Guru Askew

I disagree. Imagine watching that season 4 finale and stopping right there knowing there were more episodes. An interesting idea in theory but I imagine it would be impossible in practice for almost anyone watching for the first time. The best thing is to prepare yourself for the fact that the next three seasons are pretty much unanimously considered inferior but still not unanimously-loathed like season 8.

I think it's pretty generous to give half the season a pass. As far as I'm concerned there were three positive things about Season 8: Deb's post-Season 7 storyline, Charlotte Rampling as Vogel and Dexter's Boy Wonder sidekick. At best you could argue that the Deb one was actually handled with any success, albeit with a boring "I'm OK and everything is back to normal" resolution.. They definitely dropped the ball with the other two, and as I think back on all the other stuff (Dexter's neighbor/Hannah/PI & federal marshall/Quinn's job and love life drama) and I can't think of enough quality material for a single episode let alone 6. And the series-finale big bad was like a quality-television vacuum. Literally the most uninteresting and unremarkable performance of a major character I've ever seen committed to film.

Jack Straw

Does the end of S4 provide at least a basic sense of closure for the characters? Or is it a cliff-hanger to suck you into the next show/season?

Brack

Season 5 really isn't too bad, but the quality of the show was starting to show. Where the show looked like it was heading seasons earlier never really happens, and that disappointed a lot of fans of the first few seasons.

Mike86

I agree with a lot of what you said about justifying to yourself watching the show through seasons five through seven and thinking it isn't that bad but realizing once you hit the end that you were just making excuses for the show all along and that it went to shit after Clyde Phillips left. That's basically how I feel now that the series is finished. The first four seasons are amazing and almost feel like an entirely different show, but those last four (particularly season eight) just pissed me off. You know a show has dropped in quality terribly when a fan of the show who defended it even at it's weakest had no desire whatsoever to watch the series finale and only did so at a later date (quite a while after it had actually aired) just to say I watched it.

I don't think a person can watch the show through season four and think that it's a satisfying ending though. I know it will never happen but I really wish somehow the show would be given a proper "real" final season with Phillips taking the reins back and giving the fans a way better resolve.

Coral

If you plan on watching any of Dexter, then you should watch it all - no point half-assing it (even if the show half-assed it).

However, if you can still return S1-S4 that you bought - do so... you probably won't want them in your collection after watching S5 onward.

Don't waste any money (or any more money) on the show. Watch whatever you can through Netflix or torrents, etc. You'll be glad you saved as much money as you could on this.

DJariya

Dexter is on Netflix if you have it. Season 1-4 is already there and 4-8 will be there in early 2014.

If you have Netflix and really want to see it, no point in wasting good money on the physical media for something that you will most likely only watch once.

dhmac

I visited some friends (a married couple) this weekend and they have been getting caught up on Dexter (they are still in Season 7). I had earlier told them that the series finale sucked, so they asked me for some hints on what happens to him at the end.

They asked "Does he go to jail?" and I gave dodgy answers to that and followed up with "Hey, I may be lying to not spoil it."

Then after more questions from them, I said "He just gives up his life and becomes a lumberjack."

They laughed at that and said "Now you're just messing with us."

(Now I look forward to what they say when they finally see the ending!)

Jack Straw

Just finished up watching the series and wow...that ending really stunk! Isn't life nice when one can park their speed boat at their own private dock at the hospital, waltz in, terminate life support apparatus, and not just leave without being stopped or questioned, but do so also carrying the body with them back to the boat without anyone noticing or thinking anything of it. COME ON!!!

Also agree that the lumberjack ending was totally unnecessary. So in addition to the above, Dexter is able to drive into a hurricane/storm, sink his boat, and yet miraculously make it back to land on his own.

I'm sure Quinn was happy to learn of Deb's disappearance from the hospital while on life support. The ending was so bad it was a F-You from the writers to the viewers who supported them and their show for most of 8 seasons. LAME!!!!

bunkaroo

The finale really tried to give Lost a run for its money as the worst finale ever.

Navinabob

I would excused all of that with a bit of an eye-roll, but the lumberjack ending bit was awful. They could have at leave salvaged some of it if they had just have had him remove a hidden box of slides, had his kill apron hanging behind the door... just something to give that bit some reason. That would at least stayed to a horror staple (cheesy or not), but him just looked dead-inside was pointless.

Jack Straw

Follow-up Please!

eXcentris

Finished it a few days ago, and yeah it sucked. I could make a list of all the wtf? moments, baffling character behavior, meaningless/unresolved subplots but you guys probably have gone through all that already.

Here, scrap the entire lumberjack sequence and replace with:

Dexter wakes up in bed with Keith (from Six Feet Under) and says: "I just had the weirdest dream". The End.

eXcentris

Or,

Bill Needle

Or...

Dexter rolls over in bed and says "Keith, I just had the weirdest dream." but when Keith sits up it's Doakes, who says...well, you get it.