In reviewing the Season 2 finale I guess I'm really reviewing season 2. I didn't really like the premise of Dexter's recovery in the first place, turning him into a normal guy is not what the audience wants. Then to have him couple up with rehab skank Lila was salt to the wound. Dexter's acceptance of his addiction and newfound ability to overcome it somehow leads him into the arms of the woman who fans the flames of that addiction instead of the woman who has been with him for so long, that's he's been trying to over the addiction for, Rita? It makes no sense. But then Dexter does finally explain that he's a confused man.
Doakes was always such a one-note character, the guy calling Dexter a weirdo and psycho. It was a welcome surprise to find that in these last few episodes he became a real highlight of the season. When he dropped the macho posturing and actually tried to have a real conversation with Dexter for the first time it felt like we were really going somewhere. Sprinkling in the bits earlier in the season about Doakes' questionable past and killer instincts strengthened the bond between them. It came as no surprise that he would die once he found out Dexter's secret, he had to or else the show would be over.
This set up a great moral conflict for Dexter. According to Harry's Code he cannot kill an innocent man, but he also cannot allow himself to be caught. The two are in direct conflict. We all knew that there would be a Deus Ex Machina that let him off the hook without making the choice. As it turns out he has ample time to make the choice before he's let off the hook. Dex spends days preparing to turn himself in rather than frame or kill Doakes, and we know that when Doakes is inevitably killed, Dex will be free and clear and maybe even feel bad that Doakes took the fall for him, but it was out of his hands. It really saddened me to see him pitch it all in favor of "nah, I'll go ahead and frame Doakes anyway," and then "oh well he's dead? I'll go on enjoying my life then, it's what Doakes would want me to do." No, no he wouldn't.
Beyond profiting from an innocent man's death, Dexter also seems completely fine with letting Doakes' family and the entire police force go on believing this innocent man was a murderer, just to spare his own smaller family. This season was about Dexter abandoning Harry's Code and finding his own, and I guess he has, it's just not as good. I'm disappointed.
And really, a badass like Doakes being taken out by someone like Lila, that is really insult to injury. Just sad. And while I'm glad they killed her off and didn't leave us hanging for years as to whether we'd ever see her again, just how exactly did Dexter find her? Dexter has always had incredible luck with tracking people, abducting them, carrying bodies around and dumping evidence in broad daylight without being seen by anyone, but this seemed beyond ridiculous.
Decent acting, mediocre writing, overall season storyline was a bit sub- par.
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