TV Series: Dexter Season 8

This is the eighth and final season of "Dexter". At least, it was planned to be the last season when it was aired. Eight years later a new series called "Dexter: New Blood" was aired on television. You can't keep a good psychopath down.

If he is a psychopath, that is. In the eighth season he seems to be losing the urge to kill. His desire for a normal married life is becoming his greatest wish. He lets victims go, with fatal results. It's as if the viewer is being asked whether it's best to kill those who deserve to die.

Season 7 ended on a cliffhanger, seemingly. Season 8 begins six months later. We pick up in casual conversation how Captain Maria LaGuerta's death was explained. Dexter is an expert at falsifying evidence, as we've seen repeatedly in the series so far. In most cases he hides the evidence of a killer, so that he can catch him before the police can identify him.

There's an unexpected twist in Season 8. Dexter meets Dr. Evelyn Vogel, a psychotherapist who was a friend of Dexter's father. She's an expert in psychopaths who used to work closely with the Miami Metro Police Department as an advisor. Harry Morgan turned to her when he realised that his son was a psychopath. Rather than institutionalise him, she recommended that he should be taught to channel his killing urges to do something useful. It was Evelyn, not Harry, who created Harry's Code. Evelyn sees herself as Dexter's spiritual mother.

Dexter is hunting for a killer who he identifies as Zach Hamilton, the son of a rich businessman in Miami. Dexter wants to kill him, but then finds that Zach is one of Evelyn's patients. Evelyn asks Dexter to help him channel his killing urges, so that he can also become a force for good. Dexter takes Zach under his wing, calling him his intern. I'm not sure whether or not that's intended to be a joke.

Zach's a quick learner, but Dexter has trouble trusting him.

Hannah McKay returns after escaping police custody in Season 7. She's changed her name in the meantime. She's now Maggie Castner, and she's married a casino owner with $700 million. A woman with her beauty can angle a rich man.

She never loved her husband. She just wanted his money. The only man she really loves is Dexter, so she has to get her husband out of the way. Usually she poisons her victims, but this time it was a spontaneous kill, so she just grabbed the nearest knife.

There are no complaints from Dexter. He loves her too much to punish her for committing yet another murder. He even helps her dispose of her husband's body.

Is it love or lust or a bit of both? Whatever it is, Dexter has difficulty maintaining eye contact.

Dexter takes Hannah and Zach on a road trip. This scene makes me laugh.

This scene could have come from a Quentin Tarantino film.

And now the family's all together. It gets funnier all the time. It's like Evelyn Vogel is hosting a serial killer convention.

Debra is not amused.

A lot of Season 8 deals with Debra. After shooting Maria LaGuerta at the end of Season 7 she's fallen apart. She quit the police force and she's taking drugs. She's got herself a new job working for a detective agency. It pays better, and she needs the extra cash for her new habits.

I haven't mentioned Angel's sister Jamie until now, even though she's been a regular character since Season 6. She's become the child minder (nanny) for Dexter's son Harrison. She's also in a relationship with Detective Joey Quinn. I've lost count of how many relationships Quinn has had.

A surprise addition to the cast is Niki, Vince Masuka's daughter. It's a surprise to the viewers, and an even bigger surprise to Vince, because he had no idea she even existed. She works as a topless waitress in a sports bar. It's the first time Vince has ever complained about a girl being naked.

The season ties up all the loose ends. Dexter fakes his death so that he can start a new life as far away from Miami as possible. Is he still killing in his new location? We'll have to watch the new series to answer that question.

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