Dexter finale review
Dec. 14th, 2010 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ishtar79 This season was different from what I expected: I thought there would be Dexter coming apart at the seams and going to a much darker place. What we got instead was entirely unexpected, but I absolutely loved it nonetheless.
Not that it wasn’t *dark*, mind you. I need some extra-strength brain bleach to scrub the images (and sounds) of those DVDs, and considering that I’ve recently been mainlining all the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episodes, the fact that the relevant episodes were among the most disturbing things I’ve seen on television is saying something (the award for “most disturbing” going to a certain episode of Private Practice, of all things).
Lumen and her dynamic with Dexter were something of a revelation for me. While I’ve happened to read the odd Dexter/Debra fic or two before (more like every single one of them in the Internet-there aren’t that many), the fact is that there wasn’t a canon character I could ship Dexter hardcore with. I liked Rita as a character, and her relationship with Dexter was fascinating from a storytelling POV, but the combination of the whole thing being built on a giant lie and the fact I didn’t even care for the fictitious image of domesticity it produced meant I pretty much turned off my shippy fan goggles for the show. And that was fine, since it’s not what the show’s for. Except that somehow, somewhere along Lumen storyline, I went from being horrified and sympathetic, to very intrigued from where her dynamic with Dexter was going, to being the kind of disgustingly shippy fan who draws little hearts around characters’ names. I don’t even know, you guys. I blame it all on MCH acting-every new emotion, no matter how subtly expressed, was just pitch-perfect, and I’ve always been a Julia Stiles fan. And I know how unhealthy and ridiculously codependent the whole thing was, but I couldn’t help myself. Dexter looked so…smitten. They spent episodes planning a killing spree, talking about knives, duct tape and kill rooms, and I kept squeeing about how *cute* they were.
Of course, that’s all over and done with now. Irrational shipper impulses aside (Nooo, Lumen, don’t leave hiiiiiiim), this ended up in a much more optimistic place than I thought. I didn’t think they would do a Rita rehash (and a Lila repeat never crossed my mind), but I’d become convinced that Lumen would end up taking the fall for him, or at least be on the run (I don’t know how the logistics of Deb having met her would work out, but the show’s wriggled out of bigger logic holes before). As it was, it was the best way this could end for Lumen-she got her revenge, but unlike Dexter, she doesn’t have to live with the kind of darkness that allowed her that revenge. Realistic? Who the hell knows? Dexter might strive for the occasional touch of reality, but I see the whole show as dark fantasy (and occasional comedy), and within the constraints of the story, it made sense. Dexter, of course, is completely *destroyed* by this, and my heart broke for him twice: the scene with him on the kitchen floor, trying to be understanding and noble and coming off more as “kicked puppy” and his expression in the final shot, the complete absence of anything speaking volumes. Did I mention MCH rocks my world?
On the “rocks my world” column, OMG DEB! Just when I thought I couldn’t love the character more, she actually did what’s been foreshadowed the whole season, the let “the vigilante lovers” go. Apparently some fans have been raising hell over this, claiming that Deb would never be that morally grey. Well-bullshit. Considering all that she has been through since the show started (how much did I love the Rudy reference? Except that was technically Dexter with the namedropping, since Deb STILL can’t say it), considering she got the full, unedited version of the rape DVDs (and hell, just hearing snippets would make me inclined to act the exact same way she did, and I don’t think I have sociopath tendencies) and not forgetting that she is Harry’s daughter…yes, Deb would do this. This doesn’t mean she’d equally understand if the full truth about Dexter ever came out, but there’s a difference between the coldness and I Am God-ness of Dexter’s usual act and a rape and torture victim taking out her tormentors. I was frustrating at how close she came to Dexter’s secret without finding out, but the time wasn’t right yet, and the scene would play out better without a third person. I think she knows on some level though-her last scenes with Dexter had a very ambiguous tone.
I’m still no Quinn fan, but I’m somewhat mollified by how appropriately apologetic he’s been to Deb, and the fact he wisely kept his mouth shut about who Robocop was investigating. I probably don’t wish him dead, if for no other reason that Deb has had enough traumas for ten lifetimes.
I was happy with how the conclusion to the Jordan Chase story played out. I didn’t need more backstory on why he was the way he was-sometime, people do really evil things for no reason. I liked that his fame came back to bite him on the ass, and I LOVED Dexter stabbing him on the foot. I bet he’d envisioned being taken down in a more dignified way. Johnny Lee Miller did a stellar job at creeping me the hell out-I can safely say all remnants of my teenage crush of him, circa Hackers, have completely evaporated. The season wasn’t so much about him as about Dexter and Lumen, but as a villain following on the heels of the AMAZINGLY CREEPY Trinity, he did a good job.
I don’t know where the show will go after this. The end game has to be “Deb finds out”, but as to how it will play, I have no clue. But I’m ready for season 6 yesterday.
Some random thoughts:
-In such a heavy episodes, Dexter’s inner monologue at the Liddy crime scene seriously cracked me up.
-Unexpected!family is unexpected. So, I guess fandom was wrong about Sonja being a sinister, baby-kidnapping villain. So far.
-Quinn totally knows that Dexter decommissioned Robocop. This ought to make for an interesting dynamic, especially since he’s in the man’s debt and dating his sister.
-I flinched in every scene Jordan was alone with Lumen.
- Really, Deb, you’re watching the DVDs again? I swear, I have no idea how people who have to review such vile things for real do their job.
- I like that Deb and Laguerta reestablished their tentative rapport. Unless it was all staged by Maria for Angel’s benefit-the woman is Slytherin to the core.
-Fuck yes, Deb, you HAVE to learn Spanish!
-So I guess we dropped that whole beheading story then? And the cop that Deb had mad femslashy vibes with?
-God, I knew it was over the moment Dexter walked in the apartment the next day, but watching him making plans while Lumen sat still on the couch was painful.
-And speaking of painful…MCH killed me in that whole scene.
-It’s nice that they remembered the changed relationship between Astor and Dexter. I hope we get more scenes of the two of them next season.
-Masuka, bringing acall girl date to a baby’s party? Never change, you hilariously inappropriate, leopard thong-wearing little perv!
Not that it wasn’t *dark*, mind you. I need some extra-strength brain bleach to scrub the images (and sounds) of those DVDs, and considering that I’ve recently been mainlining all the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episodes, the fact that the relevant episodes were among the most disturbing things I’ve seen on television is saying something (the award for “most disturbing” going to a certain episode of Private Practice, of all things).
Lumen and her dynamic with Dexter were something of a revelation for me. While I’ve happened to read the odd Dexter/Debra fic or two before (more like every single one of them in the Internet-there aren’t that many), the fact is that there wasn’t a canon character I could ship Dexter hardcore with. I liked Rita as a character, and her relationship with Dexter was fascinating from a storytelling POV, but the combination of the whole thing being built on a giant lie and the fact I didn’t even care for the fictitious image of domesticity it produced meant I pretty much turned off my shippy fan goggles for the show. And that was fine, since it’s not what the show’s for. Except that somehow, somewhere along Lumen storyline, I went from being horrified and sympathetic, to very intrigued from where her dynamic with Dexter was going, to being the kind of disgustingly shippy fan who draws little hearts around characters’ names. I don’t even know, you guys. I blame it all on MCH acting-every new emotion, no matter how subtly expressed, was just pitch-perfect, and I’ve always been a Julia Stiles fan. And I know how unhealthy and ridiculously codependent the whole thing was, but I couldn’t help myself. Dexter looked so…smitten. They spent episodes planning a killing spree, talking about knives, duct tape and kill rooms, and I kept squeeing about how *cute* they were.
Of course, that’s all over and done with now. Irrational shipper impulses aside (Nooo, Lumen, don’t leave hiiiiiiim), this ended up in a much more optimistic place than I thought. I didn’t think they would do a Rita rehash (and a Lila repeat never crossed my mind), but I’d become convinced that Lumen would end up taking the fall for him, or at least be on the run (I don’t know how the logistics of Deb having met her would work out, but the show’s wriggled out of bigger logic holes before). As it was, it was the best way this could end for Lumen-she got her revenge, but unlike Dexter, she doesn’t have to live with the kind of darkness that allowed her that revenge. Realistic? Who the hell knows? Dexter might strive for the occasional touch of reality, but I see the whole show as dark fantasy (and occasional comedy), and within the constraints of the story, it made sense. Dexter, of course, is completely *destroyed* by this, and my heart broke for him twice: the scene with him on the kitchen floor, trying to be understanding and noble and coming off more as “kicked puppy” and his expression in the final shot, the complete absence of anything speaking volumes. Did I mention MCH rocks my world?
On the “rocks my world” column, OMG DEB! Just when I thought I couldn’t love the character more, she actually did what’s been foreshadowed the whole season, the let “the vigilante lovers” go. Apparently some fans have been raising hell over this, claiming that Deb would never be that morally grey. Well-bullshit. Considering all that she has been through since the show started (how much did I love the Rudy reference? Except that was technically Dexter with the namedropping, since Deb STILL can’t say it), considering she got the full, unedited version of the rape DVDs (and hell, just hearing snippets would make me inclined to act the exact same way she did, and I don’t think I have sociopath tendencies) and not forgetting that she is Harry’s daughter…yes, Deb would do this. This doesn’t mean she’d equally understand if the full truth about Dexter ever came out, but there’s a difference between the coldness and I Am God-ness of Dexter’s usual act and a rape and torture victim taking out her tormentors. I was frustrating at how close she came to Dexter’s secret without finding out, but the time wasn’t right yet, and the scene would play out better without a third person. I think she knows on some level though-her last scenes with Dexter had a very ambiguous tone.
I’m still no Quinn fan, but I’m somewhat mollified by how appropriately apologetic he’s been to Deb, and the fact he wisely kept his mouth shut about who Robocop was investigating. I probably don’t wish him dead, if for no other reason that Deb has had enough traumas for ten lifetimes.
I was happy with how the conclusion to the Jordan Chase story played out. I didn’t need more backstory on why he was the way he was-sometime, people do really evil things for no reason. I liked that his fame came back to bite him on the ass, and I LOVED Dexter stabbing him on the foot. I bet he’d envisioned being taken down in a more dignified way. Johnny Lee Miller did a stellar job at creeping me the hell out-I can safely say all remnants of my teenage crush of him, circa Hackers, have completely evaporated. The season wasn’t so much about him as about Dexter and Lumen, but as a villain following on the heels of the AMAZINGLY CREEPY Trinity, he did a good job.
I don’t know where the show will go after this. The end game has to be “Deb finds out”, but as to how it will play, I have no clue. But I’m ready for season 6 yesterday.
Some random thoughts:
-In such a heavy episodes, Dexter’s inner monologue at the Liddy crime scene seriously cracked me up.
-Unexpected!family is unexpected. So, I guess fandom was wrong about Sonja being a sinister, baby-kidnapping villain. So far.
-Quinn totally knows that Dexter decommissioned Robocop. This ought to make for an interesting dynamic, especially since he’s in the man’s debt and dating his sister.
-I flinched in every scene Jordan was alone with Lumen.
- Really, Deb, you’re watching the DVDs again? I swear, I have no idea how people who have to review such vile things for real do their job.
- I like that Deb and Laguerta reestablished their tentative rapport. Unless it was all staged by Maria for Angel’s benefit-the woman is Slytherin to the core.
-Fuck yes, Deb, you HAVE to learn Spanish!
-So I guess we dropped that whole beheading story then? And the cop that Deb had mad femslashy vibes with?
-God, I knew it was over the moment Dexter walked in the apartment the next day, but watching him making plans while Lumen sat still on the couch was painful.
-And speaking of painful…MCH killed me in that whole scene.
-It’s nice that they remembered the changed relationship between Astor and Dexter. I hope we get more scenes of the two of them next season.
-Masuka, bringing a
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Date: 2010-12-15 12:23 am (UTC)