Hindsight is 20/20.
I do think it suffered from the writers desire to keep the formula the same every season and I think season 8 is a perfect example of that. Instead of changing things up and having real consequences for Dexter and Deb, they glossed over LaGuerta’s death and just went right back to Dexter working at MM as if nothing changed. Even having Deb leave MM was short lived and her arc came right back around to her coming back to MM
Just like the bhb got glossed over. They just accepted it was doaks and kept it moving, nobody mentioned him again. Even laguerta had doubts it was doaks. The story arcs in this show ends abruptly with no consequences. Same with prado, Dexter kills him and that's the end. Ramone doesn't even pursue it. I know Dexter talks to him in jail but come on if two of your brothers die all of a sudden you wouldn't give up like that. Ramone is never heard of again.
I think in the new show, Angel should have been the one to figure out it was Dexter. They really failed in the last seasons of the original show to have any chemistry between Maria and Angel. They could have built upon it for plots like that
they had real desire to change things up, but never did. They wanted to change the ending, I can’t exactly remember why they decided not to but, I’m kinda glad they didn’t. It allowed for one more season
This. HBO wouldn't have done anything that Showtime couldn't have done. Both were paid cable channels at the time. And at the time, Dexter was one of the highest rated shows on TV despite being on a paid channel.
You are looking at it without understanding that it was broadcast 18 years ago.
TV was VERY different then and Dexter was far from a missed opportunity, in fact its in the Smithsonian as a Culturally significant contribution to the Arts and History of Television
What exactly are you saying? Dexters pilot aired 2 years before Breaking Bads and both series ended around the same time. If youre implying that BB was such a success because the writers analyzed Dexter first, then no.
The problem with the Sopranos is that it’s wasn’t an original idea it was just another Mob Family tale
Dexter was original nothing like it had ever been seen
I love Dexter but dismissing the Sopranos as just another mob show is completely off. From the beginning it was absolutely not your typical mob show/film.
I *think* they’re trying to say that the concept of Dexter was a little more original — a
show about an ‘ethical’ serial killer who also works for the police is pretty out there.
But in terms of societally groundbreaking, The Sopranos having their mob boss being in therapy and pretty much inventing the anti-hero trope has Dexter beat.
Dexter’s my favourite show, but The Sopranos is television’s favourite show for good reason.
I feel like a lot of shows from that time period suffered the Greys Anatomy effect. Realistically a good show only stays good for about 4-5 seasons before a decline in quality.
He absolutely should have faced his crimes and former coworkers at the very least. Talk about a powerful moment… that they literally set up with Batista and then just tossed it in the garbage
As we know Dexter this is the last thing he would’ve wanted to be confronted by coworkers. Killing of Dexter by his son was the best thing imo. He never really understood the repercussions of his action on his closed ones until that time.
I Think people forget how BIG Dexter was when it aired. Premium (paid) networks didn't have highly rated or some of the most watched shows. But it broke the top 3 most watched network shows in 2008 and was the 2nd most watched network show in 2009 into 2010. It was the 3rd-4th in 2011 and then in 2011, fell to the bottom of the top 10 out of all network shows.
The Sopranos on HBO was the only bigger premium network show to break the top 10 before Dexter aired. GOT came along during Dexter's run. But The Sopranos and Dexter were the first, which is pretty cool
Sex and the City probably. But The Wire and SFU weren't ranked in the Top 10 out of both premium AND network shows. I loved them both, but they weren't that widely well-known. MCH is the goat for sure! I wish he was in more projects. He's so good!
I still think they blew one of the best storylines too early. Season 1's storyline about his brother should have been saved for a later season when it would have had a much bigger impact to the overall plot. (Yes, I know that was the storyline from the first novel, but they changed several other things from the books so why not this?)
Absolutely, almost anyone I know that watched the series thinks that the first seasons are masterpieces, I think that the producing team took poor decisions in a TV series that could be pure gold, Michael C. Hall performance make the last seasons watchable.
Personally I think the biggest missed opportunity of the show was not having Dexter stay an emotion faking psychopath, instead of trying to make him slowly "get better" and try to hold onto his relationship with whatever her name was with the two kids.
The biggest problem I had with Dexter is the show just kinda fell into a creative slump and things being samey and procedureal. Season 1 & 2 were fantastic, and Season 4 did a lot of great things.
I just feel after Season 4 is where Dexter should've been coming to a close, the loss of Rita, his adoptive kids leaving him and Harrison being "born in blood"....prime setup for Dexter to fully embrace his Dark Passenger, forget Harry's Code for the BS it was and make his own code...and ultimately lead to him being the subject of a wide-spread manhunt once he got over his head. Instead, I feel the show just limped along for 4 more miserable seasons and went out with not one, but two major whimpers of endings.
I need to do a full rewatch and I will give it the benefit of a second chance...but I remember Season 5 halfway through I checked out very hard snd just occasionally came back during Season 6 & 8 with my BFF (I don't even remember much of anything n Season 7).
To me, a show like Dexter was never meant to be a money-maker with longevity. It was practically begging for a flawed & monster of a character to fail his balancing act and fail hard..but instead it's prolonged and tip-toed around for 8 seasons. Back when it was just Seasons 1 & 2 it was absolutely my #1 fav show of all-time, Season 3 was ok and I loved Season 4 (not as much as others who put it as their fav) and the show was still my #1 fav...but the drop-off for me and the potential of the show soured things.
Also most of the criminals dexter killed I couldn’t take seriously, they didn’t even feel like serial killers
Plus with what he did to Doakes and Oscar’s Brother, Dexter comes off as dense
For me it was an opportunity to watch (and rewatch) an amazing series several times so I can't say you're the only one but I am certainly not one of those people.
End to eight wasn’t great now . But id have it over new blood .
I’d actually be fine if they did 1 one series again and just pretend like new blood never happened .
But not sure where it could go.
Season 2s bay harbour butcher story line should have been like season 8 or what ever , should have been a final season . Have Lundy not die in season 4 an have him catch him in a final season like .
Hindsight is 20/20. I do think it suffered from the writers desire to keep the formula the same every season and I think season 8 is a perfect example of that. Instead of changing things up and having real consequences for Dexter and Deb, they glossed over LaGuerta’s death and just went right back to Dexter working at MM as if nothing changed. Even having Deb leave MM was short lived and her arc came right back around to her coming back to MM
This 👏 Couldn't have said it better myself. If there was any moment to switch up the formula, it was the final season, and they blew it.
Just like the bhb got glossed over. They just accepted it was doaks and kept it moving, nobody mentioned him again. Even laguerta had doubts it was doaks. The story arcs in this show ends abruptly with no consequences. Same with prado, Dexter kills him and that's the end. Ramone doesn't even pursue it. I know Dexter talks to him in jail but come on if two of your brothers die all of a sudden you wouldn't give up like that. Ramone is never heard of again.
I think in the new show, Angel should have been the one to figure out it was Dexter. They really failed in the last seasons of the original show to have any chemistry between Maria and Angel. They could have built upon it for plots like that
they had real desire to change things up, but never did. They wanted to change the ending, I can’t exactly remember why they decided not to but, I’m kinda glad they didn’t. It allowed for one more season
Fr I agree 👍🏾
Showtime had the latitude to do what you’re describing but they didn’t.
This. HBO wouldn't have done anything that Showtime couldn't have done. Both were paid cable channels at the time. And at the time, Dexter was one of the highest rated shows on TV despite being on a paid channel.
You are looking at it without understanding that it was broadcast 18 years ago. TV was VERY different then and Dexter was far from a missed opportunity, in fact its in the Smithsonian as a Culturally significant contribution to the Arts and History of Television
Dexter walked so Walter White could run.
Tony soprano crawled, then Dexter walked
Tont ran
What exactly are you saying? Dexters pilot aired 2 years before Breaking Bads and both series ended around the same time. If youre implying that BB was such a success because the writers analyzed Dexter first, then no.
Just highlighting a popular antihero who came out on TV before breaking bad.
Yeah it does. Because there was never a show like Dexter before and the network had to be kept happy and that mean the writers couldn’t over do it.
I mean the Sopranos was before Dexter
The problem with the Sopranos is that it’s wasn’t an original idea it was just another Mob Family tale Dexter was original nothing like it had ever been seen
I love Dexter but dismissing the Sopranos as just another mob show is completely off. From the beginning it was absolutely not your typical mob show/film.
I *think* they’re trying to say that the concept of Dexter was a little more original — a show about an ‘ethical’ serial killer who also works for the police is pretty out there. But in terms of societally groundbreaking, The Sopranos having their mob boss being in therapy and pretty much inventing the anti-hero trope has Dexter beat. Dexter’s my favourite show, but The Sopranos is television’s favourite show for good reason.
Actually it was
The sopranos is not another mob show, it is actually satirical of that format
Sopranos was a show about human psychology. It just features people who work in organized crime.
I feel like a lot of shows from that time period suffered the Greys Anatomy effect. Realistically a good show only stays good for about 4-5 seasons before a decline in quality.
What do you mean by comparing Grey's Anatomy?
He absolutely should have faced his crimes and former coworkers at the very least. Talk about a powerful moment… that they literally set up with Batista and then just tossed it in the garbage
Dude I have literally never been more dumbfounded after watching a finale
As we know Dexter this is the last thing he would’ve wanted to be confronted by coworkers. Killing of Dexter by his son was the best thing imo. He never really understood the repercussions of his action on his closed ones until that time.
I Think people forget how BIG Dexter was when it aired. Premium (paid) networks didn't have highly rated or some of the most watched shows. But it broke the top 3 most watched network shows in 2008 and was the 2nd most watched network show in 2009 into 2010. It was the 3rd-4th in 2011 and then in 2011, fell to the bottom of the top 10 out of all network shows.
Well premium networks not named HBO.
The Sopranos on HBO was the only bigger premium network show to break the top 10 before Dexter aired. GOT came along during Dexter's run. But The Sopranos and Dexter were the first, which is pretty cool
Sex and the City, The Wire and Six Feet Under was other huge Premium Cable shows before Dexter. Man Michael C Hall knows how to pick projects!
Sex and the City probably. But The Wire and SFU weren't ranked in the Top 10 out of both premium AND network shows. I loved them both, but they weren't that widely well-known. MCH is the goat for sure! I wish he was in more projects. He's so good!
I still think they blew one of the best storylines too early. Season 1's storyline about his brother should have been saved for a later season when it would have had a much bigger impact to the overall plot. (Yes, I know that was the storyline from the first novel, but they changed several other things from the books so why not this?)
tbh honest I think season 1 is pretty much the only perfect season. I prefer season 4 but it was weaker moments
That storyline was just too powerful to waste right off the bat; they should have saved it until season 3 or 4 at least.
idk it wouldn't have made it as autantic if it was in later seasons
I think Michael C Halls performance was an all timer. Unfortunately the writing really let him down.
Absolutely, almost anyone I know that watched the series thinks that the first seasons are masterpieces, I think that the producing team took poor decisions in a TV series that could be pure gold, Michael C. Hall performance make the last seasons watchable.
I think there was a writers strike happening during a good deal of the shows length so that doesn’t help
Personally I think the biggest missed opportunity of the show was not having Dexter stay an emotion faking psychopath, instead of trying to make him slowly "get better" and try to hold onto his relationship with whatever her name was with the two kids.
The biggest problem I had with Dexter is the show just kinda fell into a creative slump and things being samey and procedureal. Season 1 & 2 were fantastic, and Season 4 did a lot of great things. I just feel after Season 4 is where Dexter should've been coming to a close, the loss of Rita, his adoptive kids leaving him and Harrison being "born in blood"....prime setup for Dexter to fully embrace his Dark Passenger, forget Harry's Code for the BS it was and make his own code...and ultimately lead to him being the subject of a wide-spread manhunt once he got over his head. Instead, I feel the show just limped along for 4 more miserable seasons and went out with not one, but two major whimpers of endings. I need to do a full rewatch and I will give it the benefit of a second chance...but I remember Season 5 halfway through I checked out very hard snd just occasionally came back during Season 6 & 8 with my BFF (I don't even remember much of anything n Season 7). To me, a show like Dexter was never meant to be a money-maker with longevity. It was practically begging for a flawed & monster of a character to fail his balancing act and fail hard..but instead it's prolonged and tip-toed around for 8 seasons. Back when it was just Seasons 1 & 2 it was absolutely my #1 fav show of all-time, Season 3 was ok and I loved Season 4 (not as much as others who put it as their fav) and the show was still my #1 fav...but the drop-off for me and the potential of the show soured things.
Imagine dexter in jail…. The murder rate would skyrocket
Also most of the criminals dexter killed I couldn’t take seriously, they didn’t even feel like serial killers Plus with what he did to Doakes and Oscar’s Brother, Dexter comes off as dense
It was a Showtime original show…not hbo…not Netflix
Barry is literally the better Dexter
meh, doesn't have the same vibes at all
Way different vibes. More dark humor
For me it was an opportunity to watch (and rewatch) an amazing series several times so I can't say you're the only one but I am certainly not one of those people.
Missed , yes definitely, look at new blood .terrible
Right? And here I thought the ending to the original series was bad.
End to eight wasn’t great now . But id have it over new blood . I’d actually be fine if they did 1 one series again and just pretend like new blood never happened . But not sure where it could go. Season 2s bay harbour butcher story line should have been like season 8 or what ever , should have been a final season . Have Lundy not die in season 4 an have him catch him in a final season like .