It would be expected that the series wanted to recover from a weak previous season and things even appeared to be that way: the discussion on religion was bringing a logical continuation to a character who looks for some type of redemption and of integration in a society in which he was to hide who he really is. The figure of Brother Sam, an individual who found in Faith the salvation for a criminal past, was offering the counterpoint necessary for the skeptical posture of our anti-hero while Travis and Geller were established like efficient villains, but not worthy at all of John Lithgow’s Trinity (spoiler alert in a minute). In this, Brother Sam is murdered and, while avenging him in a moment of absolute rage, Dexter is attacked by the black side of his Gloomy Passenger, before softened by the paternal figure, and now controlled by the image of his brother, the Ice Truck Killer.
Of the many aspects that bothered me, this was one of them: the tendency of the narrative not to fully follow its ideas. The religious discussion was only superficial; perhaps for the fear to irritate part of the audience, and even the fact of seeing Dexter taken over by is full criminal instinct was solved in a chapter. Worse than this, leaving plotlines half finished, in a pure waste of time and of talent of the cast: the imbroglio of Matthews served to prove Debra’s suitability and the dirty tricks of LaGuerta, but so what? Baptist and Quinn seemed out of a police comedy, the new detective did not serve for anything, the sister of the Baptista and the probationer of Masuka took up more time than they should and I don’t even want to think that this one is being prepared to be the next villain only because… he has not managed to impress Dexter!
Nothing of this compares to the stupidity of creating a romantic woof between the brothers Morgan. Ok, they are not really biological brothers, but - that the hell - they were raised together from an early age! And nothing of this was even hinted in the last years. Where did this appear, then? Of the necessity of establishing a conflict in Debra upon her discovery of her brother’s secret, perhaps because, in the minds of the dumbasses that wrote this piece of plot, fraternal love would not be sufficient. And there’s therapy sessions with the least articulated therapist in History (made me miss In Treatment) ably to convince the poor Debra that her dependence of the brother is… love! And almost give her orgasms in the presence of her brother, Jesus!
As for the revelation that Gellar is an hallucination of Travis, well… I had that feeling since the first chapter. If Dexter has his father to assist him, it would not be improper to think that a new murderer might have a similar one. However, the mere suspicion became something ridiculously obvious after they dragged the question weeks on end and it was shamefully to realize that Travis developed like a normal person let to commit atrocities in the name of the Faith (a courageous and ambitious topic), soon was turned into an equal grotesque schizophrenic psychopath like so many people others - a cowardly and lazy solution. And forgive me those who liked of having Debra discover that her brother is a murderer, but I would like that the situation had been built with more care and not that she decides, out of nowhere, to declare herself to her brother… and in the stage of the crime! In other words, this came with a season of delay, which increases more my irritation with the ways Dexter took in the last two years.
I do not deny that next season has an enormous potential, but I am afraid that the producers are going to arrange new forms of spoiling everything instead of taking it to good port. Dexter whom we knew is now in the Paradise of the Series together with LOST, Seinfeld, Friends and The Sopranos.
Quoting one of Dexter’s famous quotes:
Blood. Sometimes it sets my teeth on edge, other times it helps me control the chaos.
