Category: breaking bad

The more I think about it, the more the ending to Dexter sucks

SPOILER ALERT: This is about the final episode of the TV show Dexter. If you don’t want to know what happened, don’t read. Although if you don’t know and read, to be honest, you’ll probably be only be as disappointed as if you’d watched it anyway.

Here is a picture of Dexter before I actually start ranting, just to give people time to read that spoiler alert.

There. Now that’s out of the way, on with the rant.
I have been into Dexter for a while. I think it was around season 3 was on TV when someone lent me a DVD of the first season and told me that I’d like it. I did and I caught up quite quickly.
It was brilliant. The idea was amazing – a forensic analyst who is a compulsive serial killer, therefore able to cover his tracks perfectly and who only kills the bad guys.
The show had a couple of brilliant season. The first one and the one with John Lithgow as the Trinity killer stand out. It also had some amazing bits in the others. 
Since it was announced that they were going to end the show a couple of years ago, I have watched the last three seasons with Bass and Natalie as companions. Since that point the writers had always known how it was going to end, according to interviews.
Since that point, we had been debating how it was going to end. In my mind, there was one of two ways it could finish:
1. Dexter is dead.
2. Dexter is imprisoned.
Any other way, then there is not a resolution. If Dexter is alive and at large, we still assume that he has the killer instinct – the dark passenger which he hasn’t actually spoken about for a few years – and therefore it is not an ending. There could still be more. Why it would end any other way, I don’t know.
The last couple of seasons leading up to this, have actually been a bit lackluster. Deb finding out about Dexter’s true nature should have been the beginning of the end. As it was, it was dragged out, she thought she was in love with him, she got a different job, she tried to confess. Some of these things were good. Some of them were dull.
Deb finding out about Dexter should have been cataclysmic. It should have sent the show on a spiral towards one of the two endings that I have suggested. 
Instead, they faffed around in season 8 by bringing in a bunch of new characters. 
Dr Vogel who was insanely annoying was supposed to have been the one that came up with Dexter’s code (that he only kills the baddies). She was weak. Buying into her being his inspiration all along was nigh on impossible.
Her son was better and ultimately a bit more like some previous villains, but he was no Trinity or Ice Truck Killer and to have him be the one that finally brought Dexter down was a rubbish way of doing it. Much better would have been to have Deb be the one responsible for his demise in one way or the other.
Zach was the best character they introduced. He was like a mini Dexter and one way of ending the show could have been to have Dexter train him and have Zach take over his legacy. But they killed him off after a few episodes.
Masouka’s daughter…. well what the hell was that point in her? She added absolutely nothing to the story. Dead weight.
Still, even with all of this faffing and the weak storyline, I could have bought the ending if it hadn’t been for the last 30 seconds. 
The ending prior to this was at least sort of consistent with the rest of the season. Dexter has become a bit more emotional, felt guilty about what he’d done to those around him, especially Deb and then he becomes the cause of the reason she will be a vegetable for the rest of her life and so decides to do what he knows and killer her and bury her at sea. He then gets caught up in a storm and you see his shipwreck. Scene.
At least that is reasonably consistent and gives us an resolution. But no. We’re not allowed one. Fade in and we see Dexter is a lumberjack. 
What?
What the Bon Jovi am I supposed to think about that? 
He is still alive. Surely he’s still a killer? Surely there’s still more I need to know about him?
THAT IS NOT AN ENDING, SHOWTIME. THAT IS A NEW BEGINNING.
In the few weeks that have passed since I watched the final episode, the anger has been festering and I have felt the need to get it out. 
It might have been made worse by the fact that I watched the final episode the day before I watched the final Breaking Bad which ended perfectly and true to the entire 5 seasons.
I should have been prepared based on the fact that the last few seasons have been a bit sub-par but I was at least hopeful for closure. Apparently I’m not allowed it. Well, screw you, Showtime! I’m not watching any more of your shows!

Everyone told me to watch Breaking Bad so I did

It usually takes a few people to tell me that something is worth seeing before I eventually get around to watching something on television.

Despite the fact that half of this blog seems to be about TV, I don’t actually watch very much of it. I know what shows I like and I stick to them. And during football season, most of my viewing time is taken up with watching Match of the Day.

Recently, a ludicrous number of people have told me to watch Breaking Bad. So many that if it sucked, I would only have a few people whose opinions I still respected.

So, after reducing my Lovefilm subscription, I manged to save enough to subscribe to Netflix without any additional cost. I instantly fell in love with Netflix as well. For some reason, their user interface on both the Playstation 3 and the iPad seems to be so much better than Lovefilm’s that they’re not even in the same ballpark. And they also have a couple of Richard Herring stand-up shows which is another selling point.

Last night I finished watching the first series of Breaking Bad. It’s only 7 episodes and I managed to watch it in two days. I can sum up my thoughts in one word: wow.

It really is good television and I’m pleased that I can still trust the opinions of many of my closest friends.

The premise is quite simple – a science teacher dying of cancer teams up with a former student to make crystal meth in an attempt to leave his family well off after his death.

As it’s such a simple premise, I have been wondering at times where they’re going to go and how they’re going to make five seasons out of the idea. It has been slowly revealing more and more plot details and I’m not worried that it will become stale. Different people have told me that the endings of season 3 and season 4 are both incredible and the way that the show is written gives me confidence that it will continue to be good.

There are only a few key characters and I didn’t find the show slow to get into – although someone had suggested that I would – because of this. I got invested into the characters quite quickly as the main ones feature heavily in each episode and are very well defined.

I am especially fond of Walter Junior. He is a character with cerebral palsy and having looked after someone with it for the best part of a year in a former job, I was pleased to see such a positive representation on a prominent TV show.

The intervention scene in episode 5 is especially well written. It’s definitely my favourite bit so far. My least favourite bit was the fact that they decided we needed to see Walt’s naked bum. I’m not a prude but I’m wondering how much they had to pay him for the nude scene and whether that extra money could have been spent on getting Jessie to say “yo” or “bitch” a few more times instead. As I would have found that preferable.

But yeah, the intervention scene – wow. So well written. All of the characters are brilliant, well fleshed out and have their own consistent opinions and that scene shows that off perfectly. It wouldn’t have worked if one of the elements was not spot on. If anyone wants to learn how to write, they could do a lot worse than watch that scene repeatedly.

Most amazing thing I have learnt from watching the show that I should have already known before if I wasn’t so stupid: crystal meth is actually crystals. It seems to logical when you say it like that but I genuinely had no idea. I’m such a poor naive muggle in these matters.

As I mentioned, I really have no idea where the show is going to go. I’m hoping that it ends with Walt dying and going to heaven and God saying: “yeah, so you made all that money to look after your family. Kudos. However, you did it by doing a naughty naughty thing, so unfortunately you’re heading to hell” and then Walt turns up in the sequel to Chuck Palahnuik’s Damned which is conveniently released a few weeks after the final episode is going to be aired.

So, in conclusion, everyone who told me to watch the show was right. It’s the bomb, yo. If you haven’t watch it, you should do. Netflix gives you a free month so it’s worth checking out. Now I am off to watch seasons 2 through 5. See you all in a few weeks.