I've come to somewhat enjoy the up and down nature of Dexter. Season 1 was one of the greatest single seasons of television I've ever seen. That was quickly followed by a down season 2 and mediocre season 3. My only reason for watching season 4 was John Lithgow and quite frankly because the appeal of Dexter Morgan and the portrayal of his "Dark Passenger" is so reminiscent of the struggle we all face with our inner demons. Yes I understand we aren't all stalking and killing criminals but we all live with very dark secrets that we hide from everyone as we try to portray an existence that may not necessarily be our true selves. Also much like Dexter we are constantly searching for those few people that will accept us for who we are deep on the inside. I was pleasantly surprised with season 4 all though not as good as season one it was very strong start to finish and left me wanting more. So much so that I ponied up for Showtime this year so I could see it as it happened and not wait till August for the DVDs.
That being said I really didn't have high hopes for season 5 going into it. I was expecting a serious let down and the first 4 episodes really held true to my being let down. Dexter dealing with the unfortunate events that ended season 4 set out not as the calm cool collected psychopath that we've all grown to know but more as a "woo hoo I'm just a killin' everyone all willy nilly" type of guy. It started out with a another cop protagonist that was just annoying. Johnathan Quinn tried so hard to be James Doakes from season 2 and he just wasn't likable enough for me to get behind. Also the appearance of Lumen (Julia Stiles) made me physically angry every time she walked on screen.
Around episode 5 this season really started to hit its stride. The addition of Robo-cop Stan Liddy (Peter Weller) really added the final piece to this season that I felt like was desperately needed to give it stability. In Previous seasons there was one protagonist in each season that Dexter had to deal with. This year there were actually 3 separate ones. Season 5 carried out all the brilliance of the previous seasons with Dexter avoiding police investigations, dealing with family, his struggle to be "normal," and his "hunt" of the ultimate bad guy.
I hate to say it but as the season wore on I actually started to like Quinn and Lumen both characters grew on my. I also really enjoyed how the final episode flowed nicely and worked it's way to a semi surprising end. The thing that really annoyed me about previous seasons is that the final episode seemed rushed. It always seemed like they were trying to slam five episodes into one just to get it over. I didn't feel that with season 5. I felt like they spread out the final episode tension nicely over the final 2 or 3 episodes. I also like how this show is much like real life where you just don't always get all the motives or answers for everything.
If you can watch it on demand do it. Or when the DVDs come out I highly recommend watching this season.
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