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Working for eight seasons between the years 2006 and 2013, Dexter was a present of exceptional highs and generally soul-crushing lows. It began properly, with an simple central hook, and it slot in successfully with the kinds of anti-hero-led/morally grey drama collection that have been widespread within the 2000s (and are arguably nonetheless widespread to this present day). Like The Sopranos‘ Tony Soprano earlier than him and Breaking Bad‘s Walter White (simply) after him, the lead character of Dexter was an advanced and never completely nice man who was nonetheless attention-grabbing to look at, regardless of – or maybe due to – the horrible issues he did.
Dexter Morgan’s a forensic technician working within the Miami Metro Police Division by day, however by evening, he is a serial killer who usually targets different serial killers, all to satiate his compulsion to homicide. The present had an general narrative and loads of recurring characters, however most seasons have been outlined by having a concentrate on one important storyline or antagonist. Consequently, the seasons are simple to differentiate, and including to that is the truth that some are significantly better than others. What follows are all eight seasons of Dexter (excluding the 2021 reboot, Dexter: New Blood) ranked by the proportion of critics on Rotten Tomatoes who reviewed them favorably.
Dexter
- Launch Date
- October 1, 2006
- Seasons
- 8
8 Season 8 (2013)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 33%
Season 8 of Dexter serves as the unique present’s climactic season, and if something, it is shocking that roughly one-third of critics on Rotten Tomatoes apparently favored it. Over its 12 episodes, it feels remarkably unexciting and lacks the form of affect you’d hope a criminal offense/drama TV present’s closing season would have. The stakes aren’t there, the pacing is gradual, and all of it pales compared to the dynamite final season of Breaking Bad, which aired in 2013 at virtually the very same time.
It revolves round one other serial killer on the town for Dexter to cope with, guilt for his sister, Debra, to course of relating to issues that occurred earlier within the present, and a mysterious psychiatrist named Dr. Evelyn Vogel with a hyperlink to Dexter’s previous. All of it builds sloppily and slowly to the infamously unhealthy collection finale titled “Keep in mind the Monsters.” Irrespective of how a lot you want Dexter, it is sensible to bow out earlier than ever reaching this disappointing closing season. Regardless of the poor scores from critics, Dexter‘s closing season managed to interrupt data on Showtime, the place the season premiere amassed 2.8 million viewers.
7 Season 6 (2011)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 38%
Whereas not fairly as disliked general as Season 8, Season 6 of Dexter continues to be seen as one thing of a low level for the present general, and comparatively weak in comparison with the seasons that got here earlier than. Season 5 felt self-contained in a means that did not give Season 6 a lot to go along with initially, which results in one other pretty self-contained plot getting kicked off: this one being a couple of collection of killings which might be all seemingly non secular in nature. Amongst different issues, Season 6 offered viewers with unhealthy character arcs, an odd love story, and poorly executed non secular undertones.
There is a good quantity of useless air all through this sixth season of the present, with wheels being spun endlessly till a not-so-shocking plot twist is revealed. There’s an actual sense of “That is it?” to a lot of your entire season, when this twist feels just like the pay-off, however fortunately the final scene of Season 6’s finale is an efficient cliffhanger (and one thing that was a very long time coming) which may properly pique a viewer’s curiosity for a seventh season.
6 Season 3 (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 72%
Even when the primary 4 seasons are inclined to characterize Dexter at its greatest, it is normal to search out rather less reward for Season 3 in comparison with Seasons 1, 2, and 4. It is definitely not unhealthy by any means, and that is mirrored by the truth that its Rotten Tomatoes rating continues to be significantly greater than the 2 seasons of Dexter that characterize the present at its worst. However it does recycle issues to some extent, and is not fairly as impactful because the present’s greatest early seasons.
It’d simply be that Seasons 1 and a pair of have been so good {that a} “merely” strong third season feels just a little disappointing as compared. However even then, the central plot of Season 3 – which sees Dexter turning into pals with an uncommon District Legal professional performed by Jimmy Smits – is pretty participating. So too is the continued exploration of the romantic facet of Dexter’s life, along with his companion, Rita Bennett, being pregnant this season with Dexter’s youngster.
5 Season 7 (2012)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 79%
Resting between the 2 lowest-rated seasons of Dexter comes a surprisingly good season: the seventh and penultimate one. Whereas it is not consultant of Dexter at its biggest, it’s a enjoyable season that has a certain quantity of vitality to it, benefiting from the best way Season 6 ended, and the truth that it locations its titular character within the sorts of actually precarious and persistently tense conditions he confronted extra typically within the present’s early years.
As a season that hits the bottom working, it arguably peters out just a little in its second half, however the show’s interesting antagonists and visitor stars and a great quantity of depth hold issues watchable. Season 7 helps redeem Dexter to some extent, making it not possible to say that each one of its seasons within the closing years have been horrible, although it is undeniably flanked by two seasons that have been, in actual fact, fairly unhealthy.
4 Season 1 (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 82%
Season 1 of Dexter is nice tv, with a lot of the present’s success largely coming from how immediately participating its pilot episode is. It is a season all about introducing the viewer to the title character, organising the dynamics he has with all the opposite supporting characters whereas introducing a mysterious villain who seems to have some eerie similarities to Dexter himself.
Season 1 can also be notable for being the one season of the present that tailored a novel from the book series the show was based on; particularly, the primary, titled Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Different seasons have been extra impressed by books, or deviated from the unique occasions completely, with Dexter general being a present that modified issues within the supply materials up just a little extra efficiently than say, one thing like Game of Thrones.
3 Season 5 (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 84%
It is one thing of a shock to see Season 5 of Dexter be close to the highest of the highest-rated seasons of the present based on Rotten Tomatoes critics. It is definitely not a nasty season, nevertheless it has a central story that is just a little acquainted and fewer participating than a lot of what had come earlier than, although Season 5 does start in a really sturdy means, with its opening episode depicting the aftermath of Season 4’s dramatic conclusion.
After that, issues decelerate, with Dexter’s interactions with a younger girl named Lumen Pierce (Julia Stiles) making for a strong, if not fairly nice central narrative for the season. Past the primary episode, it is a very self-contained season, succeeding in offering extra Dexter, even when the Dexter it offers is not at all times as much as the requirements of the present at its absolute best.
2 Season 4 (2009)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 88%
Dexter’s fourth season sees the show at its most dramatic, intense, and emotionally devastating. Following the start of Harrison, his and Rita’s son, Dexter is now struggling to discover ways to be a father, and all of the whereas has an uneasy dynamic with Arthur Mitchell (John Lithgow), an older man who’s additionally a serial killer like Dexter, albeit one who’s labored out find out how to stability his murders along with his household life.
Lithgow’s efficiency right here is extensively praised and deservedly so, and he would possibly properly be the most effective antagonist featured in any season of Dexter. Issues are significantly excessive stakes all through the length of the fourth season, and it feels sturdy and even climactic sufficient that bowing out of the present after Season 4 (or maybe after the primary episode ofSseason 5) would possibly properly be one of the simplest ways to take pleasure in Dexter as an entire.
1 Season 2 (2007)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 96%
After a fairly intense first season, Dexter‘s second season raised the stakes to a close to ludicrous diploma, setting the bar excessive sufficient that a lot of the seasons that adopted failed to come back shut. A lot of the season revolves round Dexter’s co-workers investigating the crimes he himself dedicated up to now, as early on within the season, numerous our bodies of his previous victims are found, launching an enormous Miami-wide investigation.
It is the form of monumental storyline in a present like this that, in hindsight, would possibly’ve greatest been saved for a later season, however regardless, it is undeniably entertaining right here. Its conclusion (and the way it kills off a great character) might need damage the present’s probabilities to succeed in related dramatic heights sooner or later, however the 12 episodes contained inside Season 2 are nonetheless a blast to look at. Like Rotten Tomatoes, Season 2 additionally did properly on IMDb with episodes scoring between 8.3-9.3 stars.
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