Reactions to Season 6 of Dexter
***SPOILERS***
Despite the quality of the acting and all that, I had a hard time really getting into it. I adored seasons 1-2. 3 was a bit of a low point. 4-5 had their moments and really were best halfway through. As for six...a lot of great content was there, but wasn't pulled off in an exciting manner.
I'll start by saying Dexter is no longer the MC. It's his sister. We follow Dexter around about half the time, but he deals with very few conflicts. Yes, he hunts people down and ponders over some personal questions, but he can easily walk away from most of it. He makes the foolish choice to go after exactly who is department is hunting down (not picking up scraps to maintain his cover), bringing everyone around him into danger. Even then, his sloppiness doesn't ever get anyone hurt. The only real change in him was that he became slightly pickier, making it so that who he hunted down wasn't only a killer, but was nonrepentant...you know, the whole religion theme.
Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly willing to watch season 7 when it airs. The best part of 6 was the cliffhanger ending. Throughout all of 6, I never felt his identity was at risk of being discovered and he doesn't push the buttons of anyone in the department. No one suspects him of anything, but makes mild complaints about his coming and going.
All that general crap aside, there are a few specifics that bothered me. For instance, tension that is never built upon. His brother very briefly appears as a hallucinated push towards the dark side. I was happy to see this, as it made something of his mental state and had so much potential. The mental tension of having a figure counteract his desires and the moral compass he is forming would've been fun, especially if he continuously talked to someone who wasn't there AND it got him into trouble. Something like a pending psych evaluation could've added tension. Alas, his dead brother being in his head saves his ass once (getting him to kill a threatening Nebraskan), then vanishes.
Then there's the whole intern setup. One intern has a morbid fascination with getting her hands on old evidence, stealing an arm from season 1 and selling it online. Coincidentally, her replacement was the buyer. I was thinking it looked like a ruse, like both of them were in on it and had some grander scheme. Nope. The newest intern is revealed (to us) to be a liar as he bones Batista's sister and we see the arm in a glass case. He goes on to genuinely want to work for the police and nothing is made of the arm. Oh, and Debs replacement after her promotion works out wonderfully. He's a useful part of the team within an episode.
The pluses: creative kills and a nice crime to solve. The character dynamic at least shifts around the MC. I'm glad the closeness between him and his stepsister is starting to change into a potentially new plot device, since she's in love with him...and finally sees him kill someone.
What I want: All season 6 did was set up some stuff and tread on old ground again. Season 7 could be amazing if all the buildup was acted upon. If it starts with him convincing Deb he was attacked in the church and had to kill Tom Hanks' kid, I could very well quit watching right there. The show has been renewed for 2 more seasons, so let's see Dexter face some consequences and have to really be creative.
