Dexter. Finale thoughts.(obvious major spoilers)

yea yea, im probly late to the party here. but they recently added Dexter to Netflix. having nothing else to watch and having read/heard about the praise the show got, i decided to give it a watch. got hooked. watched the first four seasons within a week or so, hell even got my sister hooked on the show.

Season 2 is my favorite season.

had watched the first four seasons, but couldnt wait till January for the rest to be added, so resulted to torrents to get the last 4 seasons. watched them. was disapointed by the ending.

so now backstory aside, what is OTs thoughts on the finale? and the series as a whole?

im sure there have been several threads about this, but like i said, im late to the party.

-

my thoughts:

i really like the series for the most part. there were a few parts i didnt care for.

loved the second season, but fucking hated Lila.

also quite liked Doakes, was sad to see him die.

after season 2, while still good, it just seemed to kinda just be mediocre.(if that makes sense)

lots of "o shit" moments throughout.

Fucking Hannah Mckay, i felt the same hatred for her, as i did for Lila. pissed off that Harrison is stuck with her.

As for the finale, i thought it was fucking horrible, though at the same time i kinda understand it.

really im most upset that Deb died. i more expected Dexter to die than Deb.

I hated the fact that Dexter got back with Hannah. really didnt like her. also wasnt too fond of Dexter becoming a lumberjack.

the ending just seemed anticlimactic. i feel like it could have been so much better.

I'd of been upset by the finale if the show hadn't lost my interest before then.

When did you lose interest?

i felt the first couple seasons were good, then it just kinda tapered off after that.

I'm watching it now, on like episode 3 of season 3. I started losing interest in season 2, the show is kind of annoying and has a very episode of the day feel that for some reason I didn't catch on to earlier. The bay harbor butcher business was interesting but I didn't like that they got rid of Doakes, he was hilarious. It was also such a lame way to get rid of such a badass.

I'd say that it would be interesting to see how Dexter changes over the rest of the series, but I doubt he'll change much. I thought he might at season 2 but then he just started deluding himself.

Couldn't get past season two here. The plot was really slow and having those constant flashbacks of Dexter's father didn't help either. The cast was terrible. I only loved Batista, Masuka and LaGuerta. Deb, Rita and Doakes were annoying as **** and made me grind my teeth rather often, specially the first two.

You know its a thing I thought about as of lately. There are a number of shows I watched and liked, but the cast was subpar in all of them. Breaking Bad, Dexter and Fringe come to mind. Does that have anything to do with the budget of these series'? I mean they're all successful and all, but maybe they can't afford a huge budget like Hollywood's blockbuster movies do.

Now that i have seen Dexter, i will say i much prefer Breaking Bad over Dexter.(as an answer to a BB topic i made in old OT that turned into a Breaking Bad vs Dexter feud)

Dexter,in the later seasons, seemed to drag on.

Dexter seemed to drag on all the way from first season rofl

id say after season 2 is where it declined.:P

loved Masuka's laugh. was disapointed it wasnt in the final episode.

-

on a different note, who didnt you like/care for in the Fringe cast?

i found the cast pretty awesome. even developed a man crush on Joshua Jackson(peter Bishop). love Fringe.

The ending sucked, I wish Dexter would have faced the same fate as the serial killers he killed during the show. Would have been a fitting end for me.

Masuka and his sexual innuendos was hilarious haha.

I absolutely love Fringe. Great show all around. The plot is captivating and definitely unique. I'm at the middle of season 3 and so far the show keeps getting better.

Now about the cast, I believe I don't need to say that John Noble has done an amazing job playing both Walter Bishop and Walternet. He's just so endearing and a breath of fresh air. He manages to evoke all kinds of emotions in the viewer, making him live the moment and the event along. I also love Nina Sharp and William Bill, they're all authentic and "atmospheric" or so to speak.

Now Anna Torv on the other hand...not amused. As the heroin she's the star of the show but I find that she falls short in comparison to other actors and roles I mentioned. It just seems she's trying too hard. Olivia Dunham's character is kind of flat and one-dimensional. In the first two seasons it was exceptionally annoying how the producers focused too much on her in a really cliched way. But in her defense, she's gotten much better in season 3.

As for Joshua Jackson, he's alright. Love the way he handles Walter and he developed nicely so far. All in all the show is great. But let me ask you this, do you watch anime?

yea John Noble is awesome.

i actually enjoyed Anna's performance. thought she did well. especially with some of the minor tweeks(like character movement) and such(she did better as faulxlivia imo)

Joshua Jackson pretty much makes the show(besides Noble)

will say though, of the entire sereis, Astrid is my favorite

and no. id say the closest tom anime ive see, is Dragon Ball Z

I absolutely LOVE Astrid. She's so cute and she makes a great duo with Walter :3

I asked you because Fringe reminds me so much of an anime called Rahxephon. Man I wish you had watched that so that I would have been able to validate my theory.

I really liked Dexter, even though some seasons were better than others. The scenes I liked the most were the ones where Dexter talks to his victims before he kills them.

Guess I kind of have mixed feelings about the finale.

Hey guys for anyone who didn't like the ending to Dexter, I really suggest you read my little review of it. I'm not saying it will change your mind, but I'd like to shed some light on some very beautiful storytelling.

Sorry to bump an old thread but I just saw this last night and I really need a spot too put down my thought. Dexter and Breaking Bad are my two favorite shows ever. Both ended for me recently and I must say, Breaking Bad left me disappointed while, Dexter's ending is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Now at first I didn't come to this conclusion. I was very angry about how Dexter's story ended, but then as I thought about it more it really ended exactly how it needed to.

First I am going to skip right too Debra's death. I am not the type of guy to enjoy a happy ending, so I was not shooken at all when this happened. I also thought it was beautiful that it was Dexter that was forced to really turn off the machine and kill her.

The dumping the body scene is really, one of my favorite scenes of all time. Dexter is in the ocean that has been solace too him for so long, the place where his addiction drove him so he could dispose of his victim.

In this scene there is a storm coming and everything is dark. From the sky, to the ocean, and even Dexter himself is looking very dark in this scene.

Deb on the other hand is pale, and covered in a very luminescent white sheet. Dexter is forced to drop her in to the ocean where he has dropped so many other victims, and don't you mistake it, Debra is very much, one of Dexter's victims. I like how Dexter dropping Deb in to the ocean symbolizes him dropping his last victim, Deb.

Now back too the color scheme(or lack there of) that I was talking about. Dexter dropping Deb, wrapped in that sheet, in to the ocean also symbolizes Dexter dropping the one person who's been a ray of light, in his otherwise very dark world. The one person he's always felt made him human is his last victim.

Now lets skip ahead to the ending. Dexter is staring at the screen with a lifeless face.

This scene very much bothered me, until I really thought about it. There is no sign that Dex is still killing, and I took that literally, I believe Dexter lost his need to kill and doesn't anymore.

At first this bothered me because Dexter doesn't seem to be thinking logically. He is leaving his son with Hannah, who may never have any intention of taking care of this kid, thats not hers. He also rationalizes by saying, "They're better off without me."(Paraphrasing), but all his past trouble has come from killing, and if he didn't plan to do that anymore than they would be fine.

This bothered me until I had a little breakthrough thinking about it.

This isn't Dexter being stupid.

This is Dexter being selfish.

Dexter is a Psychopath/Sociopath(whichever he fits), and by definition they are selfish people. Dexter said earlier:

“As much as I may have pretended otherwise, for so long all I’ve wanted was to be like other people, to feel what they felt… Now that I do, I just want it to stop.”

Dexter isn't leaving Hannah and Harrison because he thinks its best for them, he's doing it because being human is just too much for him to handle. Dexter has slowly become more and more human over the last few seasons, and he has realized he doesn't like it.

So now. Dexter is a lumberjack in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of guys that he probably rarely speaks to, and has completely turned off his feelings. He is truly at peace because he is no longer trying to become human, he's the monster he's always been.

I truly believe this is the most beautiful ending to anything I have ever experienced, whether it be a movie, game, or TV show. Again sorry for bumping this, I just wanted to get my thought out there.

Very good read.^

It was such a massive disappointment that I can't even put it into words. I could try, but I'd be here for a while.

Seasons 1-5 and 7 were great. 8 was abysmal.

1, 2, and 7 were the only noteworthy seasons. 4 was only alright (the ending killed it).

The rest of the seasons blew hard. At first, season 8, looked like it could have been something, but then the ending absolutely ruined it. I wasn't content with anything they showed.

The show has bad writing, that's a given.

This is what I wrote on this forum the day after the finale. Still accurate IMO.

[spoiler]

1. Dexter's plan to kill Saxon could have backfired in 100 different ways. How did he even know there was no audio in that interrogation room (BTW those rooms DO have audio in real life).

2. I've said this for years, but those cops on Dexter are probably the worst, most incompetent police department in TV history. How could they just let Dexter go after stabbing a guy? Even on the security camera, it looked like Dexter obviously planned the whole thing, and it clearly looked like he went to the neck! Even if it were self-defense, Dexter clearly has a MOTIVE for killing Saxon. How could they simply let him go?

3. How convenient that Harrison "loves" Hannah, even though she its a woman he barely knows. Also, he doesn't seem to give a f*ck about Jamie, his nanny, who pretty much raised him since he was a baby. Dexter writers: DO ANY OF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE KIDS?! (Or nieces, nephews, etc.) THAT IS NOT HOW THEY WORK. The writing for Harrison's character has been pathetic this entire season.

4. No conclusions given to Masuka, Quinn, Batista, etc.

5. How the hell did Saxon cut that guy's tongue off right in front of a hospital full of people and nobody noticed? And why wouldn't the guy yell/point the guy that just cut his tongue off?! He was obviously still conscious, so he could have at least pointed!

6. Debra dying felt extremely rushed and it felt like the writers were just reaching for any sort of excuse or reason to have a sad ending.

7. Nobody builds a Hospital next to a beach. How convenient for Dexter though, he could just load Deb's body straight into his boat, and somehow nobody noticed.

8. Hurricanes don't just show up out of f*cking nowhere. It was sunny just a few hours earlier. Suddenly, there's a hurricane? Yet, the waters were extremely calm, even though there's a huge f*cking storm in the background. Dexter writers: EVER SEEN A HURRICANE ON THE NEWS? THERE'S HUGE F*CKING WAVES AND A SHITTON OF WIND!

9. BODIES FLOAT. DEB WOULDN'T HAVE SUNK.

10. We get no reaction from any of the characters about Debra's dissapearance and from Dexter's apparent death (except a quick one from Batista, but hardly anything). So I guess thats when the writers pulled out their "Get out of jail free" Card and didn't bother with that.

11. How could Dexter survive a hurricane? Oh, right, Get out of Jail Free. Thank you writers.

12. The ending was just terrible. Like seriously, wtf was that? It was a big sh*tpile of nothing. There's more 100 problems and questions that are presented by that ending alone.

[/spoiler]

Ever since season 4 when Rita died , the entire series has been on a slow downward spiral. It is still one of my favorite tv shows of all-time, but it became clear Showtime became incredibly lazy with their writing and the series original producer left the show (which is never a good sign).

Here is my rant on season 8...

Season 8 was really a travesty all together, no episodes felt interconnected and a lot of wasted screen time was spent on mindless subplots like Mazuka's daughter and Deb doing drugs. They never really focused on LaGuerta's death, which I would have focused season 8 on with Batista leading a federal investigation on her mysterious death circumstances. But oh well, the finale kind of met the inevitable that Dexter is better off as a disturbed loner. It was pretty bleak and powerful the final scene with Michael C Hall staring into the camera, it's clear himself trying to be human did more bad than good. I still will never rationalize how Dexter thought it was okay dumping Deb's body in the ocean like his victims or how he left Harrison with Hannah. Very disappointing finale compared to Breaking Bad's masterpiece.

Finished watching it a few days ago and have similar gripes with season 8.

The tension between Dexter and Debra was set up nicely in season 7 but was wasted after 4 episode to bring back Hannah. I hated Hannah like I did Lila and it made no sense that Dexter would ditch Debra to be with Hannah after he turned her in for Debra in season 7.

The finale season should have focused more on Dexter's life being exposed, instead of giving us the same ending as season 4; Dexter realizing the he is the reason for his loved one's death. It would have gave Miami Metro something to do instead of stupid subplots. Hannah should have been a villian and Saxons buildup should have been a lot better.

Debra's death was the saddest part of the series, especially since she deserved better with her Character arc being of the best things of the past few seasons and carrying season 7 which also had mistakes in subplot. Debra should have lived to take care of Harrison like Harry did with Dexter, and Dexter still could have fled Miami since the producers wanted him to live so bad. The finale season was more upsetting to me than satisfying.

Seasons 1,2,4 and 7 were all amazing imo. 3, and 6 were ok , 5 was decent but kind of a waste(Lumen was annoying also, and 8 was a complete botch. They could have taken their time with this and delivered the one of the best seasons after season 7 set it up so nicely.