Over 50% Agree Dexter Season 9 Needs To Avoid These 2 Mistakes
Fans of premium cable's favorite blood spatter analyst and antiheroic serial killer will finally get what they've been waiting for November 7, the premiere date for "Dexter" Season 9. Viewers were disappointed with the way the original run of the Showtime thriller drama ended, one of several disappointing television series finales in recent memory — we're looking at you, "Lost" and "Game of Thrones" series finale. But audiences have not gone unheard in airing their grievances with how "Dexter" wrapped up; the actor behind the title character, Michael C. Hall, acknowledged that the show's ending was "infuriating for people."
"I think the show ended in a way that was pretty mystifying at best if not infuriating for people, but that at least set the stage for us to return and answer more definitively what the hell happened to this guy," Hall told Times Radio (via Digital Spy). "I totally support what happened, the choice he makes at the end, but as far as the execution goes, we were all running on vapor at that point, so I get it."
In order to get things right with the relaunched series' ninth season, there are certainly some things the folks behind "Dexter" are going to need to avoid doing. For starters, avoid the "they were dead the entire time" trope. Oh, wait, that's for a potential "Lost" revival. "Dexter" has an entirely different set of pitfalls to avoid, so we asked Looper readers what they think absolutely cannot happen if "Dexter" Season 9 is to be a success. We surveyed 615 residents of the United States and more than half of them agree the folks behind the popular Showtime series need to avoid two specific mistakes.
Dexter fans say the ninth season of the show cannot fall into these two traps
Of the 615 people Looper surveyed, 7.64% of respondents feel that getting rid of Dexter's mysterious lizard-brained dark passenger would be a mistake best avoided. Given that this is the option that received the fewest votes, we'd say it's not the worst idea, but it's certainly something that would require a good explanation. Gaining a few more votes, with 11.71% of respondents selecting it, is the idea of giving Dexter a protege. Given how that's worked out so poorly in previous seasons — say, with Jeremy Downs (Mark L. Young) to some degree in Season 1, with Lila West (Jaime Murray) in Season 2 with Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits) in Season 3, with Lumen Pierce (Julia Stiles) in Season 5, or with Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) in Seasons 7 and 8 — we're surprised this didn't receive more votes but we agree it's a bad idea.
Just shy of 14% (13.82) of the vote came from people who think "Dexter" Season 9 should avoid unnecessary love scenes and we're with them 100%. While Dexter the character has sought to grow over the entire series beyond the unfeeling monster into a real boy who genuinely cares for people, romantic love has never really worked out for him. About one seventh of respondents, or 14.31%, said the upcoming season needs to focus on the true villain, though who that will be remains to be seen.
The two most popular answers, with just a 0.16% margin in between, are the general warning to avoid another bad ending with 26.18% and to avoid killing characters just for shock value with 26.34%. We'd argue the shock value of certain characters and their respective deaths is inherent to the show's premise, but it would certainly be best to avoid killing for killing's sake, though perhaps that's central to the eponymous character's nature. But, yes, certainly, "Dexter" Season 9 above all must avoid another disastrous finale; it's the entire point behind the relaunch.