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Couldn't remember if there was a thread for this and the search function takes forever. I wasn't a fan of last season (it was hard to match the tension of season 2), but I'm liking this one - it's adding a whole different kind of tension as Dexter struggles to adapt to a new social environment.
I loved the moment in last episode when he's trying to figure out how to talk to his now teenage daughter, and can't wait to see the fallout of the ending, where his wife sees him smash the lamp.
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I'm not thrilled to see Lundy come back, although I can hope it is going to be a brief visit (haven't watched ep3 yet; probably silly to hope it is THAT brief). That character just annoys me in ways that I think are unintended.
I'm hoping they give an honest treatment to the "working long hours all the time" excuse that Dexter is currently giving to Rita; by rights she should be deeply suspicious about how he spends his time at this point. I'll try not to get too hung up on it but it would be annoying if they ignore all the backstory with his fake addiction and the mistrust that should have created.
Lithgow is so far quite creepy. I'm wondering whether this turns into yet another kindred spirit gambit or if Dexter will be trying to kill him sooner than later (it seems awfully likely that Dexter will end up killing him).
As someone else pointed out somewhere, the opening episode employed a rather weak premise. Of all people, Dexter Morgan is one who would take sleepless nights with a newborn in stride.
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posted
I'm not annoyed by Lundy at all, not sure what about him bothers you. I didn't have too much trouble swallowing the "Dexter is tired" issue. I haven't been responsible for a baby and maybe they're not as bad as they're often characterized as, but I can see a big difference between "takes a long night a few days a month" and "continuously isn't getting enough sleep for month(s) at a time, on top of being stressed out from not being able to get his fix."
This episode definitely builds the "Rita is getting suspicious of Dexter" thing, although not for quite the reasons you'd expect.
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Oh, man, I don't know how Dex is going to get out of this. Rita is going to go ballistic!
What I don't get... you know, Dexter could have gone out like a regular guy, with the headlamp and all, and busted the vandal. Instead, he had to do it the creepy way.
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I think (and I probably would have been too in his situation) that he was a little confused about how to catch the vandal in a "normal" way without seeming creepy or drawing attention to himself, coupled with the fact that he had tried a few times to be "one of the guys" and failed, and figured it was easier to do it in a way where no one would know it was him.
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quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: I'm not annoyed by Lundy at all, not sure what about him bothers you. I didn't have too much trouble swallowing the "Dexter is tired" issue. I haven't been responsible for a baby and maybe they're not as bad as they're often characterized as, but I can see a big difference between "takes a long night a few days a month" and "continuously isn't getting enough sleep for month(s) at a time, on top of being stressed out from not being able to get his fix."
This episode definitely builds the "Rita is getting suspicious of Dexter" thing, although not for quite the reasons you'd expect.
I'm not sure I can pin down anything about Lundy in particular. Although, when I think about the impression of him I have, I picture his facial expressions...something about them seems sort of forced, maybe. *shrug*
I suppose chronic lack of sleep might be a fair reason for Dexter to be more tired than he'd get from frequent but intermittent lack of sleep.
Anyway I'm glad it's back on.
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Dexter, this is your dead adopted father. I'm here to point out things the audience already knows, and not advance the plot or drama in any way. We're going to do this 10 times an episode from now on, not because it adds anything to the show, but because the actor who plays me has kids to feed.
Niki and I have started fast forwarding through the dead father dialogs. The first season had relevant and interesting flashbacks to Dexter's childhood. The last two seasons have this stupid dead father conversation trope that we were hoping would finally be abandoned. Michael C Hall is probably used to talking to dead people on Six Feet Under, but there it was usually interesting and relevant.
Anyway, while this season is probably better than the last one so far, but it still is a pale shadow of the first two seasons. I didn't really buy the tired Dexter thing either. We don't need (or want) an incompetent Dexter.
I have a Soprano's collector book I was reading last week where David Chase says something along the lines of "we'll follow any character, no matter how much of a monster, so long as he's good at it." To me that is a pretty brilliant observation. I think Dexter is most interesting to me when he does his thing with skill and efficiency. When a character starts to do poorly at their "job" for the sake of drama, I start losing interest.
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I havent seen the latest episode, but i still dont like that there is no explanation for the fact that he still has his apartment. Is it still furnished? does Rita know? if so how does he get away with such a creepy and useless spending of money?
Is anyone else a bit dissapointed in Angel and Maria? I thought they were married to thier jobs more than that. Angel has really become my favorite character, because he really is just a good guy, but boning the boss and taking things personally is not who I thought he was.
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quote:I thought they were married to thier jobs more than that. Angel has really become my favorite character, because he really is just a good guy, but boning the boss and taking things personally is not who I thought he was.
His record for romance so far:
1) Divorced from his wife (season 1). 2) Framed for date rape because he went after Lila even after being warned by Dexter (season 2). 3) Gets caught soliciting prostitution from a cop, and then dates the cop (season 3). 4) Hooks up with his boss (season 4).
Out of these, I'd say the last one is the healthiest of his romantic subplots .
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quote:Originally posted by AchillesHeel: Is anyone else a bit dissapointed in Angel and Maria? I thought they were married to thier jobs more than that. Angel has really become my favorite character, because he really is just a good guy, but boning the boss and taking things personally is not who I thought he was.
Are you kidding? With the way Angel's marriage ended up and his fling with that officer in Vice, it seems to me this is entirely in character. Also, remember how Maria had a bit of a weird crush on Dexter in season 1? How she used sex to drive a wedge between her boss and her boss's fiancé? I don't have any trouble believing this about either of the characters.
posted
Okay fine, I just hoped that he would stop having unhealthy relationships for one frakking season, and I dont know.... he still does have a kid right? she didnt die or anything so why not have him be a dad for once. I should be happy that they still let him wear the hats, he has some awesome hats.
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For a moment I thought they were going to be gutsy enough to kill both of them, but I'm guessing no based on the last second or so.
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Yesterday's was pretty intense. I was wondering how they were gonna deal with the fact that Arthur was too pathetic for a satisfying kill.
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Or that she's his daughter. I didn't see that coming. I thought he was going for another bathtub victim.
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I was actually glad she turned out to be his daughter, in particular after learning she shot Deb, because otherwise she was just way to random.
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I have to say I think the way the series is unpacking the Arthur Mitchell family is pretty great. First he's a variation on the lone psychopath, then he's a man with a happy family life and a pillar of the community. Dexter develops a crush. Then he needs to avenge Deb, but still has his crush. Then layer after layer of Arthur's veneer peels off, the truth about his family life starts to come out, and now we know his elder daughter is something profoundly twisted as well. And now Dexter's having another crisis of conscience over how he's going to affect his own family.
I just didn't see how involved the Trinity storyline would get, and I'm starting to think this will match season 2.
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Because like Raymond I thought she was too random to be there so often as a reporter/love interest, even if she sort of continued as an antagonist whose stories interfered with investigations. And the fact that we didn't see the shooting meant they were most likely planning a twist. So I decided the most likely reason for the odd character and that particular mystery was that she would end up being the killer.
I didn't, however, think of a motive. I'm still not sure where they are going with that. Daddy/daughter team? Her initiation? Trying to protect her father?
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: Because like Raymond I thought she was too random to be there so often as a reporter/love interest, even if she sort of continued as an antagonist whose stories interfered with investigations. And the fact that we didn't see the shooting meant they were most likely planning a twist. So I decided the most likely reason for the odd character and that particular mystery was that she would end up being the killer.
I didn't, however, think of a motive. I'm still not sure where they are going with that. Daddy/daughter team? Her initiation? Trying to protect her father?
Maybe she thinks that'll make Daddy love her. Too bad for her, if so.
See, I just thought she was going to turn into a stalker nightmare for Quinn, and maybe kill him. This is why I don't write for TV.
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quote:See, I just thought she was going to turn into a stalker nightmare for Quinn, and maybe kill him.
Now that you mention it, I think it's quite likely to play out this way. Quinn is the new Doakes, after all. If you're right, are you going to go into TV writing?
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: ...however careful Dexter is, he's eventually going to kill someone who doesn't deserve it (after all, our justice system does that while demanding a higher standard of proof than Dexter does).
Hey! I was right.
He brooded about that but only briefly and they dropped it in the next episode. I'm not very satisfied with that. He shouldn't be able to shrug it off.
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He gives it at least some thought in the last episode. And to be fair, there's a LOT of stuff going on right now to be distracting.
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Blayne Bradley
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posted
just started watching Dexter, its pretty awesome its like Death Note without magic but with all the intellectual mind games.
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I'm wondering if we'll get more of the backstory with Christine. Different mother? If she didn't spend that much time with Arthur how could she get so messed up over him? Just longing to have more of the attention he cruelly withheld for so long?
I keep wondering when/if Dexter will conclude that outing Arthur to the police will be a better idea than continuing to fail to stop him personally.
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Huh. Still no real backstory with Christine, and it's not looking like we're getting more (I don't see Arthur taking time to explain it next episode).
I knew how the episode was going to end the whole time, but didn't expect it to be so casually face to face the way it was. Gah.
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It was a good episode. Looking forward to the next one.
I think I'm OK not really knowing Christine better. I doubt they could fill in the blanks in a way that I'd find satisfying. It's kind of weird saying that I appreciate a character for not being well developed, but I think in this case that's what I'm saying. She's meant to be a satellite to Arthur (albeit in an eccentric orbit).
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I didn't like that Dexter killed someone in this last episode based off what sounded like one line in a police report. I'd think after killing an innocent he'd try to be 100% sure on his next kill.
Anyway, finally caught up with this thread. Niki and I have been one week behind on our DVR with Dexter every week, so haven't been able to open the thread until now.
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I actually kinda liked that kill. While they didn't make it that explicit, I'm willing to assume Dexter did enough homework, and it was a, um, "nice" reminder that when he's not going up against someone like Arthur, he's pretty damn good at what he does.
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That ending scene was incredible. I felt blown away.
I LOVE that they've taken a risk. The show was starting to run a little flat for me. I'm annoyed that Debra didn't connect more pieces about the Ice Truck Killer and Dexter- why *did* Dexter know where he had taken her, etc, etc. I really hope that they take that angle further than where it currently is.
I'm curious what's going to happen with the kids now. Surely Dexter gets Harrison, but what about Cody and Astor? I'm guessing they'll go to Rita or Paul's parents. I hope the police investigation gets at least a little tough for Dexter. Where was he when it all happened? Maybe a mention of this "Kyle Butler" that Arthur's family would surely have talked about to the police. He's been getting off far too easily lately, but with this risk I feel a renewed hope for the show.
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God damn. Another 9 months before we can even BEGIN to get resolution on this?
A TV guide interview mentioned they were doing something pretty crazy with the finale, and this was one of the possibilities I considered. I actually had expected Dexter to have to kill Arthur in front of Rita, showing her the monster at point blank range. I'm not sure whether this is better or worse (at least in terms of potential plot).
The baby in the blood is clever symmetry, but honestly feels a little gimmicky. Flashing back and forth between baby Dexter and baby Harrison felt excessive - it's not like I needed help to make the connection.
In the original books I heard that Astor and Cody saw Rita beaten and raped by Paul, and that later on they start showing psycopathic tendencies and eventual become Dexter's prodigies. In the show the kids were way too well adjusted for that to be an issue. I guess they didn't want to deal with it initially and having the kids be all glum for multiple seasons before finally doing something with it would telegraph the plot. I assume they're trying to do something similar here, although if Harrison ages in real time I'm not sure how.
@Amanecer - I don't know what custody laws state about this sort of thing, but I'd have thought that having been married to their mother and presumably a legal guardian for a year, there's no reason to take Astor and Cody away from Dexter at this point. I can't see it being good for the kids and if Dexter WASN'T a psycopath who's going to have a lot of problems of his own, it wouldn't have been good for him either.
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Blayne Bradley
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posted
This is what they would call a "Wham Episode" I think. I'm in shock right now, noooooo! Not Rita!
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Dunno what I think of it yet. Without suspension of disbelief, I'm not sad the Rita character is gone. She was annoying. But with it. Damn. I suppose they want future seasons, but I keep hoping Dexter (TV Dexter) will get to jettison the dark passenger.
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I suspect he will, but it'll be a series finale kind of thing.
A lot of people on the official Dexter forum really hated Rita and were happy she died. I don't get what's particularly annoying about her. I mean, she does do some things that bug Dexter, but A) all married couples have some degree of that, B) a lot of those things are perfectly normal things that happen to bug Dexter because he really wants to go out and stab somebody in the jugular at the time.
She's not a particularly interesting character, but that was kinda the point.
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: Dunno what I think of it yet. Without suspension of disbelief, I'm not sad the Rita character is gone. She was annoying. But with it. Damn. I suppose they want future seasons, but I keep hoping Dexter (TV Dexter) will get to jettison the dark passenger.
This probably isn't the intent of the show, and probably wasn't in the book, but the framing device of having Dexter's dad talk to him about how to keep on killing without being detected makes it feel like Harry's the "dark passenger". Like if Harry would stop pestering him about how all he should ever be is a killer, he might not be a killer any more. Which clearly isn't right, but that's how it often comes across.
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I think what I found annoying about the Rita character was her general lack of acumen combined with her insistence on maintaining certain norms of happy married life. Clueless yet demanding.
I'm not happy that she died, in fact I was cringing as soon as I heard that she forgot her ID. The detached voiceover rumination that immediately ensued made me sadder than any sympathy I would have felt, though - it makes Dexter seem inhuman.
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That's what I've been thinking. And I think it may very well be intentional. Especially this season, when we've learned that Harry was corrupt in life and he's talking increasingly creepily in Dexter's head.
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: Dunno what I think of it yet. Without suspension of disbelief, I'm not sad the Rita character is gone. She was annoying. But with it. Damn. I suppose they want future seasons, but I keep hoping Dexter (TV Dexter) will get to jettison the dark passenger.
This probably isn't the intent of the show, and probably wasn't in the book, but the framing device of having Dexter's dad talk to him about how to keep on killing without being detected makes it feel like Harry's the "dark passenger". Like if Harry would stop pestering him about how all he should ever be is a killer, he might not be a killer any more. Which clearly isn't right, but that's how it often comes across.
Yes. I've been getting the sense since at least the second season that Harry essentially "made" Dexter. That without Harry's dread - and the training he imposed as a result of his despair and fear - that Dexter might have been essentially normal.
The way the apparition continues to urge Dexter to draw plans around the premise that he will never be able to change is pretty much in line with this.
Whether Harry was right or not is the question, but I've felt there's a deliberate tension around the question of whether Harry is responsible for steering Dexter into killing, instead of merely limiting the fallout.
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quote:Originally posted by scifibum: Dunno what I think of it yet. Without suspension of disbelief, I'm not sad the Rita character is gone. She was annoying. But with it. Damn. I suppose they want future seasons, but I keep hoping Dexter (TV Dexter) will get to jettison the dark passenger.
This probably isn't the intent of the show, and probably wasn't in the book, but the framing device of having Dexter's dad talk to him about how to keep on killing without being detected makes it feel like Harry's the "dark passenger". Like if Harry would stop pestering him about how all he should ever be is a killer, he might not be a killer any more. Which clearly isn't right, but that's how it often comes across.
I agree with scifibum. If Harry had tried to get rid of the darkness from the get-go instead of deciding on his own that Dexter would never be able to be normal, Dexter could have been normal. He didn't become a serial killer because of what happened in the boxcar, regardless of how Brian turned out. He became a serial killer because his father convinced him he was a monster.
Harry was a horrible, horrible, abusive s**t of a father, and I hope he's rotting in hell.
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