Topic: *SPOILERS* The future of Dexter (based on season 6 finale)

[Eternally Learning]

IGN's take:

http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/12/19/dexter-season-6-finale-review

[GodSlayer]

Oh god... I just thought about something.  You don't think Dexter and Deb are going to get together next season do you?  That would be juming the shark big time IMO.

God, I hope not.

And that's all I have to say about that.

since the actors are divorced, chances are good that they won't be encouraging the writers to advance things sexually.

hopefully it'll mostly be about her struggle to even accept him, now; a maddening ambivalence, him protecting her, him being a good guy doing what cops can't, her now understanding why her father was so preoccupied, and him lying to her, never trusting her--even after she _almost_ caught him, and praised him for what he does, , etc. ...gotta be a more interesting relationship drama than mere romance.

[Mostly Harmless]

Oh god... I just thought about something.  You don't think Dexter and Deb are going to get together next season do you?  That would be juming the shark big time IMO.

God, I hope not.

And that's all I have to say about that.

since the actors are divorced, chances are good that they won't be encouraging the writers to advance things sexually.

hopefully it'll mostly be about her struggle to even accept him, now; a maddening ambivalence, him protecting her, him being a good guy doing what cops can't, her now understanding why her father was so preoccupied, and him lying to her, never trusting her--even after she _almost_ caught him, and praised him for what he does, , etc. ...gotta be a more interesting relationship drama than mere romance.

Considering the nose-dive in quality the show took as the original show-runner and writers left, I've lowered my expectations for the show quite a bit.  I'll probably still give next season a shot, but Dexter is no longer a show I feel I have to watch like it was the first few seasons.

[GodSlayer]

apparently they've been signed to do Seasons 7 and 8.

[jaypee]

Oh god... I just thought about something.  You don't think Dexter and Deb are going to get together next season do you?  That would be juming the shark big time IMO.

God, I hope not.

And that's all I have to say about that.

If they do that then next season had better be the last season.

[JoelWhy]

For the record, I think I would be more disturbed if my sibling wanted to sleep with me than if I found out my sibling was a serial killer.

[Dionysus]

^messed up priorities.

Finally saw the finale, which means I can actually read this thread now.

Deb finding out is long overdo. She's written in the show as a pretty decent cop, so to have her not know all this time strains credulity. But remember that in the last season she catches Dexter and Lumen (Julia Stiles) killing the kidnapper/rapist (behind a curtain) and lets them go. So, there's already a precedent of Deb letting a vigilante go. Of course, she may come to find out that it was actually Dexter behind that curtain. We'll have to wait and see if the writers sweep this revelation under the rug with some lame excuse or fully address it.

As for Laguerta, she's clearly written as someone who "plays the game" because she has to. I think it was established pretty early that she was the first Cuban/female lieutenant? I'm not exactly sure on that, but she's had to fight an uphill battle to get recognized, which explains her actions throughout the seasons. But really, she's just part of the supporting cast, so you can't expect her character to be fully fleshed out. The show revolves around Dexter, and to a lesser extent Deb, the rest of the characters are mostly fluff.

I have noticed the writing dip over the last few seasons. Seasons 1-2 and season 4 simply can't be topped by any other TV show, period. Season 3 simply had a weak story arch, but the character development was fine. Season 5 was meh and this season was painful in a lot of places. The last minute of the finale made up for it, though.

[ufo]

Yeah, my first intro with the series was with no Rita and after watching the first 4 seasons I'm kind pissed they killed her off too.  In the books apparently Astor and Cody become a serial killing duo whom Dexter instructs.  Apparently in the book series Paul beat the shit out of them too, turning them into sociopaths.  That probably would have been cheesy on screen but who knows.

I kinda like the idea of the family that slays together.....    I suspect Dex and Debra will continue the brother sister relationship and she will reluctantly cover for him and maybe try to control his impulses a bit.   She has some history what with Caradine's character having been killed by one of Dexter's victims -- of being somewhat sympathetic to the idea of vigilantism as a way of bypassing the (IMHO very necessary) legal wrangling involved in legitimately taking a bad guy out of circulation.  Unfortunately, given the way the TV series developed, it would be very difficult to bring in Rita's kids as apprentice serial killers.  Also, Dexter's determination to shield Harrison from his psychopathology kinda precludes that plot line.

I don't think covering for Dex will turn Deb into a psycho, but will make for more complex plot options.  Her off again on again relationship with Quinn might also be woven into future episodes to good effect.

I've watched the series from the beginning and it is one of the very few instances where the TV / movie dramatization of a book series has managed to match to book.    The TV series has diverged a lot from the book series plot line, but IMHO, both are equally compelling, entertaining, and edge of your seat gripping.   

I was a bit disappointed with the third book where the "Dark Passenger" became more of a "real" mystical thing and seemed to be dragging the story line off into a pro-mystical, fantasy dungeons and dragons kind of direction, but subsequent books seem to have mostly corrected that mistake.

The most compelling aspect of the book series and the TV series is the exploration of normal human feelings about revenge and anti-social behavior and what we want (at various levels) to be done about it.   We all want the bad guys punished at some level, but we also recognize the necessity of checks and balances so the innocent are not accidentally or deliberately targeted as scapegoats for criminal behavior.   Many of us can forgive Dex his occasional slip-ups like when he accidentally killed a guy who seemed to be a serial killer but turned out to just be a run of the mill ass-hole, and when he killed that bum in the gas station who just happened to push Dex's buttons at a time of great emotional turmoil, but if he started consciously targeting innocent victims, we would probably all be rooting for him to be caught.

[Eternally Learning]

I was a bit disappointed with the third book where the "Dark Passenger" became more of a "real" mystical thing and seemed to be dragging the story line off into a pro-mystical, fantasy dungeons and dragons kind of direction, but subsequent books seem to have mostly corrected that mistake.

Yeah , I went through the Wikipedia entries on each book out of curiosity and let out an audible WTF when I read that one.

[GodSlayer]

I was a bit disappointed with the third book where the "Dark Passenger" became more of a "real" mystical thing and seemed to be dragging the story line off into a pro-mystical, fantasy dungeons and dragons kind of direction, but subsequent books seem to have mostly corrected that mistake.

lol
imagine if Laguerta got Dexter an exorcism, and he became a Catholic, no longer possessed by the Dark Passenger. then he gave up science, picked up a gun, and became a proper ass-whooping American cop!

[GodSlayer]

Many of us can forgive Dex his occasional slip-ups like ... when he killed that bum in the gas station who just happened to push Dex's buttons at a time of great emotional turmoil...

what's forgivable about that? is that any better than someone who beats their wife?

[341gerbig]

I would totally watch a "Quinn and Batista" cop drama spin off.

[ufo]

Many of us can forgive Dex his occasional slip-ups like ... when he killed that bum in the gas station who just happened to push Dex's buttons at a time of great emotional turmoil...

what's forgivable about that? is that any better than someone who beats their wife?

Dexter didn't have a relationship with the ass-hole, the guy was being nasty, and the guy's death was probably inevitable anyway given the way he was interacting with a stranger in a shit-hole bathroom, also, he was just plain ugly!      None of those things by themselves makes Dexter's actions forgivable, but taken together, yeah, a lot different than a man who beats his wife. 

I did think at the time:  "Whoops, not following The Code Of Harry!"  but then, Dex is a psycho who is doing his best to use The Code to point his psychopathology into a somewhat pro-social direction.  Nobody's perfect.   

[GodSlayer]

Many of us can forgive Dex his occasional slip-ups like ... when he killed that bum in the gas station who just happened to push Dex's buttons at a time of great emotional turmoil...

what's forgivable about that? is that any better than someone who beats their wife?

Dexter didn't have a relationship with the ass-hole,

so, it's like conventional opinion on the ethics of starvation, then? if you let your own child starve, you're a monster, but if you let millions of children whose lives are rightly deemed as worthless starve, that's just being human.

and the guy's death was probably inevitable anyway given the way he was interacting with a stranger in a shit-hole bathroom

...GodSlayer will not be attending USA this year, because he doesn't feel safe there.

also, he was just plain ugly!   

when will discrimination against the ugly become as unsightly as racism and homophobia

the guy was being nasty, ...
a lot different than a man who beats his wife. 

http://youtu.be/-YHFGZUks-g

[Plastique]

One thing though... is it just me or has the dialogue and character development been atrocious this past season? Or has it always been this bad and I've just never noticed? It was hard to watch at times this season, and if my wife didn't absolutely love Dexter I would have given up about three episodes in.

Considering the nose-dive in quality the show took as the original show-runner and writers left, I've lowered my expectations for the show quite a bit.  I'll probably still give next season a shot, but Dexter is no longer a show I feel I have to watch like it was the first few seasons.

I'm with you guys. Don't know if it's just the last season, though. After the first one or two seasons, I've constantly been dragged out of the immersion by bad writing. Not entirely sure why I keep watching; I don't hate it, but there's a lot of eye-rolling during viewing. Real shame because I love the premise.