So
Dexter has finally finished. Although the sixth series didn't really grab me, I watched the seventh to see what would happen to the Deb/Dex relationship. And although the seventh series picked up when Yvonne Strahovski turned up, it was a real drag to get through, but I decided to stick it out and watch the eighth series because it was the final series.
I kind of feel like I've wasted my time.
*SPOILERS FOR THE SEASON FINALE OF DEXTER*
After watching Dexter kill Deb, dump her at sea, and seeing the wreckage of the boat he drove into the storm, when we saw Hannah walking away from camera, hand-in-hand with Harrison, and the camera cut to black I thought it was the perfect ending. As much as we had hopes for Dexter, we knew he was never going to be able to have a perfect, happy life, because that's not who he is. Time after time, we've witnessed him murdering people, and enjoying it, and there has been a strong theme running through the shoe that everyone he gets close to tends to suffer for it, particularly his family... so his sacrifice at the end was powerful, and I'll admit that it brought a tear to my eye.
Cut to black. Fade back in... he's a freakin' Logger now. That sacrifice? Yeah, we changed our minds.
I get that another theme running through the show is that Dexter is a loner, and that his attempts to lead a normal life aren't exactly wild successes, but from the moment Rita was introduced in the very first episode, Dexter as a character has been growing, and has even made real friendships and built strong relationships with the people around him. With Lumen in series five, he started to understand the happiness that a partner who knows him for what he is can bring, and with Hannah, he actually managed to find a true happiness.
But what are we left with? Eight years of character development destroyed. I feel totally cheated. I'm not going to accept the argument that Dexter has returned to his true self, because the whole show has been Dexter slowly accepting, and joining, the real world. He even threw off his Dark Passenger, and the thrill of the kill left him.
If the camera had panned around to show Harry sat opposite Dexter at the table, then maybe it would have been a slightly better ending, but as it is Dexter still lives, except now he is living with the guilt of abandoning his child and the woman he loved, and he takes no joy from killing, so what is he going to do?
Very disappointed.
EDIT: I even kind of enjoyed the ending to
Lost for crying out loud...
EDIT2: Man, if only...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl407-PZa3k (Fan re-write of Series 8)