MovieChat Forums > Dexter: New Blood (2021) Discussion > Feels like a wasted opportunity

Feels like a wasted opportunity

posted 3 years ago by papamihel (1594)
10 replies | jump to latest

If you discard boring side storylines and a bunch of unsympathetic characters, the original Dexter had kind of a Pinocchio feel: it was a story of a psychopath who learned how to be a real human.
And no matter how many issues I might have with later seasons it was still an amazing journey with an incredible finale: Dexter made a decision to leave based on the principals he discovered for himself and his own hard-won understanding of right and wrong.

And then he what? Just snaps and goes back to killing? I think this new Dexter deserved some truly extreme circumstances forcing him to let the Dark Passenger off the leash. Not a dead buck and a rich asshole...

[–] Ldlamb (601) 3 years ago

I agree with this....when it happened...I said if this is all it takes....why wait 10 years?

[–] Sidha108 (2418) 3 years ago

They should have waited for him to have his first new kill until later in the season and slowly return to his old self as opposed to the end of the first episode. It took Twin Peaks 16 episodes before Cooper was back to his original self when it came back for another season on Showtime.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Yep, he should have reunited with Harrison.. then Harrison gets killed and it trigger Dexter to go back to the dark side... Having a deer shot was really a sad excuse for a trigger... cliched and just plain dumb.

[–] exatera (3949) 3 years ago

Wait, so this is a wasted opportunity to do what instead? You are not suggesting any alternatives.

[–] papamihel (1594) 3 years ago

Well, I'm not a professional writer but I think the obvious path would be that serial killer operating in the area.
Dexter's girlfriend is on the case and, I imagine, it could get personal with the killer taunting and threatening her which would prompt Dexter to start his own investigation. And from there it could go anywhere: him trying to understand the killer and comparing him to his own past and slowly giving in to temptation. There could even be kind of a relationship mimicking the first season but instead of the actual brother - a twisted brother in spirit.

Or something else. There is a million ways to make this transformation meaningful and awesome.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 3 years ago

I’m not sure there was any kind of an opportunity here. The original Dexter energy is not here. The opening credits Dexter smirk is gone. Did anyone ask for this? And I ask that as one who LOVED Dexter. MAYBE we wanted a 2-hour closure movie that justified the fucking terrible lumberjack finale they gave us, but, 2 eps in, this feels flaccid. I hope I’m wrong. The writing just does not feel on point. Whatever it turns out to be, I hope this is a limited run, one season-and-done deal, because it does not have the juice to sustain itself. The title should be Dexter: Coda.

[–] JMWick (229) 3 years ago

Harrison returning brought back the Dark Passenger. First time in 10 years Dexter has had to confront anything from his past and it clearly broke him. This premier was great!

[–] kuatorises (7467) 3 years ago

You cannot call a show a wasted opportunity after 1 episode, LOL. It is absurd on a fundamental level. There's no merit to that statement.

Who are we referring to as unsympathetic? The sheriff who gave money to a homeless kid? The harmless gun store owner? The guy he killed, who we are supposed to dislike?

Head-Deb literally explains what has transpired over his life. Everyone who gets too close to him dies. It rocked him. He didn't want Doakes, LaGuerta, or Deb to die. Deb was the final straw. He was numb. It was over.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Nah, it's fine as is.

[–] unsanesarah (249) 3 years ago

I feel like it would have been a lot more interesting to play out the series (or at least first season or two) with him struggling with it. The audience wondering how long it would take for him to snap, or if he might pull off sticking to his morals. It might have made it a lot more of a drama than an action show though, so I know why they didn't do it. I still think a Tested Dexter series might have been more interesting in the longer term. We'll see. Either way I'm happy to have it back.