SPOILERS FOLLOW!! If you haven't yet watched the entire season, don't read this. This is a rant about various events in the show, and will contain SPOILERS that you won't want to read.

What can I say? We waited a long eight years for more Dexter, and this is what we were given? I'd rather still be waiting. I know this ended some months back, but I didn't watch till last month, as we were waiting to get the season on disc. So excited about that, initially, then everything went wrong.

SPOILERS below this! Last chance to turn back!

Where do I start?

First, let me be clear that I am not one of the people who hated the ending of the original series, or who wanted to erase the second half (seasons 4-8). The only thing I didn't like about the ending was that is was the ending. The way it finished, though, left things wide open for more stories, assuming anyone got enough ideas together for a new location, new characters, and so forth. The faint teasers they gave us were so promising. Hints of a return of Harrison, creepy killers for Dexter to take down in a new place, the likelihood of Harrison having dark issues of his own...

Instead, we started with Dexter dating not just a cop, but the head cop for the town. Seems unlikely, all considered, but, hey, I could adjust. Then we see a bunch of eco-activists, after a character that seemed promising, then was completely abandoned. Olsen was starting to look quite interesting. Three episodes, and gone? A bit lame on the writing there. Seems like perhaps someone wanted more than one "evil old white man". Ah, but it was more Dexter, and Hall was in good form, even with weak writing.

Then we have the white elk. That whole sequence, from the first one, had an almost dreamlike quality, and I couldn't decide if it was supposed to be real or some sort of vision. Considering that Dex was literally running full tilt to the location, somehow not scaring off a shy wild animal, I was leaning heavily toward dream/vision. Even the shot, when it came, could have been that. But, no, nothing that creative, just unlikely behavior as a trigger to take out a guy he already knew was bad. All considered, I am not certain that Matt would have really met the code. Certainly, there was no planning, no effort to not be discovered. A bloody trail, straight to his home, left till the next day? Really?? No, just no. Out of practice of not, Dex wasn't going senile. Then, the whole using the ATV the next day, but not for the "hunting" or whatever, was just unlikely.

There were far too many elements pushing an agenda, as well, that had nothing to do with the plot, and seemed to be tossed in to satisfy someone, somewhere, in having enough elements pushing an agenda. Don't these writers know that people want to be entertained, not propagandized? If I want political opinions, I'll watch some news commentator. If I chose a regular show, I'd prefer to leave that nonsense out. Yet there it was. A bad guy with a "scary" gun choice, a homosexual couple just to have one (I mean, come on, his boss was barely there - who cares who he dated? None of that was needed for the story line at all, and obviously isn't going to be needed later on), a cop/coach character that couldn't possibly have enough time for both, and seemed to exist just to make people hate Dexter later on, an Amerind police chief, when that didn't affect the story, either (no, the MMIW stuff didn't, because not all of those missing were in that category), every "bad" guy being white, all of the "good" characters being something else, or homosexual (what, no straight white guys can be good?) - That's just too much. At this stage, we aren't looking at "representation", we are looking at racism, against one group. Every white student we saw was less than good, even.

Angela living in a town with a serial killer for so long, solving nothing, suspecting nothing, then somehow discovers all of Dexter's secrets, based on his son's name (which wouldn't have likely been mentioned) and a needle mark, is beyond ridiculous. Plus, Dex didn't use ketamine in Miami - which Angela searched for and found in articled rigged to reflect the change - he used M99 (Etorphin) and Miami Metro had literally NO IDEA that any Bay Harbor Butcher victims had been drugged at all. That's supposed to be good detective work? Oh, please! Who wrote that mess?

Harrison setting up the odd boy at school wasn't some evil act, really, either. The kid was drawing sketches of himself doing really bad things to those he didn't like (understandably didn't like), and was likely to take that further and actually become a shooter, so Harrison wanting to take him down seemed like us being shown that he'd somehow (perhaps through Hannah) absorbed some of his father's tendencies. At that stage, I was hoping for some father/son thing for more seasons. sigh Then Harrison takes out some bullies, in his home, and they vanish without a trace, and without any mention of even being missing. His practiced dad leaves a bloody trail, but he leaves no trace, and even erases all memory of those boys? Oh, sure.....

Next we have Angel Batista. Seeing him again t=in that role was great, then not so great. David Zayas was always a favorite of mine in the original series, imperfect as are we all, but likeable. However, he never, ever suspected that someone other than Estrada killed LaGuerta. Ever. Only she suspected Dexter of anything, and everyone else bought poor Doakes as the BHB. So Batista having a file of questions all those years later makes no sense at all. That entire mess was created with the sole purpose of killing our main character and destroying the entire franchise.

On to Debra. Oh, boy, this is likely to ruffle some feathers! Let's be honest, fans - she was a mess from Day One. Daddy wanted a boy, and that wouldn't have changed had Dex never existed. She became a cop because Harry was one, and she wasn't doing well at that. Dexter helped her. He was protective as a brother, supportive through the loss of both parents, aided with her career, and looked out for her. Meanwhile, she was making bad choices in boyfriends, and mouthing off at work. She caused her issues, not Dexter. To see her "ghost" or whatever harassing Dexter about herself, Rita, Doakes, and Maria was beyond ridiculous, as Dex didn't kill any of them. All of that nonsense, as with so many other elements of this new addition, seem contrived to push the final agenda, with no thought to the original show, which was leagues better than this.

Then there is what they did to the character of Dexter. I understand that some people wanted him on death row, or executed. I know that some don't like the later seasons, and the character development that we saw through the series. That's alright; people can like or dislike what they wish. However, what happened shouldn't be ignored as though it never existed. In the Dexter series, we know that Dexter did have a code, that he was extremely careful, and that he did, in fact, have feelings. Dex would never have dragged a bloody body across snow and ignored the evidence, never would have left that pin in his home, and wouldn't have injected the dealer in broad daylight, where anyone could see. As for that whole scene in the police station, no, just NO. Escape attempt when the cop tells him there isn't enough to really arrest, much less prosecute? Murder, to escape, when he' be freed and likely able to sue the pants off the cops? Then the final insult of him "never loving anyone" before? Horse hockey! It was clear to all that he always loved Deb, that he loved and adored his son, and both of Rita's kids, and that he deeply loved Rita. No one breaks down as he did without truly having loved the person who's gone. This was all clear.

Throwing away, like so much trash, all that we know and love about the character Dexter, just to "kill the bad guy", was beyond stupid. I think the guy who played Harrison was great, and I don't blame him for the poor choices of those writing and pushing this mess, but at this stage, I am not sure I would be interested in more. I'd rather picture Dexter logging somewhere, sad but alive, occasionally taking out the trash if some psycho crosses his path.