In season 1 Dexter learns he isn’t as alone/empty as he thought he was.

In season 2 Dexter learns how to be a good boyfriend and the lengths he will go to to protect his family that he (surprise!) cares about.
Dexter’s revelations about his humanity begin to become contrived in this season.

In season 3 Dexter makes a friend! Then kills said friend though a series of contrived events.
Dexter’s revelations about his humanity are now too contrived to go unnoticed.

In season 4 Dexter caries the idiot ball.
(Translation: bad writing)
Dexter tries to make a friend…again.
Dexter kills an innocent man…then gets over it.
The incestuous relationship between Angel and Laguarta.

The most aggregious example of poor writing is the MacGuffin.
(A MacGuffin is “a plot element that catches the viewers’ attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction”.)
In season 4 the MacGuffin is the catching/killing/stopping of Trinity.
Dexter just can’t seem to ’seal the deal.’ Worse yet he keeps the police from catching Trinity. Worse yet he willfully risks the life of an innocent child to protect his kill.

My conclusion is that Dexter has jumped the shark.
When he _FINALLY_ injected Trinity and threw him in the van…then left his kill to contront the man and police about the hit and run complaint.

All Dexter had to do was drive Trinity’s van instead of his own or better yet…wait for the cops to leave or both. All of Dexter’s training and intelligence went out the window at this point. This is why they killed off Rita by the way.

The show has track record of punishing Dexter every single time he is egregiously selfish, careless, or arrogant. Because of Dexter’s incessantly selfish, careless, and arrogant actions ALL season long they had to punish him.

On the other hand maybe Dexter season 5 will be better. After all that 3rd Dexter book was lousy and the 4th was good again so maybe there still is h ope. Maybe.

I will say that I am not at all self-satisfied in my disappointment over the season — I’d much rather have a great twelve hours of Dexter than three blog posts chronicling my increasing disappointment with what was once one of the most brilliant shows on TV. If you read what I have to say about Season 1 and 3 (and 2, when I get around to it), I think my love for the show will speak for itself.

I did try to be fairly scrupulous in pointing out what I did like about this season, and in trying to defend my opinion with examples from the show. The first part of the three-parter is mostly positive, you’ll notice. I just think the show declined in quality to the point where, at times, it came close to farce this season, and it’s just not on the same level as the first two seasons anymore.

My reviews were written in the moment, and as such are probably more strongly worded and hyperbolic because of the level of disappointment and (as noted) ambivalence I was feeling at the time. It’s sad to see something you really admire falter, and it makes me a little angry to see it happen to one of my favorite shows.

Anyway, glad for your comment, even if it isn’t the sort of thing a writer really wants to hear. If you have specific criticisms of my analysis I’d love to hear them and discuss them, and I’d hope, as a Dexter fan, you’d check out the rest of what I’ve written. Most of it is glowing, fulsome praise. But I wasn’t going to lie about what I thought about the last season; as much as I generally go out of my way to avoid reviewing things I don’t like, unfortunately I was already committed to writing about this season. If I was watching these on DVD rather than blogging them as they happened, I doubt I would have written anything at all about the season, in much the same way I don’t bother with negative book reviews.

You seem exceptionally smug and self-satisfied in your disappointment over this season.

And you are right about Dex having inadvertently caused the destruction of his family by sparing Trinity, which is a hell of a thing to live with. I didn’t find his interaction with Trinity all that compelling this season though, for some reason — maybe because I watch with the lights on and a notepad in my lap and that might undermine some immersion. I freely admit my take may be as much about personal taste and, hate to say it, mood, than it is any critical assessment.

I do hope the new season doesn’t start with a pristine slate, like the rest. As you say, Dex should be investigated for Rita’s murder, and the consequences for the whole thing need to be heavily underlined. We’ll see.

It sets up some wonderful storylines in the next season as Dexter has to come to terms with the fact that he is responsible in such a big way for Arthur not being caught, for him not facing justice (as Dexter kills those who have escaped the law and Arthur was discovered and they had all the evidence they needed), for the fact that there will be an investigation into Rita’s death, and Dexter will be a suspect, and also because Dexter can’t take revenge on the murderer, as he’s already killed Arthur.

I don’t think Christine was a case of giving her these new roles all the while, as she was in there because she was clearly insane and trying to protect her father, putting him in more danger.

I enjoyed this climax better than season three, which felt a little rushed at the end.