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"Dexter" - season five - spoilers

Started by Rico, July 24, 2010, 08:33:36 AM

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Rico

Trailer from Comic Con.  (major spoilers for last season)

WOW!  Can't wait!

Dexter Season 5 Trailer (Comic Con)

Rico

Season 5 starts tomorrow night.  Going to be so great!  DON'T watch these videos if you haven't seen the show.

Dexter: It's Already Over (Season 5 Promo)

Rico

Oh man, just a few hours to go!
(pic is from a previous season premiere which is why the date is a bit different)

Jobydrone

What did you think?  I've only watched the first twenty minutes and it is so dark and disturbing.  Something about this story is really bothering me and I find it very difficult to watch.

[spoiler] I think it's the shots of the children and the baby and thinking about the kids losing their mother.  I am having a very hard time finding sympathy for Dexter's character, which is essential for the show to be successful.  I mean it was totally his fault that his wife is dead, he knows it himself, and now the kids are motherless.  Perhaps this is the season that ends it all for Dex, but in my opinion there's no possible redemption for drawing those innocent children into his life and having them pay such a horrible price for it.[/spoiler]
"I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal."  -Groucho Marx

Rico

I really liked the season opener, but I understand what you're saying.

[spoiler]I actually felt very sympathetic for Dexter and everyone in this episode.  Yes, due to the type of person Dexter is and the life he leads he put Rita in danger.  But he didn't kill her - Trinity did.  And now he has to live with the guilt and somehow go on.  Funny thing is, I read a lot of Spider-Man and there are a lot of things similar to Peter Parker and Dex.  They both get involved in things that can put those around them in danger.  But they still have to do what they do and somehow live with it.  Anyway, while I was very sad about what they did to Rita, I can see it was a bold move and something that will shadow Dex forever now.[/spoiler]

Jobydrone

[spoiler]I like your analogy but the obvious difference is that Peter was (eventually) honest with the people around him who were then able to choose to stay with him and of course Dexter never gave Rita that option because he knew she never would have. I've watched the end of the episode and it seems clear that the show is going to let Dex off the hook.  I know it's early in the season and I will definitely keep watching but i am not thrilled with the direction the show has taken. It's still one of the best shows on television.  [/spoiler]
"I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal."  -Groucho Marx

Rico

Quote from: Jobydrone4of20 on September 27, 2010, 07:24:25 PM
[spoiler]I like your analogy but the obvious difference is that Peter was (eventually) honest with the people around him who were then able to choose to stay with him and of course Dexter never gave Rita that option because he knew she never would have. I've watched the end of the episode and it seems clear that the show is going to let Dex off the hook.  I know it's early in the season and I will definitely keep watching but i am not thrilled with the direction the show has taken. It's still one of the best shows on television.  [/spoiler]

I don't exactly agree....

[spoiler]Peter lied for years to many of his loved ones and that put them in danger many times.  Gwen Stacy is the biggest example of this.  But, I can see your point to a degree.  But seeing the rage and anguish in Dexter when he killed that loser in the bathroom in this opening episode I think showed how much this has affected him.  The guilt I think will be with him a very long time.  I'm not quite sure what you mean about letting Dexter off the hook.  If you mean the police, I don't think that is quite over.  As for Dex, he will blame himself forever.  I actually felt it was worse when he killed an innocent man in the past season than what happened to Rita.  But it's still gripping TV and I love how complex Dexter is.  I might not always like him or what he does, but I always care about him.  If that makes sense.  And I think that's what makes this show great.[/spoiler]

Jobydrone

#7
Ah yeah, poor Gwen. Kinda forgot about her and was thinking of May and Mary Jane.  It's a good analogy.

Let me try to explain...

[spoiler]I think Dexter realized that his greatest crime, of all the murders he's committed, was bringing the four innocents into his world and Rita has now paid the price for it. He knew at one point in the premiere that the kids would be better off with Deb or Rita's parents which was why he left, and I think that would have been the right move if he truly cared for them more than himself and his obsessions. This would have been the right thing to do, the moral thing, to deny himself the people he loved in order to protect them from the world he lives in. By returning to the funeral, allowing himself to be comforted by his loved ones, trying to return to his double life as a forensic specialist and a secret killer, he is committing another immoral act.  Strangely enough out of all the heinous crimes he's committed this is the one that causes me to lose my ability to root for Dexter and hope he comes out on top.  For the first time i feel like he truly deserves to be punished.  But it doesn't appear that he will be.  I guess that's what i mean by letting him off the hook.  Of course we still have nine or so more episodes to see where this all leads.  I can't wait. [/spoiler]
"I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal."  -Groucho Marx

Rico

Again, not really feeling the same as you...

[spoiler]I put Dexter in the same category as anyone else that has a dangerous "job" that could cause harm to their family.  The police are one example of this.  He can't help what he is.  And I think deep down he truly loved Rita and still loves the kids.  To leave them now wouldn't ring true to me.  He has to at least try to be a father for them.  Maybe it won't work out, but he has to try.  Again, I find him to be fascinating character and like Harry said in the recent episode, acting more human all the time.

On another area, I loved how we finally got to see how Rita and Dexter first met and their early relationship.  You could see a bond forming quickly even in those short scenes.  I was getting a bit misty watching them.  Like I said before I have a huge amount of sympathy for Dexter still.  Seeing how he deals with this guilt and extra burden now will be very interesting to watch.[/spoiler]

P.S.  Joby - I should just create our own Dexter area for just you and me.  LOL!

Jobydrone

Ha ha Rico, if you want to you can!  I love this show so much I could talk about it for a long time, and noone else I know is watching it.

[spoiler]I think you are minimizing his crimes and the potential effect that his lifestyle has on the people Dexter surrounds himself with.  How much worse can it get, his wife and the mother of his child is dead because he chose to involve himself with a psychotic serial killer!  Trying to be a father to the children without changing anything else about his life is doing them more harm than good.  We see the scene where his father tells him the opposite, that they need him, and Dexter decides to go back to the funeral and his life.  But there's no credible explanation as to why they need him, when Deb or Rita's parents are available and are not psychotic serial killers themselves. 

I posit that since Dexter's hallucinatory exchanges with his dead father are in his mind anyway, that what we are really seeing in that scene is Dexter's justificatioin in his own mind for continuing to put his loved ones in danger, and his rationalization for continuing to do the selfish thing because his greatest desire is to be normal.  It remains to be seen if Dexter can control himself, or if he even tries to. 
  [/spoiler]
"I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal."  -Groucho Marx

Rico

Hmmm....

[spoiler]I guess this is the thing for me.  Dexter has always been pretty darn careful about who he takes out.  These are not good people that he kills.  Now of course it's vigilante justice, but it allows him to fulfill his needs without in general taking innocent lives.  Think of the many lives he has actually saved by doing what he does.  A lot of them.  But yes, people around him can get hurt in the process.  Frankly, there are times when I hear something on the news about someone who has done terrible things either getting a light sentence or somehow getting away with it.  So maybe I'm more on Dexter's side in this.  Now of course, if this was just a show about a serial killer who killed just anyone I would feel much different.  But Dexter struggles every day with who he is where actually many people give in to things that cause much more harm to others around them.  But it's interesting to talk about.[/spoiler]

Jobydrone

You're absolutely right, and what you've described is the heart of the show and exactly what makes it so popular and successful.  They've taken an antihero and given him the ability to accomplish what many of us feel every day, and ultimately we can live vicariously through his actions to an extent.  I've felt the same way, the punishment rarely fits the crime these days.  We've got non violent drug offenders doing hard time and violent rapists out on the street over technicalities.  Dexter takes the anger we all feel at the injustices and does what (maybe) we all wish we could do too.  Season three examined this in detail with Jimmy Smitts as the DA seduced by Dexter's lifestyle and taking it to even greater extremes.  
"I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal."  -Groucho Marx

Jobydrone

[spoiler]well second episode and 2/3 of the kids are where they should be, so most of my concerns are allayed for the time being.  Not too swift of those detectives staring at the pics of "Kyle Butler" and not noticing the startling resemblance to our favorite forensic pathologist.  They've got other stuff on their minds though, I have feeling it won't be long before the shadow of suspicion falls towards Dex yet again. Seems like most of the loose ends are getting tied up and season five will start in earnest soon enough.[/spoiler]
"I'm not crazy about reality, but it's still the only place to get a decent meal."  -Groucho Marx

Rico

Well,.....

[spoiler]I think the kids will be back.  It makes sense for now for them to react they way they are, but I do think they will go back with Dexter in the end.  I find it pretty amazing at how easily Dexter sometimes runs into these nut job killers.  Perhaps he has some kind of "killer sense" like a spidey sense.  Another interesting episode and setting a few things into motion.  I thought they did a pretty good job with the sketches.  Obviously they had them look a little like Dex, but not completely.  He actually has a fairly average look, I think.  Anyway, looking forward to the next episode already. [/spoiler]

Rico

Dex continues to be really good.  A bit of a surprise at the end of yesterday's episode.  Joby - you caught up?