For the past few seasons, I’ve been a little rough on Dexter. I’m sure I’ve come off like I hate the show more than once, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. I’ve loved this show since the first episode, almost like a father taking care of a particularly stupid child. And like this particularly stupid child, Dexter threw itself in front of traffic again and I just don’t feel like pulling it back anymore.
Whatever momentum this season has is gone. With the big reveal of who the Brain Surgeon really is, there is officially nothing left to worry about. Who were us fans to think that it could be someone right in front of Dexter that we would never suspect? Is it too much to ask for a twist that actually makes the show more interesting to watch? Because right now, we’re saddled with a villain who isn’t remotely interesting, especially since he’s just been properly introduced with three episodes left in the season.
My theory is that nobody told the writers this was supposed to be the final season, because nothing feels final. The stakes don’t feel any higher, nothing is on the line. That’s what best describes this whole season: nothing. It’s that last sip at the bottom of a bottle that’s mostly backwash.
Like everybody figured, the Brain Surgeon was involved with Vogel. The big reveal is that her oldest son Daniel is the villain, someone that Vogel totally forgot to mention despite that fact that almost everything about him makes it obvious he’s the killer. Oh, he killed your youngest son and felt no remorse because he’s a psychopath? Not important. The mental institution he was in burned down and you never saw his body? Probably no big deal. Seriously, the final shot of Vogel with Daniel next to her in her house is hardly surprising. She wouldn’t leave out that much information if she wasn’t trying to protect him.
Here’s where it gets stickier: Vogel doesn’t want Dexter to kill him. I understand, it’s her son. But come on, be real. Now’s not the time to be the ultimate hypocrite. She asked Dexter to help her find and kill the Brain Surgeon. Let him do the job you set out for him.
Not that Dexter has been acting any better. Now that Hannah’s around, he sounds like an obsessed middle schooler who probably carves hearts into his victims with a little “H + D 4evr” inside them. I didn’t care for Hannah returning, and now that the couple won’t stop talking about flying away and starting a new life, I feel like the series is preparing to take the easy way out. Dexter swears he’s going to kill Daniel and then start a new life, but I’m guessing it won’t go over that smoothly. Does it ever?
With the Daniel reveal, the Cassie murder is tied up nicely since he was her boyfriend. It hardly matters, though, because no one cared about Cassie. Her murder was unnecessarily complicated, making me wonder why Daniel went to such lengths to frame Zach just to kill him. Why even introduce Zach if he was going to die during the episode he actually became interesting?