The Day Dexter Died
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
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An exploration into the history of Dexter, the aspects that made it special, and the one episode that sparked the show's downfall to mediocrity.
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What should I explore next in my ongoing Day ___ Died series?
Star Wars
The MCU would be an interesting topic.
Archer ( :
I’ve been rewatching Weeds recently. Like to see your take. I’d say season 3 was the last good season.
Although I mostly enjoyed it, Supernatural ran way too long and got repetitive.
In breaking bad we got to see how everyone reacted to Walter being Heinsberg but Dexter never gave us that satisfaction of seeing everyones reaction to who he is.
Very true… your comment is on point
The same as anyone else that knew
We explored that SO DEEPLY with Deborah, but yes… New Blood was not worth losing the opportunity to see everyone face their new reality
@@Charles-In-Charge new blood was only there to push a political narrative.
I wish Rita would have lived (killing her was a mistake IMO) and lived to see Dexter’s true identity. Whether she rejected him or went full on Stockholm syndrome, it would have been compelling.
For me, I started losing interest once Rita was killed. And it wasn’t just that she died, but the writer’s handling of the fallout thereafter. Like you said, there seemed to be no consequences after that season, and they tried to replace her role with a lesser character in season 5. They could have salvaged it by having Rita stay involved as another voice in his head, largely going against Harry because they fundamentally view him differently based off knowledge. Imagine a Dexter that always had someone that only saw an angel in him being a voice throughout his daily life, but disappearing when he kills because she never knew him like that
i actually love that idea. i can picture an emotional scene where he has become used to Rita's "advice" but can't obtain it in a moment where he needs it most since she doesn't know him like that.
The mistakes and bad decisions made by the writers started becoming more and more visible and frequent when Rita died.
The whole tone of the series was off after the 4th season. Given that they changed showrunners and writers halfway in the series, you could see and feel the difference between the two halves. Still looking forward to the new mini-series
I went up to the last two seasons, and stopped. Admiral Adama and Tom Hanks' brother... it was ok... The Trinity Killer season was amazing though.
Rita didn’t even know Dexter so how could she be a voice in his head. She was his cover for being a real human and not a monster. Only one who knew him could be a voice in his head. Making her his angle presupposes that a conscience exists for him to be anything other than he is. He’s a psychopath it wouldn’t work. It didn’t work when Deb tried to keep him from killing and that just would’ve killed the show for real.
The show could’ve easily ended after 4 or 5 seasons and it would’ve been one of the best series of the past 30 years
I think even if you cut it short by the last 5 or 10 minutes it wouldve been remembered much more fondly
I enjoy every season each time I watch them... And it is pretty successful the way it is.
😂😂@@jkell411
@@jkell411 same
LaGuerta's death would have been worth it if Season 8 was all about Dexter's facade collapsing and Miami Metro relentlessly closing in on him. That's what EVERYONE wanted. An ENTIRE season dedicated to Dexter losing everything. But nope, the writers just went back to normal and gave us another tired stale generic killer of the week formula.
Totally agree. It should have been Dexter vs. Debra and Miami Metro. Instead of a villain, Dexter becomes the main bad guy and changes from the lovable anti-hero to one that morphs into a monster that the audience roots against. This is similar to Heisenburg in Breaking Bad. People fell in love with the Walt character, yet he still poisoned a kid, hid the body of another dead teen to not expose his drug empire, and manipulated his wife and Jesse for his own selfish ego. Dexter was a serial killer after all and it would have been fitting to have a final showdown between Deb and Dexter. Ugh, Season 7 set up a perfect opportunity and blew it.
I wonder why it was done so pathetically. Were they banking on bringing it back eventually I wonder and felt like they couldn't do it with Dexter in prison.
The shame is, with this new season I doubt it would have the same impact. Just imagine everyone in Miami finding out who he was and his own colleagues have to deal with the fallout. Some could have not been able to handle it, they would have had to deal with so much flak too because it was their job to catch killers etc.
Jennifer Carpenter herself said she wished Jen would have put Dexter under arrest. She also said something about Deb committing suicide though might have been a different scenario. But she thought it was truer to her character to put Dexter in prison.
do most people actually wanted him to get caught? cuz i wanted it to be close but not caught
I think the new series will end with his death or being caught
For me the point where it turned bad was when rita and the kids died and disappeared from the show. Emphasis on the kids too. It did a lot for the show that dexter had this counter point that pulled him away from the killing and into a normal sort of life. It helped show this duality of the character that was lost in later seasons. Especially the kids had such a huge impact on dexter and how he had to change plans to care about them etc
I agree, they anchored him in his human side, and it was endearing to see him put them above his own needs now and again.
After that he was just self centered and sloppy and spent the whole of his fatherhood passing off Harrison to various baby sitters.
BUT, the death of Rita was a great twist at the end of that season, with a real emotional punch, I think they just truly fumbled the aftermath.
The kids didn’t die. 🫣
Wait until you see how much the show went on a different path compared to the books. Nothing after season 1 is the same. Enjoy.
You put my thoughts into words. After Rita death, the series got less interesting for me and gone downhill but i didn't really figured why. Thanks
The thing that always got to me was the police always saying "we have a bad guy we wanna bust" then they get murdered by dexter first almost always without fail. Like that happens like 200 times, youd think theyd notice
they think that they skipped country most of the time, that is what dexter frames it to be
My wife and I laugh at how bad their “police work” was.
especially since the bay harbor butcher which happened early in the show showed that the serial killer was dispatching people that the police had investigated beforehand and this was still happening like it always was lol
Man it was crazy when Dexter ended after season 4. What a perfect show, don't know what this man's talking about, never died, went out on top!
That's how I advertise the show.
I've heard numerous people talk about how the show went to craps.....I've never noticed it. I thought it was all pretty good, and am absolutely stoked to start the next one. And I definitely want another, and another, and another.
agree 100%
Reminds me of the matrix, one great film, shame there was no sequels but I guess they thought it was best to go out on a high notw
What's funny is what in the country I live, the channel broadcasting it changed to a channel my parents didnt own. So i never seen past season 4
Jennifer's acting remained extremely strong until the end. She made the show watchable past season 5.
"Remained?" She didn't even reach her stride until season 3. In season 1, her acting is downright bad, maybe the worst of any character.
Any correlation with her and Michael c hall being married for a brief period
@@CrAzYpotpie You can only do so much with such dimensionless writing and Debra had in the early seasons.
When Rita died I stopped watching Dexter. Just too evil. I also quit American Horror story when they killed the female midget - just too evil to continue watching.
I stop watching MadMen when they specialized his daughter. Too far is too much for normal viewers
They had a perfect final season staring them in the face - they should’ve had Deb shoot Dexter instead of LaGuerta. End the episode there. Next episode have him wake up in a hospital surrounded by police. He’s exposed. Everyone knows who he is. They could’ve easily contrived a way for him to escape. Then the last season could’ve been him on the run in Miami. Deb’s emotional breakdown and inner conflict would’ve made a lot more sense knowing that she shot her brother and may lead to his execution. We get to see the whole cast’s reaction to Dexter’s betrayal and how they deal with it. Just endless possibilities. They could’ve even ended it in the same way, with Dexter disappearing into another life and Deb becoming mom to Harrison.
His killing spree would have ended where it began. In a shipping container with Deb stopping the monster her dad created.
Write your own show then
How could they have easily contrived a way for him to escape?
@@ojb7478 Saying "You have to write a show or a better show to criticise bad seasons of it" is a childish defence. You don't have to write a show to criticise another show.
@@jonesjoestar Oh I don’t know…how about a hurricane that causes power outages and confusion and gives him an opportunity to escape? There are a million ways they could’ve done it that wouldn’t have been the least plausible thing that had happened on the show to that point.
I didn’t even bother watching the last season. But the season with John Lithgow was some of the best tv drama I’ve ever seen. Thanks for the breakdown, very cathartic.
I wish I would've done the same. Trinity Killer was the best season. Last season was just dumb!
Honestly the last season isn’t that bad. It’s just the last episode that’s so horrible it makes you wish the last 4 seasons didn’t happen.
In comparison to a show like game of thrones where the entire last season was horrible not just the last episode
@@ayourmum8521 season 5 was passable, season 6 was aweful, 7 was good but failed at the end, season 8 was a downward spiral.
Trinity killer was great season
Lost interest during the Colin Hanks season
Scott Buck killed the show in ways Dexter can only dream of.
Haha
This line is so clever.
Dexter was incredible. Some seasons were worse than others, but overall I never got tired of the show. Even the finale wasn't that terrible to me.
When I had seen the final episode I had already known there will be another season, so that gave me some hope
I hoping they didn’t bring the show back only for Dexter to get caught or bumped off. I will upset 😢
@@sheena171 Doesn't seem like it's going in that direction. First season of new blood is better than the entirety of Dexter in my opinion. It just started off so strong and hasn't lost the charm of Dexter yet.
I feel like I'm the only one who actually liked the ending. I felt like it was unexpected. Everyone anticipated him getting caught or killed. Surviving, living another life, that wasn't really what I'd expected.
And leaving Harrison I thought made sense. He knew everyone close to him dies. The best thing he could do to save Harrison would be to sacrifice his own relationship with him.
@@shanmarie4122 I was cool with the ending, I was glad to see that Dexter got away.
Season 4 of that show was excellent. Jon Lithgow's one of those rare actors who does comedy, particularly sitcoms, so well but can be absolutely terrifying in more serious stuff. I never actually continued with it past that oddly, but I suppose in hindsight that's for the best.
Yeah you're lucky. Season 5 had it's moments but it really all went down hill after they switched writers. I watched the series finale with a big crowd of people and everyone booed. Don't watch it.
I had his character for 3rd Rock in my head the whole time and I was HORRIFIED.
Hannah McKay was a Mary Sue. I didn't care at all about that character nor did I understand Dexter's (and the writers') interest in her. The show jumped the shark completely when Dexter and Hannah had sex on the murder table.
That was one of the main reasons I stopped watching
I died reading the last part you said cuz it was so off the walls
if you don't understand his interest in her then you probably failed to understand the psychology of Dexter! The guy was a conniving, master manipulator and a serial killer...who did you think he would be interested in? a ballerina? we saw him with a normal woman ( Rita) and how was that? it was never a genuine relationship and they never had any real connection and she was totally oblivious to his reality to the point where it got her killed eventually! Hannah was just as complicated as he was and also conniving and fierce..she complemented his darkness plus, she understood and accepted him which are things he had long been looking for since Harry's death.
@@random90sgirl86 No, we just don’t support bad writing and character assassination.
@@random90sgirl86 Lumen
I was really into this series but once Debra started to fall in love with dexter that's when I was out.
Literally have watched the show up to ep 1 season 7 3 times and cant get through that first ep
Why?
It's funny, the actors were together IRL in this time
@@Googledeservestodie I'm pretty sure they were divorced during S7
Agreed. That’s actually what I thought Elk would say
I'm so glad you called out the season seven finale-I can't stand that episode and I'm beyond shocked that it's one of the highest rated Dexter episodes on IMDB. LaGuerta's death was the point in the series where I realized the writers would never let Dexter get caught and would always have a convenient way to evade getting caught.
Off topic but self portrait is a super underrated album. Nice avatar
@@octagonseventynine1253 Thanks!
Ngl I hated it too. Debbie absolutely should have shot or captured Dexter. Her morality hut a 180
Having plot armor on the protagonist of a show is hardly valid criticism, seeing as it works fine in almost every other succesful show. Walter White (spoiler!) is never caught in Breaking Bad, Thomas Shelby doesn't die in Peaky Blinders, I think we could keep going. How do you expect a show to continue without its protagonist?
@@HSSLNG I guess you never finished breaking bad
Debs thing for Dexter was the cheapest way to get him out of bad situations. But those were fabricated for drama, its clear they went with it because they wanted to include a creepy dynamic.
BAD TASTE.
I mean, isn't brotherly love enough for Deb to "overlook" Dexter's deeds? You see it in criminals all the time, family covering up for them.
"Creepy dynamic introduced to the show, ewwww! I like the creepy dynamic of supporting Dexter and his murders, though!"
Give me a break. That dynamic felt real and was a great addition, doesn't matter how gross it is to us.
The original show runners envisioned the series finale would have Dexter get caught and have the ghosts of all his victims watch him get the lethal injection. That would have been a fitting end.
I think that one of the reasons the show's quality took a real downturn is the loss of not only Rita but the kids as well. Their existence on the show caused a natural tension. Dexter couldn't just stay out all night long and basically do whatever he wanted without consequence. Plus, Rita and the kids had problems that he needed to help solve. This is something that is often overlooked. The kids were shipped to Grandma and Grandpa's and we only saw them a couple of times the rest of the show. But overall I agree. The storytelling felt far less organic and the writing in general became sloppier. It lost the precision-like feel under Phillips.
I think the show betrayed its premise when it started making Dexter care. Sociopaths can't be cured. Harry was right about that. They can be given rules and parameters to function in, but Dexter learning to love RIta and the children wasn't plausible. But then they'd have to keep a fundamentally unlikeable character at the center of the show. Audiences would eventually see past the vigilante porn to a man who they simply can't identify with.
@@misterdarwin One cool path they sort of touched on, but never went down, was the possibility that Dexter wasn't actually a sociopath. That Harry misdiagnosed him and sort of groomed him into being a killer and giving him a warped perception of life and death and a template for how he as a sociopath should act. Then later in life, without Harry, Dexter finally started letting emotions come through. Like Dexter was totally distraught when Brian died, and he also chose to sacraifice a life of killing with his brother to save Deb. He also was building connections with warped people like Lila and Miguel and eventually found a way to do it for Rita. He just couldn't confront it because... well Harry had taught him to think he was a sociopath and he couldn't decipher his feelings.
Dexter also is kinda weird. Even early on he doesn't display a common diagnosis. He is very thorough and risk averse like a psychopath, but his killing is defined by urges like a sociopath. It's just weird. And then he lingers on deaths way too much.
I think having him be the victim of this messed up cop who felt guilt over the death of an informant he fell for and misunderstanding the temperment of his adopted son and fucking him up would have been an interesting path to go down.
You have narcissists the sociopaths then psychopaths. It was my understanding that Dexter was considered the latter and most dangerous. But don't be fooled psychopaths can very much feel things towards a select few. It's usually warped in some way and very self-serving which can make the relationship more intense. However, I do like the insight and varying ideas in the thread. All definitely have their merits
I stopped watching it when Rita was killed. Your views are really interesting 👍
You’re right. But at the same time Rita’s death was kinda epic. Perhaps if they kept the kids more relevant.
But I’d actually say the downturn started with the killing of Doakes. He was the perfect opposite of Dexter and he helped create that tension you were talking about.
Now the following season was still good but it was forever changed and imo less funny because doakes had amazing one liners. That was the path they chose to start a start releasing that tension and it allowed Dexter to get more sloppy.
Doakes was one of my favorite side characters. Direct, straight-laced cop, with a fantastic bloodhound sense for a detective. I really wished his character lasted a bit longer...
Honestly Doakes was a top-tier cop and having him around was such a laugh, he's iconic.
That's when I started hating Dexter. They should have saved Doakes death for later seasons.
Read the book it's different but no bad and dokes lasts longer
In the books he's more central and doesn't get killed x
Dexter and Doakes simply are too smart to both exist, Doakes would always come after him and Dexter is bound to stop him. It makes sense that he dies, if they prolonged his life it would just be plot armor to drag it out.
Great show until about halfway through the series, then is immediately plummeted at a record pace. I still can’t believe they killed Dokes off so fast. He was such a great anti-hero.
“Suprise Mothafucka!” - Sgt. Doakes
S2 is also kinda odd story wise. Like that narrative of being discovered really should have been the second to last season and the last season is him on the run.
@@dereklewis4321 yeah I agree. It would’ve tied up really well. Especially if he was going to just disappear, it would’ve made more sense.
@@Awkward_Runner s1 is same, s2 is the season with Migel, s3 is trinity still, s4 is becoming discovered by the death of Rita and s5 is on the run. Would have been a perfect series this way. Still love the show but it had some miss steps. Plus then we would of had James for 4 seasons.
Dexter was the anti-hero. Doakes was the hero.
So far _Dexter: New Blood_ is everything I wanted. It feels like the glory days of Dexter are finally back.
Ehhhh 6 episodes in hes only killed 1 person it feels more drama about his son
@@rsoleighton5608 I mean, he also chose that location to isolate himself out in the middle of nowhere. So it's not like there's going to be an all you can slash Dark Passenger buffet.
@@boredXsomethingXIDK that's fair
@Green Lion I ain't laughed this hard in a while lol respect bubba
The new show is rushed, extremely scripted with really poor acting. It barely has any music either. It's pretty much a joke compared to the glory days of Dexter.
Scott Buck.
The man who killed Dexter, Iron Fist, and Inhumans.
He hasn’t worked a day since.
Let's hope he never does again.
He may be the worst show runner of this millennium.
How did he get the job is still beyond me.
@@vond5829💵
@alanpennie8013 Worse than Damon Lindelof?
Season 4 was so brilliantly written, when that season was done and came to its shocking conclusion, I knew it was the beginning of the end of the show. While it got stretched into 4 more seasons, there was nothing that could surpass what season 4 did. I think the last episode of season 4 is what was truly the day Dexter died. Along with Rita.
It wouldve been so amazing if they stretched out the dokes storyline of him getting caught. Imagine a season 3 where dokes ALMOST caught dexter in season 2 and now is making it his mission to prove it in season 3. A perfect foil for dexter.
Truth. Dokes was my favorite character, and l was PISSED when he got killed off in season 2. I didnt even wanna watch S3 when it aired. What a terrible decision.
Doakes's character arc would have worked better if it was more of a slow burn. Have the two start off on friendly ties, have something happens that makes Doakes suspicious of Dexter, and go from there. I think they realized that mistake and had a flashback episode later in the series to mark when hostilities first formed between the two.
@@BronzeMantis i actually loved how it starts with doakes hating dexter, kinda showed he had a 6th sense about him all along
@That HALO Dude it wasn't Dexter, it was Dr. Dranco.
That wouldn’t have worked really, Dokes would have just killed Dexter executioner style he wouldn’t dare go through the process of actually trying to prove it especially after he knew that he was straight up the Bayharbor butcher he had to die for it to work…. Unfortunately because he really did make the show 1000x better
Dexter died when Rita died.
I stopped watching around then, apparently I picked the right time to tap out
It kinda made no sense to me. Dexter was hunting Trinity, found his car near his address, took the part out, then followed him after he returned from killing Rita, kills him, then is shocked to discover Rita dead?
@@curious1053 from a story arc stand point, it was clear from foreshadowing that Dexter was going to have to kill his sister. But since they were in a relationship in real life, i assume producers stepped in and changed it to something else “shocking”
Rita was insufferably too nice, and entirely boring to watch
@@aimreyne8487 I think the contrast of such a nice and innocent person like Rita married to a serial killer was the point that made it interesting.
To me the series died earlier; In that scene where Dexter and Hannah end up banging on his murder table.
I did find Yvonne Strahovski to be really hot.
It was such a cheap way to add shock value.
I hated the fact a pretty girl in the table was all it needed for Dexter to completely fold. That’s not Dexter. He never saw anything except a serial killer behind one, and not a hot girl that he would wish to be his love of his life.
Yo for real. Like Hannah, baby, what are you doing that man was about to end you. How is he IT for you?!?!
@@zzyunogd and he also killed several fine women before this so it makes zero sense
I haven't watched the video yet but I'm gonna say the show ended for me when Deb professed her romantic love for Dexter ....🤮
Honestly it was the retconning of Dexter’s origin with Dr. Vogel when I gave up. It was such a huge writing change that basically compromises Dexter as a character, his dark passenger, and the show in it’s entirety.
His origin wasn’t retconned from Vogel. She came up with the idea of the code but Harry created the details.
It wasn’t a retcon, because it didn't outright contradict anything
I remember the Dexter finale and Breaking Bad episode Oxymandias were premiering on the same night and the r/dexter subreddit put up a Breaking Bad Discussion sticky instead of Dexter because everyone had given up on the show at that point and nobody was tuning in to Dexter anymore. After that the subreddit pretty much completely turned into a Breaking Bad subreddit for a little while. It was great
Remember when Rian Johnson made all time great content? I member.
@@BlyGuy he still does that tho.
@@jeltje50 since he directed Ozymandias, arguably the greatest hour in TV history, he's been pretty awful and wrote/directed a Star Wars film that was vehemently despised by the fan base (I am not a star wars guy, just going by the reaction).
I guess Knives Out is supposed to be decent. Johnson just needs to stick to directing, something he is inarguably great at.
@@BlyGuy I don’t understand why people seem to love Knives Out. I was completely underwhelmed.
@@denisesudell2538 I didn't see it, so can't comment. Not really sure what "Burned Edits" is referencing when he responded that Rian still creates great content.
It should've been 5 seasons only.
Doakes should've been Dexter's main thorn in his side throughout.
It should've ended as soon as Debra found out the truth.
8 seasons was too long, Breaking Bad did it right with ending it with 5 seasons.
The whole Hannah romance was a final straw for me. It was just so stupid to have two psychopaths having a romance. Dexter being lovesick puppy was pathetic. Also she was psychopath who killed for her own gain when ever she felt like it. I honestly think that the worse thing Dexter ever did was to leave his son with her. Only thing I liked about the ending was that Dexter didn't get a happy ending. I wasn't rooting for his psycopathic nuclear family with Hannah at any point.
I agree with all of this! This plot line was more or less what did it for me as well. This, Deb's behavior, and the psychologist Dexter started seeing who acted with Harry as his "mentor" or whatever it was when Dexter was a little kid (it's been a long time so that last plot
line is kinda hazy to me).
Hannah not ending up on Dexter's table after poisoning Deb proved that the real Dexter is dead.
ikr I absolutely despised Hannah and that whole storyline and I still can't believe that even though a lot of fans didn't like her they still brought her back for season 8 AND gave Harrison to her smh🤦🏻♀️💀
The Lumen romance kind of hurt, too, because they couldn't stop speaking like melodramatic goth poetry. I wouldn't mind that, but it's not what I watch Dexter for.
Imagine all the possibilities. Dexter should have killed Hannah the moment she tried to kill Debra (aka the most important person for him) instead he trusted another serial killer and forgave her for posoning both and wanted to go to Argentina with her and his son to then left Harrison with (again) ANOTHER SERIAL KILLER. What the f
I remember the last season aired at the same time as Breaking Bad last season. It was crazy seeing BB go all-in on the end game with every episode having intense moments that brought things to a head and satisfying conclusion, whilst Dexter was just twiddling it's thumbs.
Agree. I remember enjoying BB so much and being so disappointed in Dexter.
Dexter New Blood's ending and overal quality is ten times worse than the original.
Explained to a friend who only seen a few episodes of Dexter on how the series ended with him handing Harrison to a woman that tried to kill his Sister and ended up faking his death to become a Lumberjack. Let's say he didnt believe me coz it's so left field and stupid.
Not a lumber jack lol. He’s in New York. I had always thought it was Canada. You can’t be a lumber jack unless your in Canada.
@@santi_super_stunts2573Paul Bunyan. Nuff said.
Those first four seasons were sensational, and while I didn't 'hate' the rest of the series (for the most part), you could tell the creative team behind it wasn't of the same caliber.
Season 3 was mid af
Bad writing. LAZY WRITERS. Lazy writing. BAD WRITERS.
Scott Buck is like the grim reaper for TV shows.
It used to be Ted McGinley...
i remember listening to the after show podcasts during season 8. what a fucking moron.
Great profile pic.
He was behind Inhumans as well.
And Iron Fist
The show also got so hollow and felt cheap and empty when it came to world-building. Compare the Miami Metro station in season 1 vs season 8.
In season 1, it looked like a busy police station. In season 8, it looked like an abandoned office building where like 5 main characters just hung out.
The sad part is that on season 7 Dexter got back that “touch” not as good as season 4 but better than 5, 6 and 3. What killed Dexter was bringing Hannah again on season 8 and making it a serial killer telenovela after she even tried to kill Debra (and then poisoned Dexter) what were the writers thinking??
Better than 5? Um... 5 was the best season, bite your tongue.
@@SchulzEricT tripping
@@bread6235big trippin fasho easily 2 or 4
John Liithgow said it best in the season 4 finale: "It's already over."
Fun fact: It's both the first thing he says in the 4th season and last thing in the season 🔥
He should've said "the best and final season is next"
@@SchulzEricTYou'd be the boy eating his drugged ice cream.
The highpoint was Trinity with the amazing John Lithgow. After that, not so much.
Yeah you can't top John Lithgow. He's so damn good.
4 was enjoyable imo but the ending was the shocking part. Personally 2 and 7 had much more suspense and were much more enjoyable to watch.
I mean, after that you had the best season in the show before season 6 dropped the ball - was entertaining in a vacuum, but didn't do much for the series-long story.
Dexter is the show that taught me to quit a watching before it deteriorates too much. I regret watching the three seasons. Season 5 with Lumen (if I remember the correct season number) was pretty good, albeit a little anticlimatic after the Lithgow season. But after that was mostly blah or pure garbage. I've learned to give up on shows going down the drain and to stop watching because of Dexter.
I mean, from Serial Killer With a Code to Deadbeat Dad In Coos Bay is the worst character arc ever.
I rather liked Season 5. It felt more like a reset than a continuation, but I liked Julia Stiles's character and her resolution, which for once ended without her death. Not bad. But then somehow, I and the guy who I was watching it with got instantly bored with the sixth season, and never got beyond a few episodes in. Seriously dodged a bullet there!
Lumen was seriously underrated. Her character was fantastic and the arc of it was beautiful. The antagonist was weak and some of how they got to the guys involved was overly contrived though. Season 6 should have opened with Dexter being disgusted that he couldn't change like Lumen, embracing his Dark Passenger rather than his "family side" even more, gets caught, he's on the run, Deb eventually finds him, she's hesitant, they have a big argument as she points his gun at him, she realizes he cares more about killing than her and Harrison, maybe she shoots him or maybe he escapes either one works fine
i enjoyed season 5
and i think 6 was the religious one which i also liked
i mean its not like season 1-4 but i still enjoyed it!
7 with dr yolo
i just was bored that season and didn't really care for it
Yup. S5 was the last halfway decent season. It was all downhill from there
why do people not like season 7 so much?
Will never forget how they disappointed us twice. Living with the original ending was better than what happened with new blood.
Doakes was the perfect anti-hero that was killed off way too fast.
But I agree... after season 4, Dexter was just different
One idea I had is this - and this might actually have made for a much stronger ending.
Dexter is still caught, but how he is caught changes in one significant way.
Everlyn Vogel is actually undercover FBI. She is still a behavioural scientist and expert in psychopathy - and is actually a former colleague of Lundy's. They were good friends, and after Lundy's death she, like Laguerta, became convinced that the Bay Harbour Butcher was indeed still alive and still active. On reviewing Lundy's case notes, she was granted access to the Miami metro PD in an official capacity, however her actual function is covert - she is to work on the BHB case, investigating where Lundy left off before he mistakenly placed Doakes as the Butcher.
It doesn't take her long to figure out the truth, has been tricking Dexter all along, gaining admissions on tape for weeks as she builds a case against him. Her background story about helping Harry was fabricated (after all, Harry never mentioned her...) and she now has everything she needed.
Dexter is captured and arrested as any other criminal - the trickster had been tricked and he must now face the consequences.
Pretty good re write!
Most criminals are never caught. Most missing people were killed and nobody found out. You must not think that the police always gets the serial killer.
@@qwertymanorSounds terrible to me.
That's a really cool twist to S8! Wish I could peak into that dimension to see it!
Such a shame this show went off the rails. I have high hopes for the spin off though!
Yeah the mini-series looks interesting. Hopefully it can right the wrongs.
@@EntertainTheElk Good or bad, it's still building off season 8's ending, and that already really hurts the show. Even if good, the events of the new story are built off of something that makes no sense at all, and that really pulls me out of it. I still hope it's good, but that will never not bother me.
@@ProfessorChaos56 I find it the opposite, it's kind of refreshing to see a show have the balls to address a poorly made ending and try to mend it
@@ProfessorChaos56 How does the original ending make no sense? Even if you hated it it did make sense for his character to end things the way he did. Even Michael c hall and Phillips understood this.
Unpopular opinion but I think Season 3 is overrated and is only remembered fondly due to being in-between the two best seasons of the show, 2 and 4. Also Season 5 is underrated.
When they killed rita and Dexter cared more for the girls that replaced her
Dexter should have come under suspicion after season 4, but they kept stalling it. Then there was the season 5 ending when Deb entered the killing room with Dexter behind the curtain and she just walked away! From that moment it was awfull.
Only the first 2 seasons were 10/10 imo. They started fucking with the formula from season 3 and it got progressively more disappointing each season from then on.
Yeah. And Dexter only really felt true to character in the first two. An awkward, weirdo psychopath trying to fit in and seem normal. That part got completely abandoned
Season 4 was great though
@@JoshJr98 was that one with John Lithgo? I did actually enjoy that. only one I liked after season 2
@@octagonseventynine1253 yeah. And I agree
That’s fair. There was definitely a slight tonal shift, Dexter’s priorities changed.
Seasons 3 and 4 feel like a pair, and 5 stands in contrast to most of the series.
For me is better the end of season 8 than new blood...
Especially when you simply skip the lumberjack epilogue
Dexter should have been 4 seasons, and Doakes should’ve been the final boss, not Trinity.
S1: stays the same
S2: Miguel season
S3: Trinity
S4: Original season 2, ending with Dexter going on the run and getting exposed by Doakes
I would have rather had doakes in the third season without dying by losing to dexter and getting suspended . Then in the end he saves rita from dying and dex gets killed by trinity.
My wife and I just finished rewatching the entire series and man the final season was tough to get through. I'd slightly disagree on the day Dexter died. To me, it was the episode where Deb admits that she's in love with Dexter. That storyline only existed to give her more motivation to choose him over Laguerta at the end of the season, and it was totally unnecessary.
Oh, grow up.
@@CrAzYpotpie not even a bad take
@@peolaksonen3440 Yeah, it is. Childish, too.
Watching this after the New Blood finale is kinda depressing. It was going so well at recreating the Dexter glory days, but then fell right back into nonsensical writing, plot convenience, and retcons to force the ending, rather than reaching it naturally
I'd love to see "The Day The X-Files Died/ Was Born."
Yeah that would be fun. I need to go back and rewatch The X Files.
please i just finished it 😭
The X-Files should've ended at Season 7.
X Files never died, he just went home. Probably season 5 though, but there were still high points till the end
@@peterfighter yep. On rewatches, that’s where I stop. It feels like the best ending for the show, even though it’s not perfect.
I'm a fan of Dexter (even the flawed stuff) so please keep that in mind when reading this. But I think the show hit a decline in writing somewhere in the second season and it never recaptured it, even though there were obvious high points afterward.
First off, they killed Doakes off too soon into the show. Secondly, no one would believe that he would collect blood slides. If I found blood slides, I'd immediately suspect Dexter, the blood expert. All that coupled with the fact that a series of coincidences led to the death of Doakes, letting Dexter off the hook from making a tough choice, just felt too convenient for me.
Don't get me wrong. I still love the show and I get why people are willing to forgive stuff like this. In fact, I knowingly let stuff like this slide myself. I just think if you're going to be critical of the writing, it started declining in season 2. It just didn't decline to the same extent that later seasons did.
I kinda think Season 4 is the best season, followed by Season 1. Seasons 2, 3, 5, and 6 all felt kind of like filler by comparison, and I never watched Season 8 because of how Season 7 went.
You're absolutely right. I recently started rewatching it and the decline in quality is glaringly obvious in S2. The show still remained decent until end of S5, but the first season is a masterpiece the rest didn't live up to. It had a specific atmosphere that was lost in the following seasons. I had no idea the showrunner of the first season left before S2, but this explains the drop in quality. The show was worse off for it, it's sad he didn't stay for a few more seasons.
@@AbandonedVoid oh, S4 is easily the best season. That was peak Dexter.
Yea I think in general it was fine as a whole . You can't seperate seasons and claim they don't count or whatever , like some people try to . Just enjoy the ride and deal with it lol.
@@benmaynard3059 What are you on about? That’s like saying you can’t judge individual books within a series, you either like the whole thing or hate the whole thing.
I'm gonna say 5x12 The Big One. I think the decision to have Deb NOT find out about Dex heavily damaged the following seasons. Season 5, while not being one of the best ones, was still quite good and it very nicely built towards Deb finding out the truth. Her questioning her own morality and what's right was a great set up for that. Also, Dex being emotionally distraught was also very fitting for his secret to spill and the world to start collapsing around him. But the writers lost their balls all of the sudden and Deb didn't discover the truth because of... some plastic sheet. She finds out a season later in a much more random scenario. If Deb did find out about Dex in 5x12 then it would have given season 5 more of an impact and it would give the writers some great material to work with in season 6 to potentially end the series on a high note in season 7. But that delay and cowardice, probably caused by Showtime's desire to keep the series going (I'm almost certain that it was the reason behind the departure of the original showrunner), affected the show's momentum and confidence that would later ruin the final season.
And Dex died again :( They ruined the character. What kind of script writers they are.
And the writers f*cked it up, AGAIN!!! New Blood’s ending was just as bad, if not worse than season 8. It was uncreative, contrived, and unearned. You’d think after 10 years they would have a more cohesive narrative. Talk about dropping the ball.
I can't believe how bad the ending is. I was sure he would be found out by Batista.
That's what I wanted. I wanted Batista to catch him and be conflicted. He said multiple times he viewed Dex as his best friend so finding out your bestie is a killer would've made great drama.
In the criminal world there is no greater humiliation then being known as the guy who got caught by fucking officer Batista lmao.
Batista was the worst detective lol. You have to be so bad to be caught by him lol
Batista is back now in season 10
@@UMANGPLAYS I saw that :)
The show died for me after Rita died. It lost its charm for me honestly
They exhumed the corpse and killed him again.garbage , garbage, garbage. Don't waste any time on the new show.
I personally never wanted to see Dexter caught. I was always rooting for him. I always thought the world needs some Dexters. Because the legal system is a joke. These rapists, murderers, they rarely get what they deserve. So yes, I never wanted Dexter caught.
Facts
Death note head ahh
After the first episode of New Blood, I feel a small glimmer of hope for a satisfying conclusion for the character of Dexter.
I am still skeptical, but we will see.
What are your impressions of the first episode? I am mixed but haven't really fully formed anything yet. I think it sets up some interesting things but also felt a little rushed (I assume they are trying to get 'back to normal' while also keeping the original ending intact?)
Idk, 10 years without killing and he falls that easily when tempted again
@@gb76231 Well, according to the story, it is who he truly is.
Everything in the series has been about this balancing act. We will see what new progression it brings.
I think Harrison will end up killing Dexter
@@brandih9802 agreed
One of my favorite shows of all time... and one of the shows I get so angry with. The premise was genius and the first four seasons were excellent. Season 5 dropped the ball, although it had some decent moments. Season 6 was an utter embarrassment and complete shit up until that last moment when suddenly things got exciting. Season 7 became fun again, right up til the moment you highlighted when they decided to make the worst decisions possible. Season 8 was every tired cliche all stuck together, leading up to the king of all bullshit endings. Really, though, the show dropped the ball in Season 2. While it was a great season, they shouldn't have done the BHB storyline so early. Not only did we lose fan-favorite Doakes, but it meant they already did the storyline of "They investigate Dexter's crimes" so early in the show's run. They really should have saved that for later on. Imagine if the BHB stuff came in Season 5 instead. Dexter, reeling from Rita's loss, suddenly finds Miami PD is investigating his crimes. Ah, what could have been...
100 agree!
I think the plot line of season 2 shouldve been the plot for the final season. I wouldve loved another few seasons with doakes and it seemed like lundy wouldve been a perfect final adversary. Plus, the fact that dexters bodies were finally discovered, and the whole "bay harbor butcher" narrative wouldve made sense in a final season.
But yeah the show really dips after season 4...
No one seems to mention the role that Miami played in the series. I loved the Cuban musical score and Miami references in the first two seasons but all of these were dropped when production was moved to LA after the second season.
Agreed and the show even took time to properly remark on that.. the location felt vivid and real to me. Season 1 & 2 is where the show was peak. S3 was ok but many problems and while S4 had some great highs...I was feeling a gradual decline in how much I loved the show .
Is that what it was? I noticed there was something Miami lacking....I specifically noticed it around season 4.
@@edvin3699I missed the miami vibe so much ever since s4. maybe even as soon as s3
They killed the show when they wrote Lumen out. She was Dexter's soulmate and the actors had perfect chemistry. After that it was just repetitive over the top and overall disappointing. Seaons 6,7,8 are not worth watching.
I think where Breaking Bad bettered Dexter was on its final season. Breaking Bad showed Walt’s life completely transcend and face his consequences for the dark path he made for himself. It seems the new season of Dexter may open the door to more seasons but let’s see how it ends!! I’m really enjoying the new season!
To me the episode that killed Dexter is the one where he spared Hannah. That was the episode which solidified how little the new showrunners understood Dexter's character, and so fundamentally betrayed who Dexter was portrayed to be that it gave the writers carte blanche to make Dexter do whatever they wanted.
It died directly after Rita's death, and didn't know where to go as it progressed.
Edit: Typo
I agree. I literally stopped watching after that
@@immortal846 Well then, you missed the best season of Dexter.
I honestly like the very very end tho. It’s the only part of that season that resonated as really sad. Dexter has been talking to us this entire show. We are his dark passenger. But by the end, after everything, he just stares and has nothing to say. I legit love that ending. Dexter doesn’t need to have a dramatic death like Walter white. Some people just ruin everything and fade away. UNTIL NEW BLOOD THAT IS
It was reminiscent of the last episode of the Shield to me
@@eval1313 Exactly. The Shield ends pretty much the same way.
Crazy how they knew the public perception to the show, got New Blood off the ground after like 10 years, and then butchered the ending of that series as well. Love Dexter but now he has 2 of the worst endings of all time
*though.
Learn how to spell.
I almost lost complete interest when Doakes was killed. I didn't like him at first but then grew into one of my favorite characters then they just killed him.
Same .. i really liked doakes .. really hoped dexter got exposed and the gang realized doakes and Laguerta was right .
Really hate that Doakes was framed as the BH Butcher.
That would be today 🤣🤣
I enjoyed the lila, Miguel and lumen seasons so much, say what you will about the fifth season but them putting in a whole bunch of killers and Dexter finally having a partner that didn't turn on him really made me fall in love with that season
I think the 5th season deserves the same love as the first 4. In some ways I enjoy it more than season 3.
@@DeathbatOfSpades so true, it was very well made, lumen was the perfect person for Dexter to move on from Rita death, it saddened me that she was leaving but she never betrayed him and accepted him for who he is
@@Nicholenickinicscott For me it's the 3rd best season, but only because season 4 is perfect and the first season is a great introduction and has such a major villain in terms of relation to Dexter himself. But Lumen is a phenomenal character for him and she's honestly the last great character we see in the show.
Yeah until Miguel said "F*CK YOU DEXTER!"
The end of season 4 was masterful. I was so excited the issues he'd run into with having kids and trying to hide his Dark Passenger.
And then he just shipped off the kids to the grandparents at the start of Season 5.
So glad You Season 3 at least kept the kid around.
Joe gave Henry to Dante tho
Nope they didn’t I’m nearly done with YOU to be honest
They kept him for a whole season, which is way more than Dexter did, and my phrasing was chosen that way so there wouldn't be end of season spoilers. I didn't say they were carrying him on to season 4.
Before watching the video... Dexter died the moment Debra fell in love with her brother. Prior to that, I still had hope the series could recover.
One of the worst finales ever.
*Game of Thrones has entered the chat*
I always thought the episode that killed the series is when Dexter killed Travis Marshall in the church that he knew that the police were currently investigating number one rule don't get caught. It's implied don't get caught and also make sure that you don't make stupid decisions like making things personal choosing the right place for the kill. Example with Jordan Chase dexter made it too personal and he almost got caught by Debra LOL.
That's one of the biggest problems I noticed Dexter made everything personal he let his emotions get the best of him.
Another thing that Dexter did that led up to a downfall is that he kept taking cases under the police when the cases were already under investigation he kept trying to play like God like he wanted to stop bad things from happening. The whole point of the code was to allow Dexter to do what he wants to do for his Dark Passenger, but at the same time to get Killers who slip between the cracks the code was not designed for him to play God. Ex that is what's happening in Dexter New Blood he killed Matthew because of what happened to the deer and about what happened with the whole boat situation, but he ignored the fact that Matthew was under investigation with the FBI.
Another thing that was Dexter's downfall is that he kept trying to balance both his serial killer life and his regular life. Just like what his brother said you can't be the hero and the villain same implied you can't be a serial killer and have a family.. Dexter's life was always a cover story but it later became more when it became more Dexter should have changed his identity right away.
I only started watching Dexter after new blood was announced. I finished it last night. It had been on life support from season 6 onwards. For me it died right there alongside Debra. She was the final flicker of hope that things could be okay. She gave a sense that in some way Dexter himself could be salvaged. The show flatlined right there with her.
The finale scene feels the most honest to me. Dexter no longer has his inner monologue because he's no longer lying to himself. There was nothing left for him to say.
Since the first season was based on the book and the rest weren't, even in season two I found myself saying to myself "Dexter wouldnt say that in that situation" or "Batista would clearly feel remorse for coaxing that latina into testifying against Little Chino after seeing that she immediately gets slaughtered but acts like shes a stranger murdered"
THe first rule of the code is don't get caught. NOT killing La'Guerta would have broken the code!
Cut to: Today
Turns out a lot of people stopped watching Dexter after Rita died, me being one of them. My brother watched until the very end and he didn't really have any problem with the ending. In a way i felt the same way but about Game of Thrones. I didnt think the ending was too bad, but i can definitly see why a lot of people didn't like it.
this what we been waiting for
By far my most requested video. Hope you all enjoy it!
The last episode was goofy but the last scene was strong and made complete sense. Everyone who gets close to Dexter ends up getting hurt so he sees no alternative but to isolate himself. I thought the final scene was one of the best scenes in the series.
Even if I could go along with you in this, the later series did away with all those reasons at once again. Making the first ending totally obsolete, as we see Dexter living another new life, with another new love interest and so on, which I resented very much. Then why th not just get Hannah and his son back with him?
Anything after season 5 was awful
Such a good show that fell off so hard :(
Dexter died, literally
I think it would have been interesting if at the end It was revealed that Captain Matthews had knowledge of Dexters activities The entire time and was fixing things behind the scenes for him. That would have been a very interesting plot twist
Oooo I like that
The one thing that stuck in my mind was when he became a lumberjack... Lumberjack's use chainsaws.. which his mother was killed with.
Maybe it's penance?
@@frenchfri5106 possibly, never thought.of that 👍🏻
Tonight is the night when Dexter died for the second time 09.01.2021
Nah, it was the day that Dexter's ending was redeemed. It was an awesome ending imo way better than the first one.
@@gajofixe76 Incorrect.
I was told to watch seasons 1, 2 and 4 only. That really worked for me.
The mis-step was Deb not finding out his Identity at the end of season 5 as opposed to 6. It felt like they backed off the idea at the last minute and went into filler mode as 6 was far too fantastical for the tone of the show up to then
I think Colin Hanks was an absolutely abysmal casting choice for a villain. And the whole weird relationship with his mentor guy... even if it was just a filler season, the writing was bad, the acting was bad, everything was bad. Filler can be fun. That was a disaster
The new series is fantastic so far…
And why would he give his son to a known serial killer who poisons people like wtf
Season 9 episode 10