Dexter Review: “A Beautiful Day”

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Dexter is back, for the last time. It’s sort of hard to believe. I’ve been watching this show for so many years, I’ve thought about how it would all end many times, and now that it’s finally here, I’m not quite sure what to expect.

If you asked me a few years ago, I would have told you that the show was building toward some masterful conclusion. After all, the plotlines of Dexter in its early seasons were rather brilliant, surely they must have something incredible in store for the end.

Then came season six which shattered the idea that the show was permanently infallible with an exceptionally stupid religious big bad with the most obvious “shocking turn” ever broadcast. Season seven seemed like it may reverse the trend, but the last half of it devolved into something dull and pointless.

So now I’m not sure what to expect out of this last season. Will we see a return to form of the Dexter of old, full of monstrous villains and intelligent plots? Or will they just sort of keep making shit up as they go?

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“Anyone ever tell you that you look like a young Al Pacino on meth?”

After episode one, it isn’t really clear, but I liked what I saw. We kick things off six months after La Guerta’s death. Deb has split, but Dexter’s life is going pretty well as he’s coaching soccer, killing assholes and getting nameless girls naked. The show has chosen to gloss over the forensic ramifications of La Guerta’s death. Deb shot her with her own police issue gun, which seems like it should be obviously traceable, but I guess they’re just pretending like Estrada and La Guerta killed each other somehow. For a show that prides itself on detail, it seems pretty haphazard, but if it gets the plot moving forward I guess I’ll just ignore it.

Deb spent most of last season being permanently distraught over learning Dexer’s deadly secret, but now that she has one of her own, she’s really going off the rails. Well, she’s still half on the rails, working for the “good guys” doing private security for one half of the Boondock Saints (yup, that’s him). But she uses the job as an escape, coping with drugs, sex with sleazy dudes and constant near-death experiences. I actually think it’s a very believable place for her character to go, but as always, I’m not sure that believability extends to Jennifer Carpenter’s acting.

I never really expected or wanted Dexter to turn into some weird, tragic love story between Deb and Dexter, but that’s where the show seems determined to take us. Dex finally realizes how much he needs his sister, though I’m not sure how much of that involves a need to make out with her face.

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“Damnit Deb, I know why you’re here. You’re addicted to cereal!”

Elsewhere, we’re presented with three potential big bads right off the bat, and it’s nice to watch the show not beating around the bush. There’s the hitman who is now stalking Deb, the guy who is cutting people’s heads in half and scooping out their brains like ice cream, and Dr. Vogel, the “psychopath whisperer” who knows Dexter’s secret. Quite odd considering neither he nor we has ever seen her before. We were promised  to learn more about Dexter’s origins, though in my opinion that’s been covered to death already (no pun intended). But now we’re seeing the sorts of fun pictures he drew as a child, and I expect there’s a lot more to come from what I assume was his childhood psychologist after his mother’s death.

I will say I’ve never bought that Dexter is actually a psychopath. The idea is that he can’t empathize or really feel emotion, which is why he can kill without remorse. But everything about him on this show has disproved that notion at every turn. He absolutely cares for and loves people in his life, Rita, Lumen, Hannah, Deb, Harrison. A psychopath shouldn’t be able to form those kind of relationships. The problem with this show is that Dexter is a person who doesn’t really exist. A stone-cold serial killer with pretty high moral standards and the ability to form meaningful relationships with people. It’s good TV, but when you really try to get into the science of it, it isn’t here.

Anyway, it’s anyone’s guess where this season goes from here. There are four possible options, the way I see it. Dexter can be killed by someone, Deb or another killer or the cops. He can kill himself. He can get caught. He can get away with it. I’ve always rooted for him to get caught, at least initially, just to see how his friends and the public would finally react to the revelation, but I don’t think the show is that brave. Rather, I’m betting he’ll die if they want to go dark, or they’ll have him fake his own death and get away with everything. There’s no evidence to back up either assertion this early, and most past plotlines have been wiped clean, but we’ll just have to wait and see how. And I’m really looking forward to this one final ride with the Dark Passenger.

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9 Comments

  1. My guess is doctor Vogel worked with Harry in the past, captain Matthews said she did work for the department a few times, and Harry either went to her for advice on what to do with dexter or maybe she even told Harry what to do and came up with the idea for the code and everything (maybe as a kind of experiment of some sort.)

  2. Also, did anyone else roll their eyes into the back of their skull when dexter discovered Deb’s “fuckingpassword”? When he first tried password I was worried it would actually work and was a quite relieved then the writers somehow went with something even more idiotic. Still a good episode and a good set up for the final season. I just hope they don’t follow the usual format where the first 3 episodes are important and the last 3 are important and everything else in between doesn’t matter.

  3. It had promise until the Dr. Vogel stopped Dexter dead in his tracks with, “I don’t fit Harry’s code.” Dexter has killed at least 8 people (9 if you include Doakes) that didn’t fit the code.

    It’s been revealed over and over again, that if Dexter feels threatened, and especially if it means it will impact his son or sister, he’ll kill anyone.

  4. Oh Dexter, I love the show but its good that its ending. The past few seasons have really been let downs. They always start off strong and crap out at the end. I agree with Kong ,Dex has gotten lose with the code if he even bothers to follow it at. He has become the thing Harry always feared , a monster that kills random people and hurts the people he is near. Sam pegged it i think with Vogels connection to Dex. Im guessing Vogel is the one scrapping out the brains since she was playing with that dudes brain like it was play-dough.I think the show would be better if they held dex to the people he has killed that were not part of the code. It would show just how bad he really is from the likable killer he started out as. Kinda like Walter White in Breaking Bad.

    The biggest shock for me is how much I like Deb. Mad props to Carpenter, Deb was this whiny , always crying 2D character when the show started. Since then she has become a whole other beast. I think in large part due to Jennifer carpenter growth as an actress.

  5. I think my biggest problem with the show and how it went to hell, is something Paul mentioned. Is Dexter a psychopath or what? This character doesn’t exist.

    Season after season they tried to make him normal. He has all kinds of feelings and relationships. A brother, a boyfriend, best friend, a married guy, a father, you name it. Or that thing with Lila and that somehow him killing people is just the same as having a drug addiction and that he could stop. wth?

    They also made him f up and behave unlike the Dexter we were introduced. The calm, in control, always careful, blue prints strategic-well prepared-making sure and enjoying the preparation Dexter, would do something so stupid that the average iq non criminal joe wouldn’t do. As if in psychopath world with age you don’t become wiser but reckless and stupid.

    You know, every time the new season was close to air (1 month or so) I used to go back and re watch the whole thing from the start. Yeah, I stopped doing that long time ago. But I remember doing so -and I welcome you to re watch some of the first season episodes- noticing how dark the show was when it started and what it had became. Is this really the same guy? Is this the same show? Even Dexter killing someone went from.. I dunno.. decapitating him using a medical electric saw to “always the knife in the heart”. Because let’s just get it out of the way quickly, don’t wanna upset the audience now that it’s bigger. Sometimes I think they didn’t even showed the kill; and it was merely assumed, because I guess why even bother shooting that same scene again? I guess all the blood and dismembered bodies just didn’t went along with the new all emotional and normal like us Dexter. He’s not really a killer… he just has trouble fitting in some cases… more of a weirdo really, socially awkward if you like, an introvert or something. Sometimes he stabs guys but that’s it.

    I also really dislike Deb. Just can’t stand her. I mean how can you like someone so dumb that when her therapist suggests out of fn nowhere that she may be in love with her brother she just goes with it? Who wrote that and wasn’t fired immediately? Really that was a moment that I thought “that’s it, I endured a lot of bs but this.. we’ve hit rock bottom, I’ll have to stop watching this show”

    So why do I keep watching the show then? I guess because it’s the last season and it would be fun to see if they can top all the nonsense I endured so far.

    Only thing I liked from the 1st episode was Dr. Vogel.

  6. Yes, this season is shaping up nicely. However…Hannah coming back does NOT bode well AT ALL, here’s to hoping she gets her brain scooped out =D

  7. Can retired cops just take their jobs back? we have both Matthews and Batista just returning to work after being retired for some time. How is Angel going to afford to keep that bar he bought? this show used to be so good with the small details but has gotten lazier with each passing season. The point you make about Laguerta being shot with Debs gun is a glaring example of the laziness I’ve come to expect from this show. I think they hit their pinnacle with season 2 and since then have just been spinning their wheels so at this point I just hope the ending is really well done.

  8. Cops can “unretire” if needed, just like retired Colonels and Generals were brought back for WWII and Korea.

    I, for one, am hoping that this final season, the writers go back to the mystery of who the killer(s) are. Lead up to it, show the police work etc, and finally reveal the endgame.

    Hope.Hope.

  9. as someone who has been hugely disappointed with the last three seasons, I found this episode pretty good. Charlotte Rampling kicks ass…her character was exactly what the series needed. Although I can’t believe how the writers keep insisting on silly things and solutions. Dexter guessing “fuckin password”?? C’mon guys…you really couldn’t think of something better?
    And Quinn with a new useless affair every fucking season… just…boooring. This series has the biggest number of useless and boring support characters in history.

    And this whole outrageous embarassing “brother x sister” attraction…I almost PRAY, at the begginig of every season: “oh god, please make them forget that. Please make them pretend this plotline never existed..”. I can’t even look at my tv every time they bring that up…

    But…this season looks promising. I like the feeling of it and I thought this first episode was really tense and well-directed. Something that I haven’t seen in the series for a really long time.

    About the ending, at this point, after all these stupid storylines, silly characters arc and childish twists…. there is only ONE satisfying ending for me. Just listen:

    Dexter is pursued and gets killed by police at his own boat (and Debra is arrested, of course ). We could see a beautiful shot, slow-motion, with Dexter falling into the water…at the same spot where he threw so many bodies….then we only see the “slice of life” name for a few seconds…it’s over. he’s gone.
    Afterwords…in the final scene, some years have passed, we see Harrison playing with other kids. Then, one of them starts to bleed and Harrison stare at it. Blood…yeah…delicious….blood…bloodbath….I remember……I want it….
    Then he slowly grab a knife and….cut to black. credits roll

    THAT is the ending I want to see. Any other way I’m just gonna be disappointed. 😉

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