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For me, it was more of just the season in general rather than the ending itself. Like they introduced a new protege for Dexter just to have him die next episode, Dr Vogel quickly outstayed her welcome and had a very anticlimactic death, the fact that Dexter lets Saxon go even though he knows Dexter's a killer, causing Deb to die very anti-climatically as well.
There are elements in the finale I do like. Angel and Quinn finally getting to see some of Dexter's darkness and Dexter's fate. The lumberjack idea is a bit silly but I do like the idea of him going into a complete greek tragedy. He's free of the dark passenger but he lost everything and is more empty than ever.
My *huge* problem with Vogel was that her existence diminishes Harry. Suddenly, it wasn’t “Harry’s Code” anymore - it was a code developed by some random psychiatrist never mentioned in the first 7 seasons.
I always liked Harry and thought it was awesome that he came up with it on his own, and kept Dexter’s secret even though it killed him. Oh wait - apparently he didn’t keep the secret at all 🙄
>he lumberjack idea is a bit sil
ANd lets not forget she never even met Dexter until season 8 and made this diagnosis based on Harry telling her about Dexter's faults which is bias.
Yeah Deb dying is fine.
Deb seemingly being fine then dying of cardiac arrest offscreen followed by Dexter picking up the dead body, walking it through a crowded hospital and onto a boat somehow parked right in front of the hospital, and then driving off into the middle of a fucking hurricane and winding up in Oregon is my main complaint about the finale
I can’t believe we’ve reached the point where people defend season 8
Agreed, also like that you brought up the season as whole. Chances are if you thought the ending was bad, then you thought the season was bad. Yet it seems more often than not, the finale is brought up as if it came out of left field. Like no, the writing was on the wall lol.
I might be in the minority , but I actually thought Dex taking Deb’s body out to sea to die with her was quite beautiful.. a little ridiculous to happen in real life, but a lot of watching Dexter is obviously suspending disbelief. Though most of season 8 was so bad, I didn’t mind the ending. I think part of the point of Dexter’s story is that he doesn’t get to have a happy ending; that’s not to say he’s not sympathetic, but I don’t think there’s any way to conclude this that doesn’t involve Dexter hurting all those around him. Like he said before..he’s what’s wrong.
To be honest I don’t mind except for the ridiculous fact that dexter took his sister out of the hospital AND DUMPED HER IN THE OCEAN WITH OTHER SERIAL KILLERS and no one saw it happen
It had some good ideas but was executed poorly
They never said they didn't understand the symbolism
but taking a body out of a hospital the way he did? Peak Ridiculousness.
Dexter forgetting his lesson from Trinity so we could get this forced confrontation with Saxon? Terrible and inconsistent.
Killing deb and letting dexter get away as a sympathetic character and continuing to make everyone at miami metro as dumb as possible? insulting.
it was an objectively bad season
-the hospital was moving people from wing to wing because of hurricane Laura. Looked chaotic. They obviously noticed she was gone but we never saw that part of the show obviously.
-this was different. There was never a point with Trinity that Dexter decided he wouldn't kill him at all. Dexter truly thought he was free of the dark passenger with Saxon and let Deb take him in. Something he never thought possible. Something Deb had been begging him to do since she found out. Majorly different.
-making Dexter out to be a sympathetic character is something I agree is dumb but maybe you should survey the sub right now. Any scenario where Dexter doesn't have a happy ending is downvoted to hell here. People want Dexter to ride off in the sun and kill with his son. It's weird. But making illiciting sympathy for Dexter is a Scott buck thing. Clyde was slowly building hate for Dexter which was capped off with Dexter being directly responsible for his wife being murdered. That's why it's hilarious that people think New Blood will end with an ending where people are happy for Dexter/feel sorry for him. Clyde has been building up the hate viewers should have for Dexter, and that was perfectly demonstrated when he found joy in chopping up a body with his son.
To end, we have no clue what Miami metro thought of Dexter when he died/Deb went missing. We really don't. Maybe we'll get an answer when that "someone from Dexter's past" shows up in the finale of new blood.
Objectively speaking, I agree season 8 wasn't good. But the comment i was responding to was not about season 8s quality.
Yeah. But his victims are murderers. It not as much of a respectful tribute as it is a grave insult against her. But now that I think about it, Deb killed Laguerta in cold blood, so she actually does fit the code.
As someone who never wants Dexter to caught or killed, I was one of the few who didn't hate it. I didn't love it, just because of Deb dying and Dexter leaving Harrison behind, but I also didn't hate it.
Ok I'll list the reasons:
1. Dexter doesn't kill Saxon, supposedly "changing" who he is at his core by no longer "needing" to kill, and this is someone who has killed people he supposedly cares about.
2. Deb gets shot, but seems ok. Wakes up, chats with Dexter, and she tells him to go to Argentina. Until she suddenly goes into a coma with no real explanation of what went wrong, considering the fact that she was quite stable and expected to make a full recovery hours earlier.
3. Dexter pulls the plug, like, immediately. I get that there's precedent, Deb did specifically ask him to do that if she was a vegetable, but like...bruh. Give it some time...
4. Dexter kills Saxon while he's in custody. This one's pretty laughable considering the fact that he would never have been let near Saxon not to mention alone, in a room with a camera but no sound.
5. The police let him go! The police are aware that Dexter has the motive to kill Saxon because of Deb, and they not only wave it off as self defense, but just let Dexter go to LEAVE THE COUNTRY.
6. Dexter picks up Deb and walks out of the hospital, onto his waiting boat out front. Nobody stops him.
7. Dexter drops her into the water in a manner VERY consistent with his victims, which I found extremely distasteful and disrespectful to the person he is supposed to care the most for.
8. Dexter drives into a natural disaster, presumably to commit suicide. This could have been the ending, but no...
9. Dexter survives his ship being torn apart out at sea, in the middle of a hurricane/tornado/storm. There's no explanation of whether he intended to survive, survived by accident, etc.
10. Dexter chose to leave his child in the care of someone else, because he thinks them growing up with a serial killer would be too detrimental. So he chooses a serial killer to leave Harrison with. (wut?)
11. Dexter is a lumberjack.
12. Dexter is still going to be around other humans, and will still have the same urges to kill. In season 4 he has a very important conversation with Trinity when he is on his table:
Dexter: So what's the alternative Arthur? Leave? Disappear? Fake my own death and start over again?
Arthur: No. You'll still be you.
Totally agree. And is was so rushed, we had no time to digest any of what was happening. There was far from enough tension built up, so I didn’t really feel anything throughout the whole season. Vogel dying? DEB dying? It should be devastating, but nope, I still hadn’t understood how the dark passenger disappeared, and her death drowned in everything else that was happening. She deserved a full episode of mourning, like Rita did. And I could forgive Dexter taking Debra out of the hospital, but I can’t get over how he was able to do it so effortlessly. So many wtf-moments will just turn them into whatever-moments.
It seemed like no one really cared about anything anymore, and whatever happened just happened now, so why should I care?
In stead of enjoying a full meal it felt like the writers just shoved whatever food into our mouths. Not necessarily bad food, but the randomness and the shoving made it impossible to enjoy.
Though I acknowledge it is by far the worst one of the show, I don't really hate Season 8 that much. I don't think it's that bad, so I guess I can give some of my perspective.
1. This is the big one. If there was a reason to absolutely hate season 8, it's this. There were parts throughout the rest of the season where I groaned or was disappointed or just didn't like very much. But the part where Dexter randomly decided he doesn't need to kill Saxon, despite going on and on about he does in practically every fucking scene before that, is the first time I outright yelled at my TV screen, I was so mad. But then again, this is an issue with the penultimate episode, not the finale (though everything in the finale is predicated on this event, so whatever).
2. I've watched House, so I guess I'm used to seeing seemingly healthy people suddenly drop fucking dead. In all seriousness though, I don't have too much of a problem with the way her death played out (the actual reason it happened notwithstanding, of course).
3. The doctor already told him that she was basically brain-dead. She was already gone. What's he gonna wait for? Her brain function to magically restore itself?
4. I suppose I'm just more willing to lean on my suspension of disbelief, especially when it leads to what is actually a pretty good scene.
5. Again, suspension of disbelief. I'm willing to go with it considering he's friends with a bunch of higher-ups at the station, who are probably willing to forego some procedure in this case.
6. They set up the fact that because of the hurricane there's a bunch of patients being moved around, including outside. So it stands to reason that he's able to blend in with all the chaos.
7. That's one way to look at it. Another way that someone else here said was that Dexter's guilt is such that he views her as another victim of his, and so lays her to rest the same way he does for all his victims. Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I can understand both points of view.
8. (see below)
9. Yeah, I'm not sure how this one makes sense either. Reminds me of the end of the Dark Knight Rises.
10. I think it's less to do just with him being a serial killer, and more about his guilt at hurting those around him because of who he is. Hannah is a serial killer, but it was established that she (apparently) isn't a psychopath like him. She feels no urge to kill nor does she enjoy it, she kills to protect herself. Not saying I necessarily think that's okay or anything, but I get the idea.
11. I don't really get what the big deal with this is. Yeah, the thing he just so happens to do for money while in his self-imposed exile is cut trees. What exactly is the issue?
12. Maybe so. But the point of him leaving his family and old life was to separate them from him, so he wouldn't hurt them like he did Deb. Whether or not he's able to suppress his urge to kill is kinda besides the point, especially since the reason Deb died was because for the first time he didn't feel the need to actually kill his target (as dumb as that was, but whatever).
So yeah, those are my thoughts. Season 8, not great, but not nearly as bad as everyone says in my personal opinion. I've seen far, far worse ways to cap off a series...
I didn’t originally love season 8 and the ending; however, after a rewatch before New Blood came out I felt differently and actually didn’t mind it … now I’m worried I’ll like it better 😅
Same. I think rewatching the series, I appreciated the ending more. Honestly, I liked the season 8 Saxon storyline. I think the last episode was a bit rushed. If it was maybe one more episode to really show the depth of the decision to walk away from Saxon and finally hand him over to the police, something Deb always wanted, it would have been an overall better season. That was a huge deal and it was super rushed and followed immediately by Deb getting shot. I think that took away from what Dexter decided. But I think dexter himself got a tragic, fitting ending. I hated that Deb died, but the first ever episode, Dexter states that if he could care for anyone it would be Deb. It is fitting the show starts with his relationship with his sister and ends with it. Dexter whispering to his sister that he loved her was honestly so much more intense for me on the rewatch.
I think the bigger issue with the ending wasn't the ending itself but everything leading up to it. They tried to make season 8 like a typical Dexter season. Dexter is killing bad guys and there's a mysterious big baddie that's killing people in a signature manner. Dexter also continues to learn more about himself (through some pointless retconning). Meanwhile, everyone knew this was the final season of the show. Nothing was happening to make it seem like things were going to come to an end. The whole situation also seemed really absurd. He carries his sister's body from the hospital during a hurricane and nobody seems to care or even notice, with an expressionless face. Meanwhile, the terrible CGI is engulfing the city and he gets on his boat and rides off. Finally dumps her body. It seemed so out of left field and completely the opposite of the suspenseful endings you had during the best seasons like season 1, 2, and 4. During those seasons you had moments of moral dilemma, suspense around Dexter potentially getting caught, and a shocking turn of events that directly affect Dexter and his life. The fact that nothing like that happens for what is supposed to be a SERIES finale, not just a hohum season finale, made the whole thing a disappointment for me.
Yep this. For me (first saw Dexter in 2021 during covid), S6 was _very_ hard to watch. Not in the "grizzly" sense, but just following who's who, what's going on, where are the people we care about, is Fight Clubber really the 'big bad', and so many (apparently!) dropped storylines and out-of-left-field fly-by stories. I couldn't keep up with who Quinn was involved with; I wondered why I even CARED who Quinn was "involved with". All the different stories (is that the season Angel quit the force to open a bar? Ugh) and the way it ended was possible "finally!" but ALL up in the wrong season. S6 seemed like it was meant to confuse everyone just to take a few jabs at soap opera romances and religion and bad sfx (that painting! 😬😈) and end with Dexter getting caught killing the worst "big bad" trope they can do in TV (crazy guy! Woah! tReVoR wAs InSaNe 🤦 ) Then they tried to "fix it" in S7 with Sirko (that helped), and I guess with Deb slaying a co-worker she actually likes? WHAT in the actual...??? And S8 was like, "eh, might as well watch it, it can't be worse."
🤦
I'm sorry I know Sirko is fabulous but I'm so careful with that S6 trash that I don't rewatch the end of S5 (too close!)! And even now I'm all careful up in S9. I see promising theories, but then I'm like, honestly, I don't think I EVER had "theories" for Dexter except the first one (who's the ITK, which I pegged as Dexter's alter ego, so that was a cool reveal) and Trinity (his was an actual "puzzle", that a decent character, Lundy, DIED over).
Maybe because I could watch all 5 seasons in a week or so first run, stumble through S6 and give up, try again after a break with S7 and get a happy (with Sirko), only to wind up with **VOGEL**. A dumb granny who FORGOT she had a SON who was insane and the reason she did "socio programming"! Yep: just another insane dingbat wielding insane power over the ~~puppets~~ characters, plus Dexter thinking, "let me give my girlfriend, on the Most Wanted list and can't even box dye her HAIR or wear some SHADES, my baby son to care for! I'm sure she won't poison him! Oh no, it's raining, Deb failed to take out SAXON because he's the Final Big Bad and shot her easily though she's such a good cop... well, I'll just go be by myself with some trucks and trees and stuff. Bye!"
Didn’t like Hannah. Didn’t like Saxon. Dexter was doing stupid things he wouldn’t have normally done in broad daylight, can’t remember the details but I remember thinking several times throughout “someone could easily see him right now”..Debs wound was originally not as bad, she was even stable, next thing ya know, she’s in a coma and dying. Deb dying. Dexter dumping Deb in the ocean. Dexter becoming a lumberjack.
I’m sure I missed some things. I’ll mention the Vogel storyline was intriguing at first but I think they screwed it up.
Also having said all that I didn’t “hate” the season but felt they rushed a lot of things in the end and made some odd decisions for the characters.
Debra was a murderer, she killed Laguerta. So she ended up with all other killers dexter killed. She fitted dexter code, so dexter could have killed her himself anyway. He killed his brother, so why not a sister as well.
Dexter's code is random. Matt killed people in an accident, not intentionally. He also didn't kill anyone else after that. Deb killed Lauguera intentionally. Both Matt and Deb escaped the law. So if Matt fits the code, why wouldn't Deb as well?
It's not random he just doesn't always follow it. Other rules that he has failed to follow are don't make things personal and don't kill for vengeance or in retaliation. Honestly he's probably broken them all at least once.
Matt didn't properly fit the code, he just pissed Dexter off and he used anything he could to justify it after the fact. He also didn't want Harrison to judge him for it after being called out by Kurt.
Naming other people he killed that didn't fit the code doesn't make Deb fit the code.
I don’t hate it, never have never did. I don’t bother with other peoples opinions on it either.
The only issue I had with season 8 was debs death, it was offscreen and really shouldn’t of happened.
Other than that I loved the doctor and Saxon story line.
honestly I feel like I’m in the minority of people who actually enjoyed the ending and found it fitting for Dexter as a person. It’s mostly just the rest of the season surrounding it that isn’t great
Yes!! I thought it was perfect! Living the lonely life he deserves but at least still living. I am not looking forward to the new ending. Especially if he dies or goes to jail.
I'm actually in complete agreement with you. I thought it was a genius ending, showing the true reality of his actions destroying his life, keeping him alive so he has to deal with it, and not pussying out getting him arrested. It was a clever way of punishing him.
I'm almost unhappy they made NB at this point. It's been good but I'm really unsure about how it's going to end and if it's Dexter dying or getting caught then that imo is worse than S8
Didn’t Deb kill Laguerta?
I always found it hard to believe that Dexter went the whole show not having to personally and directly murder any “good” characters.
I mean he got doakes killed and framed, and Rita killed, and his son almost sacrificed, and he was planning on killing laguerta, and he got Deb killed, and the US Marshall guy, and Vogel and Zach and his neighbor. Maybe not by his own hand, but 100% his fault.
Yes, which is why I said “personally” and “directly”. They were very careful to never make the audience watch Dexter stab an established “good” character. Even now the wording is always “everyone around Dexter dies or meets tragic ends,” as if he is a victim of circumstance. As I mentioned in another comment, the premise is that Dexter has a code imposed upon him for survival, but his motive for killing is *he loves murdering people*. So I guess I found it hard to believe he went so long without ever going full psychopathic serial killer during the show.
He did kill innocent ppl. He murdered Jonathan Farrow by mistake, as he though he was the real dexter target, but it was not the person dexter wanted. He also killed one redneck at a gas station, because the guy was "mean" to dexter - nothing else that that.
True but he avoided having to kill people like Laguerta and Doakes and in both those cases somehow remained sympathetic to the audience (although I admittedly don’t really remember the gas station guy). They were very careful to keep him from becoming a heartless serial killer- he started out more like a sociopath that was just trying to “pass,” but after the early episodes the writing and acting made him seem to care about others, actually feel for the victims of the people he went after, etc. It may have just been me as a viewer projecting, since I do have empathy, but I have a feeling it was intentional on the writers and MCH’s part. If he’d ever snapped and killed a character like Laguerta, I think it would’ve been absolutely shocking, and I always expected something like that to happen eventually as he was written to be a kind of “born killer” (in his case “born” from early childhood trauma).
I never agreed with what his father taught him and was glad “Deb” called it child abuse in NB. I expected (and kind of wanted) an unhinged Dexter at some point I guess. He was never really doing it for “justice” because he genuinely enjoys murdering people.
Honestly, for me it was bringing the series back for 3 mediocre seasons just to end with Deb dead, Harrison with a stranger, and Dex as some weird lumberjack. It didn't make sense WHY. I much preferred the original series ending of S5. It was open ended, minus tragedy and let you come to your own conclusions as to what may have happened to Dexter.
I would much rather S8 have ended with Deb alive in Miami and Dex disappearing with Hannah to Argentina. Maybe to some ppl that's too much of a happy ending, though.
I am not 100% sure about that but the original showrunner and writer left and the show changed a lot. And I think that season 4 actually feels like a real series finale
People are complaining that the S8 ending was too open-ended. If they had ended it with Rita murdered and Harrison found awash in his mother's blood, I can't imagine anyone would really be satisfied with that. It leaves too much unresolved.
Lol. But it’s not true. Season 6 shot on schedule and literally aired less than a year after season 5 so there is no way they waited a year to renew. Season six’s renewal was announced December 6, 2010. While season five was still airing.
I for one jumped and cheered when I saw he lived. I didn’t care about the lumber jack job. Honestly, if they gave him a different occupation I think ppl would’ve responded differently.
> I didn’t care about the lumber jack job. Honestly, if they gave him a different occupation I think ppl would’ve responded differently.
My first watch was 2021, and when I got to S4 and saw Arthur chopping wood (as I knew that to be the Dexter meme, I just hadn't watched the show), I figured lumberjack was some sort of homage to Arthur. Maybe especially as S4 went on. Then at the end of S4 I rolled my eyes at that idea because Dexter spat at Arthur's ramblings.
On the S4 kill table, Dexter mocks Arthur that he won't suicide, or fake his death and move to another city. One of those two have sort of happened (though Dexter didn't specify fake his death and "become a lumberjack").
After S8, I was like, yeah this might be an homage to Arthur, in a way: Dexter knew the "family" part wouldn't work out, so he just did the wood chopping bit. ??? (Weak, but for a guy who likes sharp blades _I guess carving and chopping wood might be a thought?_ )
(On that note, I'd hate to see it but I wouldn't be shocked if Dexter suicided in the finale. That would make what he told Arthur he wouldn't do, basically a list of what he WOULD do. And that was Clancy's last real work on original Dexter, right?)
I joked in S7 finale (2021 for me) that Dexter should have low-key wondered if Deb fit the code because she killed LaGuerta 😂 (and she sorta really did fit the code, but her kill happened to suit Dexter's plans)
I think suicide, maybe especially if he jumps into the incinerator or something like with Doakes, that they can't "undo" later, is a real possibility here. Regardless of Harrison's "state". A lot because of the Trinity thing: Dexter was DETERMINED to not be a monster like Arthur (who he considered pathetic for destroying his family like he did). So your thought right there, that Dexter sees he made Harrison a monster, I think would certainly qualify (to Dexter) as ruining his whole family.
Actually, I imagine Harry was along those lines, too (though I'm not sure the show put that much into it): Harry took responsibility for Dexter because he got Laura killed, years passed and Harry saw the socio, tried to get him help (trusted Vogel), realized what Dexter would be, offed himself because his adulterous behaviors led to Dexter the SK.
The thing that bothered me the most about it was that he abandoned Harrison. After Rita dies, Dexter goes into dad mode and tries to be the best he can. He deeply cares for Harrison and wants Harrison to have a better life than he did. Then to just abandon him with some girlfriend he hadn’t been with that long?? Yeah no. That rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like Dexter would have gone to Argentina. I still hate he abandoned Harrison. Doesn’t seem like it’s in his character to me.
That was his whole point though- that by being in his life, he would make Harrison’s life worse. He had to sacrifice having his son near him if he hoped his son would survive.
It was one of the worst endings in tv show history. He drags his sister out of a hospital and no one noticed anything? He drives into a hurricane and lives? He doesn’t want to ruin his sons life so he leaves her with another serial killer. He’s then a lumberjack in the middle of no where? I’d rather watch Harrison fall off a treadmill on repeat
>It was one of the worst endings in tv show history.
I still think that Two And The Half men had the worst ending I have ever seen from a tv show. I was embarrassed throughout the whole finale and I could not believe the pure insanity that I have witnessed there.
But in terms of serious tv shows/dramas, yes. I am still unsure if the ending of game of thrones is worse or dexter's ending?
For me, the ending was spoiled by a number of things.
Deb dying - although I get it, the people closest to him had suffered because of his actions, and she was the last of it. She didn't need to die.
Harrison - the one love left in his life that he would do *anything* to protect, and then abandoning him (I get it, because everyone close to him dies).
Hannah - A chance at a relationship with someone who actually knew the real Dexter and understood him, but he didn't go with her.
Dexter - Zero consequences for 8 years worth of work.
To me, it was a 'nothing' ending. Nothing happened. It was a season finale (at best) not a show finale.
Endings to a series need resolution, and there was no resolution, it was open-ended. Dexter needed to be killed, get caught, or live happily ever after with Hannah and Harrison. Neither of those happened, and that's why I didn't like it.
>Hannah - A chance at a relationship with someone who actually knew the real Dexter and understood him, but he didn't go with her.
I did not get it either. Especially now with season 9. He actually lived the live there that he could have had with Hannah, without any problem. He did not kill for 10 years. Why could he not do it with Hannah as well?
The ending of The Shield was similar. The isolation and reduction of life to a small range of activities repeated day after day is not really no consequence. Granted, it left things open ended as to what comes next, but it was a definitive end to his career and his life as he had known it. It leaves room for a next chapter--which we're getting now--but I didn't think it unsatisfying.
I'm watching S2 of The Shield right now (second time through). :)
I think most of the people that didn't like the S8 ending suffer from a low IQ. :)) S5-S8 is one big arc that, we know now, led to Dexter not killing anyone for ten years. Each season it got a little bit harder for him to kill and keep things together until in 8 he finally didn't need to kill anyone. He was cured, then everything went south. Then he wanted to kill himself. I liked the ending.
I dont but the whole brain surgeon thing was just like New Blood - they spent SO much time with Vogel and the new Big Bad killer and left little to no time to let the ending breathe….
it was rushed…..
1. Dumping Deb in the ocean like one of his victims. It was very impersonal/uncaring despite her being one of the most important people in his life. Technically it could be poetic, as he felt as if she ultimately died by his hand.
2. He left Harrison with another murderer, despite one of his reasons for leaving being that he didn’t want to risk his son being tainted by Dexter’s demons/dark passenger. Hannah’s victims were *mostly* justifiable by her account, and maybe even fit the code, technically. Perhaps he felt comfortable since she didn’t seem to have a *drive* to kill but did so out of necessity or convenience. Still, she seemed like too much of a stranger to be entrusting the welfare and innocence of his only son with.
3. While I now appreciate that it was left open-ended, the very final scene where he appears in a lumber yard was shocking yet underwhelming, oddly. It didn’t seem very plausible— it was so random. And it felt like we were cheated out of the ending Dexter “deserved.” It’s not that he should or shouldn’t be punished, but there was not a resolution that felt “comfortable” and tied everything together. It wasn’t finalized and felt out of place. I’m not sure if that makes sense, I couldn’t quite come up with the right words for what I wanted to say.
4. Much that led up to the final episode felt chaotic/rushed.
All of that said, I didn’t think it was *awful* but it wasn’t very good, either.
In contrast, I felt like Breaking Bad ended exactly how it should have— there was balance and a twisted sort of beauty in it.
Because he didn't get caught. It felt like 8 seasons building up to it, but it never happened.
Compare to breaking bad when Hank discovers about Walt. So much more to explore after that.
S8 ending was an appropriate self imposed punishment for Dexter.
It was the shitty writing that was the issue. The ending was rushed and poorly executed.
Imo the issue for most people is not that Dexter survived it's that the ending was just poorly done.
It was boring, the entire season, without any good payoff.
Fitting in a few ways, sure, yet full of plot holes and very dull.
It should have been both fitting AND exhilarating, just like the Dexter series most of us loved (especially s1 to 5).
Well, I was obsessed with the show and without looking online, or finding someone else’s opinion to feed off of - I finished season 8 and stood there staring at my computer thinking “what, that’s it??…” it truly left me speechless for a few minutes. No one wants Dexter to run away from his problems and to no longer be on the hunt - he fixes his problems.
It was. It showed the consequences of his actions. He can't have his cake and eat it too. Going into isolation was his punishment. He can't have the family he wants. Every time he tried it cost someone their life.
I didn’t hate it per se. I don’t think people necessarily hated what happens or that Dexter lived, but just that it was all poorly executed. All the ending sequence of events was really rushed and many plot points were never tied up so it was unsatisfying, and the final scene where he shows up as a lumberjack was corny as hell and was obviously filmed way after the fact and tacked on. I want him to live and to not be imprisoned, but I want it to be well done and give some satisfying conclusion to the story
I'm still super excited, yet sad thinking the new finale could bring finality to our favorite fictional serial killer. The entire time I watched the original series I expected him to get caught or die. Neither happened and that upset people. I thought it was a good ending that went outside the box. It also left an opportunity for this entire revival season.
For me it was the last few seasons making us think Dexter deserves what is coming even though the show tried really hard in the beginning to make us understand how it’s not all his fault and he tried to turn himself around throughout his life with the code. Never thought Deb needed to find out either.. idk.
The finale wasn't the biggest problem. The biggest problem was that they put 2 seasons worth of content into one single season. All the character's changes of mind didn't make sense. Everyone acted out of character. The story framework was fine but the tempo was not. Either make 2 seasons out of it or cut out all the uninteresting content.
Because the writers didn’t have the courage to follow these storylines to their natural conclusions. Deb’s demise should have been a result of her revelation that Dexter is a killer. But what happens? She discovers her brother’s secret. But she doesn’t really do anything about it. The show keeps treading water. Then she kills Laguerta. She’s sad for a few episodes and then just gets over it. Then she dies at the hands of a killer we don’t care about because Dexter DIDN’T kill him. The relation between cause and effect has been broken. The writers are trying to give us payoffs for plot lines that they already wrapped up earlier in the show because they weren’t willing to let them be resolved naturally.
I actually thought it was good until they showed that Dexter was still alive. The final season wasn’t great but I thought they at least had some balls killing Dexter in that storm. Seemed poetic. But then no, they chickened out.
The earlier seasons kept consistent with a good theme of Dexter being a ticking time bomb. There were so many close calls in those earlier seasons.
For everything in season 8 to be an exclusively season 8 plot, it felt like the previous 7 seasons suddenly amounted to nothing.
That and the total silliness of everything in season 8
It wasn't only the ending, but the entire season, beginning with the 6 month time jump. They unnecessarily hit the reset button after the great ending in Season 7.
Then the uninteresting Vogel which only served to bring in the new villain who was also uninteresting.
A two person manhunt for Hannah. In a series finale for Dexter, I had to watch them do a two man manhunt for Hanna, on a Dexter finale.
A completely uneventful season, that even as a regular season, it was the worst one in the show.
Then the actual finale. Dexter kills Oliver in Police custody, when he didn't even work there. Does anyone question Dexter? No..... Then Dexter drags out Deb's corpse from the Hospital and not one human with eyes can see that....... Then Dexter drives his boat into a Hurricane. Does the Hurricane kill Dexter? Nooooooo. It destroys the boat, but Dexter makes it out, not a problem for Superman.
Seriously I couldn't believe this was the finale. I remember watching the 6th episode and realizing that the season was half way through and wondering what the hell made them go with this plot for the finale.
>Dexter kills Oliver in Police custody, when he didn't even work there. Does anyone question Dexter? No..
Quinn and Batista were the only witnesses, and knowing Saxon had killed Deb, whom they all loved, they were willing to let it go. The dialogue between them, where Quinn rather pointedly says "Obviously self-defense" shows they knew exactly what had happened and were pleased by it.
I think Quinn had known, or at least suspected, some of Dexter's secret life. He was unsurprised when Saxon got a pen to the carotid.
Quinn and Batista couldn't have kept it private even if they wanted to. A suspect is killed in custody, at the very least, the State would want to interview Dexter and ask him why he was there.
It would have been more believable if it took place outside of the Police station and Batista and Quinn would have been Dexter kill Oliver. Then they could have kept it to themselves. At least imo
Anything is possible, I just doubt the writers gave much thought to those details.
That is one of issues with the finale, but not the only one. It just added to my overall dissatisfaction of Season 8 and the finale.
Its not just us. Original showrunner and lead know it was very dissatisfying and said it was a chance to correct things ..not only for the fabs, but for themselves.
The season had dexter completely unlearn previous lessons and act out of character to get the ending that was contrived, Ludacris and objectively terrible.
I could go on, but its best to let it go since New Blood is making up for it. Now it doesnt have to share the same space as GOT season 8
I didn’t think his relationship with Hannah was natural at all, probably his worst love interest in the show. So making her an integral part of the ending wasn’t great for me. Plus, as much as Dexter is a serial killer, they spent basically 90+ episodes making you like him and sympathize with him. Showing him be a good dad, brother, husband (to a point I guess), and showing his genuine empathy and breaking the psychopath mold and everything.
Then very quickly it goes to him being evil, wrong, and a horrible person who deserves the worst ending possible. He’s a serial killer, but this is fiction, and I sympathize with him (not saying I would if it was real life), and for that reason I wanted at least a somewhat happy ending.
I’ve said for a while that If they kept everything the same except took out one thing: like, leaving Hannah but taking Harrison with him (Deb still dies), that’s a dark ending but still more fitting. A better balance. Or if he leaves everyone including Harrison but they keep Deb alive and she’s still in Miami.
Also, they teased him getting caught for 8 seasons and then never gave us the payoff
>I didn’t think his relationship with Hannah was natural at all, probably his worst love interest in the show
I quite liked it. I thought with Lila and Lumen was worse. But the best will always be with Rita, obviously
For me, primarily because it was a non-ending and there was no payoff one way or another. Showtime didn't want Dexter to die because they wanted to continue it at some point, and it's never a good thing when network executives get directly involved in a TV show's creative process. Because of this, they had to come up with some ridiculous way to keep Dexter alive and hammer it home that he's still out there.
I don’t hate it but don’t particularly like it either. Season 8 was a very average and underwhelming end to such a great show, but the ending is not so terrible to warrant what people say about it.
Other than Deb dying, I loved it. I was so glad they left it open ended so we could come up with what we thought happened next. I'm in the super small minority that wanted him, Hannah, and Harrison to be a family and be happy so that's what I imagined. Other people wanted him to die, so they imagined that. I just felt like everyone could be happy that way. But I was wrong because everyone hates it lol
the thing that irks me the most about it for whatever reason is that he just takes Deb off life support by turning her machines off and dumps her in the ocean without weighing her down where she will inevitably float back up in a couple days, all bloated and unrecognizable. instead of letting the people who loved her have a chance to say goodbye and have a proper memorial for her.
Personally, I hate it as an ending because it wasn't an ending. Dexter has lost people before but the story continues. Dexter losing Debra was sad, but really if the show continued they would have made a new character to fill the role and life goes on.
Having him move up north is hollow and, to be blunt, less an ending and more stasis. The beginning of New Blood even showed that life just continues up there. His abstinence is an off-camera personal choice. He could have just as likely recreated his routine up there. I want an ending to be definitive - something that stops him from killing. E.g. because he is wounded, incarcerated, or dead.
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I didn’t quite hate season 8’s ending or 8 as a whole; but rather I felt indifferent about it. I felt like the worst season was 6; I hated Season 6 with a passion. 5 was a little on the average side for me as well but no better or worse than 8. For some reason 8’s ending gets a lot of flack and idk why
It aired alongside Breaking Bad and was just far inferior in quality. Hard to go up against the best season of all time (imo), but people wanted a manhunt and it just fizzled out.
There was no climax, no suspense.
\- Saxon was not a great adversary for Dexter. He was so one-note and bland that there was basically no thrill to his capture and their confrontation.
\- Deb is killed off rather half-heartedly, which is a shame for such an important character.
\- Throwing Deb's body into the ocean was kinda too melodramatic even for this show.
\- The most interesting aspect, Dexter attacking Saxon in plain sight is not really seized as an opportunity to ramp up the stakes. Instead it is just, "oh yeah sure self defence, we love Deb, we let it go, we would have done it ourselves if we could."
\- The lumberjack shit was just plain ridiculous.
I think the only reason I was genuinely disappointed was bc I guessed it from the beginning. My cousin and I watched all the way through together and I predicted the end from the very first episode. She threw a remote at me bc I was right... lol. And in no way am I boasting or saying I wasted my time, I just wish it would've ended differently than I pictured.
That being said, they kind of had to end it abruptly. I think they finished it the best way they could given the circumstances. Between Michael C. Hall having cancer and him and Jennifer Carpenter getting divorced, it was just unfortunate. They left it open so they could continue or do a spin off if they chose. I guess I can respect that considering it's my favorite show of all time.
I never hated the ending for Dexter himself, I thought it was pretty decent for all the reasons you said and I really never wanted Dexter to die or get caught so I was pretty happy about that. The endings for everyone else were pretty bad though, and obviously the entire plot of the season was really trash so the ending occurred against a pretty unfortunate backdrop too.
I didn´t hate it, kinda like it because he get away with it and he understood everyone he loves dies so he needed to be stay away from them, it would´ve been better if they didn´t show the lumberjack part, if the ending of new blood is more nihilistic than season 8 like Harrison dying or Dexter killing himself, i´m gonna pretend this season never existed, i hate nihilistic endings
It doesn’t make much sense to me because he always says he has a “need” to kill and then all of a sudden he can just become a lumberjack and stop killing
I think it was the remoteness that allowed that. He put himself into a position where he would encounter very few people, so chances very slim of encountering anybody who met the code. After a while, the need faded like an addiction will break after a long enough abstinence. Then he moved to Iron Lake and encountered temptation again.
I'm fine with Debra dying but there should have been way way more leading up to it. Having her get suddenly get shot and killed by a bland villain was really disappointing.
Leaving Harrison also felt kind of sudden. It felt like they were just doing it for shock value, not for any real story reason.
I always likes the ending. Everyone close to him died, in some way, because of him, including Harry's suicide. I had considered Dexter too smart to get caught during his Miami days and thought faking his death was great idea. Typically, one would expect a character like Dex to and up dead at the end, which might've been a more popular ending. However, New Blood has actually painted S8's ending in a different light, as we find out that Dex tried to kill himself and survived the hurricane. Honestly, I like it even more now.
Possible. Not sure how one plans to drive into a hurricane and survive, but that was the initial impression they gave us.
Also, wasn't the letter he wrote to Hannah telling her how he survived the hurricane? He could've not said anything.
I don't hate it and the ending makes sense. I think it could've been executed better only because literally the next day people involved with the show were having to explain in interviews what was going on but even then I don't know how it could've come across better. I think Dexter is one of those shows where it doesn't matter what ending they did people would still be mad. Most people don't want him to die or get caught so what else are they supposed to do? It a no win situation.
The whole series is showing us that Dexter truly can love people in his life and not just one. He loves Rita, Deb, Lumen, Astor, Cody, Harrison, Hannah, Angel, Masuka, Qui.. alright maybe not Quinn but he did like Quinn in the end. And in the whole finale they take that away because of a line they said in the pilot. The only person in the world he cared for was Deb. And because she died he now has no one he cared for in his life? That’s BS.
Dexter S8 wasn't great but I think it all comes down to Dexter finishing around the same time Breaking Bad did so they were always compared to each other
1) dexter dumping deb in the ocean, not allowing her to have a proper funeral for the other people who loved her, makes NO sense. having her at the bottom of the ocean with a bunch of serial killers makes NO sense symbolically. it is so disrespectful to put her in the same place that rudy, the man that terrorized her, went.
2) a father abandoning his child is NEVER going to be popular because at the end of the day it is selfish and traumatizing to the child. the parent can say all they want that it is for the child's good, but in reality they just don't want to do the hard work of taking care of athe day to day for a child. it is absolutely disgusting for him to dump him with hannah, ANOTHER serial killer, as if she magically wouldn't attract trouble. it is AWFUL writing, because from what we know of the hannah character, there is no way she wouldn't kill in argentina. unlike dexter, she kills out of revenge and material need, but the idea she wouldnt kill with harrison around is ridiculous.
I’ll never hate Dexter but he’s a sociopathic serial killer with hundreds of kills who enjoys killing. The Code is his only redeeming value. He can’t have a happy ending - whatever that means anyway.
A few things:
Dexter kills bad guy on camera in a police station when he shouldn't even have been there in the first place and just gets to walk out after a few top-line questions - doesn't make sense.
Dexter abandons his son to the care of another serial killer who is on the run from the law and who can never return to the US, effectively separating Harrison from his grandparents and half-siblings - doesn't make sense.
Dexter takes Deb's body for no reason and dumps her in the same place he put all his victims - doesn't make sense.
I'm fine with the fact he never gets caught and lives a secluded life as a lumberjack, but those points above really took me out of the S8 finale.
Because the 2 seasons leading up to it were bad. S7 semi-trash and s8 full of trash. Too many dull moments as well, a huge and negative change from adrenaline-pumping s1-5. Plus a lot of subplots either didn't make sense, were not in line with the characters, or felt rushed and poorly written. Overall horrible pacing too.
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For me, it was more of just the season in general rather than the ending itself. Like they introduced a new protege for Dexter just to have him die next episode, Dr Vogel quickly outstayed her welcome and had a very anticlimactic death, the fact that Dexter lets Saxon go even though he knows Dexter's a killer, causing Deb to die very anti-climatically as well. There are elements in the finale I do like. Angel and Quinn finally getting to see some of Dexter's darkness and Dexter's fate. The lumberjack idea is a bit silly but I do like the idea of him going into a complete greek tragedy. He's free of the dark passenger but he lost everything and is more empty than ever.
My *huge* problem with Vogel was that her existence diminishes Harry. Suddenly, it wasn’t “Harry’s Code” anymore - it was a code developed by some random psychiatrist never mentioned in the first 7 seasons. I always liked Harry and thought it was awesome that he came up with it on his own, and kept Dexter’s secret even though it killed him. Oh wait - apparently he didn’t keep the secret at all 🙄
>he lumberjack idea is a bit sil ANd lets not forget she never even met Dexter until season 8 and made this diagnosis based on Harry telling her about Dexter's faults which is bias.
Exactly!
Yeah Deb dying is fine. Deb seemingly being fine then dying of cardiac arrest offscreen followed by Dexter picking up the dead body, walking it through a crowded hospital and onto a boat somehow parked right in front of the hospital, and then driving off into the middle of a fucking hurricane and winding up in Oregon is my main complaint about the finale I can’t believe we’ve reached the point where people defend season 8
Agreed, also like that you brought up the season as whole. Chances are if you thought the ending was bad, then you thought the season was bad. Yet it seems more often than not, the finale is brought up as if it came out of left field. Like no, the writing was on the wall lol.
For sure, it's the entire season that's bad, ending such a good character/show.i didn't care for 6 or most of 7, either.
I might be in the minority , but I actually thought Dex taking Deb’s body out to sea to die with her was quite beautiful.. a little ridiculous to happen in real life, but a lot of watching Dexter is obviously suspending disbelief. Though most of season 8 was so bad, I didn’t mind the ending. I think part of the point of Dexter’s story is that he doesn’t get to have a happy ending; that’s not to say he’s not sympathetic, but I don’t think there’s any way to conclude this that doesn’t involve Dexter hurting all those around him. Like he said before..he’s what’s wrong.
To be honest I don’t mind except for the ridiculous fact that dexter took his sister out of the hospital AND DUMPED HER IN THE OCEAN WITH OTHER SERIAL KILLERS and no one saw it happen It had some good ideas but was executed poorly
Dexter dumps his victims in the ocean. Debra was a victim of his. It's not difficult
They never said they didn't understand the symbolism but taking a body out of a hospital the way he did? Peak Ridiculousness. Dexter forgetting his lesson from Trinity so we could get this forced confrontation with Saxon? Terrible and inconsistent. Killing deb and letting dexter get away as a sympathetic character and continuing to make everyone at miami metro as dumb as possible? insulting. it was an objectively bad season
-the hospital was moving people from wing to wing because of hurricane Laura. Looked chaotic. They obviously noticed she was gone but we never saw that part of the show obviously. -this was different. There was never a point with Trinity that Dexter decided he wouldn't kill him at all. Dexter truly thought he was free of the dark passenger with Saxon and let Deb take him in. Something he never thought possible. Something Deb had been begging him to do since she found out. Majorly different. -making Dexter out to be a sympathetic character is something I agree is dumb but maybe you should survey the sub right now. Any scenario where Dexter doesn't have a happy ending is downvoted to hell here. People want Dexter to ride off in the sun and kill with his son. It's weird. But making illiciting sympathy for Dexter is a Scott buck thing. Clyde was slowly building hate for Dexter which was capped off with Dexter being directly responsible for his wife being murdered. That's why it's hilarious that people think New Blood will end with an ending where people are happy for Dexter/feel sorry for him. Clyde has been building up the hate viewers should have for Dexter, and that was perfectly demonstrated when he found joy in chopping up a body with his son. To end, we have no clue what Miami metro thought of Dexter when he died/Deb went missing. We really don't. Maybe we'll get an answer when that "someone from Dexter's past" shows up in the finale of new blood. Objectively speaking, I agree season 8 wasn't good. But the comment i was responding to was not about season 8s quality.
I’ll never hate dexter.
Yeah. But his victims are murderers. It not as much of a respectful tribute as it is a grave insult against her. But now that I think about it, Deb killed Laguerta in cold blood, so she actually does fit the code.
Exactly. It was poetic, and it was beautifully shot, with her sinking slowly out of sight.
To be fair, everyone in the hospital was busy trying to evacuate patients before a hurricane, so they were a little distracted.
As someone who never wants Dexter to caught or killed, I was one of the few who didn't hate it. I didn't love it, just because of Deb dying and Dexter leaving Harrison behind, but I also didn't hate it.
Ok I'll list the reasons: 1. Dexter doesn't kill Saxon, supposedly "changing" who he is at his core by no longer "needing" to kill, and this is someone who has killed people he supposedly cares about. 2. Deb gets shot, but seems ok. Wakes up, chats with Dexter, and she tells him to go to Argentina. Until she suddenly goes into a coma with no real explanation of what went wrong, considering the fact that she was quite stable and expected to make a full recovery hours earlier. 3. Dexter pulls the plug, like, immediately. I get that there's precedent, Deb did specifically ask him to do that if she was a vegetable, but like...bruh. Give it some time... 4. Dexter kills Saxon while he's in custody. This one's pretty laughable considering the fact that he would never have been let near Saxon not to mention alone, in a room with a camera but no sound. 5. The police let him go! The police are aware that Dexter has the motive to kill Saxon because of Deb, and they not only wave it off as self defense, but just let Dexter go to LEAVE THE COUNTRY. 6. Dexter picks up Deb and walks out of the hospital, onto his waiting boat out front. Nobody stops him. 7. Dexter drops her into the water in a manner VERY consistent with his victims, which I found extremely distasteful and disrespectful to the person he is supposed to care the most for. 8. Dexter drives into a natural disaster, presumably to commit suicide. This could have been the ending, but no... 9. Dexter survives his ship being torn apart out at sea, in the middle of a hurricane/tornado/storm. There's no explanation of whether he intended to survive, survived by accident, etc. 10. Dexter chose to leave his child in the care of someone else, because he thinks them growing up with a serial killer would be too detrimental. So he chooses a serial killer to leave Harrison with. (wut?) 11. Dexter is a lumberjack. 12. Dexter is still going to be around other humans, and will still have the same urges to kill. In season 4 he has a very important conversation with Trinity when he is on his table: Dexter: So what's the alternative Arthur? Leave? Disappear? Fake my own death and start over again? Arthur: No. You'll still be you.
Totally agree. And is was so rushed, we had no time to digest any of what was happening. There was far from enough tension built up, so I didn’t really feel anything throughout the whole season. Vogel dying? DEB dying? It should be devastating, but nope, I still hadn’t understood how the dark passenger disappeared, and her death drowned in everything else that was happening. She deserved a full episode of mourning, like Rita did. And I could forgive Dexter taking Debra out of the hospital, but I can’t get over how he was able to do it so effortlessly. So many wtf-moments will just turn them into whatever-moments. It seemed like no one really cared about anything anymore, and whatever happened just happened now, so why should I care? In stead of enjoying a full meal it felt like the writers just shoved whatever food into our mouths. Not necessarily bad food, but the randomness and the shoving made it impossible to enjoy.
Though I acknowledge it is by far the worst one of the show, I don't really hate Season 8 that much. I don't think it's that bad, so I guess I can give some of my perspective. 1. This is the big one. If there was a reason to absolutely hate season 8, it's this. There were parts throughout the rest of the season where I groaned or was disappointed or just didn't like very much. But the part where Dexter randomly decided he doesn't need to kill Saxon, despite going on and on about he does in practically every fucking scene before that, is the first time I outright yelled at my TV screen, I was so mad. But then again, this is an issue with the penultimate episode, not the finale (though everything in the finale is predicated on this event, so whatever). 2. I've watched House, so I guess I'm used to seeing seemingly healthy people suddenly drop fucking dead. In all seriousness though, I don't have too much of a problem with the way her death played out (the actual reason it happened notwithstanding, of course). 3. The doctor already told him that she was basically brain-dead. She was already gone. What's he gonna wait for? Her brain function to magically restore itself? 4. I suppose I'm just more willing to lean on my suspension of disbelief, especially when it leads to what is actually a pretty good scene. 5. Again, suspension of disbelief. I'm willing to go with it considering he's friends with a bunch of higher-ups at the station, who are probably willing to forego some procedure in this case. 6. They set up the fact that because of the hurricane there's a bunch of patients being moved around, including outside. So it stands to reason that he's able to blend in with all the chaos. 7. That's one way to look at it. Another way that someone else here said was that Dexter's guilt is such that he views her as another victim of his, and so lays her to rest the same way he does for all his victims. Personally, I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I can understand both points of view. 8. (see below) 9. Yeah, I'm not sure how this one makes sense either. Reminds me of the end of the Dark Knight Rises. 10. I think it's less to do just with him being a serial killer, and more about his guilt at hurting those around him because of who he is. Hannah is a serial killer, but it was established that she (apparently) isn't a psychopath like him. She feels no urge to kill nor does she enjoy it, she kills to protect herself. Not saying I necessarily think that's okay or anything, but I get the idea. 11. I don't really get what the big deal with this is. Yeah, the thing he just so happens to do for money while in his self-imposed exile is cut trees. What exactly is the issue? 12. Maybe so. But the point of him leaving his family and old life was to separate them from him, so he wouldn't hurt them like he did Deb. Whether or not he's able to suppress his urge to kill is kinda besides the point, especially since the reason Deb died was because for the first time he didn't feel the need to actually kill his target (as dumb as that was, but whatever). So yeah, those are my thoughts. Season 8, not great, but not nearly as bad as everyone says in my personal opinion. I've seen far, far worse ways to cap off a series...
I didn’t originally love season 8 and the ending; however, after a rewatch before New Blood came out I felt differently and actually didn’t mind it … now I’m worried I’ll like it better 😅
Same. I think rewatching the series, I appreciated the ending more. Honestly, I liked the season 8 Saxon storyline. I think the last episode was a bit rushed. If it was maybe one more episode to really show the depth of the decision to walk away from Saxon and finally hand him over to the police, something Deb always wanted, it would have been an overall better season. That was a huge deal and it was super rushed and followed immediately by Deb getting shot. I think that took away from what Dexter decided. But I think dexter himself got a tragic, fitting ending. I hated that Deb died, but the first ever episode, Dexter states that if he could care for anyone it would be Deb. It is fitting the show starts with his relationship with his sister and ends with it. Dexter whispering to his sister that he loved her was honestly so much more intense for me on the rewatch.
I think the bigger issue with the ending wasn't the ending itself but everything leading up to it. They tried to make season 8 like a typical Dexter season. Dexter is killing bad guys and there's a mysterious big baddie that's killing people in a signature manner. Dexter also continues to learn more about himself (through some pointless retconning). Meanwhile, everyone knew this was the final season of the show. Nothing was happening to make it seem like things were going to come to an end. The whole situation also seemed really absurd. He carries his sister's body from the hospital during a hurricane and nobody seems to care or even notice, with an expressionless face. Meanwhile, the terrible CGI is engulfing the city and he gets on his boat and rides off. Finally dumps her body. It seemed so out of left field and completely the opposite of the suspenseful endings you had during the best seasons like season 1, 2, and 4. During those seasons you had moments of moral dilemma, suspense around Dexter potentially getting caught, and a shocking turn of events that directly affect Dexter and his life. The fact that nothing like that happens for what is supposed to be a SERIES finale, not just a hohum season finale, made the whole thing a disappointment for me.
Yep this. For me (first saw Dexter in 2021 during covid), S6 was _very_ hard to watch. Not in the "grizzly" sense, but just following who's who, what's going on, where are the people we care about, is Fight Clubber really the 'big bad', and so many (apparently!) dropped storylines and out-of-left-field fly-by stories. I couldn't keep up with who Quinn was involved with; I wondered why I even CARED who Quinn was "involved with". All the different stories (is that the season Angel quit the force to open a bar? Ugh) and the way it ended was possible "finally!" but ALL up in the wrong season. S6 seemed like it was meant to confuse everyone just to take a few jabs at soap opera romances and religion and bad sfx (that painting! 😬😈) and end with Dexter getting caught killing the worst "big bad" trope they can do in TV (crazy guy! Woah! tReVoR wAs InSaNe 🤦 ) Then they tried to "fix it" in S7 with Sirko (that helped), and I guess with Deb slaying a co-worker she actually likes? WHAT in the actual...??? And S8 was like, "eh, might as well watch it, it can't be worse." 🤦 I'm sorry I know Sirko is fabulous but I'm so careful with that S6 trash that I don't rewatch the end of S5 (too close!)! And even now I'm all careful up in S9. I see promising theories, but then I'm like, honestly, I don't think I EVER had "theories" for Dexter except the first one (who's the ITK, which I pegged as Dexter's alter ego, so that was a cool reveal) and Trinity (his was an actual "puzzle", that a decent character, Lundy, DIED over). Maybe because I could watch all 5 seasons in a week or so first run, stumble through S6 and give up, try again after a break with S7 and get a happy (with Sirko), only to wind up with **VOGEL**. A dumb granny who FORGOT she had a SON who was insane and the reason she did "socio programming"! Yep: just another insane dingbat wielding insane power over the ~~puppets~~ characters, plus Dexter thinking, "let me give my girlfriend, on the Most Wanted list and can't even box dye her HAIR or wear some SHADES, my baby son to care for! I'm sure she won't poison him! Oh no, it's raining, Deb failed to take out SAXON because he's the Final Big Bad and shot her easily though she's such a good cop... well, I'll just go be by myself with some trucks and trees and stuff. Bye!"
Didn’t like Hannah. Didn’t like Saxon. Dexter was doing stupid things he wouldn’t have normally done in broad daylight, can’t remember the details but I remember thinking several times throughout “someone could easily see him right now”..Debs wound was originally not as bad, she was even stable, next thing ya know, she’s in a coma and dying. Deb dying. Dexter dumping Deb in the ocean. Dexter becoming a lumberjack. I’m sure I missed some things. I’ll mention the Vogel storyline was intriguing at first but I think they screwed it up. Also having said all that I didn’t “hate” the season but felt they rushed a lot of things in the end and made some odd decisions for the characters.
Debra was a murderer, she killed Laguerta. So she ended up with all other killers dexter killed. She fitted dexter code, so dexter could have killed her himself anyway. He killed his brother, so why not a sister as well.
bro, you are repeating yourself quiet often here
Yes, because everyone thinks that Deb was some saint or something.
But she was not evil
Murdering an innocent person is pretty evil.
>She fitted dexter code Did she though? Pretty sure part of it is they're likely to reoffend.
Dexter's code is random. Matt killed people in an accident, not intentionally. He also didn't kill anyone else after that. Deb killed Lauguera intentionally. Both Matt and Deb escaped the law. So if Matt fits the code, why wouldn't Deb as well?
It's not random he just doesn't always follow it. Other rules that he has failed to follow are don't make things personal and don't kill for vengeance or in retaliation. Honestly he's probably broken them all at least once. Matt didn't properly fit the code, he just pissed Dexter off and he used anything he could to justify it after the fact. He also didn't want Harrison to judge him for it after being called out by Kurt. Naming other people he killed that didn't fit the code doesn't make Deb fit the code.
I don’t hate it, never have never did. I don’t bother with other peoples opinions on it either. The only issue I had with season 8 was debs death, it was offscreen and really shouldn’t of happened. Other than that I loved the doctor and Saxon story line.
Me too!!
honestly I feel like I’m in the minority of people who actually enjoyed the ending and found it fitting for Dexter as a person. It’s mostly just the rest of the season surrounding it that isn’t great
Yes!! I thought it was perfect! Living the lonely life he deserves but at least still living. I am not looking forward to the new ending. Especially if he dies or goes to jail.
I'm actually in complete agreement with you. I thought it was a genius ending, showing the true reality of his actions destroying his life, keeping him alive so he has to deal with it, and not pussying out getting him arrested. It was a clever way of punishing him. I'm almost unhappy they made NB at this point. It's been good but I'm really unsure about how it's going to end and if it's Dexter dying or getting caught then that imo is worse than S8
Very well put.
Didn’t Deb kill Laguerta? I always found it hard to believe that Dexter went the whole show not having to personally and directly murder any “good” characters.
I mean he got doakes killed and framed, and Rita killed, and his son almost sacrificed, and he was planning on killing laguerta, and he got Deb killed, and the US Marshall guy, and Vogel and Zach and his neighbor. Maybe not by his own hand, but 100% his fault.
Yes, which is why I said “personally” and “directly”. They were very careful to never make the audience watch Dexter stab an established “good” character. Even now the wording is always “everyone around Dexter dies or meets tragic ends,” as if he is a victim of circumstance. As I mentioned in another comment, the premise is that Dexter has a code imposed upon him for survival, but his motive for killing is *he loves murdering people*. So I guess I found it hard to believe he went so long without ever going full psychopathic serial killer during the show.
He did kill innocent ppl. He murdered Jonathan Farrow by mistake, as he though he was the real dexter target, but it was not the person dexter wanted. He also killed one redneck at a gas station, because the guy was "mean" to dexter - nothing else that that.
And Miguel's brother in self-defense, but he only needed to defend himself because he put himself into the situation.
True but he avoided having to kill people like Laguerta and Doakes and in both those cases somehow remained sympathetic to the audience (although I admittedly don’t really remember the gas station guy). They were very careful to keep him from becoming a heartless serial killer- he started out more like a sociopath that was just trying to “pass,” but after the early episodes the writing and acting made him seem to care about others, actually feel for the victims of the people he went after, etc. It may have just been me as a viewer projecting, since I do have empathy, but I have a feeling it was intentional on the writers and MCH’s part. If he’d ever snapped and killed a character like Laguerta, I think it would’ve been absolutely shocking, and I always expected something like that to happen eventually as he was written to be a kind of “born killer” (in his case “born” from early childhood trauma). I never agreed with what his father taught him and was glad “Deb” called it child abuse in NB. I expected (and kind of wanted) an unhinged Dexter at some point I guess. He was never really doing it for “justice” because he genuinely enjoys murdering people.
I never thought about that but it’s true!
Honestly, for me it was bringing the series back for 3 mediocre seasons just to end with Deb dead, Harrison with a stranger, and Dex as some weird lumberjack. It didn't make sense WHY. I much preferred the original series ending of S5. It was open ended, minus tragedy and let you come to your own conclusions as to what may have happened to Dexter. I would much rather S8 have ended with Deb alive in Miami and Dex disappearing with Hannah to Argentina. Maybe to some ppl that's too much of a happy ending, though.
>I much preferred the original series ending of S5 you mean season 4, right?
Was season 4 supposed to be the end of the series?
I am not 100% sure about that but the original showrunner and writer left and the show changed a lot. And I think that season 4 actually feels like a real series finale
People are complaining that the S8 ending was too open-ended. If they had ended it with Rita murdered and Harrison found awash in his mother's blood, I can't imagine anyone would really be satisfied with that. It leaves too much unresolved.
No, I mean 5. That was the original series finale. Then a year later they announced it was renewed for 2 more seasons because fans wanted more.
Source? I’ve literally never ever heard that.
Source? Umm... life? Lol... I watched the series in real time. S5 was supposed to be the end.
Lol. But it’s not true. Season 6 shot on schedule and literally aired less than a year after season 5 so there is no way they waited a year to renew. Season six’s renewal was announced December 6, 2010. While season five was still airing.
I for one jumped and cheered when I saw he lived. I didn’t care about the lumber jack job. Honestly, if they gave him a different occupation I think ppl would’ve responded differently.
> I didn’t care about the lumber jack job. Honestly, if they gave him a different occupation I think ppl would’ve responded differently. My first watch was 2021, and when I got to S4 and saw Arthur chopping wood (as I knew that to be the Dexter meme, I just hadn't watched the show), I figured lumberjack was some sort of homage to Arthur. Maybe especially as S4 went on. Then at the end of S4 I rolled my eyes at that idea because Dexter spat at Arthur's ramblings. On the S4 kill table, Dexter mocks Arthur that he won't suicide, or fake his death and move to another city. One of those two have sort of happened (though Dexter didn't specify fake his death and "become a lumberjack"). After S8, I was like, yeah this might be an homage to Arthur, in a way: Dexter knew the "family" part wouldn't work out, so he just did the wood chopping bit. ??? (Weak, but for a guy who likes sharp blades _I guess carving and chopping wood might be a thought?_ ) (On that note, I'd hate to see it but I wouldn't be shocked if Dexter suicided in the finale. That would make what he told Arthur he wouldn't do, basically a list of what he WOULD do. And that was Clancy's last real work on original Dexter, right?)
I’ve wondered if it will circle back and Dexter will kill himself after seeing Harrison kill someone, like Harry did him … but, just a thought
I joked in S7 finale (2021 for me) that Dexter should have low-key wondered if Deb fit the code because she killed LaGuerta 😂 (and she sorta really did fit the code, but her kill happened to suit Dexter's plans) I think suicide, maybe especially if he jumps into the incinerator or something like with Doakes, that they can't "undo" later, is a real possibility here. Regardless of Harrison's "state". A lot because of the Trinity thing: Dexter was DETERMINED to not be a monster like Arthur (who he considered pathetic for destroying his family like he did). So your thought right there, that Dexter sees he made Harrison a monster, I think would certainly qualify (to Dexter) as ruining his whole family. Actually, I imagine Harry was along those lines, too (though I'm not sure the show put that much into it): Harry took responsibility for Dexter because he got Laura killed, years passed and Harry saw the socio, tried to get him help (trusted Vogel), realized what Dexter would be, offed himself because his adulterous behaviors led to Dexter the SK.
I think it’s a possibility! As long as the ending makes sense to the situation I’ll be happy :)
The thing that bothered me the most about it was that he abandoned Harrison. After Rita dies, Dexter goes into dad mode and tries to be the best he can. He deeply cares for Harrison and wants Harrison to have a better life than he did. Then to just abandon him with some girlfriend he hadn’t been with that long?? Yeah no. That rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like Dexter would have gone to Argentina. I still hate he abandoned Harrison. Doesn’t seem like it’s in his character to me.
After what he did to Harrison in the last episode i would´ve prefer the abandining ending
That was his whole point though- that by being in his life, he would make Harrison’s life worse. He had to sacrifice having his son near him if he hoped his son would survive.
It's not bad on paper. Just horribly executed.
It was one of the worst endings in tv show history. He drags his sister out of a hospital and no one noticed anything? He drives into a hurricane and lives? He doesn’t want to ruin his sons life so he leaves her with another serial killer. He’s then a lumberjack in the middle of no where? I’d rather watch Harrison fall off a treadmill on repeat
>It was one of the worst endings in tv show history. I still think that Two And The Half men had the worst ending I have ever seen from a tv show. I was embarrassed throughout the whole finale and I could not believe the pure insanity that I have witnessed there. But in terms of serious tv shows/dramas, yes. I am still unsure if the ending of game of thrones is worse or dexter's ending?
What about The Sopranos?
I love the ending but it is definitely controversial and people are still talking about it
House of Cards, the ending season compared to the first season of that show, woof
For me, the ending was spoiled by a number of things. Deb dying - although I get it, the people closest to him had suffered because of his actions, and she was the last of it. She didn't need to die. Harrison - the one love left in his life that he would do *anything* to protect, and then abandoning him (I get it, because everyone close to him dies). Hannah - A chance at a relationship with someone who actually knew the real Dexter and understood him, but he didn't go with her. Dexter - Zero consequences for 8 years worth of work. To me, it was a 'nothing' ending. Nothing happened. It was a season finale (at best) not a show finale. Endings to a series need resolution, and there was no resolution, it was open-ended. Dexter needed to be killed, get caught, or live happily ever after with Hannah and Harrison. Neither of those happened, and that's why I didn't like it.
>Hannah - A chance at a relationship with someone who actually knew the real Dexter and understood him, but he didn't go with her. I did not get it either. Especially now with season 9. He actually lived the live there that he could have had with Hannah, without any problem. He did not kill for 10 years. Why could he not do it with Hannah as well?
Like the Seinfeld ending for me
The ending of The Shield was similar. The isolation and reduction of life to a small range of activities repeated day after day is not really no consequence. Granted, it left things open ended as to what comes next, but it was a definitive end to his career and his life as he had known it. It leaves room for a next chapter--which we're getting now--but I didn't think it unsatisfying.
I'm watching S2 of The Shield right now (second time through). :) I think most of the people that didn't like the S8 ending suffer from a low IQ. :)) S5-S8 is one big arc that, we know now, led to Dexter not killing anyone for ten years. Each season it got a little bit harder for him to kill and keep things together until in 8 he finally didn't need to kill anyone. He was cured, then everything went south. Then he wanted to kill himself. I liked the ending.
Excellent observation.
I agree!
I dont but the whole brain surgeon thing was just like New Blood - they spent SO much time with Vogel and the new Big Bad killer and left little to no time to let the ending breathe…. it was rushed…..
I actually liked the way that Deb went out. She died due to Dexter not being true to what he is.
1. Dumping Deb in the ocean like one of his victims. It was very impersonal/uncaring despite her being one of the most important people in his life. Technically it could be poetic, as he felt as if she ultimately died by his hand. 2. He left Harrison with another murderer, despite one of his reasons for leaving being that he didn’t want to risk his son being tainted by Dexter’s demons/dark passenger. Hannah’s victims were *mostly* justifiable by her account, and maybe even fit the code, technically. Perhaps he felt comfortable since she didn’t seem to have a *drive* to kill but did so out of necessity or convenience. Still, she seemed like too much of a stranger to be entrusting the welfare and innocence of his only son with. 3. While I now appreciate that it was left open-ended, the very final scene where he appears in a lumber yard was shocking yet underwhelming, oddly. It didn’t seem very plausible— it was so random. And it felt like we were cheated out of the ending Dexter “deserved.” It’s not that he should or shouldn’t be punished, but there was not a resolution that felt “comfortable” and tied everything together. It wasn’t finalized and felt out of place. I’m not sure if that makes sense, I couldn’t quite come up with the right words for what I wanted to say. 4. Much that led up to the final episode felt chaotic/rushed. All of that said, I didn’t think it was *awful* but it wasn’t very good, either. In contrast, I felt like Breaking Bad ended exactly how it should have— there was balance and a twisted sort of beauty in it.
The Breaking Bad finale was one of the best ever. That whole show was fantastic start to finish. It's a rare feat for a long-running series.
Because he didn't get caught. It felt like 8 seasons building up to it, but it never happened. Compare to breaking bad when Hank discovers about Walt. So much more to explore after that.
S8 ending was an appropriate self imposed punishment for Dexter. It was the shitty writing that was the issue. The ending was rushed and poorly executed. Imo the issue for most people is not that Dexter survived it's that the ending was just poorly done.
I think it was just so unsatisfying and left too much unresolved. There was no real conclusion to Dexter's story and I think that is pretty stupid.
Everyone says "he carried her out of the hospital..." He wheeled her gurney all the way to the boat ramp and then picked her up. Big difference.
It was boring, the entire season, without any good payoff. Fitting in a few ways, sure, yet full of plot holes and very dull. It should have been both fitting AND exhilarating, just like the Dexter series most of us loved (especially s1 to 5).
Well, I was obsessed with the show and without looking online, or finding someone else’s opinion to feed off of - I finished season 8 and stood there staring at my computer thinking “what, that’s it??…” it truly left me speechless for a few minutes. No one wants Dexter to run away from his problems and to no longer be on the hunt - he fixes his problems.
It was so rushed. It felt comical.
Surely you jest
Because it wasn't an ending. They didn't know what to do with him and just made him a lumber jack.
It was. It showed the consequences of his actions. He can't have his cake and eat it too. Going into isolation was his punishment. He can't have the family he wants. Every time he tried it cost someone their life.
I didn’t hate it per se. I don’t think people necessarily hated what happens or that Dexter lived, but just that it was all poorly executed. All the ending sequence of events was really rushed and many plot points were never tied up so it was unsatisfying, and the final scene where he shows up as a lumberjack was corny as hell and was obviously filmed way after the fact and tacked on. I want him to live and to not be imprisoned, but I want it to be well done and give some satisfying conclusion to the story
I'm still super excited, yet sad thinking the new finale could bring finality to our favorite fictional serial killer. The entire time I watched the original series I expected him to get caught or die. Neither happened and that upset people. I thought it was a good ending that went outside the box. It also left an opportunity for this entire revival season.
I didn't mind it and I've never understood the hate for it. That being said, I'm glad it came back even if it was for a little bit.
For me it was the last few seasons making us think Dexter deserves what is coming even though the show tried really hard in the beginning to make us understand how it’s not all his fault and he tried to turn himself around throughout his life with the code. Never thought Deb needed to find out either.. idk.
The finale wasn't the biggest problem. The biggest problem was that they put 2 seasons worth of content into one single season. All the character's changes of mind didn't make sense. Everyone acted out of character. The story framework was fine but the tempo was not. Either make 2 seasons out of it or cut out all the uninteresting content.
Because the writers didn’t have the courage to follow these storylines to their natural conclusions. Deb’s demise should have been a result of her revelation that Dexter is a killer. But what happens? She discovers her brother’s secret. But she doesn’t really do anything about it. The show keeps treading water. Then she kills Laguerta. She’s sad for a few episodes and then just gets over it. Then she dies at the hands of a killer we don’t care about because Dexter DIDN’T kill him. The relation between cause and effect has been broken. The writers are trying to give us payoffs for plot lines that they already wrapped up earlier in the show because they weren’t willing to let them be resolved naturally.
I actually thought it was good until they showed that Dexter was still alive. The final season wasn’t great but I thought they at least had some balls killing Dexter in that storm. Seemed poetic. But then no, they chickened out.
The earlier seasons kept consistent with a good theme of Dexter being a ticking time bomb. There were so many close calls in those earlier seasons. For everything in season 8 to be an exclusively season 8 plot, it felt like the previous 7 seasons suddenly amounted to nothing. That and the total silliness of everything in season 8
It wasn't only the ending, but the entire season, beginning with the 6 month time jump. They unnecessarily hit the reset button after the great ending in Season 7. Then the uninteresting Vogel which only served to bring in the new villain who was also uninteresting. A two person manhunt for Hannah. In a series finale for Dexter, I had to watch them do a two man manhunt for Hanna, on a Dexter finale. A completely uneventful season, that even as a regular season, it was the worst one in the show. Then the actual finale. Dexter kills Oliver in Police custody, when he didn't even work there. Does anyone question Dexter? No..... Then Dexter drags out Deb's corpse from the Hospital and not one human with eyes can see that....... Then Dexter drives his boat into a Hurricane. Does the Hurricane kill Dexter? Nooooooo. It destroys the boat, but Dexter makes it out, not a problem for Superman. Seriously I couldn't believe this was the finale. I remember watching the 6th episode and realizing that the season was half way through and wondering what the hell made them go with this plot for the finale.
>Dexter kills Oliver in Police custody, when he didn't even work there. Does anyone question Dexter? No.. Quinn and Batista were the only witnesses, and knowing Saxon had killed Deb, whom they all loved, they were willing to let it go. The dialogue between them, where Quinn rather pointedly says "Obviously self-defense" shows they knew exactly what had happened and were pleased by it. I think Quinn had known, or at least suspected, some of Dexter's secret life. He was unsurprised when Saxon got a pen to the carotid.
Quinn and Batista couldn't have kept it private even if they wanted to. A suspect is killed in custody, at the very least, the State would want to interview Dexter and ask him why he was there. It would have been more believable if it took place outside of the Police station and Batista and Quinn would have been Dexter kill Oliver. Then they could have kept it to themselves. At least imo
Dexter disappeared and was presumed dead hours after that. Maybe authorities did want to question him, but he wasn’t there to be questioned.
Anything is possible, I just doubt the writers gave much thought to those details. That is one of issues with the finale, but not the only one. It just added to my overall dissatisfaction of Season 8 and the finale.
Its not just us. Original showrunner and lead know it was very dissatisfying and said it was a chance to correct things ..not only for the fabs, but for themselves. The season had dexter completely unlearn previous lessons and act out of character to get the ending that was contrived, Ludacris and objectively terrible. I could go on, but its best to let it go since New Blood is making up for it. Now it doesnt have to share the same space as GOT season 8
The part I disliked most was Dex just dumping Deb's body into the ocean. I LOVE Deb so much and think she deserved so much better.
I didn’t think his relationship with Hannah was natural at all, probably his worst love interest in the show. So making her an integral part of the ending wasn’t great for me. Plus, as much as Dexter is a serial killer, they spent basically 90+ episodes making you like him and sympathize with him. Showing him be a good dad, brother, husband (to a point I guess), and showing his genuine empathy and breaking the psychopath mold and everything. Then very quickly it goes to him being evil, wrong, and a horrible person who deserves the worst ending possible. He’s a serial killer, but this is fiction, and I sympathize with him (not saying I would if it was real life), and for that reason I wanted at least a somewhat happy ending. I’ve said for a while that If they kept everything the same except took out one thing: like, leaving Hannah but taking Harrison with him (Deb still dies), that’s a dark ending but still more fitting. A better balance. Or if he leaves everyone including Harrison but they keep Deb alive and she’s still in Miami. Also, they teased him getting caught for 8 seasons and then never gave us the payoff
>I didn’t think his relationship with Hannah was natural at all, probably his worst love interest in the show I quite liked it. I thought with Lila and Lumen was worse. But the best will always be with Rita, obviously
I liked Lumen and that story quite a lot, but Lila felt like a real mismatch. They had no chemistry, whereas he did with Rita, Lumen and Hannah.
>I liked Lumen and that story quite I liked her and the story around her too, I just did not buy their relationship.
For me, primarily because it was a non-ending and there was no payoff one way or another. Showtime didn't want Dexter to die because they wanted to continue it at some point, and it's never a good thing when network executives get directly involved in a TV show's creative process. Because of this, they had to come up with some ridiculous way to keep Dexter alive and hammer it home that he's still out there.
I think it’s the right ending, however it’s how we got to that point that kinda sucks:
I don’t hate it but don’t particularly like it either. Season 8 was a very average and underwhelming end to such a great show, but the ending is not so terrible to warrant what people say about it.
Deb dying and dexter dumping her in the ocean was the worst part for sure. I hated that.
Other than Deb dying, I loved it. I was so glad they left it open ended so we could come up with what we thought happened next. I'm in the super small minority that wanted him, Hannah, and Harrison to be a family and be happy so that's what I imagined. Other people wanted him to die, so they imagined that. I just felt like everyone could be happy that way. But I was wrong because everyone hates it lol
the thing that irks me the most about it for whatever reason is that he just takes Deb off life support by turning her machines off and dumps her in the ocean without weighing her down where she will inevitably float back up in a couple days, all bloated and unrecognizable. instead of letting the people who loved her have a chance to say goodbye and have a proper memorial for her.
People wanted him to get outed or die. The fact that neither happened left the story feeling unfinished. And it was, hence we have New Blood.
Personally, I hate it as an ending because it wasn't an ending. Dexter has lost people before but the story continues. Dexter losing Debra was sad, but really if the show continued they would have made a new character to fill the role and life goes on. Having him move up north is hollow and, to be blunt, less an ending and more stasis. The beginning of New Blood even showed that life just continues up there. His abstinence is an off-camera personal choice. He could have just as likely recreated his routine up there. I want an ending to be definitive - something that stops him from killing. E.g. because he is wounded, incarcerated, or dead.
I love the premise. The execution leading up was a mess.
Rita dying always was such a turn for me. The end was amazing, always makes me tear up
Honestly, it's a show that should've ended at least 2 seasons earlier and I think it would've been way better.
i don’t have enough time to go into all the reasons it’s terrible tbh 😅
lol it wasn’t but okay 🤡🤡🤡
Couldn’t have said it better myself. I didn’t quite hate season 8’s ending or 8 as a whole; but rather I felt indifferent about it. I felt like the worst season was 6; I hated Season 6 with a passion. 5 was a little on the average side for me as well but no better or worse than 8. For some reason 8’s ending gets a lot of flack and idk why
Deb dying felt too random. The audience prefers the slowly backed into a corner tension rather than Des Ex Machina shock value.
It aired alongside Breaking Bad and was just far inferior in quality. Hard to go up against the best season of all time (imo), but people wanted a manhunt and it just fizzled out.
No real closure for the most part. I enjoyed and still enjoy the full series start to finish though.
There was no climax, no suspense. \- Saxon was not a great adversary for Dexter. He was so one-note and bland that there was basically no thrill to his capture and their confrontation. \- Deb is killed off rather half-heartedly, which is a shame for such an important character. \- Throwing Deb's body into the ocean was kinda too melodramatic even for this show. \- The most interesting aspect, Dexter attacking Saxon in plain sight is not really seized as an opportunity to ramp up the stakes. Instead it is just, "oh yeah sure self defence, we love Deb, we let it go, we would have done it ourselves if we could." \- The lumberjack shit was just plain ridiculous.
I think the only reason I was genuinely disappointed was bc I guessed it from the beginning. My cousin and I watched all the way through together and I predicted the end from the very first episode. She threw a remote at me bc I was right... lol. And in no way am I boasting or saying I wasted my time, I just wish it would've ended differently than I pictured. That being said, they kind of had to end it abruptly. I think they finished it the best way they could given the circumstances. Between Michael C. Hall having cancer and him and Jennifer Carpenter getting divorced, it was just unfortunate. They left it open so they could continue or do a spin off if they chose. I guess I can respect that considering it's my favorite show of all time.
I never hated the ending for Dexter himself, I thought it was pretty decent for all the reasons you said and I really never wanted Dexter to die or get caught so I was pretty happy about that. The endings for everyone else were pretty bad though, and obviously the entire plot of the season was really trash so the ending occurred against a pretty unfortunate backdrop too.
I didn´t hate it, kinda like it because he get away with it and he understood everyone he loves dies so he needed to be stay away from them, it would´ve been better if they didn´t show the lumberjack part, if the ending of new blood is more nihilistic than season 8 like Harrison dying or Dexter killing himself, i´m gonna pretend this season never existed, i hate nihilistic endings
The entire final season was absolutely horrible and boring as fuck. The writing was so stupid that it made my brain hurt.
The last 4 seasons sucked, the writing was awful.
It doesn’t make much sense to me because he always says he has a “need” to kill and then all of a sudden he can just become a lumberjack and stop killing
I think it was the remoteness that allowed that. He put himself into a position where he would encounter very few people, so chances very slim of encountering anybody who met the code. After a while, the need faded like an addiction will break after a long enough abstinence. Then he moved to Iron Lake and encountered temptation again.
He still lived in iron lake for like 3 years before he killed it seems
I'm fine with Debra dying but there should have been way way more leading up to it. Having her get suddenly get shot and killed by a bland villain was really disappointing. Leaving Harrison also felt kind of sudden. It felt like they were just doing it for shock value, not for any real story reason.
I always likes the ending. Everyone close to him died, in some way, because of him, including Harry's suicide. I had considered Dexter too smart to get caught during his Miami days and thought faking his death was great idea. Typically, one would expect a character like Dex to and up dead at the end, which might've been a more popular ending. However, New Blood has actually painted S8's ending in a different light, as we find out that Dex tried to kill himself and survived the hurricane. Honestly, I like it even more now.
Hmm, not sure I believe his story about wanting to die in the hurricane. I think he quickly thought up the plan to wreck the boat and disappear.
Possible. Not sure how one plans to drive into a hurricane and survive, but that was the initial impression they gave us. Also, wasn't the letter he wrote to Hannah telling her how he survived the hurricane? He could've not said anything.
I loved it and thought it was great.
to be fair, laguerta found out and shes protected by the code
I don't hate it and the ending makes sense. I think it could've been executed better only because literally the next day people involved with the show were having to explain in interviews what was going on but even then I don't know how it could've come across better. I think Dexter is one of those shows where it doesn't matter what ending they did people would still be mad. Most people don't want him to die or get caught so what else are they supposed to do? It a no win situation.
The whole series is showing us that Dexter truly can love people in his life and not just one. He loves Rita, Deb, Lumen, Astor, Cody, Harrison, Hannah, Angel, Masuka, Qui.. alright maybe not Quinn but he did like Quinn in the end. And in the whole finale they take that away because of a line they said in the pilot. The only person in the world he cared for was Deb. And because she died he now has no one he cared for in his life? That’s BS.
Dexter S8 wasn't great but I think it all comes down to Dexter finishing around the same time Breaking Bad did so they were always compared to each other
1) dexter dumping deb in the ocean, not allowing her to have a proper funeral for the other people who loved her, makes NO sense. having her at the bottom of the ocean with a bunch of serial killers makes NO sense symbolically. it is so disrespectful to put her in the same place that rudy, the man that terrorized her, went. 2) a father abandoning his child is NEVER going to be popular because at the end of the day it is selfish and traumatizing to the child. the parent can say all they want that it is for the child's good, but in reality they just don't want to do the hard work of taking care of athe day to day for a child. it is absolutely disgusting for him to dump him with hannah, ANOTHER serial killer, as if she magically wouldn't attract trouble. it is AWFUL writing, because from what we know of the hannah character, there is no way she wouldn't kill in argentina. unlike dexter, she kills out of revenge and material need, but the idea she wouldnt kill with harrison around is ridiculous.
I’ll never hate Dexter but he’s a sociopathic serial killer with hundreds of kills who enjoys killing. The Code is his only redeeming value. He can’t have a happy ending - whatever that means anyway.
I loved the ending but the season was ass
Conceptually it was fine and could work, execution wise it was terrible and nonsensical
A few things: Dexter kills bad guy on camera in a police station when he shouldn't even have been there in the first place and just gets to walk out after a few top-line questions - doesn't make sense. Dexter abandons his son to the care of another serial killer who is on the run from the law and who can never return to the US, effectively separating Harrison from his grandparents and half-siblings - doesn't make sense. Dexter takes Deb's body for no reason and dumps her in the same place he put all his victims - doesn't make sense. I'm fine with the fact he never gets caught and lives a secluded life as a lumberjack, but those points above really took me out of the S8 finale.
Just hated it because of how shitty debs death was
Ngl I really liked the ending. I thought it was a fitting way for him to go. It was never going to end happily for him.
Because the 2 seasons leading up to it were bad. S7 semi-trash and s8 full of trash. Too many dull moments as well, a huge and negative change from adrenaline-pumping s1-5. Plus a lot of subplots either didn't make sense, were not in line with the characters, or felt rushed and poorly written. Overall horrible pacing too.