Remember a year ago when I posted one of my first reviews on this website, "Dexter: Season Two"? It was short, barren of much criticism, and was definitely a puny review. Well, since I wanted to take on the task of reviewing every single season of "Dexter," I needed to redeem myself by giving this review a complete overhaul! But why did I review only Season Two in the first place? Mostly because I felt that it was the weakest season in the entire series, and I still feel that way. Granted, it's not BAD, but it's really flimsy in some areas, seeming more like something you'd watch on prime time on other channels. In other words, it felt much less unique than the first season. Want to find out exactly what was right and wrong about Dexter: Season Two? Then away we go!
Synopsis
After the events of Season One turned his life upside down, Dexter Morgan is having a hard time enjoying the simple pleasures in life... like murdering bad people when he's not working as a blood spatter analyst for Miami Metro Homicide. When Doakes tails him because suspicions arise, and Rita thinks he's a drug addict, Dexter has to adjust to these unexpected events as his life changes with the help of his new Narcotics Anonymous sponsor Lila. However, those are the least of his worries when divers also discover the underwater graveyard of all of Dexter's past victims, the news dubbing him "The Bay Harbor Butcher." With the F.B.I. on his trail on top of everything else, Dexter is in deep trouble.
Characters
Dexter Morgan
Played by Michael C. Hall.
After the events of the first season, Dexter just hasn't been on top of his murderous tendencies. While being tailed by Sgt. Doakes isn't enough when the hardheaded cop suspects Morgan of something sinister, then Dexter finds he can't kill! What the hell's going on?! Maybe Dexter can find the right direction in his life when he finds out everything isn't going exactly as planned... especially when divers find the bodies of his past victims in the bay, and there is a manhunt for the "Bay Harbor Butcher."
Rita Bennett
Played by Julie Benz.
Left a stronger woman after the events of the first season, Rita thinks that Dexter is into drugs after noticing he disappears into the night very often. With that said, she makes him go into Narcotics Anonymous to sort out what she thinks is a drug addiction. If only, right?
Debra Morgan Played by Jennifer Carpenter.
After season one, Debra is reduced to a shell of her former self. Obsessed with working out, terrified to live on her own, and traumatized in general, she is definitely more vulnerable this season than last time. Will Dexter come to her aid when she needs it?
Harry Morgan
Played by James Remar.
Dexter's dead foster father who taught his son the Code of Harry, we learn more about his past, and it isn't the picture-perfect family relationship that we see in Season One. Is Dexter able to remember more about his dad than he thought?
Sgt. James Doakes Played by Erik King.
Still the resident asshole, Doakes grows suspicious of our favorite serial killer after the events of the first season. He starts to tail Dexter wherever he goes in hopes of finding something out, but Dex knows better than that. Will he be able to give Doakes the slip for long?
Detective Angel Batista Played by David Zayas.
Dexter's best friend, although our favorite killer has no idea why, Angel Batista works for Miami Metro Homicide. Easily the most laid-back member of the force, especially after trying a new approach at life after a heart-breaking separation, Detective Batista still manages to be really level-headed, and good at his job.
Lt. Maria Laguerta Played by Lauren Velez.
The former lieutenant of the Miami Metro Homicide Department, Maria Laguerta is peeved that her job was taken by another woman when she failed to do the job to seek out the Ice Truck Killer at the end of Season One. Definitely more humbled, she seems more sympathetic than last season.
Vince Masuka Played by C.S. Lee.
He is the other prominent lab geek in the series, and he's still a giant pervert and comedic relief. The character of Vince Masuka was made an official member of the cast after C.S. Lee's great performance in Season 1.
Special Agent Frank Lundy
Played by Keith Carradine.
The 'rock star' of the FBI, he was sent down to assist Miami Metro in the case of discovering the identity of the "Bay Harbor Butcher," complete with a task force consisting of Misuka, Debra, and Batista. As good as he is at catching his man, will he discover that the Butcher is Dexter?
Lila
Played by Jaime Murray.
The antagonist of this season, she seems like a cool and collected woman at first, but she turns out to be more dangerous to Dexter and those around him as the season progresses. As with the Ice Truck Killer in Season One, I won't give too much away about her.
The Good
Admittedly, Dexter: Season Two has one thing going for it that was also present in the first season, but this time in larger doses: character development. In the first season, Dexter is an emotionless killing machine, and he doesn't actually develop until halfway through the season. This isn't a fault with it, though, because it is executed beautifully! With Season Two, however, Dexter suddenly experiences an internal struggle as his whole world falls apart around him. Because of this, we get the Dexter we see today. He was a cold-blooded killer in the past, but now he's understanding newer things, like the internal struggles of love or trying to understand other people.
Character development is also prevalent with many of the other characters, particularly Deb. Thanks to the events of the first season, she is a considerably weaker character, and it is a realistic portrayal of somebody who had a psychologically traumatizing incident recently befall them. Throughout Season Two, though, she gets stronger and stronger until she is back to her old self again. She is also a better cop this time, not asking Dexter for advice on how to solve the current case but instead starting to do the work herself. Debra is an example of how well the characters are developed this time around, and that is the sign of good writing... although, I hate to say that some characters have their poorly-written moments, but more on that later.
Debra
However, just as Season One had its great moments of suspense, so does Season Two. With the introduction of Special Agent Frank Lundy, and Doakes's increasing suspicion of Dexter, things get more and more interesting as the season goes on! While the suspense isn't presented in the same way as Season One, which was more a 'game of chess' between two psychos, Season Two is still very suspenseful nonetheless!
Unfortunately, that was all that I could think of in terms of positive aspects of Dexter: Season Two. While this was much more detailed in the way of analysis than my previous review attempt, there isn't anything new to comment on in the way of positive aspects of Dexter: Season Two that couldn't have been touched upon in Season One. The soundtrack is largely the same (GREAT), and the acting is still awesome. With that said, let's move on to the negative aspects of Season Two that made it, in my opinion, the weakest of the Dexter seasons.
The Bad
The first thing that struck me with Dexter: Season Two was a lack or toning down in the content that made the First Season really neat for me... yeah, remember how in my initial review of Season Two, I said that these factors made Dexter a smash hit? Well... I was very wrong. Over time, I've come to appreciate Dexter not for the fact he kills people, but for the show itself. Anyway, one of the things that made S1 so cool was Dexter choosing and dealing with a new victim every episode, serial killers that he wanted to kill to satisfy his urges, and abide by the Code of Harry, the code which Dexter's foster father taught him after his murderous tendencies were discovered at a young age. Don't get me wrong, this does not hurt the overall score of Season Two that much, but it was a disappointment to not see Dexter go after as many murderers as he used to.
With that said, they added another staple to the series in Season Two that threw me off: a gratuitous amount of sex. Granted, that's not a bad thing for the fans in their teens, but it made Dexter, as a series, seem a bit... mainstream? Lots of other shows have steamy sex scenes, but how many have a lawman killing people in such an awesome way? Absolutely none, that's how many. One thing that I have felt about television shows or movies when they add sex scenes is that they are either reaching out to a hornier demographic, or the writers can't think of anything that can replace that scene so sex is used for the sole purpose of padding. It made the story seem a little emptier when at least 15-20 minutes of the 12 hours consisted of sex, and that's never a good thing.
However, another issue I have with Season Two that hurts the score more is that, although Season Two has great character development on most counts, some characters are written rather flimsily. They are mostly minor characters who aren't there for the entire season, but it is still important to mention because they had their own subplots that had their time in the limelight. Take, for example, the subplot with Lt. Pascal after she takes over Maria LaGuerta's position, and her increasingly unprofessional actions when she finds out her boyfriend is fucking another woman. As in she freaks out in the middle of the precinct and gets her ass fired as a result... if this scene was actually important, I wouldn't have spoiled it, so don't worry! But anyway, why was this subplot necessary? She acts so over the top and cartoonish that it is almost jarring, and almost rips you out of the story. Season Two would have been better off without scenes or subplots like this, so this is a hiccup in the otherwise fantastic characterization in the Season.
There is no picture of Pascal freaking out, so imagine this is that.
However, I discussed this particular problem ad nauseam in my previous attempt at reviewing Dexter Season Two, but the biggest negative aspect about this season is the antagonist, Lila. After a few episodes, it gets pretty obvious that she is somebody you're supposed to hate, and you just want to see her die. Sure, it's a huge payoff when you finally see that happen, but that's not the trait of good writing that has been present in the other seasons, particularly Seasons One and Four. The Ice Truck Killer and the Trinity Killer are both excellent villains because they are well-written, since the audience can both hate them but also show them some pity, to some extent. I'm not going to spoil anything to prove my point, but all of the villains in the other seasons are all three-dimensional characters. Remember King Kong, for example? He was an antagonist, but he was also sympathetic to the extent where he was considered the tragic hero by many film reviewers. This is the sign of a ROUNDED CHARACTER.
Lila, on the other hand is obviously a bitch, and will obviously do anything to get what she wants. As soon as my roomie and I saw Lila, he said "She's going to be the bad guy, isn't she?" Here is a hint, writers: don't make your villain as 2-dimensional as a cartoon character (IE: the Nostalgia Critic) because that will only make the series more predictable. Lila made Season Two more predictable because everybody knew that she was going to be the badguy before they even got that far into it, and that's a shame.
Verdict
Overall, while Season: One got a glowing 5/5, I think that Season: Two was a bit of a hiccup because the quality just wasn't as good. While the suspense and writing (for the most part) was fantastic, there were some issues that I couldn't get past, particularly some badly written characters, and the addition of more "mainstream" elements like a gratuitous amount of sex. With that said, Dexter: Season Two gets:
3/5
However, while Season Two dropped the ball and almost made me fear that the series would start to suck, Seasons Three and Four made me praise the lord that Dexter is far from over! So next time, let's see what the third season did to raise the bar!
I have been a fan of this series since episode 1!!! The second season,
while I do agree with you about the lack of excitement that season 1 gave
us, it still wasn't that bad.
Yes I think the show could be viewed as a way of the american public to
almost view thier dark halves but still be entertained about it.
However the newest season coming, I'm not so sure. And its not even the
fault of anything specific except.. the girlfriend :sigh: I just don't see
why she had to be their ya know? But I'm not even going to start with
that.
I'm anxious for the newest season airing this Sunday. Hopefully it'll
still be a season to "die for." lol
Useless Fact: The actors who play brother and sister in the series (Micheal
C. Hall as Dexter, Jennifer Carpenter as Deb) got MARRIED!!! (December 31,
2008) Creepy... :shudder:
Kenny Farino
23 Sep 2009, 17:58
........ REALLY?
Perhaps I was a bit harsh to give it a 3/5 rating, but 3 is average to me;
S2 is still a kick-ass season, but I just thought it was no S1 or S3. S4
ought to be interesting o_o.
redfox88
26 Sep 2009, 15:49
I never watched the first season maybe I should rent it before i watch
season two.
J. Phillips
04 Dec 2009, 11:53
Have you seen the third season yet?
Kenny Farino
18 Dec 2009, 15:20
@ J. Philips: I absolutely have, and it's amazing!
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Dexter: Season 2 Review
