Dexter S8E01 ‘ A Beautiful Day’ Review: How Showtime Killed a Once Great Killer

SPOILERS

Everyone has their thoughts on what will happen to our beloved Dexter Morgan in the last season. I don’t have insider information, but I know he dies. Anyone watching tonight’s season premiere knows that the writers and showrunner have not only killed Dexter with their terrible writing, but now Debra is a casualty as well. And we thought nothing could be worse than when she wanted to bone her prolific, adopted brother.

Six months after the death of LaGuerta at Debra’s hand, Dex is having the time of his life. He’s shining at work, he’s presumably spending a lot of cash on plastic sheeting, coaching soccer, and he’s getting laid a lot. Deb isn’t doing very well, which is odd. There didn’t seem to be any blow back or potential for accusatory fingers pointing at the brother/sister team after the tragic death of Maria. I’d be singing from the rooftops if I got away with a crime like that. Alas, this show thoughtlessly masquerades as the once amazing Showtime series, Dexter. The writers have killed our favorite emboldened killer for several seasons now. When Dexter Morgan started violating his code, his character began developing cracks in his armor that would never fully recover. I hate this version of the Morgans.

I had major issues with both Morgans tonight. Sure, I can see Debra quitting the force after killing Maria, turning to private sector PI work after undermining her detective role in the biggest of ways, but her usually spot-on acting was awful tonight. Dexter was totally out of control, something that angers me like nothing else when it comes to this show. Much like the episode when he was “with” Brian, shooting a gun down the lonely Nebraska roads in search of Noah, our killer was a shred of himself tonight. Fighting in public, unplanned murder out of anger, and he even leaves Harrison unattended in the backseat like a common, mistreated dog while he allows his Dark Passenger to lead the way. These are all things that are going to kill Dexter Morgan before the finale has a chance to.

Add a cliché character like Charlotte Rampling’s Dr. Vogel, a character that knows more about Dexter Morgan than we ever expected, and this season has all the potential to leave fans regarding this once amazing show as a series that just couldn’t keep it together. Please, get it together, Showtime. Stop letting interns write. This isn’t Mad Men, try to stay sober during the writing sessions.