Contributor: Gregg Wright
Written by
Directed by
Is it just me? Or is this season of “Dexter” starting to feel really ponderous? Or how about a better word: boring? I’m not sure what’s going on here, but the excitement for “Dexter” seems to be dwindling with every episode. Maybe it’s just that the season never really took off. Or, maybe it’s just that I was expecting this season to be sort of like the first half of the final season of the show, and instead, what I’ve gotten feels a bit too much like more of the same. “Dexter” is too old a show to get away with this, but it’s doing it anyway.
Or, maybe it’s just that I’ve been utterly spoiled by many of the other great, hard-hitting adult dramas competing for my time in recent years, such as “Homeland”, “Justified”, “Fringe”, “Game of Thrones”, etc. “Dexter” was once a clever, daring, inventive drama/thriller with a dark sense of humor and pathos, as well as a heavy dosage of suspense. I always had my frustrations with the show, but it’s still had its share of greatness. Now, however, the storytelling has begun to feel positively dated. Everything is too familiar and predictable.
I keep seeing the promos for the next episode and saying to myself “All right! Now things are going to get really crazy!” I keep expecting things to escalate and build, but the season has remained relatively sedate. There have been some high points, and I like a lot of the elements at play here. But it’s all presented in a way that suggests that the writers are simply killing time until they reach the finale. They knew how to start things off with promise, and they may end things with some excitement, but there’s been a serious lull in between.
And I’m becoming increasingly suspicious that the season will, once again, end with a bit of a whimper; just like last season, and the season before that one. It’s pretty clear now that Isaak Sirko is just another seasonal Big Bad. The added layer to Isaak revealed is appreciated, but he’s still just another Big Bad. And Hannah McKay is probably not going to be around again next season. I can see now why LaGeurta’s investigation is taking so damned long. They don’t want anything big to come of it until next season.
So I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m almost to the point where I’m ready for this season to be over so we can just get on to the important one: the final one. This one may still turn itself around by the end, but “Dexter” has disappointed enough times that I’m not especially willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. So far, this season seems to be making every effort to resemble the type of season that I didn’t want or need. The concrete end date should have done more for this show, but the writers once again seem content to revert to the old seasonal storytelling model.
Score: 6/10
