I loved the original series at the time but tapped out after season 6. I’m mostly watching this for any glimpse of Sarah Michelle Gellar on my screen again, but it’s making me want to rewatch the good seasons again, esp the John Lithgow one.
All I want is for her to get another tv show that gets a couple years, is that so much to ask? (Sadly, I strongly suspect she’s Dexter Babies’ Doakes and Dexter has a big ethical dilemma moment in this season’s finale when he decides to kill her)
Thank you for your service in watching and writing these reviews 🫡
I'm one of those viewers who will defend season 5 (and on a good day, maybe even the first half of season 7), and I remember staring aghast at the show's incredible decline after that point and relying heavily on the AV Club reviews to validate that I wasn't going crazy in my reaction. The finale review in particular was certainly a work of art.
I've never gone back to rewatch the good bits or check out the sequel, but I'm still morbidly curious enough in the IP that I'll probably be reading along to see how this one plays out.
Thanks for these reviews! I'm with you on "Original Sin" retreading old territory. But I'm hoping for some surprises. Like maybe the audience learns that Dexter's biological mom is still alive; Harry put her in witness protection, but Dexter doesn't learn this until "Resurrection." Only a significant number of reveals like that can justify this series' existence and do justice to the original.
I'm actually quite curious to see if they do more major retconning a la the reveal of Harry's heretofore undisclosed first child that died before he ever met Dexter's mom.
God, this whole show just got so angry again. I really liked New Blood in a "oh shit how do we walk back the garbage fire" sort of way, and think they ultimately got it across the finish line.
This time around I'm just so sour to the idea of the show wanting me to invest in characters who suffered the most blatant Character Assassination I think I've ever seen. Really hard for me to not see Deb and immediately think of her Death By Hurricane and Declaration of Love. Shudder.
Back in the day a fun parlor game was debating if this or How I Met Your Mother's finale wrecked their show the most. Still not sure which way to lean on that, TBH.
That's fair. Honestly, I suspect part of the reason they all creatively invested in this is because it gave them a chance to go, "Hey, look, it's early days! Before all that stuff that made you hate the show. Isn't that nice?"
I was expecting more of a Young Sheldon vibe, with a pre-killing Dexter trying to make his way through his teens/young adulthood with his growing Dark Passenger. Instead I realize it's just "Dexter Jr", already a killer, just younger and newer at it.
I was confused by the introduction of Harry Jr. - was he ever mentioned before? So Harry's first son dies, and then at some point later, he brings home the orphaned toddler Dexter, and a few years later he and his wife have a daughter? Dexter graduates med school while Debra is still in h.s. so he's at least 8 years older. My memory may be faulty but I didn't recall that he was already living with the Morgans when she was born.
Yep, that whole Harry Jr. thing was a total retcon - we'd never seen nor heard of his existence in the original series, so that's something that they can explain away by claiming Harry (and their mom) kept that history from both of them. Yes, it's quite a stretch, but this is Dexter that we're talking about.
The timeline can be a little wonky, but Dexter was definitely already living with them when Deb was born - as you rightly note, he's about 8/9 years older than her, and was 2/3 when Harry adopted him.
I should really not get hung up on this but doesn’t Dexter say he’s pre-med in this ep (implying that the graduation we saw was undergrad)? Which makes his hiring even more of a stretch. Also, I thought in the original show he was a med school dropout?
Just popping in to say: I'm not sure arguments can be made for any stretch of Season 6, and I'd be very curious to see what an argument for Season 8 would even look like.
I largely agree. But there are still one or two episodes early in 8 that I think pop with the nerviness of early Dexter, mostly especially "Every Silver Lining." But no, no consistent stretch of it whatsoever. It mostly sucks.
I loved the original series at the time but tapped out after season 6. I’m mostly watching this for any glimpse of Sarah Michelle Gellar on my screen again, but it’s making me want to rewatch the good seasons again, esp the John Lithgow one.
I suspect you are far from alone in this reasoning.
All I want is for her to get another tv show that gets a couple years, is that so much to ask? (Sadly, I strongly suspect she’s Dexter Babies’ Doakes and Dexter has a big ethical dilemma moment in this season’s finale when he decides to kill her)
Thank you for your service in watching and writing these reviews 🫡
I'm one of those viewers who will defend season 5 (and on a good day, maybe even the first half of season 7), and I remember staring aghast at the show's incredible decline after that point and relying heavily on the AV Club reviews to validate that I wasn't going crazy in my reaction. The finale review in particular was certainly a work of art.
I've never gone back to rewatch the good bits or check out the sequel, but I'm still morbidly curious enough in the IP that I'll probably be reading along to see how this one plays out.
Even if you don't watch, happy to have you along for the ride, a.k.a. my slow descent into 60 minutes of alcoholism a week.
Thanks for these reviews! I'm with you on "Original Sin" retreading old territory. But I'm hoping for some surprises. Like maybe the audience learns that Dexter's biological mom is still alive; Harry put her in witness protection, but Dexter doesn't learn this until "Resurrection." Only a significant number of reveals like that can justify this series' existence and do justice to the original.
I'm actually quite curious to see if they do more major retconning a la the reveal of Harry's heretofore undisclosed first child that died before he ever met Dexter's mom.
That would open up a world of possibilities…
God, this whole show just got so angry again. I really liked New Blood in a "oh shit how do we walk back the garbage fire" sort of way, and think they ultimately got it across the finish line.
This time around I'm just so sour to the idea of the show wanting me to invest in characters who suffered the most blatant Character Assassination I think I've ever seen. Really hard for me to not see Deb and immediately think of her Death By Hurricane and Declaration of Love. Shudder.
Back in the day a fun parlor game was debating if this or How I Met Your Mother's finale wrecked their show the most. Still not sure which way to lean on that, TBH.
That's fair. Honestly, I suspect part of the reason they all creatively invested in this is because it gave them a chance to go, "Hey, look, it's early days! Before all that stuff that made you hate the show. Isn't that nice?"
I was expecting more of a Young Sheldon vibe, with a pre-killing Dexter trying to make his way through his teens/young adulthood with his growing Dark Passenger. Instead I realize it's just "Dexter Jr", already a killer, just younger and newer at it.
I was confused by the introduction of Harry Jr. - was he ever mentioned before? So Harry's first son dies, and then at some point later, he brings home the orphaned toddler Dexter, and a few years later he and his wife have a daughter? Dexter graduates med school while Debra is still in h.s. so he's at least 8 years older. My memory may be faulty but I didn't recall that he was already living with the Morgans when she was born.
Yep, that whole Harry Jr. thing was a total retcon - we'd never seen nor heard of his existence in the original series, so that's something that they can explain away by claiming Harry (and their mom) kept that history from both of them. Yes, it's quite a stretch, but this is Dexter that we're talking about.
The timeline can be a little wonky, but Dexter was definitely already living with them when Deb was born - as you rightly note, he's about 8/9 years older than her, and was 2/3 when Harry adopted him.
I should really not get hung up on this but doesn’t Dexter say he’s pre-med in this ep (implying that the graduation we saw was undergrad)? Which makes his hiring even more of a stretch. Also, I thought in the original show he was a med school dropout?
Just popping in to say: I'm not sure arguments can be made for any stretch of Season 6, and I'd be very curious to see what an argument for Season 8 would even look like.
I largely agree. But there are still one or two episodes early in 8 that I think pop with the nerviness of early Dexter, mostly especially "Every Silver Lining." But no, no consistent stretch of it whatsoever. It mostly sucks.