With a new Dexter limited series on the way, it's time to take a look back at Miami's favorite serial killer.
Given the enormous success of the original Showtime program, Dexter was mostly adored by critics throughout its eight-season run. Granted, the show didn't always get away with murder, so before the new Showtime revival, here's a stab at the best and worst reviewed seasons of Dexter.
Unanimously scorned as the lowest point of the show's run, the sixth season of Dexter is as criminal as the show gets. Miami is once again threatened by serial murderers -- "The Doomsday Killers" -- and Dexter is overcome by an all-too-familiar struggle with his identity. Season 6 attempted to forgive such errors by embracing a spiritual darkness, but as Emma Dibdin described via Rotten Tomatoes, "The clunkily written discussions of religion don't bode well."
The final season of Dexter was critically slammed as disrespectful in both its repetitive storytelling and underwhelming series finale. By introducing audiences to Dr. Vogel, the show finally gave Dexter a much-needed psychological evaluation. Granted, between yet another killer on the loose -- "The Brain Surgeon" -- and a tiresome retread of Dexter's relationship with Debra, Season 8 was ultimately slandered for refusing to step out of the show's comfort zone. The show ended up, as Rotten Tomatoes said best, "so hesitant to punish its anti-hero for his misdeeds, it opts to punish its audience instead."
Season 3 was undoubtedly criticized as the earliest sign of dull storytelling in Dexter's run -- mostly for stabbing at a slower pace -- but this was also the season that explored a moral gray area for the first time. By delving into the relationship between Dexter and Miguel Prado, the D.A. with a dark side, the show's justification for killing was praised for being "complexly inventive."
Dexter's dark debut was hailed as a sickly twisted thriller built on a rich premise -- a blood spatter analyst moonlighting as a serial killer. The show was deemed "daring and original," according to San Francisco Chronicle writer Tim Goodman. Though only just getting its feet wet, Showtime's breakout hit saw the Miami Metro Police Department track down the phantom "Ice Truck Killer." As both an enticing police drama and a psychological horror never afraid to dish out the graphic violence, Season 1 slashed its way onto screens as an instant success.
Dexter's polarizing, but mostly positive seventh season saw the arrival of a Ukrainian mob -- The Koshka Brotherhood -- as well as Hannah, a serial killer girlfriend for Miami's favorite slasher. Featuring some of the series' most thrilling moments, Season 7 was notably praised for pushing the show's boundaries -- mostly within the relationship between Dexter and his sister, Debra -- which gained major accolades with critics for recognizing the depth of its characters.
The fifth season of Dexter just barely cleared its nearly impossible hurdle with critics, in successfully stepping out of the menacing shadow cast by Season 4. By toning down the presence of a big bad, Season 5 was able to focus on hard-hitting themes -- both grief and abuse -- through Dexter's relationship with Lumen. Despite the unanimous writing on the wall that original ideas were running low, critics saw that there was still life left in the show.
Exalted by many as the second best season of the series, the fourth season of Dexter introduced Miami to the deadly "Trinity Killer," with a chilling performance from John Lithgow which, according to WhatCulture writer Liam Hoofe, "left a chill down many people's spines." By threatening Dexter's heart and thus capturing his humanity, Season 4 won critics over by maintaining some of the show's most thrilling sense of character development -- not to mention a blood-soaked finale that was nearly unmatched thereafter.
Dexter's sophomore season upped every single stake that Season 1 had to offer, from brutal horror to dark humor, leaving critics astonished. In continuing to conceal his identity as the Bay Harbor Butcher, Dexter was challenged, not just by Lt. Doakes, but by his inner demon -- his "Dark Passenger." Praised for its breathtaking suspense and anchored by a riveting portrayal from Michael C. Hall, Season 2 is what solidified Dexter as "one of the best shows on TV this decade."
0 Comments