So another season of Dexter has come to a close. I never really thought about covering it as it was going on because I was forced to watch in short, sporadic bursts. I didn't even see the first episode until six had already aired. I don't get Showtime, so I would have to go back to my parents' house to watch when I had time throughout the semester. With the first semester done, I took a short trip to finish the last three episodes of the season today, and while this was not the best season of the show, there were certainly some great moments. There were also a few things I wish had been cleared up and a few things I wished had happened, but what oh well.
This season was about two things: first, Dexter had to learn to reaccept his father after losing faith in Harry in Season 2. Dexter also had to discover why he would always be alone. These two ideas were certainly intertwined, but I believe they can be viewed separately. Last year, Dexter's perfect father turned out to be not-so-perfect after all when Dexter learned that Harry was having an affair with Dexter's biological mother, which may have led to her death. Dex also learned that Harry committed suicide when he accidentally walked in on Dexter carving up one of his victims. In response to this, Dexter vowed to recreate Harry's code to be more in line with what Dexter thought it should be, not what a dead dishonest man believed it should be. The early episodes saw Dexter strangle a child molester without any preparation and consider killing a defense attorney who had never killed anyone herself, but was responsible for keeping killers out of jail. But the biggest change in his life was when he accidentally killed someone in the heat of the moment. When Dexter went to kill a murderous drug dealer, he found that someone else was there. The drug dealer got away, and Dexter had to kill in order to avoid being killed himself. This event put Dexter on his other path of the season, in which he learned (again) why he will always be alone.
The man Dexter killed was the brother of Assistant District Attorney Miguel Prado, a rising star with a reputation for being tough on crime (little did anyone know just how tough he really was...). During the investigation into Prado's brother's death, Prado and Dexter became friends, even though Dexter couldn't quite understand why. People like Angel and Masouka have considered Dexter a friend throughout the series, but Dexter always tolerated them. He feigned friendship, but there was nothing more to the way Dexter felt about them. But with Prado, Dexter actually found himself liking his company. It didn't hurt that when Prado discovered Dexter after he succeeded in killing the drug dealer, Prado THANKED Dexter for killing the man Prado believed was responsible for his brother's death. The two of them eventually became partners in vigliante justice, and Dexter taught Prado the tricks of the trade and the code. And the whole time, Prado was all too eager to learn.
Sadly, Dexter was forced to remember lesson he learned with his brother, the Ice Truck Killer, and Lilah. His brother, Lilah, and Prado all accepted Dexter for the monster he was, but that was because they themselves were monstrous. The Ice Truck Killer had a compulsion to kill, and he took the lives of innocents, something Dexter does not accept. Lilah was obsessive, and would do anything to keep Dexter, even if it meant ruining the lives of some and ending the lives of others. And Prado wanted to do what Dexter did out of a deranged sense of justice. Dexter kills to satisfy an urge, and makes himself feel better by rationalizing that his victims deserve it. Prado kills people he believes are guilty, and guilt doesn't necessarily mean that his victims fit Harry's code.
There are still a few things I am confused about. For one thing, why did Prado take the effort to earn Dexter's trust through the shirt (you'll know what I mean when you watch the season) only to give Dex a shirt with cow's blood. First of all, why did Prado feel the need to con Dexter? How could he know that Dexter would teach him his secrets (or that he even had such secrets)? And he knew that Dexter is a blood spatter analyst! How could he not figure that if something were to go wrong, Dexter would see through the ruse? And why didn't Prado ever suspect that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher? He clearly knew about the case and knew that the Butcher was in Dexter's department, based on comments he made to LaGuerta, and he likely knew that there were a few things in the case that didn't add up. Speaking of the Butcher, I was really hoping that LaGuerta was going to be conducting an off-the-books investigation into who the Butcher really was because she had proof that it clearly wasn't Doakes. Anyway, this was still an entertaining season.
Up next: Another TV update...
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