6 Reasons Dexter Season 6 Was The Show’s Worst – Armessa Movie News

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Dexter season 6.

Dexter season 6 was the worst of the show’s eight seasons by a long shot, and there are a few reasons why it dropped in quality. The celebrated drama series about a friendly-neighborhood serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) had four incredible seasons and one very good season before completely falling short in season 6. Dexter is a highly intelligent sociopath who learned a strict code from his father at a young age to control his dark impulsive desire to commit murder. He is an odd type of vigilante who identifies and kills other serial killers while working for the Miami Metro Police Department as a blood splatter analyst.

Dexter season 6 follows him as he tries to uncover the mystery of the serial killer known as the Doomsday Killer. The uncharacteristically disappointing season 6 gave audiences initial hints that the Dexter season 6 series finale would be bad, as well. Although Dexter season 7 provided some glimpses of redemption by getting the show back to its successful roots, Dexter season 8 produced to similar discouraging result as season 6. There are six primary reasons that Dexter season 6 failed to meet its own high-quality standards and ultimately dissatisfied viewers.

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6 Dexter Season 6’s Religious Themes Are Out Of Place

The mishandling of Dexter season 6’s themes is one of the main reasons that Dexter should have ended with season 5. For five seasons, the show expertly dove into its rich and intriguing premise of a serial killer who uses his Dark Passenger to save people and rid society of dangerous predators. The introduction of a religious angle for Dexter season 6 is so out of place that at times it feels like a parody of the show’s previous seasons. While some of the spiritual themes and conversations around Dexter’s personal considerations of faith are interesting, extending the concept throughout the entire series took the narrative too far off course to be consistently enjoyable.

Brother Sam (Yasiin Bey) initially appears as a great contribution to Dexter season 6 but ultimately serves little purpose for the show’s overarching message about religion. Dexter is able to explore spiritual notions through his friendship with Brother Sam but essentially forfeits them after Sam’s death. Through Sam’s guidance, Dexter begins to see a path forward toward his own redemption through a higher power but effectively throws all the lessons he learned from Brother Sam out the window by the end of season 6. The use of religion throughout the season only serves to set up the revelation of the Doomsday Killer and loses its focus on Dexter’s initial signs of spiritual growth.

5 The Doomsday Killer Twist Is Anticlimactic In Dexter Season 6

The Dexter season 6 Doomsday Killer twist didn’t work because it was widely seen as predictable and unconvincing. Throughout the first few episodes of the season, the Doomsday Killer is implied to be Professor James Gellar (Edward James Olmos) who is quite obviously not actually present in his scenes. The attempted twist that Gellar was just a figment of Travis Marshall’s (Colin Hanks) imagination all along was apparent to many viewers long before the grand reveal in Dexter season 6, episode 9. While some of the scenes revealing the Doomsday Killer’s victims are the most notable of the series, the overall religious conflict throughout season 6 is uninspired.

The fact that the writers decided to drag the unsuccessful set-up for most of the season is a clear indication that the creative approach to Dexter season 6 was not as thoughtfully constructed as in previous seasons. Marshall’s sudden character change after the foreseeable reveal that he is the Doomsday Killer also feels completely forced and unrealistic. In an immediate shift of identity, Marshall becomes a full-blown menace to society consumed by apocalyptic notions and murderous convictions that only end up making the villain feel more ill-conceived. It’s a clear indication of the lackadaisical creative efforts behind the obvious Doomsday Killer.

4 Dexter Is Uncharacteristically Shortsighted In Dexter Season 6

Dexter, who is typically incredibly sharp and cautious in all his actions and decisions, is uncharacteristically inept and unprepared throughout Dexter season 6. Dexter seems to completely abandon the lessons that he brutally learns from the loss of his wife Rita (Julie Benz) in season 4. He once again puts the lives of his family and the people closest to him in danger which displays a total lack of character growth from previous seasons. His spiritual contemplations, which would have been more impactful and engaging as a theme for an episode rather than an entire season, also distract from Dexter’s sinister core qualities that typically make his character so captivating.

3 Deb As Lieutenant In Dexter Season 6 Doesn’t Feel Right

Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) is one of the most frustrating aspects of Dexter season 6 for a number of reasons, particularly in the ways she is rushed into a promotion to lieutenant of Miami Metro Homicide. While the position opens up somewhat organically after the departure of former Lieutenant Maria LaGuerta (Luna Lauren Velez), it is a major stretch for Deb to become her successor so quickly. Deb is arguably at her most erratic low point in Dexter season 6, which makes her promotion feel equally unearned and unrealistic. This is another example of how Dexter season 6 took a number of creative leaps that transcended the realm of plausibility and ended up confusing many devoted viewers.

2 Dexter Season 6’s Supporting Characters Were Underdeveloped

The continued underdevelopment of characters in Dexter season 6 extended to its supporting roles, as well. The season 5 development of Deb’s relationship with Quinn (Desmond Harrington) was all but abandoned in season 6 without much justification. Quinn proposes to Deb, who then dumps him to focus on her career in a rushed swing of events. The romantic bond between Angel Batista (David Zayas) and LaGuerta is also effectively thrown out the window without much thought. It seems like the writers could have continued to build on these supporting relationships or found new ways to make their stories interesting but instead decided to write them off entirely.

1 Deb Falling In Love With Dexter Is Too Strange In Dexter Season 6

One of the best and most nuanced relationships throughout Dexter’s first five seasons is the brother-and-sister dynamic between Dexter and Deb. The unique bond between the step-siblings is completely defiled by the jarring creative decision to have Deb fall in love with Dexter in season 6. The development is an incredibly unnecessary and strange reveal that adds nothing whatsoever to the show. The bizarre twist severely throws off the integrity of the story and added to the perplexity of the entire season. It was a total failure by the creators of Dexter to extend the show narratively further than it should have and is the main reason why Dexter season 6 is the worst of the entire series.