It seems any of those drawn to watch Dexter have also been watching AMC’s Breaking Bad. What’s interesting about it is that we’ve got two villain-heroes at work here: one is a serial killer who’s “doing good” by only (usually) offing guilty murders; the other is a once-chemistry-teacher/now-meth-dealer “doing good” by providing for his family. Both are (or, at least, have been) brilliantly written, quality shows, though one wonders why the draw of the villain-heroes is so compelling.

By drawing in viewers with similar tastes, each show was — perhaps unknowingly — drawing comparisons to the other, especially during its final season. This has not worked out in Dexter‘s favor in the least.

Before this last season of Dexter, I thought the show had gone downhill since season five or six. I had grown invested in the show and still wanted to be sure to watch every week, but the excitement of it being Sunday night had waned. The show took a serious downhill turn at least partway through season seven, only to continue to tumble through its final, eighth season. The writers didn’t seem to know what direction they were going to go (Deb’s love for Dexter? What the …), and they all but gave up in the show’s final moments. Perhaps the writers moved on to the rumored Dexter spin-off? Did they give up, too, when they had to drastically switch gears from that really, really odd Deb-loves-Dexter story?

See that image of Dexter, above? That’s pretty much how I’ve felt about this entire season, and I cannot be alone. Here are just a few odd-ball things that’ve gone on this season that made no freakin’ sense:

• Introducing Vince Masuka’s daughter, Niki Walters. It seems this was merely put in place because, well, the writers had no other ideas for Masuka this season. There’s no other purpose for her being on the show, unless … (see later).
• Det. Angie Miller, the woman who Angel advanced to Sergeant in place of Quinn. Was that really the only purpose for her existence? OK, fine … then why even bother going with that plot point at all? Was it to further press Quinn into what he eventually turned to in the series finale? Is it to again set up … (again, see later below).
• LaGuerta was a clearly beloved character on the show and was a member of the family since day one. Characters on the show bemoaned Doakes more than LaGuerta, and he was the suspected Bay Harbor Butcher!
• Angel Batista’s sister, Jamie, was an even worse waste of a character. She did nothing to move stories along, only serving as a convenient reason why we didn’t need to see Harrison all the time and how Dexter could go out all night and continue to feed his Dark Passenger. Only very few times did Jamie even question Dexter’s late-night jaunts, when she clearly could get answers from Dexter’s boss — her own brother — as to whether he really did have a boatload of work to do … at night …. alone.
• Batista, Quinn and Matthews really had no idea about Dexter all this time? Death followed him everywhere, and then they witnessed him making a kill just about in front of their eyes.
• Why the hell was it fitting to give Deb the same burial he gave many of his kills? What was the point of taking her body away from the hospital?
• That final shot of Dexter. Er … what?

Those aren’t the only head-scratchers from this season. The sloppy re-introduction of Hannah to the story, for one. The actions of Vogel’s son, framing Zach and then immediately un-framing him. It was as if one writer would run with a storyline, and then another would decide to take it away. It was a rotten mess.

As for what I would get to later, it’s this: they’re gearing up for that reported Dexter spin-off. Since they may not have a clear path to follow, they’ve introduced several new characters to the show such that they might be re-used in a new series with expanded roles. Quinn’s already got a relationship with two out of the three of those newer women, so if they decided to continue the story with him (please … don’t), there’s that.

In contrast, we have Breaking Bad‘s final season; I don’t think anyone can fault it at all. I’ve been a huge fan of both shows, and this final season of Breaking Bad has been near flawless. But this isn’t really about Breaking Bad. My question was whether one show’s clear success in execution causes the other to pale even more. It’s possible, though I’d say it’s unlikely had much effect. As a fan of both — and them both airing on the same night — not comparing the two is nearly impossible. If these weren’t the final seasons of each show, I’d maybe be less judgmental. Breaking Bad, though, shows how you end a series on a high note: with few punches pulled and with every second counting. Like Breaking Bad, Dexter‘s final season was a planned one, though it failed to capitalize on those final, precious hours of a show we’ve followed for eight seasons.

Let’s forget about how the final episode “should have” ended and whether Dexter should have been caught or had gotten away — that’s beside the point. I’m not sure who should be to blame for this crappy season of Dexter, though it’s likely whomever was wrangling the writers’ room. We shouldn’t have felt like that image above — this season should have kept Dexter in the record books as one of the all-time greatest shows of cable television. Instead this season did the show a great disservice, causing it to be unmemorable (at least in a good way). Sadly, when someone asks me of past shows to watch on DVD or on-demand, I’d have a hard time recommending Dexter anymore, because I couldn’t put someone through these last few seasons. I’m not even sure ending the way I suggested would have helped.

So, goodbye, Dexter. Maybe we wouldn’t have been so hard on you if Breaking Bad was so good, but that doesn’t mean your last season didn’t stink. Look on the bright side: at least people won’t compare your final episode with Breaking Bad, since they’ve still got another week to go.

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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?

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Let me start out by noting that, yes, this is a theory I’d had; I don’t really know who framed Zach. I do, however, love to speculate and cast theories about like I’m some sort of expert. Hey now — I’ve been right before!

Let’s get this out of the way right now: Quinn did not set up Zach. It makes no sense, based on Quinn’s questioning Cassie’s boyfriend later in the episode. It’s remotely possible he was there hoping to gather a sliver of evidence to help make his case, but that’s simply just weak. Quinn would be an easy suspect for setting up Zach if it wasn’t for this scene alone.

This brings up Cassie’s boyfriend. In that same scene, while Quinn is interrogating him, he has the opportunity to easily reel Zach into the trap he would have set … except he seems to have not set it. Instead, he simply and quite honestly says Zach “looks familiar” to him. This makes sense, as he did see Zach outside Dexter’s apartment quite recently! More on this part later. …

So, who set up Zach? Vogel? Nope. The real Brain Surgeon? Nope; doesn’t make sense.

It was Angel Batista.

Yeah, I know it doesn’t add up, but hear me out. And this is only an”imagine if” theory. Let me lay out the evidence for you and it will all make sense. First of all, let’s go with how the episode was shot. We have a scene where Dexter, Hannah, Zach and Vogel are discussing the Cassie case and who could be framing Zach for Cassie’s murder. Right off the note of Zach’s “why would someone [frame me]?” we cut to a rather unnecessary scene with Angel coming home to greet his sister and Harrison. The Dexter writers have done this before — they fucking love to play games like this, always trying to be clever to slide one right under our noses without us noticing. Well, that worked out pretty poorly two seasons ago. Here, they’re doing it again, with these two scenes.

Think also about Batista’s motive here. He knows Quinn has been all over Zach as being one guilty son-of-a-bitch, and he knows Matthews is very well aware of the situation as well. Matthews has done nothing but chastise Angel for the high opinion he has for Quinn, going so far as to say he has absolutely no good traits about him. To top things off, Quinn is now shacking up with Angel’s sister, which in the eyes of Angel means Quinn’s likely about to become a hell of a lot closer to the family soon, as in IN the family. So the motive here is clear: Angel wants Quinn to succeed and succeed big. So what better way for that to happen than to further set up the person he’d been publicly gunning for with another murder?

I get that it’s completely out of character for Angel, but don’t we need another “holy shit” moment on this show? It’s about time.

Here’s where I said I’d get back to. If Angel really did set up Zach … ho boy. Not only is that a huge development in the show by itself, but think about what Angel now knows. First of all, Angel knows Zach was in the apartment building visiting Dexter; he’s got to wonder what the hell that was all about. Secondly, he knows Dexter lied about the blood analysis done on the fingernails. That’s a lot for him to be holding inside now, even as he’s saving his ass from being discovered as the framer.

What will also be a shit-hitting-the-fan moment is if Cassie’s boyfriend comes back to Quinn to tell him he remembered seeing Zach with Dexter one night. If that were to happen, one way Dexter could get out of it would be to say Zach had caught him following him one night and confronted him at his apartment. It’d be flimsy, but flimsier stories have flown for Dexter before.

The question now is: would Angel really be that desperate to convince Matthews that Quinn is cut out for a bigger job? Would it really make that much of a difference for Quinn anyway? And what if it’s not Angel who killed Cassie, but it was … Angel’s sister, Jamie? She does want Quinn to do well. Now I will admit I didn’t see THAT coming.

Unfortunately, it’ll just wind up being Cassie’s boyfriend, and we’ll be left wondering why the hell he went out of his way to setup Zach, when he was just out to kill him in the first place. Unfortunately my theory will just be something akin to fan fiction, and Occam’s Razor will win once again. …

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Don’t blame Robbie Rist; he was just a child actor looking for a job when he walked into the Brady home as the now infamous Cousin Oliver. He didn’t start the problem; he just became the face for it. It’s a common trend for shows that are long in the tooth to add a new baby, cute wise-cracking neighbor or distant cousin to the recurring cast in an effort to spice up their shark-jumped story-lines. In theory it makes sense. The main characters need new stories, challenges, and responsibilities to stave off monotony and adding in a young burden – I mean child – instantly raises the stakes and adds a new avenue of conflict. The problem, of course, is it also threatens to completely change the dynamic of the entire show.

Dexter, for the most part, has straddled that line when it comes to Dexter’s son, Harrison. It is an interesting avenue to explore with Dexter’s character: how will a single father psychopath raise a child? Is he capable of loving another person unconditionally? This seems to be one of the themes of this season, but instead of utilizing Harrison’s role in Dexter’s life to explore that idea, the focus turns to his relationship with his sister, Deb; Harrison has become nothing more than a plot point. Dexter travels all over the city, tracking potential (or in most cases active) serial killers, with just a casual reference to his only child waiting for him at home with the most flexible nanny (congrats, Quinn!) on the planet. In many episodes, I find myself wondering who’s actually watching Harrison, since Dexter’s dealing with Deb and Jamie’s out with Quinn. As I’ve said in other posts, that’s not really the point – maybe Harrison’s asleep in the other room while Jamie and Quinn “exercise” at Angel’s house. That doesn’t matter. The reason those thoughts pop up for me has less to do with babysitting plot holes and more to do with how Harrison could be used this season — of course, the boring Quinn applying to be a Sergeant storyline isn’t helping my mind wandering either; at least he’s tamed his haircut this season.

Vogel has questioned Dexter’s love for Deb and instead postulates that Dexter is using Deb’s love and adoration for him as a mirror to reflect a positive image of himself. Before she found out his secret, Deb not only looked up to her brother but she also needed him in her life to keep her grounded, giving Dexter a purpose outside of simple survival. Vogel points out that everything Dexter claims he loves about Debra relates only to how she effects Dexter, not about Debra herself. Now that she knows the truth and no longer looks up to her older brother, Dexter is left with a hole that he’s desperate to fill. He needs a connection to the real world, not just as a mask to hide his true nature, but as a link to the sense of humanity the Code of Harry tries to regulate. But wouldn’t his son fill that role as well? Harrison is no longer a mute baby or babbling toddler … he’s walking and talking, and old enough to interact and show his love for Dexter. Boys at that age idolize their fathers. They are heroes in their son’s eyes and the fact that Dexter works for the police department – sure he’s not a cop, but Harrison is only five and would only know that daddy wears a badge – would ensure that Harrison reveres his father, fulfilling the same role Deb filled for six seasons. Dexter did show more interest in his son initially this season, but recently the late nights out and the fact he knows nothing of his son’s imaginary elephant friend imply that Harrison has taken a back seat to Aunt Deb.

Now, you could argue that Dexter’s obsession with “fixing” Deb is actually related to Harry’s (or really Vogel’s) first rule: never get caught. Since Deb’s guilt has caused  her to spiral out of control, she now poses a threat to Dexter’s survival if she were to confess to killing LaGuerta. Vogel has probed into why Dexter didn’t just kill Deb once she found out his secret. He claims sibling love, but she asserts it’s the associations Dexter’s built up around his relationship with Deb. What confuses me is that Vogel is fascinated with Dexter and Deb’s relationship – that a psychopath appears to feel regret and empathy toward another person – but hasn’t really addressed the fact that Dexter is raising a child by himself. You would think the “psychopath whisperer” would vault over the sibling relationship in favor of the much more interesting father-son dynamic that Dexter has with Harrison. Obviously, it’s much more interesting for viewers to watch the confrontations between Dexter and Deb instead of play dates with Harrison at the park, but I find it odd that Vogel hasn’t brought it up more (or at all). Wouldn’t she want to study Harrison to see how Dexter’s parenting has shaped Harrison’s identity?

There’s still time for writers to explore those ideas this season, and I have a feeling that it is part of the plan, considering there is a major theme of family and parenting this season. Harry and Vogel were surrogate parents to Dexter, molding him into the killer he is today. Angel has taken over a fatherly role in regards to Quinn, pushing him to be a better man by applying for the Sergeant position. Even Masuka is a father this season, thanks to a sperm donation he made in college – although you’d think the sperm bank would give him some warning that one of his “children” may come knocking. And you could argue that the Brain Surgeon Killer is also one of Vogel’s children. It could be that I’m reading too much into this (or that I just watched Magnolia on TV), but I think the “sins of the father” (and mother) will play a large part in the show’s final 8 episodes.

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Say what you will about Showtime’s Dexter but I find myself strangely captivated by its dark and creepy tale about a serial killer that murders other serial killers. Isn’t that clever? Sure, it’s a little gory … and by a little I mean a lot, but it does boast some good writing. Well, at least it did. If you ask me, I think Dexter’s beginning to suffer from being on the air too long. For me, the show died when they killed off Rita … but I won’t get into that. Instead, I want to focus on the Dexter of yesteryear and would like to talk about a character that’s dear to my heart — bad ass detective James Doakes.

Alright, Dexter fans. Let’s do this. Hitch a ride in my DeLorean for a blast to the past. Let’s take this week’s Clacking in Color back to seasons one and two of Dexter when Doakes, who was played by actor Erik King, was alive and kicking. Surely I can’t be the only one that remembers him. Heck, the man was awesome and managed to keep the show a hell of a lot fresher than Dexter’s victims. For those of you who don’t remember who this character was, Doakes was a thorn in Dexter’s side, a real pain in the ass. He was the only one at that damn police station who knew that Dexter was odd … which, in my book, makes him the only character with an ounce of sense.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of Dexter, I always go back to those first two glorious seasons. It just seems as if the writing was as sharp as the butcher knife Dexter keeps in his back pocket. Every character was clearly defined and had a definite purpose. Aside from Doakes being the resident African-American — which added even more color to a show that already features such strong minorities — he really helped infuse the program with a touch of intrigue and excitement. Plus his scenes with Dexter always seemed to crackle with anticipation.

Make no doubt about it, King and Michael C. Hall had a definite chemistry, a nice ebb and flow if that makes any sense. Yet, despite the fact that I liked Doakes, I always found myself rooting for Dexter. Lord, what does that say about me? I shudder to think. Nevertheless, aside from Doakes being blunt and mean to practically anyone that entered his orbit, he did have one thing that I did like — swag. The man had a confidence that radiated. Or maybe it was an arrogance.

Pity they killed him off, eh?

Perhaps it’s time for Dexter to do the same.

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I’ve said before that I was disappointed with the quick death of Masuka’s intern, Louis Greene. There was a lot of build-up to his character and his intentions, only to have him quickly killed off as though everything leading up to that moment was pointless. Why the fascination with Dexter all this time? Why the keen interest in the Ice Truck Killer? What was up with that serial killer video game? It all just fell on the floor, and Greene died before we ever learned any of it.

Did Louis ever have a better storyline planned before being killed, the writers later scrapping it because they couldn’t make it work? Or is there something more to come for the douchey intern? If this redditor theory has any meat to it, it could very well be the latter. The theory: What if Louis Greene is actually another Bay Harbor Butcher copycat?

I say “another” because, in season two, there was already a BHB copycat by the name of Ken Olson, whom Dexter quickly did a way with in a public way. This is a theory neither LaGuerta nor Matthews has yet to entertain, as LaGuerta seems to be hell-bent on pointing the finger right at Dexter as the BHB. So, it wouldn’t be out of the question that there’s another BHB copycat at large; in fact, it’s telling that this possibility hadn’t come up yet, especially by Matthews (prior to the boat house discovery, of course).

So, did Louis know that Dexter was any sort of killer at all? No, I don’t believe he did. The reason why Louis was following Dexter around goes back to another theory mentioned here before: Louis is Dexter’s nephew.

With a little evidence tinkering and helpful nudging by Dexter (and Deb!), the police would find evidence that leads them to Louis Greene as a suspect. And then the following would come together:

Estrada is found and questioned about what happened in the shipyard container, and he continues to call the would-be killer “Dickie Moser” … who he explains as the avenging son to one Brian Moser, not his brother. Some digging leads detectives to find that Louis Greene is actually the son of Brian Moser, the Ice Truck Killer, brother to Dexter. His real name: Richard “Dickie” Moser. Alright, maybe the Dickie thing doesn’t happen, since Dexter did correct Estrada and go into the whole “killed my mom” thing with him, but it could be he’s not the brightest bulb.

Once detectives investigate into Greene, they learn of his fascination with Dexter and the Ice Truck Killer. Masuka would be able to testify that Louis was stealing ITK evidence. Investigation of Louis’s laptop would reveal his fascination with serial killing and his desire to screw with Dexter.

Now, with sights set on Mr. Greene, Dexter’s off the radar. Meanwhile, LaGuerta and the others spend their years chasing a ghost, as they’re not aware that Louis Greene is already dead.

I’m not sure all of this could come forth in just one more episode this season, but I could see this happening next season. Dexter could head off to jail at this season’s end, only to pick up with this theory next year, and Deb on the outside helping Dexter where she can. Even if it doesn’t happen, I can fan-fiction it in my mind, because there really should be more to the Louis character than what we’d seen.

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After my post last week about Dexter’s new path without his Dark Passenger, I went about reading comments here and on reddit about others’ thoughts on the subject. One thing that came up that makes a whole lot of sense: Matthews is fully aware of Dexter’s secret, and he’s going to use it to guarantee LaGuerta honors her side of the bargain … or, at least, that she’s out of the equation altogether.

Right now all Matthews wants is a bit of time to get the full pension he’d have gotten before LaGuerta took over his post. Now that he’s “helped” her out with her witch hunt on Dexter Morgan, he’s settled on assuming LaGuerta will honor their initial agreement, and he’ll be reinstated for a spell. Meanwhile, he’ll just go about letting everyone assume he’s completely in the dark about anything Dexter may or may not have done. However, should LaGuerta reneg on their agreement — and it certainly feels like that’s possible — I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see Matthews pay Dexter a visit and give him the same “do what you do” speech that Deb did earlier this season.

The fact that Matthews was brought into the storyline at all is a very telling thing. It would have been just as fitting if LaGuerta stumbled upon all of this “evidence” against Doakes on her own. So why bother bringing Matthews into the story at all? Clearly it’s because his part of the story isn’t finished, and he’s got more to say to — and about — Dexter than he’s let on about so far.

With Deb and Matthews in on Dexter’s secret for the remainder of the series, it would make for one hell of a final season. Their involvement in steering the rest of the law away from finding him out could be what realistically leads to him getting away in the end.

Then again, Matthews could have just been brought into the fold for his awesome one-liners. Let’s talk about some of his from this episode:

“Personally I think she’s had one too many mosquitos, or whatever you call that goddamn drink.”

“We don’t know Doakes used this place. You’re jumping to conclusions.” – LaGuerta
“This address came from the tackle box. Which came from the cabin. Where Doakes died. This isn’t jumping to a conclusion — this conclusion is hanging from your ass.” – Matthews

“Maria, it’s over. The fat lady isn’t singing. Her song is done. She’s getting dry humped in her dressing room.”

As for the rest of the finale. it appears from the promo below (and from the episode’s title, “Surprise, Motherfucker!”) that Doakes is going to make an appearance in the episode, likely in the form of a flashback or dream sequence. First of all, I hope none of what we saw is something as cheap as a dream sequence. Also, I’m now kinda-sorta wondering if Doakes somehow survived that blast, and the body found on the scene was someone else. Naaaah, it couldn’t be. Could it?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3WR_3izzMA

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Season 7 of Dexter hasn’t exactly fit the formula the previous seasons established for the show, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Despite its sometimes awkward pacing, this season has brought up a few major questions in the Dexter universe. How would Deb react if she found out the truth about Dexter? Is Dexter capable of love and sharing a future with someone? Will his “code” survive the loss of his Dark Passenger? And most importantly, what is happening with Quinn’s hair? Seriously, half the time he looks like he’s auditioning for the role of Kramer. I have a theory why Nadia left …

Up until now, the seasons of Dexter have followed their own “code.” There is an overarching “big bad” that Dexter discovers, investigates, and ultimately introduces to his table by the final episode. In some cases that formula has been underwhelming (I wasn’t a fan of the Jimmy Smits’ season), but others — like the season with John Lithgow’s Trinity — had me on the edge of my seat anticipating each week’s storyline. One of the benefits of this “code” of storytelling is that each week builds on the week before so that the screws are constantly being turned and the tension ramps up from beginning to end. This season, however, didn’t follow that paradigm but instead introduced mini antagonists for Dexter to deal with along the way, while hinting to the main opposition Dexter will have to face in this season’s finale. While I find it refreshing for the writers to shake up their style now that the series finale is set at the end of next season, I felt that by changing the overall structure of the season it drastically reduced the tension on Dexter and as a result there was no real sense of urgency this season.

I really enjoyed the first few episodes when Deb tried helping Dexter restrain his Dark Passenger, and I felt that pressure on Dexter to control his urges would be an interesting avenue for the writers to explore. Ultimately, though, Deb gave up, giving him a wide berth, allowing Dexter to sink back into his normal routine. This led the way for the parade of mini enemies, each of which pushed Dexter further from his original “code.”

I agree with most people who criticized the Louis Green story arc. It felt like the writers spent a lot of time setting up Louis as an intellectual antagonistic force that would really challenge Dexter because he didn’t fit the code and couldn’t be disposed of in Dexter’s usual means. I was convinced that Louis was tracking the search engine he recommended to Dexter and was therefore privy to the research Dexter performed during his vetting process. So for his story to end as abruptly as it did was a little disappointing to say the least, but it did allow Dexter the opportunity to show he could stop himself from acting on the urges of his Dark Passenger if he wanted to.

Each of the subsequent nemeses similarly forced Dexter down an unfamiliar path: Isaak made him question his ability to love, Sal Price made him question his moral limits (in that he knew Hanna killed Sal and he helped cover it up), and Hanna made Dexter question his Dark Passenger. This realization was my favorite since all it takes is a beautiful woman probing about the idea of his Dark Passenger for Dexter to go … yeah, I guess it’s kinda dumb. Now he has no one (or thing) to blame for his need to kill and that makes him a much more interesting character. He isn’t a slave to his desires anymore, but what does that mean for his “code?”

When the series first began, Dexter (with the exception of his relationship with Deb) was completely detached from society and only tried to look the part of a regular human being to mask the monster underneath. He had a singular focus of survival before, where his appearance of normalcy was all part of his “code” to continue getting away with his need to kill. His relationship with Rita, initially, was basically a sham, since Rita’s relationship baggage created a nice wall for Dexter to hide behind, preventing the two from getting significantly close. But as the seasons have progressed, his relationship with Rita developed, which spread to her children and even bore Dexter a child of his own. And with each step along the way, Dexter’s life evolved from just his Dark Passenger routine into a life balancing his urges as well as the needs of his family.

Balancing those two sides of his personality, however, has proven difficult (and costly) to Dexter’s life. His obsession with Trinity’s 30-year “career” while maintaining a family caused him to deter from his routine and ultimately cost Rita her life. With her death, more responsibilities fell onto to Dexter’s plate and as a result his Dark Passenger had to take a back seat to midnight feedings and diaper changes. On a side note, he’s been called a bad father in a lot of comments/message boards, and it’s true that at this point Jamie (who apparently has no personal life of her own) is more of a parent to Harrison than Dexter. But the reality is that we don’t tune in each week to watch Dexter read to his son or play with him at the park. Those scenes, much like scenes of action stars reloading their guns, are not interesting to film or watch so they are omitted in favor of more story driven scenes. Regardless of his sometimes absentee nature in raising Harrison, that responsibility of having someone that depends on him has forced Dexter to consider the other people in his life over his own needs. Satisfying his Dark Passenger’s need to kill is no longer his top priority, it is what he does in between his new life as father (and at one time husband).

But splitting his focus has made him careless. In season 4, he nearly exposed his secret after sleep deprivation from staying up with newborn Harrison caused an auto accident, where his bag of knives were thrown from the car. In season 5, strapped for time looking for a nanny for his son, he didn’t search Boyd Fowler’s house effectively, missing the fact that Lumen was trapped inside watching him perform his kill. Now, his feelings for Hanna — because of his ability to share his entire life with her — has given him the false hope of an actual future where they can grow old together. But he is too busy looking at his possible future to see the danger currently encircling him. It’s because he’s spreading himself too thin that he keeps missing details that he would have noticed in season 1. Every time he sacrifices his “code” in order to fulfill some familial responsibility he risks the truth coming to light. If Dexter can survive LaGuerta’s investigation, I think season 8 will involve him choosing which man he wants to be: father or killer, because he can’t do both … at least not for much longer.

In that spirit of narrowing focus, two other questions arose for me during “Do You See What I See?” Did Deb poison herself to frame Hanna? And does Matthews know Dexter’s secret? I’m on the fence about the poison. I feel like the writers set it up to go either way. Does it make sense Deb would risk killing herself in an accident when she was convinced she could get the evidence she needs from Arlene? She did tell Hanna she would do whatever it takes to protect Dexter from her. And I feel Matthews has some inclination about Dexter’s involvement; perhaps Harry confided in him before he died. This would explain LaGuerta’s comment, “you’ll get what’s coming to you” when Matthews asked her about his pension. What do you think? Did Deb spike her own water? Has Matthews been looking the other way all of Dexter’s life?

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Normally when a show reaches the midway point of its freshman season, it’s already hit its stride. It takes a while to establish the characters and get all of the necessary backstory and exposition out of the way so that the audience understands the direction the overall story is taking. The first few episodes introduce the main players, the antagonistic forces and set up the world these characters inhabit. And, typically, those first few episodes are the weakest of all the episodes of a series’ run because the writers are still finding their voices, the actors haven’t fully embodied the characters they are playing yet, and the show as a whole hasn’t found its audience.

Usually it is around the sixth or seventh episode when things start turning around … the actors are comfortable with their characters, the writers are writing for that character that the actor “created,” and we as the audience know what to expect by the rules of the world that were established in the pilot and preliminary episodes. We no longer need to be spoon fed information because we understand the characters and the stories the writers are trying to tell.

I, like probably most people reading this, am a fan of the shows and films that Joss Whedon creates. Buffy the Vampire Slayer became a cultural phenomenon. I really enjoyed the show because of the characters and clever writing, but I wasn’t an instant fan. The first few episodes were not that good. The characters were thin, the dialogue a little rough, and they introduced the idea of other monsters, not just vampires, which I found confusing given that the title clearly stated “vampire slayer,” not “equal opportunity monster slayer.” Really, who goes back and watches the episode with the giant praying mantis?

But eventually I was won over once the writers and actors got into their groove and started presenting better stories (and I realized the other monsters were a necessity since watching Buffy just dust vamps each week would get tired). The turning point was after the episodes “The Pack” and “Angel” (coincidentally, episodes 6 and 7), where the characters started feeling more real, they introduced Principal Snyder (an antagonistical force for multiple seasons) and we learn that Angel is, in fact, a vampire (sorry for the spoiler). From this point, the relationships between the characters developed, making them multidimensional, the story-line moved towards the inevitable climax with the Master and the show became much more entertaining. The writers took that time in the first few episodes to flesh out the characters, establish the rules, and set the stage for the remainder of the season and seasons to come.

But here we are at the mid-season finale and Revolution is still floundering around in that murky episode 3 zone. The characters are one dimensional, the dialogue is on-the-nose and the story-lines rarely make logical sense. You can get away with plot holes early on if you take the audience to an interesting place later, but Revolution has taken us from the Midwest all the way to Philadelphia and still managed to underwhelm almost every step of the way.

I mentioned in another post how I felt the writers missed an opportunity when they showed Miles single-handedly taking out a dozen militiamen in the pilot episode. It diffused any sense that Miles would struggle on the group’s quest to rescue Danny … and so far, they have rarely struggled. A key aspect of storytelling is conflict, and time and time again Revolution confuses sword fighting and musket fire with real conflict. Conflict and drama only exist when there’s someone or something stopping the protagonist from reaching their goal. But if the antagonist is easily defeated, then there’s no tension, no question if they’ll achieve their mission and as a result no real conflict. Each weekly “mission” involved Miles warning Charlie how the obstacle-of-the-week was insurmountable, but each week they easily defeat said obstacle and move on to the next one. The barge where they brainwashed children into joining the militia, according to Miles, was a fortress designed to be impenetrable, until they needed to penetrate it and then there were only seven guards running it and they easily kill them all and escape. Then there was Strausser, the sadistic torturer (and implied rapist), sent to track Miles and the gang and get the pendant. Not only does Miles get the upper hand over Strausser (the only reason he doesn’t kill him is because he’s out of bullets and has to flee before reinforcements show up) but later Rachel, using all 110lbs of her strength, overpowers Strausser (in a fist fight!) and stabs him in the chest. And finally the R&D facility where Monroe is building his pendant amplifier which will give him power over all the military weapons he’s been stockpiling – probably the most important aspect of his entire regime – and Miles and Nora are able to sneak in the back door. Plus the guards stationed at the facility are on the inside of the walls, not patrolling outside the perimeter (where they’d see Aaron waiting with pipe bombs) … it makes no logical sense, it’s too easy for the characters, and what it comes down to is lazy writing.

But the biggest issue, I feel, is Revolution’s inability to create a connection between the audience and its characters. We can’t empathize with these characters because there is never a sense that they are in any danger. Even in dire situations the characters never show a hint of panic. When Neville captures Charlie and the gang (sans Miles) at good ole Kip’s place, Charlie smirks and makes some witty retort in response to Neville’s threat. She’s not scared of him, so why should we (the audience) worry about her safety. We know Miles will eventually bust in, swords a-blazing, and save her because that is what the pilot episode taught us … this group is invincible. Compare this to the kidnap and interrogation of Maggie from the final episodes of The Walking Dead. In both scenarios, the writers want to show that these females characters are trying to appear strong despite their situation. But how uneasy did you feel when the Governor ordered Maggie to disrobe as he encircled her in her interrogation? She stood her ground, didn’t cower to his demands to tell him where the others are hiding, but she was definitely scared. Maggie knew at any moment the Governor could snap and kill her. As a result, we were also scared and anxious at what may happen to Maggie and as a result we felt a connection to her.

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After Sunday night’s episode of Dexter, Deb and I got to discussing what those final scenes mean for Dexter’s future. My first thought was that by Dexter deciding to kill Hannah’s father (Supernatural’s Jim Beaver!), he will no longer adhere to Harry’s code, killing only those who’ve killed; he’d basically open himself up to kill whomever he felt the need to kill, without having to prove anything to himself first. Deb, on the other hand, thought this was only partly true; it did mean he wasn’t going to follow Harry’s code anymore, but it wouldn’t mean Dexter would kill just anyone he felt like killing — he’d still have some sort of moral compass to follow.

With those thoughts in mind, I wouldn’t say that Dexter is going to simply kill people for the hell of it. Instead, he’s going to kill who he needs to kill, and that just might mean simply anyone who threatens him or gets in his way — including LaGuerta and Matthews.

I believe that Dexter’s new path is not only what could save him from the advancing threat of the law breathing down his neck, but it may very well lead to his downfall. The thing is, this is probably the closest the law has come to having concrete evidence against Dexter since Doakes, and we all know how that ended up. The difference, though, was that Doakes wasn’t exactly an angel. LaGuerta and Matthews, on the other hand, would seriously go against the code of Harry. So, with Dexter’s new outlook on what qualifies as a worthwhile kill, in my eyes it means he may not care about whether or not these are bad people he’s about to kill, just that he has to kill them.

If it winds up that Dexter does resort to killing LaGuerta and/or Matthews — just because they threaten him personally — I don’t think it could be any clearer that the writers intend for Dexter to be brought to justice, not that he lives happily ever after and in safety, whether or not he stops killing.

I’d love to hear other theories on how Dexter’s going to get out of this one. The show has one more season left, and as quickly as LaGuerta and Matthews are narrowing in on Dexter, that’s a whole lot of episodes of him running away from the law. Matthews ended his discussion with LaGuerta, saying he’d talk to Dexter before she “fucks it up;” does anyone else think he’s been onto Dexter’s secret all along, and is moving ahead to throw him some warning and advice? Or will Dexter just have to take everyone out?

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