Dexter Season Six (SPOILERS)

[Solo4114]

So, season 6 has begun, and I'm feeling...a bit mixed about it thus far. Granted, it's only been one episode, but here's my take. And yes, spoilers abound in this but hey, you've been warned.


So, for starters, Dexter himself. The whole "searching for God" thing is somewhat interesting. I'm curious to see if they actually do anything with it, or if Dex just stays his usual self after briefly flirting with it. I suspect the latter.

What I'm less sanguine about is how he's doing his kills. They're just getting kind of goofy. The EMTs, the guy from the high school while he's wearing (briefly) the mascot's mask? Just seemed a bit different-to-be-different.

And the scene with the girl who sat behind him in class? Who the hell wrote that? They should be seriously ashamed. As wacky as Dexter has been over the years, that has got to be one of the most contrived elements I've seen in the show. Also, Dexter's sudden overnight popularity and Harry's "Just elbow him in the nose and in the meantime, be popular!" thing?! Again, I'm forced to ask "WTF?"


Deb and Quinn are ok. I'm a little curious to see what happens there. But I was also a little concerned with the bit where Deb got shot in the shootout and nothing was done with that, except a quick cut to Dexter taking his kid to school. Again, sloppy writing. I do like that Deb seems a bit more laid back.


Batista and LaGuerta, though....ugh. I am SO sick of these two characters. Seriously, I do not care one whit what happens to them, and now the writers are just messing with crap to mess with it and dealing with it in a SERIOUSLY amateurish way. So, they patched it up at the end of last season, and now they're divorced in between seasons?! And suddenly Batista has a sister who just magically appeared out of nowhere, is smoking hot, and Batista's attracted to her?! What the hell?! Did the writers just stop giving a crap?

Masouka's still fun, of course, and I guess his hottie lab assistant will provide some nice eye candy, but still.


The ONE thing I'm seriously intrigued by -- and it's the thing that, upon further reflection, is keeping me from simply throwing in the towel on this show is the appearance of Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks. THIS storyline looks to be REALLY cool.

But the rest of the show? All filler, no killer. Very disappointing foot with which to lead off the season. On the upside, though, there is, I hope, nowhere to go but up.

 

[MattMunson]

That fruit stand? That's right off the freeway by an ex-girlfriends house. About a block or two away from Belmont Shores, where they film TONS of the exteriors for the show.

 

[Risu]

My plan for this season is not to let this thread ruin the show for me with all the negative crap, haha. I liked the first episode, liked the less strictly methodical kills. It's been a year, he's having fun with it. He's filling up the slide box and switching up his MO a bit to give the experience some flare.

"It's hammer time."

 

[Tank O' Guinness]

I liked it. 'nuff said.

 

[Agent RayBans]

I have to agree about Batista and LaGuerta. My only hope is that LaGuerta getting promoted means we will see her less.

Did Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter get divorced before or after this season was filmed? I wonder if that will eventually come through in their performances.

 

[JoeG]

That fruit stand? That's right off the freeway by an ex-girlfriends house. About a block or two away from Belmont Shores, where they film TONS of the exteriors for the show.

Yeah, I recognized that, too. It was the big power plant thing. Its right there off Studebaker and PCH.

I think the main plot of the Olmos/Hanks characters look promising, so I'll definitely watch this season. I was also pretty confused about the Batista La Guerta thing, but oh well. Looking forward to more.

 

[Rbeato]

I actually liked the fact that Harry was all for Dexter being popular, basically him being proud of his son. and he was just helping dexter in the football game to get a blood sample. I enjoyed the first scene with the emt's a lot. as far as la guerta and batista go, the actor of batista said at comic con that their relationship in this season is "spicy" so i dont think they are completely over. And Batista HAS ALWAYS HAD A SISTER, no secret there, he mentioned her before, but did say he didn't like her. I am just curious as to what happened to Sonia, and how Harrison is going to preschool at age 2. And the whole deb getting shot thing, ofcourse we will see what happens with that next episode. And yes this season will be based around religion, something dexter hasnt dealt with before which will be interesting. we see him in a church looking like he is praying with his kill knife in hand.....i think this season is going to be killer.

 

[Zombie_61]

I think the religion element was added because of the characters played by Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks; granted, we don't know much about them at this point, but I'm guessing their activities are somehow "faith/religious ritual" related. As for Dexter, at this point I think his interest is nothing more than trying to gain knowledge on how to raise Harrison in as "normal" a manner as possible. If I'm right about Olmos' and Hanks' characters, this knowledge will somehow come into play later in the season.

The whole LaGuerta/Batista thing doesn't bother me. I think the writers had them get married because they didn't know what else to do with them in previous seasons. Now that they're divorced, they can get back to being individual characters instead of "the couple".

As for Deb, based on her reaction and demeanor I think it was more of a "flesh wound caused by a bullet" than a "gunshot wound". Yet again she'll be the "hero of the day", especially considering she was wounded in action. The relationship between her and Quinn seems forced, as though the writers created Quinn as a replacement for Doakes but don't know what else to do with him. If/when Deb finds out Quinn is still suspicious of Dexter, the whole thing will implode anyway.

And yes, the vast majority of the show is filmed in southern California, not Miami. Dexter's apartment (the exterior, anyway) is/was originally in Miami, but a complete replica of the apartment (his apartment, not the entire building) was built at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, California, which is also the home of the exterior used as the Miami-Metro police station. Rita's house and the Morgan family home (where Dexter grew up after being adopted) are both in Long Beach, California, where the majority of location filming for Dexter is done. For anyone interested in seeing the actual locations, here's a website with a lot of detailed information:

Dexter Filming Locations: Main Menu

 

[Solo4114]

To be clear here. When I complain about the show, it's purely because I've seen what the show can do at its best, so when it deviates from that, it baffles me. They have (or have had) good writers, clearly. The cast is entirely capable. All of them are solid actors. But if you give 'em weak material...

I think the issue they're having is exactly what I'd mentioned in previous threads on this: they were starting to feel like they're treading water with the characters. Not much changing, not a lot of development, and not a lot of potential for drama. They've dropped storylines multiple times through recent seasons (Deb searching for Harry's past, Quinn pursuing Dexter, the Santa Muerte thing, etc.), which has always struck me as sloppy.

I do think that this season has the potential to be good, especially with the religious/cult-like elements. Olmos and Hanks seem to be...I dunno...maybe trying to usher in the apocalypse. Although I think "The Alpha and the Omega" are actually simply supposed to be about how God/****** is eternal (the beginning and the end), if memory serves, they're more colloquially associated with the apocalypse and end of days. So, these guys' killings could be based around trying to usher that in. All of that strikes me as really interesting.

What irritates me, though, is the sloppy approach to a lot of the other writing. The cheat of the "time jump" suddenly shuffling things up just to allow for more openings for drama (Batista and LaGuerta being the best example). That and some of the contrived elements on the show in that episode. I'm hoping that this is just them laying the groundwork for pushing things forward into the actual main storyline, and that there won't be as much side action this year.


To me, Season 1 is still the best season of the show, and that season focused almost exclusively on Dexter and the "A" story. That's what they need to get back to, and I'm hoping that they can do so after this episode.

 

[Jannix Quinn]

Remember two seasons ago when the guy who plays Quinn got that bizarre 'Turn me into a brown skeleton' disease?

Seems Batista caught it. He looks... wrong.

 

[Rbeato]

edwards james olmos is like some professor, and colin hanks is his student that follows and believes in his very words, and yes its religion based. i think the show is fine....i mean literally we are picking up a entire year since lumen left! a lot can happen in a year

 

[Agent RayBans]

‘Dexter’ Stalemate Between Michael C. Hall And Showtime Puts Show’s Future In Limbo – Deadline.com

 

[Rbeato]

yea agent raybans this has been discussed in other threads, its over 4mil that he wants more to do 2 more seasons, but with this being one of their biggest shows im sure they will give in

 

[Agent RayBans]

yea agent raybans this has been discussed in other threads, its over 4mil that he wants more to do 2 more seasons, but with this being one of their biggest shows im sure they will give in

Sorry for posting an already discussed topic then. I'm sure Showtime will give in one way or another, like you say Dexter is their bread winner right now.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

One thing that cannot be argued is that the writers often introduce story elements that are quickly disposed of - far too quickly. And often times they write many "jump the shark" moments.
last season's biggest Jump the shark moment is when Deb sees the footprint and from that figures out the whole "the killer must have an accomplice" theory.
No explanation as to why the season 5 Nanny is gone and Batista's divorce is all having me scratch my head. Sometimes I feel the writers only know what they are doing when the main character is involved. But I still love the show - I think they just need to tighten things up a bit and stay on track by truly commiting to story points they introduce and stop taking cheap ways out.

 

[Zombie_61]

Remember two seasons ago when the guy who plays Quinn got that bizarre 'Turn me into a brown skeleton' disease?

Seems Batista caught it. He looks... wrong.

I think they gave Desmond Harrington (Quinn) a heads-up before season four that he would be in love scenes with Courtney Ford (Christine Hill) and Jennifer Carpenter (Deb) and he decided he should be in better shape, but took it a bit too far; we commented at the start of season four that he'd lost so much weight that he looked unhealthy.

David Zayas (Angel Batista) might have lost a little weight, but he's still pretty beefy. He does have more of a beard this season, which makes his face look thinner, so maybe that's why you're thinking he's lost weight?

 

[Rbeato]

well putting Deb as LT was a shocker, but a good call with how she always is pretty much right MOST of the time when it comes to **** since becoming a detective.
Also to whomever posted the **** about how dumb it was of the writers for Dexter to wear the Panther head in the kill scene, it wasnt the writers M.C. Hall did it himself, he liked how his voice sounded in it all echoey and then took it off and back to reality kill time.
I do wish they let us know what happened with Sonia. and what is going on with Dexters apartment? its the same one but has another room now???

 

[DarkPassenger]

and what is going on with Dexters apartment? its the same one but has another room now???

I think that is something most novelists and writers call a fictional liberty. :lol

 

[Rbeato]

tyler said he bought the one next to it, so im guessing he probably added a door inbetween them, if this was real life lol

 

[Solo4114]

Good episode this past weekend. I think it was more of a return to form, and seemed a bit tighter. It could be the "Shock of the New" has worn off, and now I'm just letting the season roll along, but it seemed a bit more focused. I hope the LaGuerta thing just stays mostly gone. I'm really sick of her character (although the actress portraying her is terrific). I also REALLY hope that Deb and Quinn don't become the new Laguerta/Batista. This could also revive Quinn's obsession with "catching" Dexter, which would end....badly.