Dexter - Showtime (1 Viewer)

[FarFromHome]

I remember stumbling across this show years ago and what a breath of fresh air. 1st season really took me by storm. Absolutely loved it. Like most series it tailed off, but what a solid show.

 

[kupcho1]

I remember stumbling across this show years ago and what a breath of fresh air. 1st season really took me by storm. Absolutely loved it. Like most series it tailed off, but what a solid show.

IIRC correctly it was season 4 that had Lithgow; that one was the best.

 

[eoMMan]

I’m in the middle of season 5 now. Season 4 was definitely the best so far…

Spoiler: Spoiler

Shame about the reporter though. I would have enjoyed seeing more of her.

and I would say season 3 with Jimmy Smitts has been the worst.

 

[Gally]

and I would say season 3 with Jimmy Smitts has been the worst.

I didn't mind that season. It was a different feel which was good.

 

[wlwiles]

My biggest complaint about the show was that it started off with the premise that Dexter only kills the guys that fall through the cracks. Killers who get too light a sentence, or get off on some technicality, and Dexter would lay low, not drawing any attention from Law Enforcement.

As soon as they got to S3 with Freebo and Jimmy Smits, now Dex's whole focus has shifted and he's trying to compete with Miami PD to get to the bad guy and kill them before PD catches them. He stalls stalls the PD, misdirects them with evidence/blood reports, etc. to give him time to get to them first. And that's 100% against Harry's code. The original premise was "Dex has this urge, this need to kill every so often so he satisfies that urge with the dregs of society, people no one will miss" and then it suddenly pivots to "Dex needs to kill every single bad guy in Miami ASAP". I get that it made for better TV, what would a show be without conflict right? But the entire 8 season run preached how Dex abides by the code, the code, the code. Going after active Miami PD targets is a serious breach of the code - don't bring unnecessary heat upon yourself.

 

[Runkle]

My biggest complaint about the show was that it started off with the premise that Dexter only kills the guys that fall through the cracks. Killers who get too light a sentence, or get off on some technicality, and Dexter would lay low, not drawing any attention from Law Enforcement.

As soon as they got to S3 with Freebo and Jimmy Smits, now Dex's whole focus has shifted and he's trying to compete with Miami PD to get to the bad guy and kill them before PD catches them. He stalls stalls the PD, misdirects them with evidence/blood reports, etc. to give him time to get to them first. And that's 100% against Harry's code. The original premise was "Dex has this urge, this need to kill every so often so he satisfies that urge with the dregs of society, people no one will miss" and then it suddenly pivots to "Dex needs to kill every single bad guy in Miami ASAP". I get that it made for better TV, what would a show be without conflict right? But the entire 8 season run preached how Dex abides by the code, the code, the code. Going after active Miami PD targets is a serious breach of the code - don't bring unnecessary heat upon yourself.

I remember this was discussed in the previous Dexter thread.

When the show started, the guy in charge definitely held to the character as being a vigilante, bringing justice to those that slipped through the cracks.

That head writer left the show, and his replacement in the later seasons decided what the audience wanted to see was "Dexter as Batman", basically running all over town as judge, jury, and executioner with no qualms, code, or anything else. That's when the series seriously went downhill.

 

[Gally]

My biggest complaint about the show was that it started off with the premise that Dexter only kills the guys that fall through the cracks. Killers who get too light a sentence, or get off on some technicality, and Dexter would lay low, not drawing any attention from Law Enforcement.

As soon as they got to S3 with Freebo and Jimmy Smits, now Dex's whole focus has shifted and he's trying to compete with Miami PD to get to the bad guy and kill them before PD catches them. He stalls stalls the PD, misdirects them with evidence/blood reports, etc. to give him time to get to them first. And that's 100% against Harry's code. The original premise was "Dex has this urge, this need to kill every so often so he satisfies that urge with the dregs of society, people no one will miss" and then it suddenly pivots to "Dex needs to kill every single bad guy in Miami ASAP". I get that it made for better TV, what would a show be without conflict right? But the entire 8 season run preached how Dex abides by the code, the code, the code. Going after active Miami PD targets is a serious breach of the code - don't bring unnecessary heat upon yourself.

I get that but didn't he go that direction because they guy found out about him? So he was killing and misdirecting to keep the number 1 rule of don't get caught in place. At least that is the way I took it. He got a bit careless and then had to cover things up and it snowballed. i don't think he set out to go that route but had to in order to not get caught.

 

[Jayrod]

My biggest complaint about the show was that it started off with the premise that Dexter only kills the guys that fall through the cracks. Killers who get too light a sentence, or get off on some technicality, and Dexter would lay low, not drawing any attention from Law Enforcement.

As soon as they got to S3 with Freebo and Jimmy Smits, now Dex's whole focus has shifted and he's trying to compete with Miami PD to get to the bad guy and kill them before PD catches them. He stalls stalls the PD, misdirects them with evidence/blood reports, etc. to give him time to get to them first. And that's 100% against Harry's code. The original premise was "Dex has this urge, this need to kill every so often so he satisfies that urge with the dregs of society, people no one will miss" and then it suddenly pivots to "Dex needs to kill every single bad guy in Miami ASAP". I get that it made for better TV, what would a show be without conflict right? But the entire 8 season run preached how Dex abides by the code, the code, the code. Going after active Miami PD targets is a serious breach of the code - don't bring unnecessary heat upon yourself.

I remember this was discussed in the previous Dexter thread.

When the show started, the guy in charge definitely held to the character as being a vigilante, bringing justice to those that slipped through the cracks.

That head writer left the show, and his replacement in the later seasons decided what the audience wanted to see was "Dexter as Batman", basically running all over town as judge, jury, and executioner with no qualms, code, or anything else. That's when the series seriously went downhill.

I get sick of this money grabbing crap. Good writers on good shows should get to stay the course.

Another show (COMPLETELY different vein) that suffered a similar fate was Gilmore Girls. Their final season had a different writer and it went from the best witty banter in television to an OC drama. I also think Seinfeld suffered when Larry David was gone.

 

[Runkle]

I’m in the middle of season 5 now. Season 4 was definitely the best so far…

Spoiler: Spoiler

Shame about the reporter though. I would have enjoyed seeing more of her.

and I would say season 3 with Jimmy Smitts has been the worst.

Get ready to pull the cord and bail

 

[Jayrod]

I’m in the middle of season 5 now. Season 4 was definitely the best so far…

Spoiler: Spoiler

Shame about the reporter though. I would have enjoyed seeing more of her.

and I would say season 3 with Jimmy Smitts has been the worst.

Get ready to pull the cord and bail

No, I think it is still worth finishing out.

 

[wlwiles]

My biggest complaint about the show was that it started off with the premise that Dexter only kills the guys that fall through the cracks. Killers who get too light a sentence, or get off on some technicality, and Dexter would lay low, not drawing any attention from Law Enforcement.

As soon as they got to S3 with Freebo and Jimmy Smits, now Dex's whole focus has shifted and he's trying to compete with Miami PD to get to the bad guy and kill them before PD catches them. He stalls stalls the PD, misdirects them with evidence/blood reports, etc. to give him time to get to them first. And that's 100% against Harry's code. The original premise was "Dex has this urge, this need to kill every so often so he satisfies that urge with the dregs of society, people no one will miss" and then it suddenly pivots to "Dex needs to kill every single bad guy in Miami ASAP". I get that it made for better TV, what would a show be without conflict right? But the entire 8 season run preached how Dex abides by the code, the code, the code. Going after active Miami PD targets is a serious breach of the code - don't bring unnecessary heat upon yourself.

I get that but didn't he go that direction because they guy found out about him? So he was killing and misdirecting to keep the number 1 rule of don't get caught in place. At least that is the way I took it. He got a bit careless and then had to cover things up and it snowballed. i don't think he set out to go that route but had to in order to not get caught.

That's part of what made it so much more unbelievable IMO. In S2 the bodies he'd dumped get found, and the whole Bay Harbor Butcher storyline happens. He's running around frantic trying to cover his tracks, but by the end of the season Lundy's not on his tail and Doakes has taken the fall for everything. So you'd think going forward that would make Dex more cautious, like whew that was a close one, I better slink back to the shadows and stick to the code and not get crazy. But it did the opposite, it catapulted him into frantic "let me kill the guy before the cops get to him" mode

 

[fruity pebbles]

My biggest complaint about the show was that it started off with the premise that Dexter only kills the guys that fall through the cracks. Killers who get too light a sentence, or get off on some technicality, and Dexter would lay low, not drawing any attention from Law Enforcement.

As soon as they got to S3 with Freebo and Jimmy Smits, now Dex's whole focus has shifted and he's trying to compete with Miami PD to get to the bad guy and kill them before PD catches them. He stalls stalls the PD, misdirects them with evidence/blood reports, etc. to give him time to get to them first. And that's 100% against Harry's code. The original premise was "Dex has this urge, this need to kill every so often so he satisfies that urge with the dregs of society, people no one will miss" and then it suddenly pivots to "Dex needs to kill every single bad guy in Miami ASAP". I get that it made for better TV, what would a show be without conflict right? But the entire 8 season run preached how Dex abides by the code, the code, the code. Going after active Miami PD targets is a serious breach of the code - don't bring unnecessary heat upon yourself.

I get that but didn't he go that direction because they guy found out about him? So he was killing and misdirecting to keep the number 1 rule of don't get caught in place. At least that is the way I took it. He got a bit careless and then had to cover things up and it snowballed. i don't think he set out to go that route but had to in order to not get caught.

That's part of what made it so much more unbelievable IMO. In S2 the bodies he'd dumped get found, and the whole Bay Harbor Butcher storyline happens. He's running around frantic trying to cover his tracks, but by the end of the season Lundy's not on his tail and Doakes has taken the fall for everything. So you'd think going forward that would make Dex more cautious, like whew that was a close one, I better slink back to the shadows and stick to the code and not get crazy. But it did the opposite, it catapulted him into frantic "let me kill the guy before the cops get to him" mode

Yeah it got really stupid. He’d be in the building murdering someone, the cops would be circling the place and he’d slip out over and over again.

 

[Anarchy99]

According to the Dexter Fandom wiki site, Dexter had a known 144 kills in the 9 seasons the show was on (including New Blood). I believe they list 13 people he killed that did not meet "the code." I get that some people take exception to him going off script, against the code, or barely escaping over and over again . . . but Dexter took out so many people, viewers had no choice but to suspend disbelief for that many victims.

 

[Ghost Rider]

I’m in the middle of season 5 now. Season 4 was definitely the best so far…

Spoiler: Spoiler

Shame about the reporter though. I would have enjoyed seeing more of her.

and I would say season 3 with Jimmy Smitts has been the worst.

Season 3 was definitely the least best of the first four seasons, but still a lot better than 5-8. I think there is plenty to like about the later seasons, but the consistency just wasn't there.

 

[UncleZen]

I am in the camp that 3 was the worst of all of the seasons. 1 and 4 were my favs.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

My biggest complaint about the show was that it started off with the premise that Dexter only kills the guys that fall through the cracks. Killers who get too light a sentence, or get off on some technicality, and Dexter would lay low, not drawing any attention from Law Enforcement.

As soon as they got to S3 with Freebo and Jimmy Smits, now Dex's whole focus has shifted and he's trying to compete with Miami PD to get to the bad guy and kill them before PD catches them. He stalls stalls the PD, misdirects them with evidence/blood reports, etc. to give him time to get to them first. And that's 100% against Harry's code. The original premise was "Dex has this urge, this need to kill every so often so he satisfies that urge with the dregs of society, people no one will miss" and then it suddenly pivots to "Dex needs to kill every single bad guy in Miami ASAP". I get that it made for better TV, what would a show be without conflict right? But the entire 8 season run preached how Dex abides by the code, the code, the code. Going after active Miami PD targets is a serious breach of the code - don't bring unnecessary heat upon yourself.

I remember this was discussed in the previous Dexter thread.

When the show started, the guy in charge definitely held to the character as being a vigilante, bringing justice to those that slipped through the cracks.

That head writer left the show, and his replacement in the later seasons decided what the audience wanted to see was "Dexter as Batman", basically running all over town as judge, jury, and executioner with no qualms, code, or anything else. That's when the series seriously went downhill.

I agree with this second paragraph, though also remember that Dexter did have a compulsion to kill and he tried his best to manage it with the code, but it’s not like he only killed because of the code. He wanted to kill and he tried to somehow put that to good use.

 

[eoMMan]

I just started season 7 and it’s a doozie.

Deb just told Dexter she needs to use the bathroom and release her dark passenger. Not sure what she means though.

 

[wlwiles]

Finally sat down to watch New Blood (aka Season 9) over Christmas break while I was laid up with the flu. I found myself very happy with having another season and getting back into the Dexter universe again, and it wraps up with a much better ending than Season 8 ever did (the original lumberjack ending ), but it's not a great ending by any means, and man this season felt so rushed and could have been so much better.