Comments on: Dexter Season 4: Road Kill, or The Jumping of the Snark

By: Getaway: Dexter Season 4 Finale and Recap — Bill Ward

Getaway: Dexter Season 4 Finale and Recap — Bill Ward — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:48:48 +0000

[...] my two previous posts on Dexter’s fourth season, Family, Suburbia, and Killing for Two and Road Kill, or The Jumping of the Snark, my attitude toward season four is veering dangerously close to the double-yellow line of [...]

By: Dexter Season 4: Family, Suburbia, and Killing for Two — Bill Ward

Dexter Season 4: Family, Suburbia, and Killing for Two — Bill Ward — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 07:45:40 +0000

[...] Dexter Season 4: Road Kill, or The Jumping of the Snark [...]

By: RKB

RKB — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:04:21 +0000

A couple of people here and there have guessed either the reporter or Quinn as the shooter -is Quinn that much taller than Masuka- so that wouldn’t surprise me, neither would it being some no name who just pops up at the end. The only shooter who would surprise me is if it was Mathews that would be a shocker. Who ever did it the writers need to give them a good reason, something better than psycho reporter would be nice.
The thing I haven’t liked about this season is why is Dexter keeping Trinty alive? I know ‘he wants to learn from him’ but either the writing or acting isn’t selling it to me. Seeing Dexter give Trinity the same treatment Prado gave him last season is a nice flip the switch plot, but needs better writing. My problem with this season is I’m tired of the big bad villain of the season even if it’s a really scary creepy character. I would rather see Debra finally put the pieces together about Dexter and have the fallout from that, it would be more interesting to me than Dexter learning from Trinity.

By: Fred

Fred — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:19:11 +0000

I agree that next season should be the last. I think there’s only so far you can take Dexter’s quest to be a Real Boy before it becomes ridiculous and all the edges to the character are sanded down. As funny as the show can be at times, as much as Dexter’s falling into family man mode, it’s worth remembering that he’s a sociopath who kills people.

And oh man, I hadn’t even thought about the reporter as a suspect, but it makes a lot of sense. I think it’s a terrible idea, of course, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that’s where they were going.

The reveal would probably get rid of the character, though, so that would be a plus…

By: Bill Ward

Bill Ward — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:34:03 +0000

I agree, the acting is good all around, and fortunately that’s never been a problem. It’s just that some of the characters are, as you say, bland, and can’t carry storylines predicated on the audience being inherently interested in them.

It did occur to me that the shooter may be the reporter, but I left it out of my post as too outlandish. I really hope that isn’t the case, but in hindsight I’m thinking it just might be. I find the notion pretty ridiculous.

But, as you say, the writers have surprised us before — I’m not about to give up. I think I would like to see next season be the last, however, as I think they can do a lot with a storyline that offers real consequences, rather than one where everything is reset at the end in preparation for another season. I’d hate to see Dexter stretched to the point of parody, but I can see that happening.

By: Fred Coppersmith

Fred Coppersmith — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:53:41 +0000

My thoughts on this season will depend an awful lot on how it ends; right now, I can see where it might be headed, both good and bad, but exactly how it will end is, I think, still anybody’s guess. The writers have surprised me before in their ability to tie things up at the end and deepen Dexter as a character in the process. So, with just a few more episodes left in the season, I’m perfectly content to wait and see.

But you’re not wrong that something’s felt a little off with the season. It’s been kept afloat by some great performances — particularly Hall and Lithgow, but there’s nobody in the cast who’s especially bad. It isn’t an ensemble show, despite its continued efforts to pretend as such, but can you imagine how intolerable the non-Dexter/non-Trinity scenes would be if the actors were as bad as the characters were bland?

Again, I think a lot depends on where they go from here, how this season ends and — maybe more importantly — how soon the writers are willing to end the series as a whole.

By: Bill Ward

Bill Ward — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:37:40 +0000

Exactly, I practically set my watch by the first two season, now I sometimes forget it’s on!

By: Louis

Louis — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:19:26 +0000

Wow, I just read my very same thoughts. I have only put them in short blurts on facebook but this had everything I’ve wanted to say.
I finish each episode with “oh” not “HOLY ”
I get ready to walk my dogs and the wife says “We can’t go now, we’ll miss Dexter” because I totally forgot. Then I say “Yeah, well, it’ll be on again” see agrees and we walk the dogs.
This scenario would have NEVER played out in season 1 or 2