Buckaroo Dexter

Gah! The minute I give up on Dexter, they add Peter Weller to the cast! No... still not going back...

RIP Dexter

That's it. I'm out. Dexter season five has far too many plot holes and "what the hell--?" moments. To watch any further will just annoy me.

It's been an up and down ride. We went from the brilliant expansion of the slight novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter in season one, through the overlapping but opposite obsessions of Doakes and Lila in season two, then down into a sludgy season three nearly derailed by the bombast of Miguel and a completely lacklustre foe called, I think, the Skinner, who was never explained or explored. Season four saw a return to form thanks to a cohesive story, a grotesquely dark turn from John Lithgow as Trinity, and an unexpected final scene.

Which brings me to the end, my arbitrary end, one-third of the way through season five. This is not the Dexter I've come to enjoy and expect. It's horribly unfocused yet everything is telegraphed. Most the characters are chasing their own tails because the writers can't think of anything new to do with them, or can't be arsed to expand on established traits or plot points from previous seasons. And, just in case you're too slow to follow the meandering story or Dexter's internal monologue, don't worry: Harry, aka The Ghost of Plot Present, will pop up to keep you on track.

Even this episode's "huge reveal" at the end won't bring me back. I've taken my blood slide, already chopped up the body, and taken down the plastic...

Dexter, season 5, episode 3

I think Dexter as a concept is played out. We are now in the Zone of Diminishing returns. Tighten the Kyle Butler noose all you like, it's still not very interesting. Someone has seen Dexter kill or knows what he is? We've seen this before. Twice. Dexter has to hold the person who knows his secret hostage? Wake me when it's over.

Unless there is some sort of way-out plot twist coming, one that actually makes sense in terms of the story, it's time to put Dexter in the kill room.

Dexter, season 5, episode 2 (no spoliers)

Apart from the trio of unnecessary shots of dried blood turning wet on a rental truck's floor to indicate Dexter had noticed it and the ghost of Harry still spouting exposition (this will bother me until the end of the entire series), I didn't hate this episode. Some loose ends were tied up and a new killer was found, albeit one who can't really be bothered to dispose of his handiwork very well.

A bit slow, but this installment had some nice character moments for most of the secondary characters.

Dexter season 5 Opener

If you haven't seen the episode, read the following at your own discretion.

So here we are: the first episode of season five of Dexter. This is probably the worst episode of the entire series to date. It didn't advance the story, didn't add to our knowledge of the characters, and gave us flashbacks with Rita we didn't need. It's like someone on the production staff felt guilty for having given Julie Benz the chop (pun intended) and decided to make it up to her by bringing her back for another episode.

Also, the characterization of Dexter felt way off tonight. Here are four examples:

• In a flashback to his first date with Rita we see Dexter abducting a victim in what has be a busy parking lot outside a the busy restaurant where he and Rita are having their date. There is no way you can convince me that Dexter would be so careless. Also, Producers: a first date flashback? Really? This like a Dexter version of the Star Wars prequels: backstory we don't need to see, mostly because it's not very interesting, and we already know the outcome of Rita and Dexter's first date (more dates, then marriage).
  
• Next, Dexter kills a man for no reason. Not only is this out of character for Dexter, but Ghost Harry gets an uncharacteristic moment as well. (Goddamn, I hate this use of Harry to explain plot points or describe Dexter's emotional state to the audience.) After the brutal slaying, Ghost Harry says to Dexter, "That's the first human thing I've seen you do since Rita died." Um, no! Harry has never condoned the killing of innocents; that's what his Code was designed to curb. Yes, arguably Ghost Harry is a manifestation of Dexter's psyche, but to to put those words in Harry's mouth felt wrong to me. The character of Harry was best used in flashbacks to real conversations Dexter had with him when Harry was alive, conversations that were relevant to the present-day story. This "Don't go in there, Dexter!" use they're making of Harry these seasons is insulting to the audience and to James Remar, who had more to do on a single episode of Flash Forward than he's had on the last three seasons of Dexter.
• Following this, Dexter torches a shipping container he'd rented to hide his killing gear and bloody slides in. Even if the space was rented under an assumed name, surely someone working there must know what Dexter looks like, unless their security detail consists of a old guy sleeping and a German Sheppard with hip dysplasia. The fire would be traced back to Dexter pretty quickly, I'm sure. Distraught or not, nothing in Dexter's depiction up to now leads me to conclude he would be this careless. But, hey! Fire looks kewl and, oh, if I remember my grade 8 mythology lessons, it's also symbolic of rebirth! Double kewl!
  
• Much is made this episode (in Dexter's voice-overs) about his not being able to fake grief. What?! Dexter is a master of faking emotions, he said so himself in the first episode of season one! And he's mentioned that he felt grief when Harry died, so he has felt it. It's as if the writers of this year couldn't be bothered to to their research.

Finally, there's whole issue of "is Dexter Morgan Kyle Butler?" as seen in the preview for the season and tonight's preview of what's coming up. Why can't they just have Mrs Mitchell or the son just ID Dexter as Kyle? There are enough links between Arthur and Dexter to lead the FBI (or Miami PD) to Dexter. Dexter touched many things in Arthur's house, meaning fingerprints. We've got Arthur in the Police station talking to Dexter. With Arthur being "outed" as Trinity last season no-one, in a station full of cops remembers seeing him in the station that day?! So why all the runaround? I'm guessing it can be so Quinn can be the one who can piece it together. Ugh. Why as a viewer am I the one to find all the plot holes? Why isn't the showrunner keeping track of these things? What's he being paid for?!

Overall opinion of this episode: Terrible. What a waste of 1/12 of a season.

As much as I enjoyed season four, I still think they should have stopped Dexter at the end of season one, which was a perfect, complete story.

Next timelord a serial killer?

If so, can he go back in time and make Dexter season 3 not happen? And maybe take Rita as his companion and dump her off on some distant planet somewhere?

If asked to justify, I'd be happy to, but for now...

I'll just say that Dexter season 3 sucked! And I'm the person who thinks Dexter season 1 was about as close to a perfect season of television as it gets.

[Photo Caption: Harry sez: "Let me give you another obvious plot point, Dexter. Oh, and can you cue the hazy lighting, please?"]