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Dexter: The Final Season


Petey

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what have we done to deserve this?

 

1. Watched Dexter in sufficient numbers to make it a cash cow for Showtime.

 

2. Kept watching the show even though after the quality dropped off.

 

3. Kept talking about the show after it ended, leading Showtime executives to conclude (probably correctly) that there would be an audience for a reboot/sequel.

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I can't argue with your first two points. But this thread died off right after the finale and I know that from everyone I talk to in real life, none of us have really discussed the show since it ended.

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I'm glad they're doing ANYTHING to keep that from being the real ending to the series.  I literally don't believe they could make it worse than what we've already got.  And maybe we'll finally get a lot more Masuka and his daughter; imagine THEM as a fucked-up vigilante duo shielded by their shoot jobs.  

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The last seasons of Dexter were far worse than 24. 24 just failed to make sense at times and the writers stopped giving a fuck about continuity. Dexter just failed on all fronts and had the worst series finale of all time. The more I think of that series finale, the more I think the Deb character got off easy by dying in the dumbest fucking way possible.

YES.  I am one of the very few people who really LIKED Deb.  Liked her from the beginning, cheered her throughout the show.  Never understood everyone else's baggage with her.  And the final fate they chose for this character is just pathetic and anticlimactic a finish as possible.  Yes sir, I WOULD have gladly watched an entire Deb spinoff.  Fuck this show for botching her character.

 

There was no purpose to Masukas daughter was there? No payoff or point for him or her.

Absolutely correct.  Wasting our goddamn time.  Oh, she's scamming him, oh she's not, oh nevermind we never see them again!  At least Lost had the decency to literally bury their "audience hates a smarmy new character being shoved down our throats" add-ons with brevity.  

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  • 7 years later...

Season 9 starts tonight. They already through it up on the app this morning. I will spoiler my thoughts since it hasn't aired on linear TV yet.

 

Spoiler

I hate hate hate how season 8 ended. Taking Deb off life support is one thing. But stealing her body and robbing the rest of her family and friends a funeral is just not logical in any way. Nor is leaving your 4 year old son with a woman you've dated for like six months in a foreign country while you fake your death just so you can get sweet flannels on the cheap. So I was not a fan at all of how it ended.

That being said, I think this started out pretty solid. Episode 1 is a bit slow. But we get some well done camera work and everything feels like when Dexter was good. Another positive is a lot of the story progression revealed in the trailers is all packed into episode 1. Which means the meat of the story is still unknown. Like the big Harrison reveal and his first kill are all part of this episode.

Looking forward to how it progresses, and cautiously optimistic.


(Didn't know if this warranted a whole new thread. I sense the demand for this isn't as big as it was during the show's initial run).

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We were talking about it in the Horror thread, but I think this one will be better.  Episode One debuted over the weekend and I am digging what I've seen so far.  I just hope that New Blood does not fall flat like Season 8 did.

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I'm digging the vibe of this season a lot. It's slow moving, but they are putting the pieces in place to make shit mean something.

We find out Hannah died from pancreatic cancer a few years back. Harrison also seems super well adjusted and able to interact with the kids his own age with no hesitancy or awkwardness like Dexter had at that age. I do find it interesting when they offered him weed he says no because he just got clean.

Probably jumping to conclusions here, but I have a feeling he got clean from killing and not drugs. Also think he actually killed Hannah. But we shall see.

The end of the episode pan down below his fire pit actually made me say what the fuck out loud lol.
 

On 11/10/2021 at 3:45 PM, Leonidas said:
  Reveal hidden contents

So is Harrison the woman killer?

 

Episode 2 gives a better insight into this and it doesn't appear to be related to Harrison. But we'll see how it unfolds, could certainly be a swerve here.


This is already better than Season 8 to me. So I'm all in for the ride. Probably won't reach the highs of Season 4. But with Clyde Philips back as the show runner, this train is definitely back on the tracks.


 

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4 hours ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

The end of the episode pan down below his fire pit actually made me say what the fuck out loud lol.

Episode 2 gives a better insight into this and it doesn't appear to be related to Harrison. But we'll see how it unfolds, could certainly be a swerve here.
 

Same with the firepit! I thought he put him under a frozen lake or something, but I guess I wasn't paying enough attention.

The eyes of the person watching the girl definitely seem like Clancy Brown's eyes, but we'll see. I just enjoy trying to figuring it out, which is what I always loved about Dexter. 

Does seem to be a lot of coincidences or "neat" writing so far though. So his girlfriend is fine with Harrison appearing out of the blue and has no follow up questions. There just so happens to be another serial killer in Iron Lake even though Dexter explicitly moved there to avoid crime and temptation? 

I am enjoying Debra being the antithesis of Harry's ghost though, an antagonistic haunting instead of a philosophical paternal one.

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I'm not sure the lake thing actually happened. They definitely show it, but if I'm remembering it right when he stuffs the body in the water, Deb comes out of the water, then a creature / personification of his dark passenger pulls her under. So I think that was more a manifestation of his inner monologue more so than a real action that happened.

There was another instance of that in this episode. Him sitting in the truck where Deb is just going off on him and he screams his head off. The he notices the girl looking at him. So did he actually scream with the girl seeing him do it, or did him seeing the girl just pull him out of his inner monologue (and he didn't actually scream)? Seems like they are using these visions as a purposeful misdirect in a few instances.

I too love Deb being so aggressive. It really reflects the change in Dexter's view of himself. Harry was helpful, his conscious trying to protect him because he was following a code. Deb is haunting, because his conscious is more worried with hurting the people he loves than protecting himself anymore.

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7 hours ago, Leonidas said:

Does seem to be a lot of coincidences or "neat" writing so far though. So his girlfriend is fine with Harrison appearing out of the blue and has no follow up questions. There just so happens to be another serial killer in Iron Lake even though Dexter explicitly moved there to avoid crime and temptation? 

Well the show answered that question with that scene where Dexter and Angela were sitting on the sofa and talking.  Angela definitely was not good with Dexter never mentioning that he had a son, but now we also know things about Angela's background.  

Angela was more hurt by Dexter not sharing than she was about him having a son, but Angela also has a secret or two buried in her past so staying mad at Dexter would make her a hypocrite.  I think Angela realizes that some people migrate to towns like hers in order to get away from their past, and the best thing to do is not to ask intrusive questions so that you won't hear any answers you don't like.

11 hours ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:


We find out Hannah died from pancreatic cancer a few years back. Harrison also seems super well adjusted and able to interact with the kids his own age with no hesitancy or awkwardness like Dexter had at that age. I do find it interesting when they offered him weed he says no because he just got clean.

Probably jumping to conclusions here, but I have a feeling he got clean from killing and not drugs. Also think he actually killed Hannah. But we shall see.

Yeah.  I don't trust Harrison.  I think he's playing Dexter.  He is methodical and calculating like his father and I think that Dexter is looking at his son through the eyes of a loving father and does not recognize that Harrison is also a monster and has probably killed his way to Dexter's doorstep.  Like father, like son.

I also share your theory that Harrison killed Hannah and escaped.  I don't think that Harrison ever had a drug problem, though.  I think he says sober because he want to remain in control of his behavior and maintain up a facade of normalcy.

I don't think that Harrison is the BBEG lady killer though.  That guy already has an established pattern and the dungeon suggests that he's got the resources to afford the surveillance equipment and a quiet place to keep the ladies captive before they are murdered.

I don't think the rich guy is the killer either.  That's too obvious.  My money is on Angela right now.  I think she is killing the girls because she is continuing to punish the bad behavior of her adopted daughter's biological mother.

Edited by J.T.
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11 hours ago, J.T. said:

I don't think the rich guy is the killer either.  That's too obvious.  My money is on Angela right now.  I think she is killing the girls because she is continuing to punish the bad behavior of her adopted daughter's biological mother.

That would be a wild twist. There's definitely some backstory to unravel with whoever Iris is that they keep referencing. But for the sake of simplicity I'm fairly sure Kurt Caldwell is going to be the big bad. Unless when you zoom in on Angela's eye it looks like an older man in his 60s lol.

 

11 hours ago, J.T. said:

I also share your theory that Harrison killed Hannah and escaped.  I don't think that Harrison ever had a drug problem, though.  I think he says sober because he want to remain in control of his behavior and maintain up a facade of normalcy.

Going further out on a limb, I think the sketchbook they found in his backpack filled with drawings of people are all people he has killed.

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Well, so much for my theory.

Spoiler

Either Kurt Caldwell or Edward Olsen is the girl killer.

The killer releases the girl and allows her to flee, only to shoot her as she runs away in some sort of Most Dangerous Game hunting ritual.  Then he embalms the dead girl's body for trophy purposes, I assume.

Dexter hears the shot that kills the girl killer's latest victim while he is trying to cover up his own murder of Caldwell's son.

The callback to Fargo was pretty awesome as were Dexter's musings about how it was far easier to hide a body in Miami than it is Iron Lake.

Harrison's new nerd buddy is the victim of constant bullying.  He has a sketchbook full of depictions of violent revenge fantasies against his tormentors and I think the images are triggering Harrison.

Edited by J.T.
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Dexter as Nordic noir has been doing laps around everything that went on past season 4. Michael C Hall’s quiet guffaws when the investigation goes his way are great. The show curiously almost has a Resident Alien vibe.

It seems like Harrison and the manga kid are going to get up to some Leopold and Loeb shenanigans. 

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In regards to Kurt "face timing" Matt, I think we're supposed to be picking up that Kurt is the white mask killer that killed the young woman, yeah? So his cabin or shack where all that went down is probably a part of where Angela said they were going to search next. Guessing he went and relieved stress with a kill, celebrated, and decided to say Matt called him so they call off the search / don't find out what he's up to there.

I don't like where the Harrison befriending the bullied kid is going. The Punisher drawing... and what looks to be maybe an active school shooter story line from next week's preview. I hope I'm wrong and just misunderstand the quick clips. But I can certainly see that being the way they reveal more of Harrison's darkness. Seeing what he does during the whole situation when his buddy is killing people.

Loved the Fargo callback. I actually wish they kept Harry around with Deb. Kind of a good cop bad cop dynamic. I think it would make the aggressive Deb point of view a little better balanced, and Dexter's inner struggle as a whole.

We're three episodes in and it still feels a bit slow to me. I'm enjoying it a lot, but I'm hoping for a bit more intensity and tension here soon.

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Yeah, we're off to the races in E4.  Things are popping off with Harrison and the Girl Killer.  

And that ending, tho.

Spoiler

Is Dexter upset by the revelation of Harrison weapon of choice being the same razor that killed his mother or is Dex proud that his son is a budding killer and gets to pass the Code of Harry on to another generation?

 

Edited by J.T.
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He was 300% excited about that revelation. Not even sure if he's made the connection about the razor / Rita yet tho. Things are gonna get so tense. The podcast woman definitely does a ton of research. Will she recognize Dexter as the husband of Trinity's last victim? Will one of the internet sleuths bring it to her attention when they see pictures about the missing girls stuff? Did Harrison actually kill Hannah?

Finally getting the good stuff. All the slower foundation laying is leading to some fun story possibilities.

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Episode 5 was a step back in my opinions.

 

Spoiler

Batista showing up at just the right time is a little eye rolling. Worse than that, would you temporarily forget your "dead" best friend's son's name? Like his sister was Harrison's nanny for 2 or 3 years. That's not a name that would just fall out of his memory. I think I would have been less annoyed by the whole scene had Batista just talked to her in generalities about serial killers and only revealed stuff about Deb hunting down Trinity. Then Angela gets enamored with finding out more about Deb and wanting to be the Deb of the missing girls case then just stumbles onto pictures of Dexter. The drunk party secret / Batista name drop is about the laziest way to get someone to uncover it all.

I did like what they did with the Kurt killing scene. Him getting thrown off when she took off her top, and her not running away really got him to panic. That whole story line is interesting to me. But I wish they'd get moving explaining why he does these killings.

 

Halfway through, I'm glad we're getting this series. But it's not looking like it's going to reach the heights I was hoping for.

 

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Yeah a couple coincidences and convenient timings so far. Still well acted and I'm interested in seeing where it's going. The whole premise is built on a giant coincidence though and that's Dexter chose a remote village that also happens to have a serial killer in it? If they reveal later Dexter knew about it I wouldn't be mad, but doubt that will happen. 

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Yeah, it was kinda clunky that:

Spoiler

Batista was there to describe Dexter's MO and give Angela free pieces to the puzzle.  Angela also got a freebee from her daughter thanks to Harrison snitching under the influence that led her to Dexter's obit and the evidence she needed to connect the dots.  Too many coincidences.

It will be interesting to see what line of BS that Dex will use to explain away everything and if Batista has a role in future events.

As for:

20 hours ago, NoFistsJustFlips said:

 

  Hide contents

I did like what they did with the Kurt killing scene. Him getting thrown off when she took off her top, and her not running away really got him to panic. That whole story line is interesting to me. But I wish they'd get moving explaining why he does these killings.

Aha!

Spoiler

But we learned a lot about Kurt's motives by learning about what they're not about, right? 

He's probably not a sexual predator, otherwise he'd have taken advantage of Chloe, right?  We also know that fear is an important part of the ritual.  It upset Kurt that Chloe did not flee the room in terror and that he had to shoot her defensively.   Kurt's psychosis is related to the hunt and these murders seem to be executions, but we still don't know what "crime" these women committed that Kurt has to punish them with death.

One positive note:

Spoiler

Dexter killing the drug dealer in a manner not fitting with his ritual was pretty scary.  He is evolving as a killer even though he still adheres to the Code.  Fatherhood has changed Dex for the better and for the worst.

Edited by J.T.
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