Great TV Shows With Terrible Storylines

Dexter: Angel Batista, Ladykiller

The overall quality of each season of Dexter changes about as drastically as, well, the actual seasons, but the general consensus has been that, from season two onward, the writers have had no idea what to do with all the characters who aren’t the charismatic serial killer. Granted, any storyline is going to pretty much pale in comparison to Michael C. Hall’s steely work as the title character, and all the side plots wove around his story neatly when following the original book for the first season. Once they diverged from the source material though, the writers showed they had a much better understanding of their star than just about anyone else on the show.

So many narrative cul de sacs and non-starter plots have been thrown at the wall to keep the supporting cast busy, it’s hard to pick just one as the worst. The never-ending sexual escapades of Detective Angel Batista have been the most enduring and least consequential storyline, one that’s been going pretty much since season two. It started out well enough, with Bautista getting into bed with Dexter’s psychotic ex, but rather than finding a new direction to take the character, the show basically had Bautista sleep his way through every season, whether it was with a vice cop he mistook for a hooker, or his superior officer, the equally unwritten Lieutenant LaGuerta.

A tenuous argument could be made that, as a morality play, the actions of those surrounding Dexter help to put his own into perspective. It’s just a shame that everyone else’s lives are always so criminally boring, and detached from the guilty bloodlust that is the show’s bread and butter.

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