Dexter - Season 9

[Old Thrashbarg]

Looks like we'll finally get the much anticipated conclusion to the lumberjack storyline.

https://www.sho.com/dexter

[bgmnts]

Yeah saw this and was just okay whatever.

[DrGreggles]

[Ja'moke]

I'm kind of excited for this just to see how much worse it can get. Those last couple of seasons were hilariously bad.

[BeardFaceMan]

Oh dear. They didn't have enough ideas to fill up the 8 seasons, what the fuck makes them think they can carry on the story in an interesting way now? Still, the show did give us the above gif, which is pretty incredible that something so shoddy should appear in something so professional. Lovely stuff.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

You mean that's not from a Wayans brothers film?

Didn't the books end up saying that Dexter's dark passenger was an actual demon that possessed him?

[DrGreggles]

What about the lass who turned into a bench?

[Thomas]

You mean that's not from a Wayans brothers film?

Didn't the books end up saying that Dexter's dark passenger was an actual demon that possessed him?

In Dexter in the Dark, the Dark Passenger was revealed to be a independent entity inhabiting Dexter, possibly the offspring of the ancient god, Moloch. The idea was largely disliked by critics and fans alike and was dropped from future books. In 2013, the writer, Jeff Lindsay. stated that Dexter in the Dark was an experiment. As such, the storyline had been tested, and the idea was abandoned.

https://dexter.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_Passenger

Only saw up to series three but they should use this.

[Ja'moke]

Didn't the books end up saying that Dexter's dark passenger was an actual demon that possessed him?

That would have been a better ending than what the TV series gave us.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I've not seen any of it after the season with John Lithgow. Are any of the subsequent seasons worth watching?

[bgmnts]

In my personal opinion, no.

[Hand Solo]

"His only guide on this journey is Harry The Exposition Ghost, an observer from his own head, who appears in the form of an expositionary dialogue hallucinatory device that only Dexter can see and hear. And so Dexter finds himself killing life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next kill will be the kill home."

In my personal opinion, no.

I stopped watching during the middle of the Lythgow series as I thought it was crap, I thought it was crap from the start but a mate insisted to keep watching as that series (season 6?) was brilliant.

[evilcommiedictator]

That would have been a better ending than what the TV series gave us.

This is a better ending done like 7 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl407-PZa3k

[Moribunderast]

I don't know what's worse: the fact this is being made or the fact I will force myself to sit through it. Season 8 of Dexter was the worst season of television I have ever watched in it's entirety. The thread here and one AV Club commenter's recaps were the only good things to come out of it.

I won't lie though, I'm pretty hyped to see what's happened with Batista's restaurant in the intervening years. As well as finding out if Masuka and his hippy daughter are still on good terms. Those were the true meat-and-potatos of the show in it's latter years and where the heart of the viewer was most invested.

I've got a pitch for the opening scene of the next season:

EXT. PARK - EARLY MORNING, PRE-DAWN

A homeless man sleeps on the Laguerta Bench. He was once an investment-banker, maybe, but times have been tough and this is where he finds himself now. Life can be so cruel. Even crueler still, in fact, as the Laguerta Bench suddenly becomes animate and with a mighty roar it swallows the man up into a gaping, snarling mouth. The bench stands upright (on the right-side legs) and a poorly-CGI'd Laguerta face is instantly visible.

LAGUERTA BENCH: Deeeeeeeexxxxxxteeeeeeerrrrr!

CUT TO:

EXT. LUMBERYARD - EARLY MORNING

A wood-chopping man is chopping wood. He is DEXTER. He hears the faint echo of Laguerta-Bench's scream. HARRY THE EXPOSITION GHOST becomes visible over Dexter's right shoulder.

HARRY: You didn't think you could hide from the past forever did you, Dex?

Dexter smiles grimly.

CUT TO:

EXT. THE OPEN SEAS - DAY

Dexter drives his boat at full throttle, the wind blowing through his hair and beard, which he is in the midst of shaving off. He passes a sign in the middle of the ocean: WELCOME TO MIAMI.

Guns'N'Roses "Welcome To The Jungle" plays as the audience wets itself with glee and anticipation for what will surely be an incredible season.

[druss]

I've not seen any of it after the season with John Lithgow. Are any of the subsequent seasons worth watching?

I wish I'd stopped watching after that season. I stopped about halfway through season 7 which is where it became more annoying than enjoyable to watch. I didn't watch a single episode of season 8 and I think that my life is the better for it.

Loved seasons 1-4 (3 was a bit iffy) and when I recommend it to people I suggest they stop after season 4 as the finale of that season seems a more fitting way to end than lumberjack Dex.

[AsparagusTrevor]

Honestly, I would be perfectly fine if they did a complete retcon and pretended the last season didn't exist, and instead made a replacement finale with a decent, satisfying conclusion.

They squandered any decent ending when they refused to commit to the series finale. You could tell from the last season that there was no build up to a conclusion, it was just a last minute wrap-up with a crappy tacked on coda. The last season should've been Dexter exposed as a killer, on the run and finally caught and tried, his friends and colleagues finally seeing him for the monster he is. The whole series had that anticipation, you always wondered what his peers would think of him, there was much drama to be mined from that. Instead they did 'Dexter sails into a storm and is now a lumberjack'.

It was especially obvious when watching the season week on week alongside Breaking Bad's final season which aired around the same time. Breaking Bad used its final episodes to build to a satisfying conclusion. On Dexter there was no indication that the series was ending. I don't want to absolve the writers of any shit but I do believe Showtime were dragging their heels on making a decision about ending or carrying on, so it's understandable it feels rushed and directionless.

It would be funny if in this new series they have a scene with a grown-up Harrison being injured, and for his stunt-double they use a dwarf.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I don't know what's worse: the fact this is being made or the fact I will force myself to sit through it. Season 8 of Dexter was the worst season of television I have ever watched in it's entirety. The thread here and one AV Club commenter's recaps were the only good things to come out of it.

I won't lie though, I'm pretty hyped to see what's happened with Batista's restaurant in the intervening years. As well as finding out if Masuka and his hippy daughter are still on good terms. Those were the true meat-and-potatos of the show in it's latter years and where the heart of the viewer was most invested.

I've got a pitch for the opening scene of the next season:

EXT. PARK - EARLY MORNING, PRE-DAWN

A homeless man sleeps on the Laguerta Bench. He was once an investment-banker, maybe, but times have been tough and this is where he finds himself now. Life can be so cruel. Even crueler still, in fact, as the Laguerta Bench suddenly becomes animate and with a mighty roar it swallows the man up into a gaping, snarling mouth. The bench stands upright (on the right-side legs) and a poorly-CGI'd Laguerta face is instantly visible.

LAGUERTA BENCH: Deeeeeeeexxxxxxteeeeeeerrrrr!

CUT TO:

EXT. LUMBERYARD - EARLY MORNING

A wood-chopping man is chopping wood. He is DEXTER. He hears the faint echo of Laguerta-Bench's scream. HARRY THE EXPOSITION GHOST becomes visible over Dexter's right shoulder.

HARRY: You didn't think you could hide from the past forever did you, Dex?

Dexter smiles grimly.

CUT TO:

EXT. THE OPEN SEAS - DAY

Dexter drives his boat at full throttle, the wind blowing through his hair and beard, which he is in the midst of shaving off. He passes a sign in the middle of the ocean: WELCOME TO MIAMI.

Guns'N'Roses "Welcome To The Jungle" plays as the audience wets itself with glee and anticipation for what will surely be an incredible season.

I'd pay good money to see your version made, and am sure it'll be a hell of a lot better than what we get.

The only ray of hope about this whole thing is that the showrunner is Clyde Phillips, who oversaw the first four seasons (and created Parker Lewis Can't Lose!) but even with him helming it I doubt it'll be any good, it just went on for too long and the characters became just too ridiculously daft.

[Moribunderast]

I'd pay good money to see your version made, and am sure it'll be a hell of a lot better than what we get.

The only ray of hope about this whole thing is that the showrunner is Clyde Phillips, who oversaw the first four seasons (and created Parker Lewis Can't Lose!) but even with him helming it I doubt it'll be any good, it just went on for too long and the characters became just too ridiculously daft.

I'll never forget in the final season: a sequence where Dexter "stalks" a man by following him about five paces back, making no effort to hide. The man turns and clearly sees Dexter. Harry pops up, "I think he's seen you, Dexter." I can still hear myself blurting out at the television "Oh you fucking think, Harry?!"

[thugler]

Truly incredible that they think this is a good idea. That last season was so bad, it made the first couple that I liked at the time seem shit as well.

It had been poor for a while though. Just let it die!

[Ja'moke]

I've not seen any of it after the season with John Lithgow. Are any of the subsequent seasons worth watching?

Nope. The Lithgow season was the show at its peak, it was all downhill after that. You ended at the right time.

[Phil_A]

"His only guide on this journey is Harry The Exposition Ghost, an observer from his own head, who appears in the form of an expositionary dialogue hallucinatory device that only Dexter can see and hear. And so Dexter finds himself killing life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next kill will be the kill home."

I stopped watching during the middle of the Lythgow series as I thought it was crap, I thought it was crap from the start but a mate insisted to keep watching as that series (season 6?) was brilliant.

The mad thing is the show already had exposition via Dexter's constant narration, so to have Ghost Dad around to reiterate everything we already know just so no-one in the audience could possibly not understand what's happening made the whole thing feel like a joke.

I don't think any show shat the bed after a strong start quite as badly as Dexter did - maybe Heroes but that didn't quite have so far to fall quality-wise.

I jumped off as a regular viewer at the point where they introduced Mos Def as a wise old mystical black man who helps Dexter find his true path - Series 6 I think? It was total bullshit by that point.

It still seems unbelievable that the entire series was building to the eventual capture of Dexter and him having to face justice for his crimes. but then the writers decided they loved the character so much he would never be caught or have to deal with the consequences of his lifestyle, so none of that happens. It became a show not about the morality of killing scumbags the law can't touch, but about a serial-killing superhero who's actions are never subject to any scrutiny because the writing is too dumb to even consider the ramifications of what he does.

[Dex Sawash]

every time I see Dave Bautista is in a film,  I go "oooh I liked him on Dexter"

[thugler]

Nope. The Lithgow season was the show at its peak, it was all downhill after that. You ended at the right time.

Even that one, or the other 1 or 2 seasons people point to as being good, there's some very clunky storytelling in there. It was fun enough to ignore that at the time, but I think it's really dated badly now. As Breaking bad got to be amazing it started to make me notice how weak dexter was at the time. Then in the last few seasons they couldn't seem to bring themselves to make any serious decisions about how to move forward with the plot. The irrelevance of the b plot elements became absurd as well, dumb little storylines so that the minor characters had stuff to do in the background. Must have been extremely weird and awkward to devise a plot in which Dexter and his onscreen sister start to have a romantic involvement after the same two actors had just gone through a divorce as well.

[robotam]

Lithgow was good. That season wasn't. Most seasons of Dexter suffer from the same problem. There's only enough content for 5 or 6 episodes, so most of the time nothing happens.
Even season 2. Season 2 should be great. Dexter's bodies have been found, an fbi supersleuth is investigating his killings and the most determined and ruthless cop in Miami suspects Dexter. This season mostly involves Dexter going to AA and having an affair with a woman who goes all crazy and is obsessed with him.

I like Season 3. Jimmy Smits goes all crazy and is obsessed with Dexter. But it's funnier when he does it.

The best season is season 5. It's complete shlock and a bit offensive. But it's a fun wee revenge story. In every other season the killers are too weird, but in this one they are just pieces of shit. Also, the fact that there is a few of them, and that the main baddie is hard to get to, means we don't have a couple of episodes were Dexter decides he wants to hold off on killing them for no real reason.

[DrGreggles]

I didn't watch a single episode of season 8 and I think that my life is the better for it.

You should watch it - it's hilarious.

[Mister Six]

I've not seen any of it after the season with John Lithgow. Are any of the subsequent seasons worth watching?

Nah. Lithgow is the high water mark. The season after (with Johnny Lee Miller) is all right, but IIRC it's where the original showrunner jumps off and it becomes clear that the network is going to rag the fuck out of the show, and bollocks to quality. The one after that is some absurd mash-up of Saw, Seven and Fight Club but a thousandth as interesting as that sounds (great performance by Mos Def though). I gave up in the season after, although I'll be fucked if I can remember what it was about.

[Mister Six]

every time I see Dave Bautista is in a film,  I go "oooh I liked him on Dexter"

Which season? He was fucking great in Blade Runner 2049, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in Dune, although his character doesn't have a massive role in the books. It's s bit sad that he gets strapped to so many shite action-comedies. I'd love to see him in something a bit more muted.

[Ja'moke]

Which season?

I believe he's making a joke because there's a character in Dexter called Batista.

[Mister Six]

Aw. :(

[DrGreggles]

I believe he's making a joke because there's a character in Dexter called Batista.

Character trait: hat

Unlike Quinn.
Character trait: shirt

And La Puerta.
Character trait: bench