Dexter - Season 3

[Matt Goldberg]

Showtime's got the season premiere available to VIP members. It's a bit of a disappointment. They spell out Dexter's trajectory for the season (becoming his own man) but there's no sense of urgency. Hopefully, the season will get better as it progresses, but it's a very slow start.

[InTheShadows]

I'm on the 5th episode of Season 2, my first time through the series. Liking it a lot at though, not sure how it holds up on repeat viewings. Deb's a little annoying sometimes, and the show hits its metaphors a little too square on the head occasionally, but I like it.

Also got the first episode of Season 3 on the computer for when I'm finished with season 2.

[EdHocken]

I love the print campaign for the new season. Love those magazine parodies.

[OCallaghan]

Originally Posted by Matt Goldberg

Showtime's got the season premiere available to VIP members. It's a bit of a disappointment. They spell out Dexter's trajectory for the season (becoming his own man) but there's no sense of urgency. Hopefully, the season will get better as it progresses, but it's a very slow start.

I didn't think it really introduced this seasons narrative that well to be honest, or at least it wasn't quite put forward in a manner as exciting as the previous season openers. Was good to the cast back though. Watched it with a bunch of friends the other night and there was an audible "Holy Shit" moment over the last few seconds.
This is got a huge cult following down here incidentally, I havent seen anything like it for a while.

[Matt Goldberg]

Originally Posted by Matt OCallaghan

Was good to the cast back though. Watched it with a bunch of friends the other night and there was an audible "Holy Shit" moment over the last few seconds.

Maybe it's because I watched the full trailer for season three, but I think that last moment was so painfully telegraphed that there was no surprise when it actually happened. I may have just been actively looking for it, but Rita and Dexter having more sex in one episode than they've had during the course of the show combined with Dexter's overt fatherly role with Cody, and the ending wasn't much of a shocker. I think it will yield strong dramatic material, but for me, it was the exact opposite of the final minutes in the season two premiere when all the bay harbor bodies are getting pulled up.

[whiskaz]

I was rather put off by the first few episodes of Season 2. Hearing this about Season 3, maybe I'll hold off until it's a few episodes in and just watch them back to back. I don't want to have to wait a week or more for it to start getting good.

[Rob]

Saw this episode a few weeks ago. Fantastic. Should be a good season. Can't wait to see Bail Organa and Dexter go head to head.

[Princess Kate]

I just got done watching this season. I feel like it's typical showtime fluff, essentially slightly edgier Net Work TV, with swears! However Michael C Hall is great, I love Jennifer Carpenter who portrays his sibling, and some other members of the cast are ok too. I especially liked Jimmy Smits this season. He has an affable personality and I enjoyed spending time in his company. He helped brighten things up, and did a great deal to make the show less dour. I like Michael C Hall and it was fun watching him golf and hang out with President Santos, rather than continue sulking for another season. I just wish they could have kept Smits as a permanent member of the cast, rather than set him against Dexter. His lighter and cheerier version of sociopathology was a refreshing change from Mr Hall's more brooding depiction of psychosis, and it's a shame he won't be returning in season 4. On another note, I'm sort of really disappointed with how the writers have handled the Julie Benz character. When she was first introduced we learned she had been through some pretty traumatic stuff, and I found it really refreshing to see someone in her situation as a main character on a TV show. Usually victims of traumatic incidents are tossed off in a single episode of L&O:SVU and we don't stick with them and get to know them as human beings. Unfortunately it seems like by the second season the writers were no longer in exploring that and simply rewrote her as someone without any emotional issues or scars beyond divorce. All her intimacy problems disappeared and I felt that was cheap and unrealistic. I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up that a network like SHOWTIME would tackle that subject in a sympathetic and empathetic way, but the abandonment of that storyline was none the less frustrating for me. On another subject, I also find that the show is not really about the "fine line between good and evil", but is often squarely on the side of vigilante justice and portrays Dexter's actions as universally just or unavoidable. I like Mr Hall and the show enough to look past this, but I'd have appreciated a more thoughtful examination of the issues at hand given the shows rather unique protagonist. It feels like a wasted opportunity in some respects. I get the impression HBO would have been a bit more daring with the material, and made Dex a bit harder to like at times.