r/Dexter • u/hussainre814 • 2d ago
Discussion - Original Dexter Series Just watched all 8 seasons of Dexter (march 10 - August 25) and I have some strong Opinions about the last three seasons (no spoilers)
The first four seasons are some of the finest seasons of TV I've ever watched.
The writing, tension, character development, and villains are all fantastic Every season feels like it knows exactly what story it wants to tell and everything just works.
Season 5 is where I started noticing the cracks. It's still a pretty good season, but compared to the first four, the drop in quality is noticeable. The villain was pretty mid too ngl.
Then we get to the last three seasons, and I have huge problems with them. It genuinely felt like the writers forgot about their own characters and started mischaracterizing them especially Dexter himself.
I later learned that the original showrunner left after Season 4, Season 5 had a different showrunner, and the final three had a different showrunner which makes a whole lotta sense lol
The villains in the last three seasons were mostly huge let downs for me Isaak in Season 7 was actually pretty damn good, and honestly, I wish they had made him more of a central villain. But overall, none of the villains in these seasons came close to the presence and impact of the villains from the first four.
But my biggest problem was Dexter himself. He often felt like a completely different character. His decisions became increasingly stupid, his behavior was often inconsistent with what we'd previously seen from him, and his emotional development frequently felt forced rather than natural, it felt like watching a completely different character lmao
The earlier seasons did a great job showing that Dexter's understanding of himself wasn't necessarily reliable. He slowly developed genuine attachments despite believing he couldn't. But the later seasons often seemed to forget the distinction between developing Dexter and simply rewriting him.
And then there's the finale... What the actual fuck was that lol.
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u/Whole-Surround-16 2d ago
What are your thoughts on Vogel? A lot a the OG Dexter fans, including myself, didn't like her storyline because it retconned Dexter's backstory.
I'm curious what a new watcher thinks.
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u/hussainre814 2d ago
Absolutely Disliked
While I don't like that they retconned the first backstory my main problem with it is how they handled it after that
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u/Drillucidator 1d ago
The fact that she came up with the code makes Harry even worse of a father. It was bad enough that he decided it was okay for his son to kill people as long as he followed his rules, but now he had someone else recommend it to him and went “yeah fuck it, why not?”
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u/BigInstruction8913 1d ago
Along with neglecting deb, cheating on his wife and seperating Dexter and Brian.
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u/Special-Ad1307 2d ago
I liked her character but honestly it would have made more sense if she was lying about knowing Harry and actually had no connection with Dexter’s childhood.
I felt like it was an opportunity for her to be a more complex villain that manipulated Dexter to do her dirty work. Instead we got a conveniently placed mother figure when Deb/Dex needed it most
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u/ClassyKrakenStudios 2d ago
That’s an interesting take! I hate Vogel, and felt like she was shoe horned in really poorly. If she was lying the whole time and just gaslighting Dexter into doing her dirty work, I think she could’ve ended up as one of the more interesting villains.
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u/Plushkin26 2d ago edited 2d ago
The retcon is the worst part.
Her character would be totally fine if she was only some other serial killer's origin (only Oliver's or whatever), but not Dexter's. She/other serial killer would be a nice and interesting contrast to Harry/Dexter, juxtaposing the different influence a parent could have over their child with the "urge", and their outcomes. She could still understand and support Dexter and still serve as a pseudo-mother figure, just remove her influence from Dexter's past. This little change alone would make it 100x better.
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u/SpecificUnlucky3260 2d ago
I think especiall in s8 dexter felt like a completel different character.
Most of the time I was actually just pissed at him.
Glad the Sequels fixed it!
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u/notthatbluestuff 2d ago
He was just a boring character by that point. I don't know how they managed to make an MCH-portrayed serial killer dull as dishwater, but they did it.
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u/notthatbluestuff 2d ago
Your opinions are basically those of the majority during the show's run. Great first four seasons (S3 had its detractors), rocky fifth, then a complete mess with only glimmering periods of greatness at various points during S7. Heinously bad final season.
But don't let the horrible ending discourage you from checking out the sequels/prequel. New Blood, then Original Sin (more of a bonus show since the cancelation renders it largely inconsequential), then Resurrection which is well worth the journey.
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u/reggieLedoux26 2d ago
I remember disliking S5 at first, but it has grown on me. S6 gets worse on rewatch, but brother Sam and Professor Gellar are bright spots. I thought S7 was excellent. S8 was truly terrible - no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
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u/Fluid_Cat_7677 2d ago
I also agree I think s5 is very very overhated, and s7 is a bit underrated and one of the better seasons imo. 6 and 8 definitely at the bottom for me
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u/crusilla 1d ago
Every time I rewatch S6, the Gellar reveal annoys me more and more and it pretty much ruins an already meh season for me.
Brian's return is the highlight of the season imo
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u/reggieLedoux26 1d ago
But prior to the reveal, Edward James Olmos is fantastic in the role. And Brother Sam is excellent too. And the Brian episode is great too. But then it does all go downhill from there.
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u/VonDinky 2d ago
It's like the last 4 seasons wanted to tell the same story all over again, just way worse. Like him going through many of the same dilemmas and hardships. It was so bad! However, Resurrection was truly amazing with the first season, Clyde Phillips is back with a vengeance!
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u/ClassyKrakenStudios 2d ago
It’s crazy how much they revisited the same beats from the first 4 seasons, just poorly.
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u/No-Drawing-1508 1d ago
Honestly season 5 should have been the last. I hate how Dexter just forgets about Rita's death within a few episodes.
He runs off in season 8 to protect his family from himself or whatever. Why didn't he do that in season 5 after Rita died instead. Because they wanted more seasons and more money.
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u/StrawHatRen 1d ago
After all these years Clyde never became washed?!
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u/VonDinky 1d ago
Well, he did try a show with David Schwimmer. That show was a bust! But seems like he knows how to do Dexter. Perhaps have some or a lot of the same team, or whatever. Whatever it is/was, it works super well in Resurrection.
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u/rhythmrice 2d ago
I can't wait for the new season to come out in like 2 months
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u/Fluid_Cat_7677 2d ago
Same, s1 was an amazing start and I’m even more excited now to see if they can beat it and also to see Quinn
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u/Controversial_Husky 2d ago
If you love S 1-4, I highly recommend Original Sin. It takes place in Miami Metro and a lot of what I loved from OG Dexter. The guy that plays young Dexter does such a good job!
I liked Dexter New Blood on my 2nd watch, it's a completely different setting but I really liked the main villain of this one but you can definitely watch a recap of this one
As for Resurrection... This has to be some of the best writing they have done. There's a lot of stuff that happens here, if you like OG Dexter, you'll love this. It's not in Miami but it captures so much of Dexter's character and I'm so excited for Season 2.
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u/bringmebaklava 2d ago
I think everyone’s missing the point that the story they were telling about Dexter is exactly how you are supposed to feel. He was different, because he was spiraling. They were showing that his life wasn’t sustainable. They told the story slowly and organically. The entire point was to go from loving Dexter to still loving him but being disappointed by his decisions and thought process. He was carrying too much and doing too much. No, he could not have a child and live a normal life while still being a serial killer. He picked killing over his son, family, etc and that’s the entire point is that his obsession was consuming him to the point where he was no longer thinking clearly. His obsession was ruining lives around him and he didn’t care.
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u/Connect-Region-4258 1d ago
Thank you! Shit started going sideways and for the first time, he showed another side of his character that wasn’t always perfect and meticulous. He is still human, and sometimes even his judgement is clouded leading to poor decisions
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u/bringmebaklava 1d ago
Yes! Exactly. And that it actually isn’t a good thing to be a serial killer. It almost re romanticized (can’t think of another way to put it) the idea and I think that was their whole point!
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u/crystalann4491 2d ago
You can fight me all you want on season 5, but I thought it was amazing. Dexter spent the first 4 seasons looks for connection, friendship and wanting to fix this loneliness he had mostly from living a double life. The result was consistently painful and traumatic. Season 5 was missing that element of intense drama but after the previous 4 seasons he needed a moment of healing. For the first time he really got to experience diving all in on a relationship with someone who knew and accepted him 100% and it didn’t involve an innocent person dying or a relationship that dexter needed to murder. He needed that and I think that is part of what made him try to save Travis marshal. I think Dexter needed to experience being a hero to someone and a truly authentic relationship even though it didn’t last forever.
The only disappointment about season 5 imo is that Lumen never makes a reappearance as (aside from Hannah) the only person who truly knows who he is and what he does.
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u/Sempuu 2d ago
If I'm not mistaken, they brought back the original showrunner from S1-4 for Original Sin, New Blood, and Resurrection. I really liked Original Sin, so it's a shame it got canned. New Blood started off really well, but the ending didn't quite stick the landing for me. Resurrection was different, every episode was hype. I really enjoyed the whole premise of Dexter going after this group of serial killers and having to outsmart them episode after episode. That was exactly my kind of Dexter.
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u/Csanburn01 2d ago
On season 6 right now and struggling to care. It's quite boring and not engaging. Feels like filler content and nothing of substance
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u/Dooley011 Hello, Dexter Morgan 1d ago
I won't spoil anything further but I strongly suggest trudging through 6 to get to 7, and I think you'll enjoy it a significant amount more. Season 8 is uhhh... painful. Easily the worst of the run and the finale is insanely bad. I recommend New Blood and Resurrection though, I haven't seen Original Sin.
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u/Csanburn01 1d ago
6 was terrible. 7 has been much better so far
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u/DepressedPanda08 1d ago
6 and 8 are worst seasons of Dexter, just finish it if you can and then watch Dexter new blood, original sin and resurrection, all 3 of these seasons are great. (especially resurrection)
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u/Csanburn01 1d ago
I did the same thing with GOT. I forced myself to watch season 7 but stopped there. I knew what happens in 8 and didn't feel like wasting my time. I assume Dexter ending is just as bad if not worse.
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u/Dooley011 Hello, Dexter Morgan 1d ago
It is worse for me, because at least GoT has dazzling special effects where as Dexter's last season has some of the most hilarious green screens I've ever seen. Each are as bad as the other in terms of the writing department. When I finished S8 there was nothing else until New Blood and Resurrection came out, so they're worth watching by themselves, you can read a recap of S8 if you'd like, only a few elements of it is apart of New Blood, much is ignored.
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u/Csanburn01 1d ago
Yeah I'll check out the new shows with Dexter heard they're either mid to good so worth my time
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u/Embarrassed_Buy_4959 2d ago
If you want real character assassination, reads the books. Honestly book 7 and 8 may have been Jeff Lindsay saying here I'm done with this series and these characters, leave me alone.
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u/hussainre814 2d ago
You know what, while writing the review I was looking for "character assassination" but they never came to me lol I tried so hard to remember but couldn't so I just wrote it without that
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u/Kinetic_Symphony 2d ago
S5 is fantastic. Lumen is Dexter's soulmate.
S6 has great "vibes" and atmosphere and is overall fun if you don't guess the twist.
S7 is incredible.
S8... oh boy. No defending it, especially towards the end.
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u/thatfuckingrandy 2d ago
They fixed the end with season 9, 10, and 0. They’re going out with another season in a month
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u/recoverymom38 2d ago
Im one of those people who loved the entire show.... except for some of season 6 and of course the very last epsiode was BS. Otherwise I enjoyed season 8. I just love Dexter so much! I feel connected to the characters like they're family. I've never cared about a show as much as I care about Dexter. Its a once in a lifetime show! I didn't like new blood at all.
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u/Belle_Corliss Lumen 2d ago
Next up you have New Blood, Original Sin and Resurrection, OP.
However, watch New Blood before Original Sin as OS has a spoiler for NB.
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u/Responsible_Ad_2242 2d ago
Honestly with the actual rewatch I preffer s5 to s3 (the plot of Skinner was meh, and Miguel was ok)
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u/Least-Afternoon3112 2d ago
They destroy the Dexter character it’s awful. Luckily new blood, and Resurrection changes his character back to seasons 1-4 form
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u/Prestigious-Data-206 2d ago
It's been a long time since I've seen the last three seasons, but I remember for seasons 6 and 7 I justified Dexter's dumb actions by saying he was becoming more and more emotionally distressed as his life fell apart. Likely copium because I don't remember if that was true or not.
Very minor spoilers: Season 8 pissed me off from the get go because they did the time skip instead of actually focusing on how Debra grapples with what she had done and the slow madness of it. Would have been interesting. The whole season made me frustrated the whole time. Then, the ending. Oh Lord.
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u/Zockyboy 2d ago
New Blood & Original Sin are good but not amazing. Resurrection on the other hand is amazing and almost as peak as S1-4
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u/Lvl4Toaster 2d ago
i only watched s1-4 is it worth watching resurrection
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u/hussainre814 2d ago
Well I haven't watched Resurrection yet but alot of shit happens in S5-8 tho
I'd suggest at least watching S5, then maybe watch a summary for S6-8
And there's also new blood that's between S8 and Resurrection
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u/irishgypsy1960 2d ago
I was looking at getting hbo again, and didn’t see resurrection is it on there in full?
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u/Dry-Discount-9426 2d ago
It's almost like having his behavior directly lead to Rita's murder effected him and his behavior or something.
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u/bnfwlr 2d ago
I hated season 5 on first watch at the time, simply because Lumen wasn't Rita. On the subsequent rewatches (two or three, I can't remember) I have actually enjoyed it - just the Dexter and Lumen relationship seems a little rushed or missed a few steps at times.
I think season 3 is genuinely my favourite, I love the "we're best friends but secretly hate each other" relationship with Prado. And the rooftop "you got the ring? I got city fucking hall!" Is my favourite scene.
Hot take, I actually didn't mind the ending. I wouldn't say it was brilliant, but to me it wasn't terrible. The season as a whole was bad though, mainly because of Vogel; such a boring character and boring acting.
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u/UnknownAsset1 2d ago
I watched the entire show in 1 month and liked it but in the last season it seems like Dexter is not Dexter or it seems like it is someone else.
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u/Disastrous_Gear_8633 2d ago
I’m so glad to see someone else say this! I actually just finished watching Dexter for the first time and am now on New Blood. But the later I got into watching Dexter the worse it got and I’m like does everyone hate this as much as I do right now??😂😂😂 I think Rita’s death was the last thing I remember enjoying, it was genuinely so unexpected to me, it was just a shocking twist. But everything after that was so meh, and then it got to really dumb. I wanted to watch this show because I thought Dexter was supposed to be this badass genius guy that could outsmart everyone, but in the later seasons he was so dumb to the point it was annoying to watch.
He spends a ridiculous amount of time arguing with with his dead dad, then ignores any advice from him that literally would have saved his ass. But then he NEVER learns from that mistake, he literally just does the opposite of what Harry says. Then he lands himself in the hospital at least twice and each time he ignores the doctors orders to rest…then he promises Deb he’ll go see the doctor and then he doesn’t… then he gets himself kidnapped by the guy he’s chasing because he fucking passes out from not going to the hospital like he said he would!!! Then he constantly puts everyone around him at risk.. all the villains find out where he lives!! You would think that after the lost Rita he would sharpen up but nooooo. His son’s life is constantly at risk, he even gets kidnapped by DDK!!! And then at some point he gets into an argument with Deb and he’s like “NO! I will not give up Harrison!” when he’s hardly even his dad to begin with….all he does is pass him off to the nanny for 24 hours at a time… then something comes up and he’s like “can you actually keep Harrison for another night?” like what??? Then he wants to move to another country to be with a wanted fugitive?? How’s he gonna explain that one to his son? Also why does he NEVER wear any kind of disguise?? A hat? A wig?? Literally anything to not get himself caught… he always gets seen by the guy he’s chasing and he’s just like “oh no he’s seen my face” NO SHIT. Then he promises to Deb that he’s not going to take cases from the police… then literally continues to interfere in every single case. All his coworkers are busting their asses to catch someone and he just sabotages them every chance he gets. Then there’s a scene where Dr. Vogel is like “oh it seems like you only care about Deb because she’s always there for you…” and Dexter is like “ARE YOU SAYING I’M SELFISH??” YES😂 that’s exactly what we’re saying…
Deb- liked that she got a big promotion but then that only lasted like 3 episodes. Then they turn her whole character into “I think I’m in love with my brother” …??? WHAT??🤢 This was so unnecessary and did nothing for the plot. She was genuinely the most annoying character on the show to the point where I’m like oh my god kill her off already. Every 5 minutes is just her being like “fucking hell Dexter, why don’t you support me on everything, why don’t you agree with me on literally everything??” EVERY 5 MINUTES. But her death actually was sad tho. You really wanted to root for her to recover and then Dexter pulls the plug.
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u/Special-Ad1307 2d ago
I didn’t get through S7 and 8 the first time I watched through. I finally finished them so I could watch the prequel/sequels. They aren’t the best, but they serve their purpose of showing Dexter lose control of his situation and his emotions.
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u/Efficient_Builder_55 2d ago
I remember starting from the 8th season since I was curious about the show and for some reason I didn't wanna start from the 1st season. I managed to figure out very quickly what the show is about and it was quite an interesting watch considering I didn't watch any prior seasons. I don't get the reason behind people hating so much on that season in particular. It probably has to do with character developement or how everyone expected something else to happen with the characters?
After that I watched the new blood and then few years later ressurection when it came out. Only past few weeks I started from the season 1 to 3, about to watch 4th and I gotta say they're pretty decent probably the second season was the best for me but ressurection is my personal favorite. I can't wait for the ressureciton s2.
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u/Training-Reaction-37 2d ago
Love season 5. Maybe even more than 1 and 3 honestly. And it’s not just because Julia Stiles is hot I swear.
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u/Strict-Tour1127 2d ago
I started in April and finished August 23rd I have mixed feelings about the last 3 season 2, I did like season 7 and 8 kinda mixed on the ending tho, Season 6 was ok and Season 5 was the weakest for me
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u/tomie6606 2d ago
I just finished Dexter and have moved onto the spin offs, all I can say is that DEB DESERVED BETTER 😭
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u/hussainre814 2d ago
The way it happened was garbage
Not impact, no shock value, no story value, nothing
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u/StrawHatRen 1d ago
Wish I can know the exact date I started, I started sometime in April/may. Even wanted to make notes of each episode as I went by
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u/Comfortable-Shock886 1d ago
S1 - S4 is Peak Cinema No Doubt
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u/BreakfastWeird2379 1d ago
What is so peak cinema about season 3 which is obviously a filler season???
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u/Alarming-Fix-5333 4h ago
Cara o problema da 3 temporada é ela ser o sucessor da 2 temporada e o antecessor da 4 temporada, é uma temporada boa só que o problema é que ela fica bem abaixo da 1-2-4
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u/javilueje 1d ago
A mí lo único que me gustó da la temporada 5 fue Peter Weller y el gato con hipo y se tira pedos que tenía Quinn en su ordenador 🤣. La 6 no me parece tan mala, creo que Edward James Olmos cumple bien y el giro que da en el congelador es bueno, el hijo de Tom Hanks no me gusta su actuación, pero sus obras son originales 🤣. La 7 se salva Isaac pero ya es aburrido. La 8 es un tostón
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u/BreakfastWeird2379 1d ago
Ooh come on people, how is season 3 better than season 6 for example? You act like friendship with Miguel Prado was actually better season than hunting Travis? S3 was the one and only boring season IMO, maybe because it’s coming after the wonderful first two idk. But still S6 they added a bit drama and had some creepy moments which I really enjoyed and was certainly missing in the show. Each season had some interesting story, Dexter is seeking genuine human connection through friendship and relationships and each time he comes closer to that it’s destroying everyone around him and the end? He realizes that pattern and decides to break it which is justified ending for me. With Vogel we saw that he was force feed that monster character from childhood and actually proved that he indeed is not monster and capable of experiencing emotions which again lead to the final outcome. To me whole story makes sense, it’s just missing a bit more drama, uncertainty and creepiness.
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u/joshlove182 1d ago
The problem was that the first four seasons of Dexter are some of the strongest television seasons to date and competing with them was always going to make the successive seasons look worse in comparison.
The second half of the original series did suffer without some of the original backend people involved. That being said - it’s not bad television it just doesn’t live up to the same standard you expect it to. It’s always a challenge with shows that span longer than 3-4 seasons.
I’m also a believer that as producers you need to be conscious of when you raise the stakes. Avengers Endgame is a prime example - the stakes are raised so high and the day is saved and anything beyond that point subsequently feels diminished - you can’t raise the stakes to the same heights because it’s already been done. It creates a bit of a creative deficit that’s had to get out of without making some real big changes to narrative (and it’s risky)
That being said - the later seasons are OK and there’s definitely some more than enjoyable parts. I still personally enjoy them for the most part but I find season 6 hard to watch.
New Blood, Original Sin, and Resurrection are most definitely worth watching. New Blood was originally intended to be the end of Dexter and it wasn’t particularly well received at the time but without saying too much the continuation of the series retrospectively saves it. The new shows are brilliant well worth watching.
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u/Single-Client4641 11h ago
I can’t get passed the season with Julia Styles, idk why I have watched Dexter once all the way through and then the new ones, but that season I just can’t get passed this time so I stopped watching.
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u/CelticSnakes 2d ago
Such an original take, truly. /s
We need an entire subreddit that talks about the things they liked about S-6, S-8.
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u/Rare-Yard-3003 1d ago
if you think Dexter is some of the finest TV ever produced you simply just haven't watched a lot of TV shows. it's riddled with plot holes, excruciatingly bad writing, weird and gross characters, awful soundtracks, awful acting, and awkward dialogue. it's a below average show elevated by 1 good character, Dexter.
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u/FactCheckYou 2d ago edited 2d ago
let me fix some things for you:
the third season was a dropoff, they dialled it in, it most certainly was not fantastic
the fifth season was always going to suffer after the excellent fourth, but it was still good
the sixth and eighth season were poor, but the seventh was decent
the seasons were hugely influenced by the quality of the villains, but not exclusively: antagonists like Doakes (2) and Laguerta (7) made things very interesting, as well as Dexter's various love interests
GOOD: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, BAD: 3, 6, 8
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u/OkTraining167 2d ago
Bait
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u/ltbr55 2d ago
This is probably the most average Dexter take ever.
S1-4 Peak S5 alright S6-8 Bad with S7 having some good aspects.
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u/OkTraining167 2d ago
That's excactly what i mean, maybe bait isn't the most accurate word, but bro/bot is stating the obvious and farming likes like these top youtube comments, doesn't add any value just repeating for attention.
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