Dexter Season 8 Episode 12 "Remember The Monsters?"

          At first, I was filled with an interesting combination of rage and sadness by the series finale of Dexter. I felt betrayed by the writers who made Dexter grow and struggle with being "human." The ending I had hoped for was the opposite of what really happened. However, I realized several things in this episode that made me understand the choices behind this final episode of Dexter.
          From the very beginning, Dexter was all about a man who couldn't fit into society. He struggled with girlfriends, his wife, his kids, his sister, and his job because he was a serial killer. He longed to be like everyone else. Slowly, he began to make progress on becoming normal. He had a girlfriend, got married, and had a kid. Dexter began to look like a normal human being. However, the grass is always greener on the other side. Dexter could not handle being normal. It is much easier to not care about others than to love and lose. SPOILERS! Dexter has lost everyone he loves. He killed his brother in season 1. Rita was killed by Trinity at the end of season 4. His step-children wanted nothing to do with him in season 5. Deborah finds out about Dexter at the end of season 6. She then kills LaGuerta and saves Dexter at the end of season 7. At the end of season 8, Dexter mercy kills Deb so she won't be left in a coma, he abandons Harrison and Hannah, quits his job and moves to an isolated location where he cannot hurt anyone else. It is easy to say based on these characters that Dexter has ruined many lives. By learning to be human, he cared for people, made sacrifices for them, and hurt many. This is what he realizes as he drives into the hurricane. Being with Dexter is like being an alcoholic. While it feels good now, the pain will come.
          While I understand the reasons behind the writer's decisions, I am not sure how they should have ended it. I would have enjoyed watching Dexter move to Argentina with Hannah and Harrison and watching Deb finally have a successful relationship with Quinn, but that would have been hard to do while keeping with the themes of the series. I feel like the fans deserved better and while it may have not fit with the rest of the series, the audience would have wanted it to end happily.
          In my mind, there are 3 ways this show could have ended: happily, a big bang, and the mercy kill. For it to end happily, Dexter would have gotten away with Hannah and Harrison, Deb would be with Quinn, and Saxon would be caught or dead. I feel like this is what the audiences wanted. For the big bang ending, Dexter would have gotten caught by Miami Metro, gotten into a huge battle with Saxon, or ended up in prison on the death penalty. While this seems to be the realistic ending, it wouldn't have gone over well. How the show ends is like a mercy kill. The kills weren't satisfying, but they were understood. Everything makes sense mentally, but isn't emotionally satisfying. When it comes to writing stories, I guess I have learned that emotions are more important than facts. If the ending feels good, the audience will learn to get over the flaws and missteps of the writers. However if the show ends with poetic character arcs and logical conclusions, but fails to meet the emotional needs of the audience, then nobody is happy.

Dexter Season 7 Episode 2 "Sunshine & Frosty Swirl"

          Well episode two starts directly after the conclusion of episode one where Dexter tells Deb he is a serial killer. Dexter follows Deb after she runs from his apartment to vomit in the street. What a perfect reaction. I first noticed that once they started talking to each other, Deb was disgusted by Dexter. She was absolutely horrified that her father taught her adoptive brother how to kill people. This scene must have taken forever to write because it is absolutely flawless. Deb punching Dexter was the perfect reaction to Dexter’s sassy, “well what are you going to do now,” question. It was definitely something Deborah would do.

          I was pleasantly surprised when Deb brought up the topic of rehab. I didn’t expect the episode to head in this direction to happen which made it even more enjoyable. While Harry tried to channel Dexter’s killing toward evil people, Deb is trying to stop it all together. This is perfectly seen when Deb asks Dexter, “If you can channel your urges, why can’t you control them?” We have seen Dexter attempt to stop killing in the past, but he didn’t try hard enough. Now that he has Deb to keep him accountable, maybe he’ll succeed. However, forcing Dexter to enter Deb’s rehab could backfire. Addicts need to enter rehab for themselves otherwise its a lot harder to stay clean. 

          What probably stuck out to me the most was when Deb said she still loved Dexter. She is a Lieutenant at Miami Metro Homicide that loves her serial killer brother. Can you think of anything more genuine and ironic? Sibling love: nothing is better.

          LaGuerta is getting dangerously close to finding out that Travis was murdered. It seems like this happens almost every season. I’m starting to wish that LaGuerta was killed in season one like in the books.

          Deb seems to be replacing Harry and his teachings. The “Code of Deb” has already started with the first two rules: be honest and tell Deb when the Dark Passenger is tempting him.

          I’m not 100% sure what Louis’ role is in the show but he is definitely creepy. I’m pretty sure he knows Dexter’s secret and he’s not afraid of him. Maybe because he’s a serial killer too! Anyway, I hope that LaGuerta will catch onto Dexter but Louis will get caught instead. Its basically the exact same situation that Doakes was in.

          Dexter has taken it upon himself to stop Louis. Instead, he should be honest with Deb and Deb will stop him. Then all of his bases will be covered. However, this obviously wont happen because its the easy way out and it won’t thrilling.

          Well Dexter obviously didn’t choose to go that route after he drugged his sister. Not a smart move dude. Somehow, you managed to not kill Louis and called your drugged up sister for help. I’ve got to say I’m proud. I’m rarely (if ever) proud of Dexter but I am excited that I am. I would say that Dexter is changing but in reality, I highly doubt it. Throughout the whole show, Dexter has barely changed. The code is the same, his method and routines are the same, the only thing that changed was in season four when he realized he could have a family and be a serial killer. Well that ended well didn’t it? I thought Dexter might become religious in season six, but Brother Sam was killed off halfway into the season and things went back to normal. It is a little late to see a radical change in Dexter, but I am completely open to the idea.

          For the first time, we see Ray Stevenson as the main antagonist. He’s charming, business oriented, charismatic, a great actor (unlike Colin Hanks), and a brutal killer. I can’t wait to see where his character goes and how he becomes more evil.

          Overall, Randall the prisoner seemed to hold a lot of the core beliefs and values of this episode. Dexter thought Randall was able to change from being a killer to a normal human being. However, we learned that he just wanted to have a few days of happiness before he killed himself. This could be foreshadowing the ending of Dexter, but it could also be a false ending. Either way, I am excited for this season and what it will bring.

Game of Thrones Pilot Episode

          Set in the mythical land of Westeros, seven families fight for control of the Iron Throne as threats arise from the snow covered region of the North and the barbarians from the East. 

          The story, based on the A Song of Fire and Ice novels written by George R. R. Martin, is extremely interesting and original. Based on what I have read in the past, fantasy novels are usually very similar because there is some noble quest, a king or princess in danger, and strange mythical beasts. Within the first 5 minutes of the pilot episode, we are introduced to some of these mythical beasts. These White Walkers have been known to be extinct for thousands of years which is why their arrival is so intense. This scene is incredibly unique because it added a mixed the genre of horror into the fantasy based television show.

          The second thing about Game of Thrones that immediately grabbed my attention was the opening title sequence. The mythical land of Westeros is shown like a traditional map. The camera moves to and from various several cities and towns from above. As the camera moves in closer, we see that these towns are rising from nothing, into their current state much like a robot or Transformer. This provides the viewer with an quick overview of the land and setting. Much of the landscape is small and not very detailed, much like a map would be. Finally, the camera moves up and focuses on the sun which has several metal rings rotating around it, one of which says Game of Thrones. While these rings aren’t really rotating around the sun, they add an intriguing effect. The visual effects are mind blowing and have already won an Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Design.  

          Based on the first episode alone, the characters do not have any unique traits that make them stand out. Lord Eddard Stark, played by Sean Bean, is probably the most interesting character. Father of 5 and one bastard child, he is the Lord of the Northern Kingdom. He and his family live in the peaceful town of Winterfell. The most attractive quality about Lord Eddard Stark is his loyalty to his family. He never takes the easy way out with his family and always will fix a matter himself because it is his duty (as the father and Lord) to do so.

          I should have expected that this HBO show would have questionable content but I thought it wouldn’t because it falls in the fantasy genre. I knew there would be blood and violence but did not anticipate the nudity and language. There were probably about 5 scenes with nudity in them. Some of these were more graphic than others but almost all of them were unnecessary to the basic plot of the story.  Probably the worst instance of this were when a teenage prince takes the clothes off of his sister to convince her to flaunt her body more. While this treads on the line of incest, it could have easily been removed from the story without notice. Various sex scenes within brothels and barbarian camps showed female nudity and would have been a bit harder to avoid, but still could have been done

          Along with excessive nudity, the language was surprising. There were a 2 or 3 instances where characters used “fuck” in a sexually explicit way. Minor curse words were also used which wasn’t surprising.

          Based on the explicit content of the show, I probably shouldn’t advise anyone to watch Game of Thrones. Dead animals, full beheadings, guts, and gore are all shown within the first episode. I only expect the violent content to get worse over the course of the season. This being said, if you are over 18 years old, I think you would be able to handle the violence and the language.

          The nudity is a bit over the tip and could easily be cut down. Personally, I hate nudity in TV shows and movies because I think it is a distraction from the plot. Also, it is only used to reel men into watching the show. The nudity is the only reason why I wouldn’t recommend the show to someone, but I feel that the positive elements of the show (the characters, setting, plot, and themes) outweigh the nudity.

          While Game of Thrones has its share of explicit material, it is constantly winning awards and is becoming quite popular. After the first 5 minutes, I can easily say that I became addicted and didn’t expect my addiction to stop any time soon.