FTA-TV Dexter: New Blood (Season 9)

[Carbine Chaos]

I think the finale is being underrated by most things I've been reading online.

The whole season was about Dexter being secretly delighted about Harrison sharing his dark passenger. He was almost giddy about it in the penultimate episode, being able to share his whole process with his son. He subconsciously knew it too - hence why Deb kept calling him out for it. But his need for connection with Harrison drove him to ignore her/that part of himself.

Ergo, the conversation with Harrison would have absolutely broken him, and Michael C. Hall did a fantastic job of portraying that. And it was good to see Dexter being called out on his s**t, his justification for his actions. He was never a hero. He was a monster. Only Harrison could help him realise that.

We didn't need a Dexter/Batista reunion. That would have been pure fan service.

They definitely redeemed the original ending. Reckon that's where the Dexter universe needs to end.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

I love fan service. Imagine if instead of killing Logan to escape, he killed Batista. A friend. The ultimate betrayal to his code. But, alas, it'll never be.

 

[torq]

If Harry wasn't a cop and he'd never given Dexter a code to live by (and kill by) Dexter would have killed indiscriminately. He was a vigilante by expedience only; it served more than one purpose. But he was a monster.

The closure in the finale was Dexter being exposed - by Angela and then Harrison - for who he really was. From that perspective I found it a satisfactory ending. But this is why a scene with Batista would have been so interesting. They were friends and colleagues for years and in that time Doakes was tagged the Bay Harbor Butcher, LaGuerta was killed, etc.

Before his death, Dexter was never confronted by anyone from his Miami past, only his Iron Lake present. Golden opportunity missed.

 

[Gak Attack]

There were so many dumb things in that finale. Made Yellowstone look believable.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Paused the screen on Batista’s emails and there was one from Quinn asking if Batista was going to Masuka’s bachelor party. That would be a good night I reckon.

 

[FreoRicci]

Have to admit, great series. The first few episodes built awesomely.
Then the last two episodes suddenly significant character development for Harrison and hardly any length or time. Just bam your dark passenger and Dexter is sloppy?
There HAD to be a reunion for Batista and Dexter.
Sorry but a obsessed small town cop cannot figure out a 25 year serial killer suddenly diverted to Dexter responsible? Eh.
I get the ending. Dexter had to die for his interwoven fatalities for his family and friends but just felt rushed. Maybe a two hour finale or perhaps spread into two seasons .
Please no stupid spin off with Harrison.

 

[FreoRicci]

If Harry wasn't a cop and he'd never given Dexter a code to live by (and kill by) Dexter would have killed indiscriminately. He was a vigilante by expedience only; it served more than one purpose. But he was a monster.

The closure in the finale was Dexter being exposed - by Angela and then Harrison - for who he really was. From that perspective I found it a satisfactory ending. But this is why a scene with Batista would have been so interesting. They were friends and colleagues for years and in that time Doakes was tagged the Bay Harbor Butcher, LaGuerta was killed, etc.

Before his death, Dexter was never confronted by anyone from his Miami past, only his Iron Lake present. Golden opportunity missed.

How was he exposed? Circumstantial evidence? So meh. So many way Dexter could’ve just argued that Batista was blood lust for his ex wife’s death and same for Angela.
Definitely would’ve preferred a darker, Lumperjack Dexter like they did in the ending 10 seasons ago.

 

[FreoRicci]

Would people watch a season 2 of New Blood? Harrison as the main and Dexter as his dark passenger?

No. Harrison is a nicer, twisted dark passenger? How is he going to learn properly of the ‘code’.

 

[FreoRicci]

Nah I wouldn't bother, my interest with this was purely hoping they gave the show a proper ending after how poor the original one was.

That ending was so poor. However how do you end this, given how smart and conniving Dexter is..
Lumberjack Dexter would’ve been fun however. But going into a hurricane, surviving and then ending up in the eastern US? Silliness

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

The big announcement has landed. Is it a new series or a movie? No, it's season 9 is coming out on DVD. Scott Reynolds was trolling us by saying a big announcement was coming to throw us off what would happen in the finale. Talk about cheap tricks.

 

[FreoRicci]

The big announcement has landed. Is it a new series or a movie? No, it's season 9 is coming out on DVD. Scott Reynolds was trolling us by saying a big announcement was coming to throw us off what would happen in the finale. Talk about cheap tricks.

Who buys DVDs anymore? Trying to get some classic collector to do so with their Dexter originals

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Who buys DVDs anymore? Trying to get some classic collector to do so with their Dexter originals

it was blu ray as well

 

[Kong]

it was blue ray as well

*, BluRay?

Now THAT'S an announcement.

 

[GPW1]

The big announcement has landed. Is it a new series or a movie? No, it's season 9 is coming out on DVD. Scott Reynolds was trolling us by saying a big announcement was coming to throw us off what would happen in the finale. Talk about cheap tricks.

Did he mention when the vhs version was coming out?

 

[Gift]

Harrys rule no 1 for Dexter to survive shoulda been wear a condom lol

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Getting a lot of hate online, I like watching YouTube breakdowns/reviews of shows and the consensus here seems to be 'they've screwed up two endings now, not just one'. I disagree with this assertion fairly strongly.

I think people are mixing up what makes an ending 'bad' compared to what makes it 'unsatisfying'. I suspect the way that things went down in the finale wasn't the way that people wanted it to end, probably due to the success of the mini-series and the desire for it to continue. So, in the end, it's become a victim of its own success (kind of like Dexter himself, in a lot of ways).

The issue with the Game of Thrones finale, as a point of comparison, was that many of the creative decisions didn't make sense within the universe (or the story that we had spent years investing in). I don't think that applies here, perhaps bar one decision/action Dexter takes in the episode, but even then it was in a heated moment and consistent with the first rule of the 'code'. A code that Harrison proceeded to question in pretty much the very next scene, so it wasn't left unexplored or unchallenged anyway.

I think the first Dexter 'finale' hurt not just because of Dexter's choice to 'become a lumberjack', but because it felt like a betrayal of his relationships with Deb and (to an extent, given we didn't know him as a character yet) Harrison. It felt like he was taking the easy way out, and the lack of payoff with Miami Metro finding out about him and their reactions were absent. Well, I'd argue that this finale covered both of those aspects missed from the former, and while not perfect, acted as a good way to end the series as a whole.

 

[vast]

Yeah Im a little bemused by the hate its getting. I think the major reason is not having Batista and Dexter interact, which I understand to a degree and if that happened I dont think we would be seeing this response.

But the rest of the issues that keep getting bought up are non issues imo.

 

[Gift]

The issue with the Game of Thrones finale, as a point of comparison, were that many of the creative decisions didn't make sense within the universe (or the story that we had spent years investing in). I don't think that applies here, perhaps bar one decision/action Dexter takes in the episode, but even then it was in a heated moment and consistent with the first rule of the 'code'.

Theres plenty of things that didnt make sense imo.

Why would dexter date the chief of police as a serial killer? A person who has been so careful his whole life taking such a risk over something that doesnt even matter to him because its all about blending in. He could have dated anyone else.

M99/ketamine plot hole.

Dexter was more strict earlier with Harry's code in the early seasons to keep him in line, but he did have character development and develop feelings for Deb/Rita/Hannah and wouldnt kill or risk them to save his own. Thats why he tried to suicide first before exiling as lumberjack after Deb died. Otherwise Deb/Hannah would have been killed by Dexter early on. Dexter's relationship with Logan wasnt as strong as those characters but was probably on par with a friend at Miami metro ie. Masuka/Quinn. I dont think Dexter would risk killing either of those characters to escape especially since his fate was not 100% determined at that point of time, so to most people killing Logan didnt feel right. Using it as a plot point for Harrison to turn on Dexter would have just enraged fans more if they felt this way prior to the event.

Harrison came to Dex looking for a father figure saying he is "****ed up". Even though to the writers Dexter needed to die, would Dexter really let Harrison have his first kill by killing his own father which would mess him up even more? Whats Dexter's plan for keeping Harrison safe after his death if he truly loves him? Literally nothing and no details on this. Also as a kid, where is Harrison going to go? How does he even drive without a license and hes in Dexters car as well which means he cant get far with police everywhere. This is why the ending felt rushed to most people.

Other things people are unhappy with:

Dexter not meeting Bautista, but writers said that was in the initial plans but couldnt happen due to covid.

Angela discovering Dexters identity so easily with google and heaps of coincidences landing in her lap but couldnt solve a 25 year old case with missing women in her town. The writers did say they had the ending in mind and so probably did write backwards with not that many episodes to play with, so it would have felt rushed and too convenient for fans.

 

[Cruyff14]

What was the ketamine plot hole?

 

[vast]

What was the ketamine plot hole?

In the original series Dexter used a drug called M99 to put his victims to sleep. So Ketamine would never have come up in a google search relating the the Bay Harbour Butcher.

 

[Gift]

What was the ketamine plot hole?

In season 1, when Dexter nearly got busted for killing the people smuggling couple that murdered if families didnt pay up, Dexter said he made an alias to order M99 to inject into his victims to paralyze them.

In New Blood, dexter doesnt have access to M99 since only certain occupations can order it, so he uses ketamine from the vet instead.

When Angela was investigating the needle marks she googles Bay Harbour butcher and ketamine which gets a hit and says the BHB likely used something like ketamine. That google search is possible I guess since it was off sites speculating on what the BHB used, but it was too convenient for hardcore fans which annoyed them.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

There's no doubt they took some shortcuts in season 9 to get to that finale. I still think overall it was a good series. Even the earlier seasons could be hit and miss sometimes.

 

[Gift]

It was definitely a good season still. Had lots of fun taking Dexter with my brother each week just like back in the days

 

[Kong]

Having rewatched some of the earlier seasons recently, it reminded me of just how B Grade the show was.

It was interesting and intense; I really enjoyed it.

But there is poor writing throughout its peak.

I see New Blood in the same way. Poorly written at times, but that's part of the package. And overall, I'm finally at peace with the resolution to the show, 8 years later.

 

[vast]

Having rewatched some of the earlier seasons recently, it reminded me of just how B Grade the show was.

It was interesting and intense; I really enjoyed it.

But there is poor writing throughout its peak.

I see New Blood in the same way. Poorly written at times, but that's part of the package. And overall, I'm finally at peace with the resolution to the show, 8 years later.

I think the main thing forgotten with this show is that Michael C Hall elevates the show and the writing to create this iconic character that so many love to watch. Its a shame he isnt getting the victory lap he deserves right now.