Dexter: New Blood

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mtwentz
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Re: Dexter: New Blood

Post by mtwentz »

I haven’t seen the show but if it sucks, how can you spoil it :-)
F*&^ you Gene Kelly
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Jonah
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Re: Dexter: New Blood

Post by Jonah »

I'm uber strict about spoilers even if it's something I think is subpar - don't like to spoil people. I'm calming down about it now, I'm more "eh whatever" than outright angry, but I still think it was a dreadful ending - mainly its execution rather than the events themselves (though some of the events I hated too). It airs properly tonight so I won't post any more detailed thoughts for a couple of days just in case. I'd just ask that anyone who does words their posts carefully or uses spoiler tags please (instructions on how to do that on the page over) but I'm the primary poster on this thread so not sure we'll get a lot of posts lol!
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Jonah
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Re: Dexter: New Blood

Post by Jonah »

Dexter killed Laura Palmer

- Angela, probably.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Jonah
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Re: Dexter: New Blood

Post by Jonah »

Now that it's aired, here are some of my thoughts on the finale. I'll probably have more.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE FINALE AND THE ULTIMATE ENDING OF THE SHOW
Spoiler:
This could have been a nice 1-4 season return that killed him off at the end, or even a 2-part 2-season manhunt, but we got sporadically silly plotting, a small town cop using magic google, and an inconsistent Harrison who hugged Dexter one moment then killed him the next. A second season featuring him and Harrison on the run, evading a BHB manhunt (police, FBI, Batista/Angela) who are closing in on them and Harrison slowly turning on Dexter (for various reasons - leave Logan alive) could have lead to a similar ending, but a version of it that felt earned. This did not feel earned, it was a huge "jump the shark", foolishly presented and just downright stupid moment.

I dislike that most criticisms of the show will now be dismissed as "you're angry because they killed him off". In fact, most fans didn't mind the idea of Dexter being killed off - but it's the awful execution of it. And the overwhelming reaction has been negative, with the finale being rated the same as the original finale on IMDB - so I think this will linger on the show's legacy and to my mind it's the only show in pop culture history I can think of that had a negatively received finale not once but TWICE.

In some of the writing, they presented Harrison as more of a monster than Dexter at times in some ways - breaking that kid's arm, setting up the other kid and stabbing him/ruining his life - then an innocent kid the next. Dexter spent 10 years trying not to kill, mainly only killed Matt and Kurt who were killers and a drug dealer who caused deaths. Yes, I know Dexter was a monster BUT HE TRIED TO BE GOOD and arguably did more good than bad (think of it this way in that universe, Trinity would STILL be out there - yes Dexter's actions got Rita killed perhaps, but Trinity would still be murdering women and little boys on a regular basis, not to mention all the others, including Kurt who was killing women regularly - had Dexter not stopped them.) Whether his actions were just or not, he was presented as being more of a force for food than bad - his good actions far outweighed the bad and the show was never successful when they tried to show his dual/bad nature. They kind of messed this up at the end of Season 7 with Laguerta too, then ended up ruining Debra's character as they couldn't bring Dexter to shoot Laguerta (though in the new series had no problem with him killing a good cop due to plot convenience). In the original, there was one person he killed by mistake and then the guy in the bathroom in Season 5 who for all we know was also a killer. Anyway, the point is they seemed to reset all that again, bringing him back to being mostly good, only for him to conveniently - and stupidly when he could have done a choke hold - kill Logan a mere 2 minutes before in order to justify him being shot by Harrison who suddenly decided he was a monster.

Such shitty writing (and I hate to criticize writers as I'm a writer and love writers) - it's because they decided on and shot that ending in week 3 then spent months filming around it/writing to bring it to that ending. Good writing should never stay tied to the ending you come up with. It's fine to come up with an idea for an ending and write towards it but be flexible to change it when you get there. And the writer said he wrote it because he had issues with his own father - that's seemingly the main reason he wrote that ending. It doesn't even make sense that making a 16 year old commit the murder of his father and end up on the road with 50 bucks - away from his friends/gf, back to square one, and the cop let him go even though she wouldn't let Dexter go for murder. It just makes no sense. It's not poetic, tragic, Shakespearean. It's not inevitable, it's not surprising - it's just a soap opera twist and one everyone saw coming a mile away. There's nothing redemptive or logical about it.

I'm still so angry about it. I hated the Season 8 ending and that whole season was a dumpster fire but I'm more angry about this new one as at least there was the thought they could fix it back then by bringing it back, now even that's gone. Eh, it's only a TV show, but I'm major pissed though I enjoyed most of the season (plot issues aside) before this episode. Just can't believe they wrote such bad endings twice.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Jonah
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Re: Dexter: New Blood

Post by Jonah »

Image

That's a lot of disappointed people given the widespread fan hate for the ending (though critics have liked it and some fans too). But still impressive numbers for a revival that was pretty good (despite some dodgy writing - the cinematography was great, etc.) until it imo botched the ending.

Ironically, back in the day, Twin Peaks was cancelled for falling to just below this number at its lowest (7.4 million) which is now considered not only impressive but the highest all-time numbers for Showtime. (I know it was network TV and a different time but still.)
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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