Dexter S1-S2 (spoilers!), what will happen in S3?

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by Temis the Vorta, Sep 15, 2008.

  1. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Okay, finally I'm thru my DVDs. The other thread seems to have vanished, so I'll start this one with a new twist: in light of what's happened in S1 and S2, where can they go with S3?

    Judging from the other thread, lots of people have seen S2 already, so uncoded spoilers are okay for S1-S2, but code anything for S3 beyond speculation.

    My take on S2: even better than S1, mainly due to the Doakes vs. Dexter stuff. The cabin chats were absolute gold. Loved the crazy twists and turns and sick sense of humor - Dexter's dream dragging the drug dealer thru the police station and his rehersals of confessing to Deb and her reaction were my favorites. The had me going on the first one - he confesses, and she promptly chokes to death on a piece of steak. :rommie:

    Lila was obnoxious but I think she was supposed to be; they cast an off-putting actress so we wouldn't feel sorry for her when Dexter finally killed her. Keith Carradine was a great addition to this season.

    Minuses: The writers did such a good foreshadowing job that I actually managed to predict many of the plot twists in advance; I'd been spoiled on S1 but I think if I hadn't, that would have come as more of a surprise. I figured out as soon as Doakes ended up locked in a cage that he would die due to Lila's pyromania and actually worried that it would be far more horrific than it turned out to be, and really did not want to see that last episode. A quick death by explosion, phew! I was actually relieved.

    I think they could have added more irony in the final scenes, and tie it back into the final fantasy parade ending of S1. I'm sure judging from real world experience that when the Bay Harbor Butcher was "unmasked," that he would become a hero in some quarters - tabloids, idiot radio shows, wingnut blogs - particularly if he were both a cop and a bad-ass war hero. MANY people would totally go for that, he'd be a popular martyr. Maybe that Dark Defender comic book would end up getting published after all, with a character who looks like Doakes.

    But the irony would be that the types of people who would lionize Doakes would not be the sort that Dexter would want in his "parade." That alone would be a wake-up call for him. Also, Dexter lied when he said he was better than Doakes because more people depended on him. There were four people besides Dex at that funeral - the same number Dex could expect to attend his funeral if he were unmasked as a serial killer. He should have realized that and acknowledged it in the voice-over.

    On to S3: I honestly don't think they can keep up this level of insane quality. But they're at so high a level, that even dropping a notch or two will keep this one of the best shows on TV, or ever.

    Doakes' warning to Dexter that the Dark Passenger is a cancer that's spreading is a good way to go. Lose the tension over whether Dex will be caught for a while and ramp up tension of what happens if he feels safe. Will he get less cautious? Since he's now living by his own Code and not Harry's, is this slippery-slope time? Will the Dark Passenger start pushing down his standards for "who deserves it"? How sure is he, really, that he'd never be a threat to innocent people?

    Also, I have a gut feeling Paul isn't really dead. He needed to seem dead to propel the crisis that led Dexter to Narcotics Anonymous, but maybe he's done some deal inside prison to infiltrate some gang and lessen his sentence? And he needs to change identities and appear dead? Yeah, that's kinda 24-ish spy fantasy crap, but I'm really trying to find a way for him to be alive, and released, and coming after Dex.

    And then there's LaGuerta. She has enough evidence to exonerate Doakes (so ironically, Dexter's frame-up wouldn't have worked). Nobody wants to listen because they want the case closed and no more bodies will be found, so everyone's happy except for her. She still has no reason to suspect Dexter, but that could change.

    Dexter's obviously very attached to his box of slides. If that were ever discovered, nobody would have to test the slides to know what it means that he stole it back from the evidence locker (or however he got it). I suspect that when he is finally unmasked, his one bit of sentimentality in keeping that box is the thing that will do him in.

    The key relationship in this show for me is Dex & Deb. Their discussion in the scene where Dexter was supposed to confess really sealed it - she's the yin of life to his yang of death. Whenever the producers decide to end this show, it's going to be Dexter vs. Debra. So the parallel development of both will be key. Dexter will become a smarter and maybe scarier killer. Debra has already started on the road from being a quasi-incompetent cop to becoming someone capable of doing what no one else could, see thru Dexter's disguise and catch him.

    The scene where Dex jumps Deb by accident in Lila's apartment was - I think - the first clue she's had about how dangerous he really is. Other clues, such as finding out about their father's suicide, will help her start putting together the whole story.

    And Harry's whole story has not been told. Even in S1, I thought he acted way too maniacal about training Dex, as though he were driven by a heavy burden of guilt and was training Dex to be a vigilante in order to expiate his own guilt - was he a corrupt cop? Did he actually set Laura up to be killed? It wasn't just Dex turning out to be horrifying that made Harry kill himself, it was that he knew he could have at least tried to get Dexter help and the fact that he didn't was his own selfishness, nothing more.

    Which explains why he left Brian behind. Harry was never trying to help either kid.

    I'm thinking that with some creative pushing at the limits of this story, we could get five good seasons in total. Like Dexter's steak, it's the kind of thing that makes life worth living. Not that I'm planning on confessing to my own murders anytime soon, but even if I were: I don't think they get Showtime in prison. :D

    Edit: details on S3 from eonline.

    The "big reveal" in the premiere isn't there, but there's one pretty spoilery element in the section about Miguel Prado, so you might want to avert your eyes and skip down to Harry's section.

    Ah, this sounds very good...
    Just between you and me, she will also be involved in Dexter's big emotional arc of the season.
     
    Last edited: Sep 15, 2008
  2. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    I'm trying not to speculate too much on where the show is going. I don't even want to idly speculate and guess at what's coming. There are things from the books I'd kinda like to see, but I'm not even sure on how it could be done without lessening the show (or perhaps going too far for viewers) some how.

    Having seen the first episode of season 3 I won't mention what you're right about, but I will say you're spot on about a certain thing... :lol: just to throw a tease in there.
     
  3. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Hah hah I know which it is...
    PAUL IS ALIVE! They gave themselves away with the closed-casket funeral!!!! :rommie:

    These writers are such drama-whores. They would never give up a plotline that juicy easily.

    Now the only question is, how to make it work? Then again, there are many little "don't-think-to-hard-about-it" elements in this show. Why didn't the frakkin FBI think to guard Dexter's bathroom window, for instance? Or Lundy giving Dex and FBI guard and then taking it away, even though Dexter is still at risk, just because the writers did their "FBI-guarding-the-killer" joke and discarded that angle when it got in their way.

    I've only read the first book - will read all the others eventually - but Dexter from the books is really a scarier person than even he is on TV, the secondary characters are sketchier and more cartoonish - which lets Jeff Lindsay get away with questionable plot twists - and the whole universe seems even more twisted and amoral. I think the books are like my Lila-burning-Doakes-alive-in-the-cage scenario I dreamed up: too far even for this show.
     
  4. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    Not commenting on your spoilered guess... :lol:

    Yeah, the things I'm thinking about are
    Cody and Astor becoming Dexter's apprentices
    and
    Dexter's Dark Passenger deserting him and leaving him alone feeling dullwitted and scared in the middle of a case
    . I think the first one would be too far even for this show. The second would be hard to show in the programme, even with his internal monologue.
     
  5. Top41

    Top41 Vice Admiral Moderator

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    I'm really curious about season three--I hear there's a big twist in the first episode. Can't wait to see what that is! :D

    But...

    I really hope Paul isn't alive. :rolleyes: I hated the character, and the whole plotline was just kind of...expected. I loved how Dexter framed him, and wish it had been left at that. Or with his death. I really hope he's gone for good.
     
  6. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Thanks for the article. I hadn't really heard much about S3. I can't wait. It's probably the best show on TV. (Other than my WTF Lost).
     
  7. steveman

    steveman Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Season 2 was some of the best television I've ever seen. The death of Doakes wasn't just sad; it was tragic. Sure, he was a little rough around the edges, but he certainly didn't deserve the legacy that he got stuck with. It was pretty sad watching LaGuerta going around the office, trying to raise money for Doakes' funeral, not getting any takers. And it was even more sad seeing the turnout at Doakes' funeral, which Dexter capped off by acknowledging that "nobody mourns the wicked."

    From a writing standpoint, if there's one thing the writers do incredibly well, it's foreshadow. At first, you think little of the conversation between LaGuerta and Doakes where it's revealed that Doakes' father was a butcher. This, of course, becomes one of the major marks against him when Lundy suspects that he may be the Butcher several episodes later.

    And if there's another thing the writers do well, it's set-up/pay-off. What comes to mind in regard to this is the beat where Lila destroys her landlord's lightbulb in order to get her own bulb fixed. At the end of that same episode Dexter makes note of the fact that her lightbulb has been fixed... and it's at this point we realize that Lila really does get whatever she wants, and that Dexter is ensnared in her web. Great stuff.

    Strengths aside, if there's one thing the writers could still stand to work on, it's avoiding showing their hand to the audience. I feel like this has been a problem in both seasons and that if they could simply abstain from showing the audience certain things it would help preserve the shock value of some of their twists. Maybe some non-chronological storytelling (a la BSG) would help solve this problem?

    At any rate... I love this show. It may be the best show I've ever seen, even over The Sopranos. Michael C. Hall is amazing. Even though I don't get Showtime, I look forward to getting into Season 3 ASAP.
     
  8. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    That's why I wanted some kind of sequence at the very end acknowledging that for some people, he's become a public hero and a legend - the Dark Defender come to life. It would have been a nice tie-in to the fantasy parade at the end of S1, it would be realistic*, and ironically enough Doakes is the one who deserves the "credit" for being a public-spirited vigilante - which is, as far as anyone knows, what the BHB was. Dexter wouldn't deserve to be remembered that way at all.

    *I am 100% sure that if that all happened in real life, that many bloggers and radio hosts would be championing the guy, and there would be a media frenzy following his exposure and apparent death, at least for a while. Here you have this bad-ass vigilante being cornered by the Feds and holed up in a remote cabin. Rather than being taken alive, he blows himself sky-high - it's Bonnie-and-Clyde type dramatic!

    I'd liked to have seen the contrast between the empty funeral service, scorned by Doakes' police colleagues, and the rampaging crowds outside being held back by a police cordon from interrupting the funeral of their "hero." Dexter could walk thru the mob and be thoroughly disgusted by what a bunch of wackos his fans really are - his parade come to life, but not at all what he wanted.

    Also, it would be a cute valentine to the show's real-life fans - you people are sick for liking this so much. :D


    I agree, I was predicting way too many plot twists this season. A good way to do this is not to stop foreshadowing - gotta have that - but throw in more red herrings. For instance, why not have Lila burn down the cabin, but Doakes manages to escape anyway? I was expecting him to die in the cabin ever since he ended up in the cage, and for Lila's pyromania to end up killing no one after all would be a clever misdirection. Maybe she kills herself. Since I was expecting Dexter to kill her, that would be another wild card moment.

    Doakes could still be killed - I don't see any way out of that necessity - maybe accidentally when Deb misjudges a situation, still thinking he's the BHB, maybe thinking he's a threat to Dexter. That would pay off her psycho behavior at the start of the season and being on edge because of the Ice Truck Killer. It would also give Dexter a motive never to think about turning himself in, because it would also reveal Deb's guilt - and that would ramp up the conflict by removing one of Dexter's future options. Now he's left with Kill or Be Killed thru the end of the series.
     
  9. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The first episode of Season 3 has been leaked online...
     
  10. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Nobody else wants to chat? :D I guess I just need to forget Dex for another year...sigh... :rommie:
     
  11. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    I would, but I have the three books, and two seasons muddled up in my head, after watching both seasons and reading all three books in the space of a couple of weeks. :lol:
     
  12. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    I would, but I don't have season two yet on DVD, and still have three episodes of season one to finish with my roommates yet (I saw them earlier this summer, but it's been a little while).
     
  13. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    And I don't wanna talk about the books until I've read them - I've still only finished the first one... :D

    Okay when you finish it on DVD, start a thread. :bolian:
     
  14. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    I hear the third book is absolutely abysmal. So much so that the fourth book is supposed to backtrack on it a little, or so the rumors go.
     
  15. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    I don't think Dexter in the Dark is too bad, might be a big cop out in some ways, and a shift more to the supernatural, that would have been interesting if there was any hint of it in earlier books, rather than just showing up in the third.
     
  16. ITL

    ITL Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm glad I read this post, Bob - because of it I, too, have now seen 0301. And all I will say is that once again I'm hooked. It's back. And it's great.

    One of the many things I love about this show is the constant tension. You always think something's going to snap. There's not many shows that can do this with such finesse, IMO.

    :D
     
  17. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    It's just a shame that it'll be a couple more weeks till the next one... I just couldn't resist the temptation of the pre-air... :lol:
     
  18. ITL

    ITL Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, I resisted for...ooh...two seconds?

    :D
     
  19. Temis the Vorta

    Temis the Vorta Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I can't think of any show that manages to keep things at such a consistently high level of tension, not even 24. And Dexter accomplishes it without the absurdities of 24. There are a few little :wtf: moments - why didn't the FBI bother to guard Dexter's bathroom window? But nothing like a handy device that causes power plants to melt down. :rommie:

    Too bad about the "supernatural" elements getting into the books. That's really not the way to go with this story, book or TV, but of the two, keeping the TV series at a high level of quality is more important to me. The books are just something to do while waiting for new DVDs.

    Remember near the end of "Born Free," just after they rescued Deb, when Doakes seemed to "hear" Dexter's voice-over? I guess that was just an in-joke. I was worried they were going to have Doakes become psychic.

    Speaking of supernatural elements, I did take note of Dexter's theory at the end of "The British Invasion" that some higher power wants him to keep doing his work. No doubt a reference to the 12-Step program theme, but if Dexter ever starts thinking he's God's instrument, or Satan's, that could be spooky. He mentioned something about Satan having miracles, too.

    And there was that easily-overlooked moment (I only noticed it when I watched the second time through) - at the beginning of "The Dark Defender," when Dex paid for the coffee of the woman in front of him who was holding a kid, she said "You're a godsend." Hmmm.
     
  20. Starbreaker

    Starbreaker Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Watching the S3 premiere right now.... I expect it to be super awesome.

    Edit: Holy Crap. They just took this show to a new level.
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2008