Raul3

Agree with most here, I'm more than ready for this to end. Sadly the writers are not in the same page.

The season actually started really well though. I thought they were going out with a big bang. Hopefully things can get interesting with Hannah. And I actually like that Dexter has an intern now.

Geofferson

In my case it's both. Put it this way, of all the plot lines going on this season, the one I'm most curious about is Vince's. Everything else just feels like a retread.

sleepyhead55

I must say though that they did a really good job of curing my insomnia.

Some general peeves on this episode (and the season in general):

Why have Angel rejoin the force if they aren't having him look into LaGuerta's death? If there was one plotline I didn't think these writers could screwup, it was this one. Instead, they have him trying to get Quinn a promotion, which is boring as hell.

Some of the new actors stink. The actor who plays Zach Hamilton is subpar, so is the actress who plays Masuka's daughter.

They have far too many sideplots, most of them are useless or redundant. We have the yearly Quinn in another relationship, Dexter in a (potential) relationship, Debra in another relationship, Vogel/Brain surgeon, Zach/Dexter, Masuka's daughter, Angel/Matthews, Hannah vs the Morgans and Dexter/Debra.

The dialogue has taken a nose dive. They just need to get rid of the voiceovers because they add absolutely nothing to the show. Or make them interesting again. 90% of the time, it is just Dexter relaying obvious info to the viewer.

I didn't like Hannah from last season, but at this point I'll take anything interesting. I liked her in the Season 7 finale, so as long as she's not establishing a relationship with Dexter again, I'm fine with her showing up again.

dhmac

Well, I remember that last season Dexter had Hannah wrapped in plastic on his table in some episode, but then just stabbed her with his mutton dagger.

Deftones

With how closely Dexter keeps tabs on people, how the hell would he not know Hannah was out of prison? And, having said that, theories on how she got of prison?

bluetoast

I know that they're with Paul's parents but holy shit, could this show ignore Astor and Cody any further? At this point I doubt we'll ever see them again.

Dragon Tattoo

It's not just that Hanna's "out" of prison. She fucking BROKE out of prison at the end of last season. Wouldn't Dexter and Deb have been alerted to that? Why wouldn't they be on guard?

Goat3001

I think that's the point. They're pointless characters and they were essentially written out. Why would we need to see them? Each season of Dexter is only a few weeks in the shows time and they've made it a point to mention that he keeps in touch with them and that Harrison visits them. What else do you need?

bluetoast

A huge deal in the past was made about how much they mean to him, and now they're not even mentioned. I don't need them to be series regulars but that type of exit is something you'd find on a low budget sitcom.

Josh-da-man

Astor and Cody had to be written out.

I can't imagine how Dexter would manage to juggle his serial killing with a holding down a full time job and raising a damaged teenage step-daughter. Astor, with a murdered mother and dead abusive, ex-con father is going to be a handful for whoever has her.

Dave99

she escaped shortly after being arrested, someone gave her meds to fake a illness or seizure or something like that, then disappeared from the hospital.

Drexl

Well, it has been several months since she escaped. Surely they were vigilant for a little while, but at some point they'd just assume she's not coming back.

Gunde

Was Dexter seriously gonna kill Zach when Quinn just saw Dexter following him? Explain that one afterwards. Idiot!

Josh-da-man

He's a wealthy murder suspect. It wouldn't be terribly suspicious if he just vanished without a trace.

EdTheRipper

Yeah, that pissed me off a bit. I typically try to stay spoiler free, but I just happened to catch that page while flipping through the magazine.

Raul3

Are you saying that the spin-off show is going to be about them?

johnnysd

Here's what would have been fun:

Angel investigating La Guerta's murder, getting suspicious of Dexter and figuring it out.

Dexter on the run.

Debra full of grief, confesses to killing La Guerta but rejoins the force to catch Dexter.

Dexter meets up with Hannah, chase gets national coverage and parallels Hannahs previous situation

Deb finally catches up to Dex, and needs to make similar choice as last year, and decides that Dex and his "dark passenger" are just the same thing. Shoots him in the head.

Deb winds up raising Harrison, and final scenes are with Harrisonas a teenager showing that he is truly Dexter's son, and Deb needs to decide if she needs to teach the code to Harrison or lock him away.

Anything with tension and high stakes, and something that reflects that this is the last season and ANYTHING can happen.

For a major show in a planned final season, this has to be one of the safest, most tepid, boring and unimaginative ever.

DJariya

You should have sent your pitch to Scott Buck & David Nevins at Showtime instead of keeping it locked up in your brain.

johnnysd

Wouldn't that have been more interesting though then what we are getting?

Goat3001

I agree that this season has been safe so far but I don't like the idea of Dexter spending half the season on the run. They never made it clear which way Dexter would go if he were caught but I think him running and leaving Harrison behind wouldn't be his move. Dexter was always one to go back and do whatever he could to cover his tracks. Running would make it seem like he's giving up, something we don't expect from Dexter.

Also, Deb isn't confessing to killing Laguerta and rejoining the force. If she's confessing she's going to jail. Maybe she doesn't confess, just rejoins the force with intentions of getting Dexter.

I'd also get rid of Hannah in this. I'd kill her off early in the season. Make Hannah come back to finish off Deb but this time Dexter catches her first and kills her. It would add to the moral dilemma that Deb is facing.

Here's an idea that plays off of yours: Deb is in a funk 6 months after killing Laguerta. She quit the force and all that stuff that she did earlier this season, including her relationship with Dex being on the rocks. Hannah makes her return and tries to kill Deb, Dexter kills Hannah instead. This knocks Deb out of her funk and goes back to the force but her and Dexter still aren't on good terms. From Dexter's perspective we see that Deb is getting better and he's hopeful their relationship will survive, after all, he just saved her life. Meanwhile we get hints from Deb that she's actually putting a case together on Dexter. The rest goes the way you played it out. I think the potential for tension between Deb and Dex would play out better if they had to see each other at work everyday.

windom

Actually we do know that Dexter would run if he needed to. I think it was last season (or maybe the one before that) where something was about to get pinned on him and he had his passport and credit cards (cash too?) and tried to get to the airport. I think Louis had cancelled his credit cards though as he found out when trying to get gas.

Dragon Tattoo

Actually, no we don't. In fact, he had this very conversation with Harry last season when LaGuerta was about to pin him down (It might've even been in the finale). He would've run years ago when he didn't have Harrison, but he can't run now because he has that kid who depends on him.

Deftones

Actually, we do. As windom pointed out, he has a "go" bag and was planning on using it at one point. Don't act like you know everything.

Dragon Tattoo

Do you people even watch the show? They brought this up last season. I know about the bag because I actually do watch the show and pay attention. Do you even remember the scene in LaGuerta's apartment when Harry, who is for all intents and purposes Dexter's conscience, and him had the discussion that even though he'd always prepared for this, now that he actually has a family he won't be able to go through with it, which is why he decides to kill LaGuerta in the first place, even though it goes against his code.

It was a pretty fucking important scene. I'm not "acting as if I know everything." I'm informing you of facts that were stated in the goddamned show.

Deftones

So the fact that he has it, was heading to the airport, yet changed his mind at the last minute, that tells you that he wouldn't run? No wonder people just ignore you on here.