Dexter Season 4

Year: 2009

Grade: B+

Country: USA

Director: Lewis

Review

just finished this one so it’s fresher in my head. it’s the best season i’ve seen so far. john lithgow is a great foil for dexter because he’s, from afar, the guy who can balance being a killer with being a family man. sure, he doesn’t live by the same code as dexter (and thus must die), but dexter can learn something from him…or so it seems. deb goes through some more awful stuff when lundy dies. she’s basically the show’s punching bag. things with angel and maria heat up out of nowhere. he’s too good for her, in my opinion.

really, though, this season is about dexter settling into married/family life. can he successfully manage those two worlds? probably not, and in the final moments of the season it turns out he kinda doesn’t have to. rita is killed (presumably) by lithgow, though i’m not sure how he would have found out about dexter’s past. it’s possible it was just a coincidence, i suppose. i accidentally looked up julie benz online and saw that she was dexter’s wife through season 4. it was a fleeting glimpse and at the end of the season i still held out hope that i had seen it wrong. turns out i didn’t, but it wasn’t too much of a spoiler because i never saw it coming that she died the way she did. honestly it was a very sad moment. dexter needs rita, i think, and now that he doesn’t have her i’m afraid he’s going to wander into even more despicable territory.

season four also saw dexter being wrong about one of his murder victims for the first time. john dahl directed several episodes in this season and season three, so i guess that explains where he’s been lately. i also noticed a difference in the way harry appears in the last couple seasons. instead of being used solely in flashbacks, harry is now used as dexter’s conscience and comments on what’s currently happening. i think it’s a more seamless way of inserting the character and was a good change.

Watched on TV