I didn't like itDEXTER Season 2
April 29th 2009 06:30
Enjoyable as Season 1 was, I couldn't see anywhere for Season 2 to go without retreading the same old ground. But maybe that is precisely the point of Dexter, nothing changes for him, there is no escape, he will keep doing what he is doing until he gets caught. The first few episodes are surprisingly engrossing, subtly continuing to expand and explore the same themes of Season 1. Lila is a welcome addition to the cast, asking Dexter all the questions we ourselves would ask him, and refreshingly devoid of the standard knee-jerk righteous revulsion to murder exhibited by every other character in the series. This is a nod to realism, not indecency, because like it or not, in real life there would be no shortage of whack-jobs who would be glad to befriend Dexter.
The introduction of Lila pushes the show in the right direction, but unfortunately her character arc follows the typical guest role trajectory: crash in, get under everyone's skin, shake things up, then suddenly burn out before the season's end. What makes her role interesting is that even though she accepts Dexter's dark side and helps him come to terms with it, the central charade remains: Dexter's girlfriend still has no idea that he is a serial killer. That she doesn't care when she finds out is further proof that she is a far more interesting girlfriend than Rita. What a pity they had to stick to the formula and suddenly and inexplicably turn a realistic and complex character into a cliched deranged psycho girlfriend, conveniently writing her out of the series.
The second half of the season gets a bit silly, stretching the credibility of the show as Dexter repeatedly gets out of sticky situations through nothing but sheer luck, and any character that presents a problem for Dexter meets an untimely and morally convenient demise (Rita's boyfriend, Doakes, Lila), always at precisely the point where things threaten to get interesting. The only place left for this show to go is to force Dexter to break his code, or rather the writers' own code of censorship, and be forced to do something that really makes us not like him. I don't think I could sit through another season of the writers tying themselves in knots trying to get Dexter into as much trouble as possible while at the same time making sure he doesn't have to do anything truly despicable. So even though season two ends like season one, with Dexter forced to kill someone close to him, and even though Lila's murder feels somehow worse, more unnecessary and undeserved, than that of Dexter's brother, the danger doesn't feel real anymore, because we know that a) Dexter will never be caught, and b) he will never do anything really reprehensible like kill an innocent person or sympathetic character.
There are other weaknesses: the eccentric FBI investigator is a blatant Twin Peaks rip off. And Dexter's sister is becoming increasingly annoying. Where to from here? The only way forward is to end this show is with an ugly, confronting final season.
The introduction of Lila pushes the show in the right direction, but unfortunately her character arc follows the typical guest role trajectory: crash in, get under everyone's skin, shake things up, then suddenly burn out before the season's end. What makes her role interesting is that even though she accepts Dexter's dark side and helps him come to terms with it, the central charade remains: Dexter's girlfriend still has no idea that he is a serial killer. That she doesn't care when she finds out is further proof that she is a far more interesting girlfriend than Rita. What a pity they had to stick to the formula and suddenly and inexplicably turn a realistic and complex character into a cliched deranged psycho girlfriend, conveniently writing her out of the series.
The second half of the season gets a bit silly, stretching the credibility of the show as Dexter repeatedly gets out of sticky situations through nothing but sheer luck, and any character that presents a problem for Dexter meets an untimely and morally convenient demise (Rita's boyfriend, Doakes, Lila), always at precisely the point where things threaten to get interesting. The only place left for this show to go is to force Dexter to break his code, or rather the writers' own code of censorship, and be forced to do something that really makes us not like him. I don't think I could sit through another season of the writers tying themselves in knots trying to get Dexter into as much trouble as possible while at the same time making sure he doesn't have to do anything truly despicable. So even though season two ends like season one, with Dexter forced to kill someone close to him, and even though Lila's murder feels somehow worse, more unnecessary and undeserved, than that of Dexter's brother, the danger doesn't feel real anymore, because we know that a) Dexter will never be caught, and b) he will never do anything really reprehensible like kill an innocent person or sympathetic character.
There are other weaknesses: the eccentric FBI investigator is a blatant Twin Peaks rip off. And Dexter's sister is becoming increasingly annoying. Where to from here? The only way forward is to end this show is with an ugly, confronting final season.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I haven't caught up with season 2 of Dexter yet but did get a good laugh out of season 1.
I avoided reading your plot details for fear of spoilers but obviously your negative take on things leaves room for improvement in the series. There are after all worse shows to emulate than the almighty Twin Peaks...carpenters acting in teh first season made the sister a favourite of mine even if her choices were a little retarded.