Dexter - When A Show Betrays Its Audience
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- Опубликовано: 20 сен 2024
- This is a video essay about the TV show Dexter. For many years Dexter was a beloved, highly regarded dramatic thriller revolving around a serial killer who only targets murderers.
Like many other shows, the series struggled to bring things to a satisfying conclusion.
Many Dexter fans felt the shows ending was disappointing.
I take things a step further by arguing the the shows ending was the ultimate betrayal to an audience that had been following for so many years. I discuss what went wrong and what could have been done differently.
#dexter #paramountplus #videoessay #dextermorgan #season8
Never understood why he would throw his sister in the ocean because that’s where he put the evil killers at and putting his sister there with them makes no sense.
It was so perplexing. I thought he was just going to drive both Deb and himself into that hurricane out of guilt but him almost symbolically throwing her body into the water like he did with his victims was just so weird. That was the writers showing us that Dexter essentially killed her and he feels responsible, but I don't think that's what Dexter would have actually done.
@@TableCreed Well said. I agree 100%
Someone will disagree with what I am about to say but I don't particularly care; dexter kind of was the good guy( in the beginning) and the writers should have kept him that way concerning how he stuck to his father's code of going after bad people only; he could have ignored that and went after anyone he wanted at any time, he could have given in to the temptation of killing the security guard his brother had laid before him at the abandoned hospital or his sister at their childhood home but he chose to follow his father's rules despite his own issues with him because deep down he really didn't want to hurt innocent people and season after season was showing him striving to be a better person and was achieving that slowly especially with lumen in season 5 and brother sam in season 6, Hannah in season 7 Was the worst character ever thought of for her corruptive influence is what brought down Dexter's Integrity and ruined him from being the lovable and honorable character we all know from the books and earlier seasons,
the show's 2 endings was I feel very disappointing because they wrote it and his character all wrong for he wouldn't have given in to his grief over the loss of his sister to where he would abandon his own son, sure he would be at his lowest for a minute but he would pull himself together and remember the promise he made to deb of how he would always be there for harrison no matter what and you can't sit there and convince me that a small town sheriff like his girlfriend angela would be able to bust a notorious killer like Dexter based on circumstantial evidence not to mention the tranquilizer formula is not the same; he never used kenimine on his targets he used M99,
The writers should have continued adapting his story from the novels for they had tons of potential of doing and successfully pulling off a reverse breaking bad and the blacklist with the character, turning him into his very own sophisticated concierge of crime fighting with a vast network of resources at his disposal to help him hunt those that escape justice while keeping him 2 steps ahead of the people he works for in law enforcement who feels and views himself as the "the bad guy" that doesn't believe he can change but doesn't want to disappoint his father, his best friend angel, his wife, kids and sister by giving up trying with case after case and ultimate showdowns with the main antagonist of the season pushing him further and further down the path of being a honorable, righteous and semi-heroic individual with new blood being his swan song where he sacrifices himself to save his son, his son's girlfriend along with his own girlfriend from Kurt Caldwell, his son and the billionaire character they had in there that was serving as a red herring, have it where he had a connection to kurt and was involved somehow in covering up his secret of being the runaway killer and Dexter dying ending their threat once and for all thus earning his redemption which brings his story arc full circle with him ultimately breaking good,
As for doakes the most annoying thing about him was his hypocritical attitude towards dexter when he tried to get him in trouble for just doing his job as a blood spatter specialist after he in an act of revenge shot dead a former death squad operative who was unarmed and tried to cover it up with lies which put his partner angel batista in a very uncomfortable situation of possibly turning him in to be arrested by IA until he was given a pass by the government,
It should have been written and adapted according to the way it worked out in the books where they worked together to take down a cartel leader and doakes was severely maimed by the main antagonist dr danco to where he lost his legs and arms and tongue as a consequence for killing in cold blood that death squad operative who just so happened to be related to the villain, dexter tries to save him despite him knowing his secret but fails, he goes into a comma and dies later on in the 3rd season but Is revered as a hero cop and posthumously awarded a medal for risking his life to bring down dr danko who gets framed by Dexter as the Bay Harbor butcher,
the same scenario can be applied but altered to the character Maria Laguerta, have the consequences of her actions in season 2 befall her in season 7 by having esme come back for revenge on laguerta for ruining her career by using her secret connections to the criminal underworld to frame her and make her look as if she's losing her mind like what laguerta did to her by sleeping with her boyfriend and have it where Debra is the one that tries to save her but fails with season 8 being the final season that deals with the fallout of that event and Dexter being the loving caring brother that he's been towards her trying to help her overcome the grief of laguerta's death all while dealing with the reign of terror from the brain surgeon, I say all of that to say that joe from the show YOU doesn't hold a candle to dexter and that dexter would have that despicable man for breakfast, lunch and dinner to feed the very jackels he came from! 🔥😁😉👍
I hate the ending of season 7. Dexter deciding to kill LaGuerta even though she doesn't even come close to fitting in the code just feels arbitrary, they're trying to shock us for the sake of shocking us.
Yeah, you're right. It was very weird seeing him disregard the code, but I guess he had Harrison and other people to think about so I can kind of understand it. There's not a lot parents wont do for their children.
@@TableCreed Still, the writers should've come up with something more creative. I personally would've made the ending of season 7 that LaGuerta insists that Dexter is the BHB but nobody believes her and she loses her job because of her theories and then season 8 should've been about LaGuerta in the shadows observing Dexter and being hellbent on getting justice for Doakes and seeing Dexter getting the death penalty.
@@PizzaChess69 Maybe. Any ideas we have for a season 8 salvage would probably be better than what we got. I've got to say though, I liked LaGuerta as a character. She did add an element to the show, but I really hate her as a person. She's so slithery and puts her own needs and wants above everyone else at every opportunity. Worse yet, she puts her wants above others' needs. I don't know how I would have felt about her being the reason Dexter is caught. I agree dexter should have been caught and my ideal ending does end with him receiving a particular injection, strapped to a table, but I wouldn't want LaGuerta to be the one who put him there. A character like Doakes deserved to catch him because he was so firm in his suspicions from the beginning. I could deal with a scenario where LaGuerta is fired and a restraining order is put out against her, and then someone like Batista lets his curiosity get the best of him and he ends up being the reason Dexter is caught.
The first rule of the code is "Don't get caught" LaGuerta had a warrant for Deb and his phone... So, he activated the number 1 rule of the code at that moment.. Was it right... No... But it was his way of making sure they both didn't get caught...
@@jamillajohnson6108 I know, but still, I think they should've made the end of season 7 something like LaGuerta losing her job because nobody believes her and in season 8 she should be determined to bring down Dexter, at least that would've been so much better than the season 8 that we got. Because other than the ending, I really enjoyed season 7.
Among many things, killing off Debra was the thing that upset the most about this series finale. With that said, I have watched some interviews lately, and Jennifer Carpenter said that she wanted her character killed off-- from what I got out of this, it was mainly because she felt like her covering up Dexter's murders and being sort of an accomplice was not in tune for her character. So, similar to how Harrison Ford wanted Solo killed off, Jennifer Carpenter wanted this for her character.
The saddest thing about this is that I felt Deb evolved the most as a character, and had the most interesting character arc, even more so than Dexter.
Deb was such a great character, absolutely agree on that, and it's not like she was only there to serve Dexter's development. Half the time she was on screen, we were just following her story, completely isolated from anything Dexter was doing, and we loved it. She deserved more respect. If she had to be killed off, there are better ways of doing it, so I wont excuse the show for it.
The father-son nonsense of new blood drove me crazy. You're completely right that they tried to subvert expectations. For most people I think Dexter was compelling because it causes us to ask what true justice is. He's a killer deep down, but what he's doing feels moral on some level. That would have been an amazing theme to revolve a final season around but they did some stupid father son shit that nobody really cared about.
It was so jarring seeing Harrison all grown up. Harrison kind of represented Dexter's path to a new life in the original show. In many ways Dexter tried to protect him as if he was looking at a younger version of himself and there are many parallels between the two of them. Dexter was just kind of perplexed by Harrison in New Blood. Honestly, New Blood is just a write-off. I think their message was something like 'Harrison has the same urges as Dexter, seemingly destined to follow the same path, and him killing Dexter was an end to both his cycle and Dexter's'. Not an awful concept but its all in the execution I guess. I think the whole universe was just destined for failure after that finale. No way of salvaging that. Like trying to build a house on the charred remnants of a previous house fire.
Getting rid of the kids was a big mistake imo. They should have known.
Another missed opportunity could've been a final season where Dexter is on trial but he gets off with it due to having a really good lawyer.
Yeah, I really liked Dexter's relationship with Astor and Cody.
He was faking it for a while but he grew to like them, maybe even love.
I think Dexter getting away with it all would have been pretty unresolved as far as an ending goes, but I guess it might have been interesting to see half the people think he's innocent, and the other half are now pretty skeptical of him as he moves forward. Look, anything you say would probably be better than what we got.
@@TableCreed Infuriated about the direction they took after Season 5.
Seeing the Season 8 promos and the actual season itself feels like being promised a well cooked steak and instead getting served a plate full of shit.
Ya the whole sister love thing ruined it for me. Must have been a female writer that thought that would be an interesting plot twist.
Yeah that was really weird. It seemed like they dropped that idea at some point and then it just comes back out of nowhere. So unnecessary.
Just makes you feel grossed out while watching it, and that says a lot given the graphic stuff we see in the show.
That was always the plan from the beginning of season 3 or 4. It just didn't get written in until later and by that time the actors had divorced. So, for their sakes that storyline was dropped... Somewhat always hinted too... However, it was always going to be that both Deb and Dex would explore those feelings... Not saying anything would have come of it.... But it was being integrated into the storyline.
Both actors at different times in interviews stated. They played their parts knowing deep down they did have feelings for one another. Michael C. mentioned Dexter subconsciously chose women who had qualities of Deb, but never feels fully comfortable with them, because they are NOT Deb. Jennifer had stated she played Deb knowing that she had deeper feelings for Dexter, but also not knowing where it was coming from... Only that he was the closest person she felt she could connect too.
Also FYI that entire SL was written by men...
I practically never finished the entire series of dexter, the show really felt off by me after the first 3 to 4 season. to this day i have not finished the last couple of seasons, i think the closest i got was the last ep of s6. I even saw the new dexter show over em. I still rewatch the first seasons of the show, especially the first 3.
The general consensus is that the first 4 seasons are excellent and I tend to agree. I only really hated season 6 I believe, and the last one or two episodes of the final season. I'd encourage you to at least try season 4. John Lithgow is great as the season's antagonist.
@@TableCreed I did, S4 is the peak, i just dont watch s4 as often as the first 3 as s4 tends to be a little dark for me (which shows how good it got)
The fact they killed Deb off screen and replaced that moment with Hannah and Elway was infuriating... I HATED the Hannah character and didn't give two F's if she made it out of the country... When my favorite character is off screen dying!!
So many issues with season 8.. The writing, characters doing things they'd never do.. Completely retconning Dexter/Deb dynamic to fit Hannah boring character.
I fully expected Dexter to turn himself over to Deb. Her arrest him. Him live out his days in prison until state execution. While Deb raised Harrison.. Never did I foresee Deb dying... And never imagined they kill her off screen. We watched Deb from ep 1 and grew to love everything about her and her emotional rollercoaster self... She was the heart of the show after Rita and to kill her character like that was a slap in the face...
I understand the reason for wanting to kill Deb's character to force Dexter into a complete mess/shell of a person.. It's just the way they did it... The same with Dexter's death on New Blood... It was not earned... There was no build up to us rooting for Harrison to "Put him down" so it felt rushed and contrived.
I actually loved New Blood and seeing a totally different Dexter... And didn't mind his death.... Again, it's just the manner in which they did it... There was no built up to it... Harrison was such a unlikable character even though you can understand where is anger comes from... Just took too long to get there...
Hearing about the revival show and the prequel show coming in a few years has just really saddened me.
Who are they even making these shows for anymore?
@@TableCreed I'm actually excited to see Original Sin & Resurrection. I want to see these characters young, how they grew up.. Then back to OG Dexter in Resurrection - How much darker he is now that he is utterly alone in the world on survival mode... I just want the ending to be earned...
Dexter was never to have a happy ending.. It's death or prison...and we/audience knows this. Why they tried so hard to make him a "good guy" when he's far from it... We knew that from the jump! He is a serial killer!
I just hope finally Showtime steps aside and allows these writers/creators to come up with a fitting end to the Dexter Universe... Without putting their nose in it...
We LOVE Walter White and look what happened to him... It was earned and it was fitting for the character! The same should happen with Dexter.. He is not an innocent!
@@jamillajohnson6108 Yeah, as I said in the video, I would have had Dexter die via lethal injection strapped to a table after being exposed as the Bay Harbour Butcher. It just seemed like such a natural conclusion to have him die strapped to a table like what he did to all of his "victims" for so many seasons. Death or Prison really were the only two options and they chose to walk around the natural conclusion.
@@TableCreed The perfect ending for me or something outside the box.. As Dexter confesses his crimes just before he's sentenced... Is actually his re-telling of how he got started from - Dexter: Original Sin.... Then his time with Metro PD, all the kills since Brian.... Then his confession to killing Logan in New Blood... All the way up till his capture in Dexter: Resurrection...
Everything we/audience has seen on screen is actually his confession to the FBI.. With details left out or not exactly how it went down... Him telling his story on how, why he started killing.. Where the Code came from and how he utilized it... All cards are on the table... The FBI can either use his talents on catching other murders seeing he was so good at it... Or, them leaving him to the state of FL..
I think he should have rode off into the sunset with his girlfriend and Deb should have married her fella..... I personally never felt bad about anyone Dexter offed....hated New Blood...it sucked
I would have preferred a final season where Dexter gets caught. It would have been so satisfying to see the reaction of everyone at Miami Metro, and as I said, I think it would have been really poetic if Dexter were to be given the lethal injection and die strapped to a table just like his victims were. But yeah, him leaving everything behind and creating a new life for himself would have been better than what we got. It really annoys me how a great show can just lose all credibility like that.
Someone will disagree with what I am about to say but I don't particularly care; dexter kind of was the good guy( in the beginning) and the writers should have kept him that way concerning how he stuck to his father's code of going after bad people only; he could have ignored that and went after anyone he wanted at any time, he could have given in to the temptation of killing the security guard his brother had laid before him at the abandoned hospital or his sister at their childhood home but he chose to follow his father's rules despite his own issues with him because deep down he really didn't want to hurt innocent people and season after season was showing him striving to be a better person and was achieving that slowly especially with lumen in season 5 and brother sam in season 6, Hannah in season 7 Was the worst character ever thought of for her corruptive influence is what brought down Dexter's Integrity and ruined him from being the lovable and honorable character we all know from the books and earlier seasons,
the show's 2 endings was I feel very disappointing because they wrote it and his character all wrong for he wouldn't have given in to his grief over the loss of his sister to where he would abandon his own son, sure he would be at his lowest for a minute but he would pull himself together and remember the promise he made to deb of how he would always be there for harrison no matter what and you can't sit there and convince me that a small town sheriff like his girlfriend angela would be able to bust a notorious killer like Dexter based on circumstantial evidence not to mention the tranquilizer formula is not the same; he never used kenimine on his targets he used M99,
The writers should have continued adapting his story from the novels for they had tons of potential of doing and successfully pulling off a reverse breaking bad and the blacklist with the character, turning him into his very own sophisticated concierge of crime fighting with a vast network of resources at his disposal to help him hunt those that escape justice while keeping him 2 steps ahead of the people he works for in law enforcement who feels and views himself as the "the bad guy" that doesn't believe he can change but doesn't want to disappoint his father, his best friend angel, his wife, kids and sister by giving up trying with case after case and ultimate showdowns with the main antagonist of the season pushing him further and further down the path of being a honorable, righteous and semi-heroic individual with new blood being his swan song where he sacrifices himself to save his son, his son's girlfriend along with his own girlfriend from Kurt Caldwell, his son and the billionaire character they had in there that was serving as a red herring, have it where he had a connection to kurt and was involved somehow in covering up his secret of being the runaway killer and Dexter dying ending their threat once and for all thus earning his redemption which brings his story arc full circle with him ultimately breaking good,
As for doakes the most annoying thing about him was his hypocritical attitude towards dexter when he tried to get him in trouble for just doing his job as a blood spatter specialist after he in an act of revenge shot dead a former death squad operative who was unarmed and tried to cover it up with lies which put his partner angel batista in a very uncomfortable situation of possibly turning him in to be arrested by IA until he was given a pass by the government,
It should have been written and adapted according to the way it worked out in the books where they worked together to take down a cartel leader and doakes was severely maimed by the main antagonist dr danco to where he lost his legs and arms and tongue as a consequence for killing in cold blood that death squad operative who just so happened to be related to the villain, dexter tries to save him despite him knowing his secret but fails, he goes into a comma and dies later on in the 3rd season but Is revered as a hero cop and posthumously awarded a medal for risking his life to bring down dr danko who gets framed by Dexter as the Bay Harbor butcher,
the same scenario can be applied but altered to the character Maria Laguerta, have the consequences of her actions in season 2 befall her in season 7 by having esme come back for revenge on laguerta for ruining her career by using her secret connections to the criminal underworld to frame her and make her look as if she's losing her mind like what laguerta did to her by sleeping with her boyfriend and have it where Debra is the one that tries to save her but fails with season 8 being the final season that deals with the fallout of that event and Dexter being the loving caring brother that he's been towards her trying to help her overcome the grief of laguerta's death all while dealing with the reign of terror from the brain surgeon, I say all of that to say that joe from the show YOU doesn't hold a candle to dexter and that dexter would have that despicable man for breakfast, lunch and dinner to feed the very jackels he came from! 🔥😁😉👍
Interesting thoughts, and yes, I did read all that, ha.
Anything you could suggest would probably be better than what we got.
@TableCreed That's awesome to hear, you're one of the very few that have read it completely without insulting me or complaining about how long it is! Lol 🤣😎😉🔥👍🏻
Yeah I hated the ending also.
I don't know if there's anyone out there who likes it, or is even indifferent about it.
Its just straight-up awful. It inspires hate.
I agree with everything but I have one question. What colour is the pube?
The most uninteresting colour you can think of.
I can't even remember the names of those characters anymore.
@@TableCreed 😂
For me the only logical ending was dexter dying ( in a better way than in new blood) or him getting caught. Wouldnt have been a good message to have a guy killing people and dismembering them have a happy ending. He killed bad people and was likeable but still really fucked up
Yeah, I had similar thoughts, but I would have been okay with it if he was capable of giving it up and just moved on to give his son the life he never had, but yeah if I was the showrunner, Dexter is getting caught and the story ends with him receiving a final injection, strapped to a table just like his victims. Not that he deserves that but it would be poetic, and then maybe his story would be misinterpreted by the public. They'd think he was their savior, and maybe even admire him for taking matters into his own hands, no one ever really knowing that he did it because he liked it, that he needed it.
You misspelled Game of Thrones
You deserve more views
Thanks for the kind words. I'd still be doing it even if the videos got no views. It's nice to have an outlet to get my thoughts out.
Thank you for checking out the video.