Author Topic: Dexter (TV Series)  (Read 69482 times)

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Offline ClairvoyantCat

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #105 on: January 08, 2011, 09:00:34 AM »
Lila didn't annoy me as much as I just didn't get her.  None of her actions ever made sense, and her presence was an irrelevant part of the show entirely until she burned Doakes, a part that made no sense at all to me and was not the way Doakes should have died.  I find it hard getting past that, since it was a big part of Season 2, so I will say 4 as well, though I'm not done with 5.

Offline DarkEternalNight

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #106 on: January 08, 2011, 01:30:51 PM »
Season 5 was the weakest to me as well and I was pretty happy how Lila's character ended up.

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Re: Pardon my... Oh, you know
« Reply #107 on: January 08, 2011, 01:32:52 PM »
I've watched this show ever since I caught the first season on ITV here in the UK. It's amazing, probably among my favourite TV shows, definitely my favourite TV show that's still going since The Shield, The Wire, The Sopranos, Lost and possibly 24 are the only others I like better.

In terms of how good the seasons are:

Season 4
Season 2
Season 1
Season 3
Season 5

I thought Season 5 was by far the weakest season, and I couldnt imagine many people thinking otherwise when I saw it. The only few other people I know who watch it also thought so. It wasn't particularly bad or anything, just average.

The best season is a bit trickier though. Season 4 was very well done and had a very good conclusion, so I might put that above season 2. The thing about season 2 is it has the best storyline in Dexter - the Bay Harbour Butcher and Doakes storyline - and one of the worst things in Dexter, Lila. She's easily the most annoying of each season's guest star. So it's hard for my to justify saying season 2 is my favourite when it includes her storyline.

But season 2 had lots of, as my dad calls it, socially redeeming nudity, so there's that.
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Offline lucky7

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #108 on: January 09, 2011, 01:46:46 AM »
Season 5 is only half way through in Australia, but being impatient I already know the ending.  :smiley:

There have been seasons that are better than others but it is still a show you can't wait to watch the episode each week....even me and I cheated.

Apparently Rita is still under contract so it will be interesting to see what the writers do there...

Does anyone think Dexter will end up killing Quinn?

Offline mizzl

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #109 on: January 09, 2011, 04:24:50 AM »
Does anyone think Dexter will end up killing Quinn?

No way. Doakes was portrayed as an obsessive nothing-to-lose dude who really is just after Dexter, and if he hadn't died, he would've told everyone what he'd discovered about him. Quinn is more laid back, and the only reason he's after Dex is because he thought he saw him in that sketch. After not too long he already wanted to drop the investigation, mainly because of Deb, but also just because he thought it was none of his business.

Offline ClairvoyantCat

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #110 on: January 10, 2011, 08:53:29 PM »
I really like the idea of the baby starting to show signs of aggression.  Hopefully they will bring out that idea, I think that would be really cool.

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #111 on: January 11, 2011, 02:20:02 AM »
Ugh I hope not.
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Offline mizzl

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #112 on: January 11, 2011, 07:07:53 AM »
I really like the idea of the baby starting to show signs of aggression.  Hopefully they will bring out that idea, I think that would be really cool.
This

Offline RuRoRul

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« Reply #113 on: January 11, 2011, 08:03:36 AM »
I really like the idea of the baby starting to show signs of aggression.  Hopefully they will bring out that idea, I think that would be really cool.

I have to say I hope that doesn't happen. Seems a bit typical. Besides, I don't see how it would make for such a good story - unless we fast forward five to ten years into the future then the baby won't be old enough to do anything significant enough to make a good story.

Offline ReaPsTA

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #114 on: January 11, 2011, 01:38:14 PM »
Finally got through all of Season 5.  In a lot of ways, it just felt like a big meh.

What happened to the Latino detective after she as promoted?  She was being developed as a character and now she's in their department.  What about the whole case they were trying to solve?  Why were we made to care about these things just to be hand-waved away with no resolution?  Okay so Deb got screwed and now she feels bad.  And then she makes up with LaGuerta.  Why do I care?

Julia Stiles got better and left?  Why is this interesting?  Honestly, I thought it would have been much more realistic if she had killed herself.  But this is really the fundamental problem with the whole thing.  Every time they brought up something major in the story, they hit the reset button.  Angel and LaGuerta even literally say that's what they're doing.  Quinn hunts Dexter?  Eh, Dex does him a solid, Dexter kills Liddy, and so they're cool.  Rita dies?  Eh, his family likes him again, he has a cathartic moment with another attractive blonde chick, and now his life is more normal.  He beats the crap out of that girl's dad?  He just does exactly what Dexter says.

I don't mind that the season has a resolution, it's more the show's style.  But after each season his life was different.  This time it feels like as much an attempt as possible to undo the potential changes in his life.  Why can't Quinn make the following basic connection: Liddy spies on Dexter.  Liddy checked out cameras to spy on Dexter.  Liddy told Quinn he wanted him to arrest Dexter.  He mysteriously wasn't there in his van because he was murdered.  It's more of a reason to look into Dexter than before. 

Even worse, the whole thing is predicated on Liddy being stupid enough to not say "I have video recordings of Dexter and his girlfriend talking about killing people."  And his plan to get the confession was just retarded.  And what was his motivation?  He wants his job back that badly?  What?  I smell a smell that resembles the feces of a male bovine.

The one thing I did like was Deb not arresting them.  It actually does make sense.  They used the Ice Truck Killer thing well to accomplish that.  I enjoy when a series actually uses its own backstory.  A lot of times, I feel like writers avoid referencing past events because it's hard to do that without the audience wondering why the characters don't realize their lives are really messed up.  So props on that.

From the perspective of the show's behind-the-scenes production, I hate to sound lame, but I'm glad Chip Johannessen isn't the showrunner anymore.  The early episodes felt so much like network television.  Especially when someone described Dexter going to Masuka's tattoo parlor as "entering his world."  That and the club, which felt like an excuse to show everyone being sexy.

The biggest problem with hitting the reset button is that the show can't go on forever.  I can't think of any TV show with an ongoing plot line that's been good forever.  And when you run out of ideas, you either start doing bad ones or recycling old plot lines.

With season five, they did Dexter trying to kill with someone else again, a detective in the department following Dexter again, and a woman with connection to the main villain who was somehow traumatized by him but loves him again.  They're running out of things to do.  Wouldn't the show be better off if it was pushing towards a conclusion and thus you didn't have to recycle ideas over and over to keep the pattern going?  What if Deb found out about Dexter?  What if he was caught?  The show would be fundamentally different if those things happened, and the show would have to come up with fundamentally different stories to work to those moments.

There are obviously certain things I'd like shows to do.  I would have preferred if Deb went behind the plastic sheet, or if the sheet just wasn't there.  It would have been more interesting and less easy.  But they didn't, and it was written well, and it had a point, so I can't complain too much.  But for godssakes live up to your own premise.  Rita dying was great because it made the show fundamentally different, and so they decided to spend a season undoing that?  Quinn hunting down Dexter was great because he's a bit wiser about doing it and has more evidence than Doakes, and so he decides to bump uglies with Deb, leave it to an idiot cop, and then give up?  What?  Angel and LaGuerta's marraige doesn't work because he's honest and she's political, but they decide to make up and start over?  What?

And finally, what if Jordan Chase had given Dexter a simple pat down after he captured him?  When was the blonde chick's house cleaned up?  I accept the existence of some plot hots (Dexter has never left a hair sample to be found, no one checks the history of Dexter's searches, no one can see him following them), but this season it got ridiculous.

All that said, Lumen was executed fairly well, and the season was generally tense and engaging.  It wasn't a totally loss.  But hopefully Scott Buck can make a better show next season.
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Offline RuRoRul

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #115 on: January 11, 2011, 02:03:24 PM »
Quote
Finally got through all of Season 5.  In a lot of ways, it just felt like a big meh.

Sums it up pretty nicely  :lol

It was a bit like Season 3 that the whole thing felt like a bit of an aftermath season. Also, the season's main story spiralling out from the fallout from one of Dexter's kills and someone else helping him kill people is similar to Season 3. While I do think it's good to have storylines like that (rather than simple police investigating serial killer, Dexter finds him first and kills him), I think it's no coincidence these two seasons were the worst.

Season 5 more than 3 in my opinion... Miguel was just a stronger presence than Lumen and the way he teamed up with Dexter was much more believable and interesting - he was actually manipulative as well and it ended badly. With Lumen, it felt like they kind of glossed over the whole Dexter being a serial killer thing. They just teamed up and eventually became the best of friends because they had a common goal, and when they finished it Lumen was happy to just let him go on with his serial killing ways.

As for the Liddy / Quinn thing, yes it was a very convinient set of events that Liddy never handed in any of his evidence, shouted at Quinn rather than just suggest what he had, and managed to get himself killed in his terrible interrogation plan, all without telling anyone anything. It was full of contrived coincidences like that (like the plastic sheet between Dexter and Deborah... it was nice imagery but a bit heavy handed, and did anyone not know exactly what was going to happen when they saw it?).

But I don't know if I'd say the season reversed everything. And I thought it was actually OK in the way it dealt with Rita's death. And we don't really know how Quinn feels about Dexter - I think he does suspect Dexter but the thing that's holding him back is his relationship with Deborah. He's willing to look the other way on Liddy (for now, at least). That's the thing that's always separated Quinn from Doakes - he is actually just a bad cop. He only came to suspect Dexter because he got a grudge against him after Dexter saw him lifting money, he went after Dexter using his corrupt cop buddy, and then abandoned his suspicions when he got together with Deborah.

But the fact that he's much more incompetent and half assed than Doakes also makes him more of a threat in some ways - most notable, he's still there, gradually getting more suspicious of Dexter while doing his job, while Doakes is dead and no one thinks twice about his suspicons because he obsessively went after Dexter, and because of another very convinient coincidence at the end of Season 2.

So yeah, Season 5 was a very average season, but I'll wait to see where they go with the next one before criticisng the ending too much. I just hope Dexter ends fairly soon though - it's been good so far, but if it keeps going it will eventually jump the shark.

Offline XJDenton

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #116 on: January 11, 2011, 04:57:10 PM »
I'm catching up now. I just watched season 2 and I have to say I really enjoyed it. The Doakes/Dexter interaction at the end was particularly good. Lila annoyed the fuck out of me though.
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Offline Dimitrius

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #117 on: May 24, 2011, 03:12:17 PM »
I'm catching up now. I just watched season 2 and I have to say I really enjoyed it. The Doakes/Dexter interaction at the end was particularly good. Lila annoyed the fuck out of me though.
She was hot though.


I don't know if you guys have been keeping up with news for the upcoming season but some of the guest stars are: Colin Hanks, Mos Def and  EDWARD JAMES FUCKING OLMOS! Production is set to start tomorrow on the new season.
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Offline Quadrochosis

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #118 on: May 24, 2011, 10:05:49 PM »
so excite.
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Offline ZBomber

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #119 on: May 24, 2011, 10:07:48 PM »
I actually really liked Lila's character up until the end when she just got kind of more annoying than anything. I thought she added a good element to that season.

I can't wait for the next season to start, but it's still so far away!

Offline SystematicThought

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #120 on: May 24, 2011, 10:08:28 PM »
In the teaser trailer, they didn't even mention Season 5.

I am excited for this season all ready! The cast seems great. I was never big on Julia Stiles. After seeing was Olmos' role is, I think this season may deal with religion.
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Offline Sigz

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #121 on: May 25, 2011, 04:07:02 AM »
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Offline Dimitrius

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Offline Aramatheis

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #123 on: June 04, 2011, 06:44:07 PM »
Has anyone heard when the next season will be starting up?


I spent the first two weeks of November watching seasons 1-4, and most of 5.
And I am now in Dexter withdrawals mode.

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #124 on: June 04, 2011, 06:46:59 PM »
I'm waiting for seasons 3 and 4 to be up on Netflix streaming. I may just have to buy them because I'm so desperate to keep watching.
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Offline Dimitrius

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #125 on: June 04, 2011, 09:05:38 PM »
Has anyone heard when the next season will be starting up?
September, it's always around that time.
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Offline Aramatheis

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #126 on: June 05, 2011, 08:10:04 AM »
Has anyone heard when the next season will be starting up?
September, it's always around that time.

ty  ;D

Offline Marvellous G

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #127 on: June 05, 2011, 08:19:05 AM »
Just watched all of season 1 a couple of days ago, and all in one amazing go, I LOVE THIS SHOW. Midway through Season 2 now, echoing the dislike for Lila at the minute, I don't find her charismatic or interesting at all. I think I prefer Season 1 so far, but 2 is still great. I'm guessing the running theme throughout this one is actually just Dexter being hunted, rather than a new serial killer?

Offline Ultimetalhead

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #128 on: June 06, 2011, 07:47:14 AM »
I quite enjoyed Lila, if only for the gratuitous nudity. Season 2 was by far the best season of any show I've ever seen. Those last few episodes were especially brilliant. I'm picking up seasons 3 and 4 today.
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Offline YtseBitsySpider

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #129 on: June 06, 2011, 08:03:35 AM »
Watched 3 episodes last night of the most recent season...5?..or is it 6?

Anyhow....good stuff. That nanny gives me the creeps already....something's up with her.
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Offline Marvellous G

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #130 on: June 06, 2011, 02:56:28 PM »
Goddam, Season 2 was good.

Offline YtseBitsySpider

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #131 on: June 06, 2011, 04:07:13 PM »
Season has Dokes correct?
ahh..Dokes.
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Offline Aramatheis

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #132 on: June 06, 2011, 04:25:15 PM »
Doakes is the best!



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Offline Marvellous G

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #133 on: June 06, 2011, 04:30:01 PM »
Yeah, I actually wasn't a fan of the ending of the season. I hated Lila throughout though, so I guess that was a bonus.

Offline Aramatheis

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #134 on: June 06, 2011, 04:31:00 PM »
I hated Lila throughout though, so I guess that was a bonus.

Same. The ending was quite cathartic.

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #135 on: June 06, 2011, 04:34:23 PM »
ugh she was soooooo annoying. Why does she talk like that?! AHHHHHH

Offline Aramatheis

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #136 on: June 06, 2011, 04:46:41 PM »
Yeah, my favourites from the show are :

Dexter (obviously)
Deb
Doakes
Lundy
Trinity
Misuka
Rita
Jordan Chase


People I do not like from the show:
Lila
LaGuerta
Batista
LaGuerta
Miguel Prado

Offline Marvellous G

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #137 on: June 06, 2011, 04:51:36 PM »
You don't like Batista?!

Offline Aramatheis

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #138 on: June 06, 2011, 04:59:45 PM »
You don't like Batista?!

He's okay, but his accent/lisp combo grates on my nerves after a while...
And he's kinda wimpy.

Offline Marvellous G

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Re: Dexter (TV Series)
« Reply #139 on: June 06, 2011, 05:04:12 PM »
True, but he's the only really loveable character. And I can understand hating LaGuerta, but (bearing in mind I'm only at the beginning of season 3 right now) I've sort of come to understand/respect her. And Dexter is obviously the best antihero since Han Solo.