have Matthew’s eat crow? Maybe Quinn finds out, tells Matthews and Matthews kills Quinn … because he KNOWS! Should Angel’s story just close with no fanfare? Masuka? Shouldn’t we get to see the looks on all their faces when they find out the truth? The whole season should have been one big “HOLY SHIT!” moment, and instead it’s that, but without the “HOLY.”
All of those would likely call for a season do-over at this point, but they’re better than how this season’s shaping up so far and — of course — my suggested “this was all a dream and Dexter was really shot” ending. How are you feeling about this season so far? If you had your druthers, how would you like to see things go?
7 Comments on “Dexter’s eighth season should end with a cliché”
I agree with the whole article 100% ! Secondary characters make no sense, character motivations make no sense (such as Hannah in Miami), humor — one of the things I think that attracted everyone to Dexter to start with — is non existant . Even Masuka gets no laughs because of his daughter being around. I never knew how much I missed his dumb jokes until I couldn’t hear them anymore!
I don’t think the dream thing will happen though =( At this point all I hope for is that Dex and Hannah DON’T end up in happy ever after in Argentina or w/e… Talk about a let down that would be…
I hope dex and Hannah do end up together.. but that would be too much of a story book ending..
◾Could LaGuerta’s murder really be that easily covered up? Of course it could be, Dex makes people disappear as a profession.
I think they should make everything a dream dating back until season 4 and John Lithgrow’s character is actually is torturing him to death.
i agree with the article 100%
i am not truly enjoying the last season. he has somewhat become a whimp.
he should be murdering people on his own…nobody should know what he truly is.
i agree quite a few useless characters in this season.
The reason the show has been struggling is because lately it never feels like Dexter is truly in danger. In the early seasons, you always felt like he was about to be caught or killed . When Rita died, that was truly traumatic because it confirmed that Dexter could really lose. But since then, there have only been brief moments where Dexter was in danger again. For this show to be great again, Deb should have turned against Dexter, he should have killed her, and Miami metro should have been closing in on him this whole season. Here’s another idea – put Harrison in jeopardy, and not just for one episode. Make us believe the kid is going to die. Isaak Sirko should have taken Harrison last season – that would have really upped the tension for the audience. The writers seem hesitant to put Dexter and his family in sustained, mortal danger; the police are always too blind and the serial killers too meek to pose any real threat to Dexter. I want to see Dexter being hunted by someone just as ruthless and resourceful as himself.
Vogel should have been the killer all along, but obviously with an accomplice as she is not physically strong enough to have done some of it.
Charlotte Rampling’s performance is just awful, but given how little energy has been put into this season she’s possibly just been given no direction to work with.
Also – come on, she FAKED the tapes with Harry. And Harry’s ghost manufactured recollections of her because… well, he’s just a figment of Dexter’s tortured brain! This would have been the first time Harry was not granted a godlike perspective – it would have been jarring and unsettling and… good!
But no, that and a dozen other good plotlines were just washed away, the infinitely boring Hannah was brought back, Harrison keeps getting floated in and out of frame as some kind of prop (and call me callous, but by thunder I enjoyed seeing that little precocious brat get bloodied up on the excercise machine).
And I’m totally sick of Deb’s endless, endless, endless whining.