“……
………
……….she’s my mom!”
What irritates me the most about this final season is that there are absolutely no stakes. The introduction of Evelyn Vogel seems intriguing on the surface, but when you look closer, you realize that the writers have put absolutely no thought into her character. Take this episode, for example. Vogel’s never seen her son’s body, her son used to leave her stuff just like the Brain Surgeon does (HINT HINT!), and oh, her son’s also a psychopath. I think most people would put two and two together, and not get five.
It’s not just her character, though. The writers have zero interest in creating a compelling world around the titular character, and not even an actor like Michael C. Hall can hold this show up for long. Even Deb, that one supposed thorn in Dexter’s side, is off screwing around with Quinn and Elway and whatnot. I mean, like, did the whole attempted drowning scenario just vanish off the face of the Earth? Jennifer Carpenter’s a more than capable actress, writers. Just look at the first few episodes of the season.
Anyway, in this episode, we had the whole Oliver Saxon plot, one in which I was constantly shaking my head in confusion and laughing my head off. Why is this even important? I don’t really care who he killed or that he’s Vogel’s son. Oh, and the way Dexter conveniently finds the dude is hilarious. Zach, in his “cutting my head open”-defying ways, is able to somehow leave some evidence that Dexter finds, who then magically throws it into his crazy computer-megatron face scanner, and voilà! It’s Ryan Gosling!
This season has been really terrible about introducing new characters, then focusing on them more than the supposed main characters. We’re in a final season, folks. Are the writers setting up a Harrison-Saxon showdown or something? That would actually be hilarious. Speaking of, I really don’t get why we have to be constantly barraged with the whole “LET’S MOVE TO ARGENTINA, BABY!” stuff, as it’s becoming increasingly obvious that that won’t happen. This Hannah-Dexter relationship is getting tiresome, the actors have no chemistry, and the writers are staring straight ahead, focusing solely on Dexter. In eight years, he’s been constantly elevated above the rest of the cast, facing absolutely NO consequences in which he’s been blamed (does he even care about Rita now?). That was fine for a while, but once again, FINAL SEASON=ENDGAME.
I appreciate the fact that the episode was trying to bring everything together to set the wheels in motion for the endgame. However, the endgame was introduced a few seasons ago, then took a break, and is now suddenly being re-introduced in the final 3 episodes of the season. I liked the way the season started off, but it’s taken several turns for the worst. Dexter should be exploring the moral complexities of its titular character, delving into his relationships with and influence on the people around him. He should be facing consequences for his actions, either through legal action or conflict within his family. Instead, we get Harrison and his pancakes.
Grade: C
Other Thoughts:
-Kenny Johnson’s amazing, but he’s introduced here as yet another idiot cop. Yeah, a blood spatter analyst makes enough to buy houses for random people.
-Yvonne Strahovski wore a pink dress.
-Masuka’s daughter? Yeah, I don’t know what she’s doing here, either.
-Deb lets Hannah stay with her and eats her food because why?
-What about the Maria LaGuerta Memorial Bench? No one’s sitting on it!
Credit to Showtime and Dexter for all pictures. I own nothing.
Polar Bears Watch TV 
I enjoyed this episode a bit more than you did but excellent review! I agree about Hannah, while her return was something I was anticipating it has been for the most part disappointing. Vogel isn’t exactly the sharpest one is she?
Thanks! Yeah, I think I’m mainly just disappointed because it’s the final season. If this were any other season, I’d enjoy it more, but I just feel like everything’s moving way too slow when they only have 3 episodes left, you know?
Anyway, thanks for commenting.
I’m doing a blog post this week on why Season Eight has been so disappointing which you might want to read. I mostly blame Showtime, had they not messed around with the writers with the whole “Is season eight the final or do we want a Season Nine too?”, I think the story would have been very different.
Yeah, I’ll make sure to check it out. Showtime is definitely part of the problem here; Dexter really could’ve benefited from having a start and end date, and a limit on the number of seasons. That would mean less filler and a more sense of urgency.
I’m glad someone besides me thought that Vogel’s son looks like Ryan Gosling.