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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Dexter Stars On the Bad Criticism of Season 6

Via EW.com: A TV critic took the Dexter team to task for season six, saying that the consensus among reviewers was the it was the show’s weakest outing.

The sixth season’s storyline featured a religion theme, with guest stars James Edward Olmos and Colin Hanks playing a twisted serial killer duo (later revealed to be one delusional person). The drama often seemed contrived and unbelievable, though the show delivered a shocking finale twist when Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) discovered Dexter (Michael C. Hall) executing his latest victim.
Hall and Carpenter largely sidestepped the issue of last season and instead took the opportunity to champion the show’s upcoming seventh season episodes.

“Whatever your opinion about the ranking the seasons, Dexter is never more compelling than when he is in trouble,” Hall told reporters at the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour. “And he’s never been in deeper trouble than he is now.”

Added Carpenter: “If you had asked that question before we shot a single frame this season, it might have hurt my feelings … I’m really excited about showing you what we’ve done.”

24 comments:

  1. It wasn't a consensus among VIEWERS it was an opinion of a % of the INTERNET community that varied depending on what board you posted on or what site you followed.

    The actors look seriously annoyed in this picture.

    I'd have stood up and told the guy to fuck off - which is why I could never be in a public forum like this.

    What critic was it?

    Z

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  2. The critic was right, season 6 was mediocre at best and the reviews for it were bad. But the actors did well, by simply trying to champion next season.

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  3. It WAS the consensus of viewers which is why EW asked them the question, it was overwhelming thought of as the worst season. The poll were done by all of the major critical magazines, blogs and boards and a 'consensus' is just that, it was the majority of opinions from all of those places combined. The whole show, from the top producers to Scott Buck, to the actors, whose fault it wasn't, and the writers have all been side-stepping questions about the lack of flow, the twist and turns, the tongue-in-cheek questions from reporters about the 'mural-work' showing Dexter's face, and him being allowed into a murder scene before anyone else? to have time to remove his face from the awful picture, ALL have been side-stepped by whoever the question was asked of! This is no surprise, but since they are not responsible they often aren't asked, and like everyone else on the show, the obvious stance is 'don't look back, redirect to what's coming'. Did you watch the viewing at comic con? The audience was laughing so hard through the most suspenseful moment to date on Dexter you could barely hear it! THAT IS CONSENSUS! It had been turned into a joke by the end of last season! Just because you like one aspect of the show, the Deb/Dex turning point, hastily and not well written or believable moment, 2 interviews in with a police department analyst who is there to clear you for having to use your weapon? that she has believed the suggestion that she is in love with her brother to set up a cliff hanger ending? It was a mess, dropped from the Emmy's for Best Drama for the first time in several years, trust me, it was not the opinion of a few internet viewers. It was a consensus of critical publications about the show in entertainment journals and magazines.

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  4. And what about the incest-y theme that’s rendered Deb a far less strong character in every way this season? The idea was to make her seem more vulnerable, but asking Deb to act as though she has feelings for her non-blood-relation brother was just mildly icky and damply mawkish. (Also, as my colleague James Hibberd said to me, kinda sadistic, to have Jennifer Carpenter suddenly making longing goo-goo eyes to her ex-husband Michael C. Hall.) Every scene between Deb and her therapist has been ridiculously overwrought. “I finally told my brother that I love him and he said he loves me back!… I’m in love with him!” And in a line that seems to have been written for TV critics to respond to: “Is this just horribly wrong?” Okay, Deb, I’ll bite: Yes, yes, it is horribly wrong, for the quality of Dexter.
    Dexter finally got Travis on his killing table, but not before he had to utter what is possibly the hokiest line in Dexter history: Making a sign of the cross over his latest victim, Dexter intoned, “I am a father, a son, a serial killer.” Holy Ghost! I mean, holy smokes! How cornball.
    The season, we know from previous ones, must end on a big reveal, and since the show couldn’t follow through on what it had set up in its text — given the religious invocations, the son (Harrison) should have walked in on the father administering vengeance. But instead, we got Deb walking into the scene just as Dexter plunged his knife into Travis. The eyes of brother and sister met, and… I don’t think it was love they were feeling for each other at that moment. Or any time soon in the future, I hope.
    Is there any way to redeem Dexter Morgan — and Dexter itself — next season?
    FOR INSTANCE: Entertainment Weekly

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    1. In all polls I've seen, it's usually S5 that is voted the worst season of Dexter, sometimes 3 :)

      None of these "polls" matter much in any case, since there are apps that can allow one person to vote multiple times. :) The "consensus" showed up in the ratings, where the S6 final of Dexter soared to an all time viewer high. If the viewers "hated" the season that much, wouldn't they have just tuned out rather than showed up in record numbers?

      I have never in my life, seen a season of a show, that viewers thought was "terrible" that soared in the ratings at the end. Take a look at "Hero's" when that show started to suck, the ratings tanked. When the L Word or Weeds went south, the viewers fell away like poisoned tics - yet that did not happen with Dexter! The ratings went up and up, especially whenever the show was Deb/Dex centered. Viewers were absolutely intrigued by Deb's feelings and her discovery. Nothing boosts a show like a good controversy. :)

      The Deb/Dex subtext has ALWAYS been a part of the show and the book from the very beginning, but you can keep living in denial all you want. The case has been argued beyond the pale. It's about time they got on with it.

      MCH and JC seem to have no problems getting along. Their chemistry was great last year, and if they are good enough friends to be hanging out and drinking coffee together and cuddling while watching sunsets in their private time, then I am sure that "acting" out affection/love/intimacy in a TV show isn't bothering them a bit.

      The stuff with Deb and her psychologist was fucking great, some of the best stuff from last season.

      EW is a pop culture rag that's mostly concerned with Beyonce's booty and the dating habits of Twilight actors. Their idea of a great television show is "Glee" and "The Good Wife" and "Modern Family" Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Do you REALLY want to cite EW as an authority on great TV? I think NOT! The very worst of Dexter is better than anything they champion as must see viewing.

      I watched the comic con footage. I also watched the Hobbit viewing and the Breaking bad viewing. The audience laughed in all the right places. They did not laugh "so hard" nor all the way through it. They were a typical comic con crowd.

      You see reactions to places you haven't been, you make up stories about panel reactions that you could not have seen, you exaggerate facts and details at every turn.

      You plagiarize posts and conjectures from this board, completely change the context of what is said and spread it around other places on the internet. You tell us you're an English teacher who has written 22 textbooks and yet your writing is consistently a choppy rambling diatribe with poor English "the poll were done", and now you're Hollywood insider and a colleague of James Hibberd? Colleague would mean that you are also a TV critic. Really?

      I don't think so.

      When all you can do as a fan, is spread negativity and misery wherever you go, and when you have to lie and invent wild tales to justify your mania, then I think you have a problem. If you hate the show this much, and think this low of it, then hanging on Dexter sites and constantly hammering on it is nothing more than a narcissistic trip, that has now developed into compulsive lying.

      Z

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    2. @1:24
      Here is where I stopped reading: "kinda sadistic, to have Jennifer Carpenter suddenly making longing goo-goo eyes to her ex-husband Michael C. Hall."

      What does that actually have to do with the show? Nothing! The show and their private lives are two different things. Does he think that Ian Mckellen comes home after filming the hobbit and shoots lightning out of his fingers into his boyfriends ass? (He doesn't, he's not really a wizard.)

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    3. Patrik - no doubt.

      I am amazed that TV writer like James Hibberd would say something that stupid! Or did he at all? Methinks not... ;)

      Z

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    4. I have no idea who he is anyway. True or not it's stupid and borderline offensive.

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    5. Season 5 is the worst season, season six was uneven. anyhow, i don't give a fuck about the critics or the people. i just want it to be breathtaking again, like it used to be.

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    6. 3:45

      We definitely agree there. Personally, I have not totally "loved everything" about a season of Dexter since #2, but I understand the whole aging process of a TV show, especially one with such a tricky premise.

      However, I have high expectations and hope for S7. I have not been this excited and positive about since anticipating S2.

      Z

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    7. "What does that actually have to do with the show? Nothing!"

      Actually, I gave it a thought and I came to the conclusion that JC having twitches about doing some on-screen intimacy with MCH could turn out to be a good thing. No matter how strong Deb's feelings for Dex are at this point in time, I'm sure she still must have some feelings of wrongness. If JC has qualms and is still able to put them into her on-screen persona, the result could be some master acting. (There's a big IMHO, though. I may be wrong.)

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  5. A lot of viewers were tee'd off with Season 6 and rightly so. And to be fair to them, the critics worded their questions and remarks very politely. I usually hate critics, but for once they were right about about that underwhelming twist, the dull, Dexter voice-overs explaining the obvious, the religion idea dwindling from a bang to a whimper.
    But I don't think the Dexter team is hearing anything new. They know that Season 6 nose-dived badly, they're not stupid. Michael was saying at Comic Con 3 weeks ago, that the show is at it's best when Dexter himself is in trouble.

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    1. yeah, the voice over quality was inexplicably bad last season. but now a new season is ahead.

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    2. 4:24

      I am glad they were polite, but it was still a tacky question. As an artist, nothing pisses me off more than some random person sending me a note about a past work they did not like while I am working on something new. I know, better than they do, what works and what doesn't when I look at the final product I have created. ALL writers/artists know when they have missed the mark, and they don't need a reminder, and it doesn't help them the next time around. Doing well at something has to come within yourself, the only helpful advice I've ever received came from a friend/colleague/mentor who actually knew what they are talking about, never some random fan of my work.

      I know when something was not great, and I know when I nailed something. But over-exaggerating the situation will just annoy me, as I am sure it did the actors. The critic should have just left well enough alone and focused on the new season. It's like Jennifer said, if she had not been so invested in S7, it just would have hurt her feelings. That's all that kind of criticism ("you did bad") EVER does to an artist.

      I agree that they never should have gone down the religious road. It's too personal for most people. The season was automatically going to piss people off because religious people get uncomfortable when you question their beliefs, and irreligious people get downright batshit crazy when you start hitting them with religious themes.


      Whatever it is a person believes - there is usually an emotional/psychological reason for them believing it, and the the last thing you ever want, once you have created an environment of pure fantasy and escape (which Dexter is), is to start poking at everyone's personal belief bubble. :)

      Like my granpa always said... if you ever want to ruin a good party, just bring up religion or politics!

      Z

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    3. Z

      It's a tacky question I agree but I still think it was legitimate, or to be more clear I think it was a question that needed to be asked but not necessarily answered. No writers or actors in their right mind would say anything negative about the show they are working on. Perhaps in a few years they'll reflect on it.... and we'll have some interviews on the subject.

      A bit off topic but ,while I'm an atheist (or perhaps agnostic would be more accurate) coming across religion or politics while watching a show is not really off putting to me. As long as the material is used intelligently that is.

      The Battlestar Galactica reboot in 2003 treated both and dit it brilliantly (it's my fav show so I'm a bit biased). Although, yes they choose to explore religion and politics from the start unlike Dexter so it's a bit different.

      I didn't go "batshit crazy" lol, mostly I was just bored and so focused my attention on something else. Both Debra and Jennifer Carpenter were the redeeming factor of season 6. Take that away and there is really not much that is compelling in that season, Dexter was completely off the rail and sometimes completely off character to be honest... MCH did his best with what he was given but I couldn't help but feel that even he was bored with the storyline... I really wish a critic on the panel would have said to Jennifer Carpenter how much she was brilliant in season 6 because she really was and it's not acknowledged enough.

      Season six was very strange in a lot of aspects... I don't know it lacked cohesiveness, was a bit too random. And while it may surprise you, I loved, yes loved season 5. I still do. Because it felt more well put together than season 6. I didn't hate Lumen because I saw her as a rebound for Dexter (in all aspects), a way to deal with a grief he couldn't express. A lot of you won't agree but I always thought season 5 was all about Rita to be honest.

      Cain

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    4. Cain:

      All due respect, you are more mature and thoughtful than the average Joe. Just the fact that you said "atheist, perhaps agnostic" is a clue that these things don't hold a lot of power in your life or that you have no interest in them.

      Many people are passionate one way or the other. They staunchly hold the stance that they "believe" or "do not believe" based, really, on nothing more than ego. :)

      You call yourself an atheist, perhaps agnostic, and I would call myself a deist, perhaps agnostic - either way, we are probably the odd ducks - and yea, I was bored with it as well.

      BSG I loved, because it explored religion from the beginning and did it brilliantly. What I loved even more, is that they stuck with the original show's obscure pantheistic Mormon theology and went with it, apologetically, and many viewers got confused and never understood or even came close to understanding what was really going on, just because they didn't see the "Lords of Kobol" on screen. :) They missed it, same as many viewers here, missed the whole bit with Dex & Deb.

      But yes, every time Jennifer Carpenter was on screen in Season 6, the screen just lit up and my mind was right back into the show. I didn't hate season 5 either. My least favorite Dexter season is S3, but again, S3 had moments of brilliance from Jennifer Carpenter and some excellent work from other characters that made it quite watchable.

      And yea, you are dead right about Rita. The whole season was about Dexter paying penance and trying to make things right. He couldn't save Rita, so he saved Lumen instead. Dexter said it right at the end. "We all try do one good thing to make up for another, even me..."

      Was it the strongest season of Dexter IMO? No, but it was a hell of a long ways from terrible. I'd rather watch S5 of Dexter than any season of any show on TV. :)

      Z

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    5. Sorry, I mean "unapologetically".

      Also, I am just sticking with... "It was a tacky question".

      To me, it's like when a team loses a close game because the QB tosses an interception and some dumb reporter asks "Why did you throw that ball?"

      Most of the great ones (Peyton Manning, Joe Montana, Brady, et) just glare at the reporter...

      Z

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  6. The critic who asked the tough question about Season 6( which Jennifer said would have normally hurt her feelings) was from TV.com, not EW.

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  7. I am starting Season 5 tonight.. From what i remember it has some weak moments but wasn't terrible and neither was season 6 (which i will start watching again next)...

    It is rather shocking to see some people argue about a show for paragraphs

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    1. BreeB714:

      "From what i remember it has some weak moments but wasn't terrible and neither was season 6"

      I'll make this short, since you don't like paragraphs. ;)

      I agree with you. :)

      Z

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  8. Both Season 5 and Season 6 sucked. The show is on a decline in my opinion. At least half the characters are useless... why is Quinn still on the show again?

    Hopefully the show will end on a high note with these last couple seasons but it's somewhat become a joke of itself.

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  9. accepting criticism is the hardest pill to swallow but if you can, it can only make you a better person

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    1. 10:54

      Only 10% of all criticism you receive is useful and constructive.

      The other 90% is subjective, incorrect, and done in the spirit of cruelty. People love to tear down others because they feel like shit themselves.

      The most important thing in life is to surround yourself with people you trust, that are honest - only then can you get real advice.

      Z

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  10. WTF....!? What horrible questions.... is like asking me ¿why do I suck on my job? ... I'd be mad at that pseudo reporter....!

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