Thread:PrinceZarbon/@comment-15919363-20140608021023/@comment-757765-20140731061635

Least favorite of all was Hannah, hands down, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Other then her, there weren't really any I actually hated. Lila was kind of annoying, but the writers meant for her to be that, so that's okay. Used to dislike LaGuerta, but on the second viewing, I actually like her character. And honestly? I really disliked Dexter in season eight, and looking back, I kind of dislike a lot of what he did in the series, but we'll get into that at a later date. I also don't like how Louis' character arc turned out, since they alluded to something bigger, but it turned out to be nothing. Older Harrison was annoying as hell, too. Jamie took up space and was an unnecessary replacement. Quinn became pretty fucking pointless after the fifth season, and was kinda useless in seasons three and four too.

My favorite characters were Brian and Doakes. Trinity was good, but I felt like his character could have been used down the road if they hadn't killed him. I feel the same way about Brian and Doakes too, though.

Actually, I've always felt this show wasted way too many plots and characters. It seems like the writers never thought too far ahead on much. The seasons always felt too locked in after the first two. I mean, season three might as well have not happened, because nothing from that one is ever alluded to again, except for Dexter and Rita marrying and the latter's pregnancy, and I'm sure those things would have been forgotten about if they thought they could get away with it. I kinda wish they had with the baby plot, because Dexter being a father just didn't work.

I also hated how some things were just forgotten. Miguel was mentioned ONCE after season three, and that was it. And yeah, season five's main storyline was nodded to a lot later on, but the references amounted to precisely jack shit and the side plot with the killers was completely forgotten about, despite the fact that it seemed like it was going to have repercussions. Sonya up and disappears when it would have taken maybe twenty seconds to explain what happened. Isaak wasn't mentioned or alluded to at all during the last three episodes of season seven! It's all just so frustrating.

On the topic of season eight, I still think it would have been shitty, but it wouldn't have been as shitty if it was just another season and not the final one. The final season of this show should have been more eventful and actually made the last eight years pay off to something, but it didn't.

I don't mean to keep making this post so lengthy, so forgive me for going into this little spiel here, but I think the show should have had a main arc with the seasons having their own story lines as well. I think the plot probably should have gone something like this:

Season 1 - Practically the same, except Brian survives. Season 2 - Start it off with a mini arc, maybe 2-3 episodes of him hunting a special target. Once that's over with, Dexter finds out who the men who killed his mother are; all three are alive. This season he kills one of the men there, but not the one who did the actual killings. Brian returns at some point and tries to adhere to the code. Season 3 - Dexter's still searching for the other men responsible, and is also faced with the threat of a new killer in town, possibly a character similar to Trinity or the Skinner. He and Brian kill the other two men, one of which was the "trigger man" at the murders; however, he let the other killer roam so he and Brian could kill this person, and they end up killing Rita. Season 4 - Dexter and Brian now want to kill Estrada, but the drug lord is safe from the brothers in prison. Dexter's also being investigated as a possible suspect for Rita's murder, since he can't give an alibi that's possible to confirm, because the only one he has involves him killing somebody with a wanted fugitive. I figure around this season, Debra should start to suspect something's up, and the "Bay Harbor Butcher" is also discovered, thus beginning the investigation somewhere in the middle of the season. At the end of the season, Dexter kills the person responsible for Rita's murder, and Estrada is released from prison. Also, I think this season should introduce the character of Evelyn Vogel as part of the investigation. Season 5 - This would be where everything comes to a head, of course. Estrada is out, and is now hunting the people responsible for killing his men; Brian is beginning to corrupt Dexter; The Bay Harbor Butcher investigation is still ongoing; Doakes and Debra suspect Dexter of something, especially since he has changed so much in the time the series began; The Brain Surgeon strikes; Vogel takes a special interest in Dexter, and yet another killer strikes Miami, a character similar to The Doomsday Killers.

Now, I first suspected the Brain Surgeon was another "killer of killers", so here I'd want him to be that, working as a sort of "hitman" for Vogel. She'd send him after The Doomsday Killers, who Dexter and Brian would also hunt. A few episodes into the season, Vogel makes it apparent to Dexter that she knows about him, but does not say anything about The Brain Surgeon. At some point, the Travis of the DDK would end up turning against the Gellar character, so Brian and Dexter would help him kill the remaining Doomsday Killer. But after that, the Brain Surgeon would strike, and Travis would be left out in the open, establishing his M.O.

Vogel tells Dexter to kill TBS, referring to him as a former patient. Once Dexter and Brian find him though, he reveals he's just a pawn of Dr. Vogel, as well as her own son, and he's been killing whoever she wanted him to for years. He tells the two that she'll just do the same thing to them. Dexter still kills Saxon, but then turns his sights on Vogel.

Meanwhile, Brian's main arc has seen him trying to find a way to get Estrada so that he and Dexter can kill him, but is unsuccessful and inadvertently causes him to find out the brothers are responsible for killing his men.

The last few episodes are really where things get heavy. After finding out that Vogel has been using "hitmen" for years, and always making the new one kill the last, Dexter kills her after acting like he'll play along, but when he's in the process of disposing her body, Doakes discovers him in the act and attempts to make an arrest. When they fight, Dexter ends up knocking him out and has to flee the scene with Doakes' unconscious body as the back up Doakes had called for earlier arrives.

After Estrada's men make an attempt on Brian and Dexter's lives, Dexter considers turning himself in to relieve himself of the pressures of being hunted, but Brian manages to convince him not to and they devise a plan to frame Doakes as the BHB and finish Estrada once and for all.

Dexter anonymously calls Estrada and tells him where Brian is, in a remote cabin he has been using as a hideout. Estrada and some men arrive, but the brothers end up killing them in a shootout, using Doakes' gun. During the gunfire, we see a young man running away from the scene. Estrada is only injured in the initial shooting, and is then dragged inside, where he is killed by being dismembered with a chainsaw. Doakes is a witness to all of this.

As this happens, Debra and LaGuerta, who has been on the field since Doakes' disappearance, respond to the call of shots being fired. When they arrive, they see all of the dead bodies and call in for backup. Doakes sees the two outside, and begins shouting for help. Debra and LaGuerta go to the house hearing his cries for help, and both are horrified to find Dexter and Brian with the dismembered body of Estrada, and Doakes in a cage; The brothers were going to make it look like Doakes murdered the drug dealers and Estrada, and then took his own life by blowing up the cabin.

Brian points his gun at Doakes and threatens to kill him, which causes Debra and Maria to hesitate to shoot him. Doakes eggs LaGuerta on to do it anyways, and as she's distracted talking to him, Dexter takes Estrada's gun and shoots her. Debra aims at Dexter, and Brian turns his attention to Debra, but Dexter points his gun at him, telling his brother not to shoot her. Brian tries to convince Dexter that Debra doesn't care about him and sees the real him as a monster, using the current situation as proof of that. Meanwhile, Debra tells Dexter that she does care for him, but he does need to be brought to justice for what he's done.

After Debra mentions back up is coming, he decides that there's nowhere left to run. He tells Brian to leave him behind, but Brian refuses to go and Debra refuses to let him just walk out. Debra shifts her sights to Brian, but as she does, he fires, hitting her square in the chest. A round escapes her gun, hitting him in the shoulder, and Dexter fires a single round as well, knocking Brian to the floor, not dead but bleeding profusely. Dexter drops the gun and rushes to Debra's side, and she ends up dying in his arms. As Debra and Dexter talk though, Doakes gets the key to the cage from Brian's pocket. When Debra and Dexter are done talking, Dexter turns the gas on the stove on, and intends to stick to blowing the cabin up, except he plans to be present.

However, Doakes unlocks the cage door, collects his gun from Brian, and then puts it to Dexter's head and instructs him to turn off the stove. However, Dexter simply remains still, so Doakes does it instead. As Doakes tells Dexter he'll be going away for a long time, he's shot in the back, and Brian is shown holding Estrada's gun, which Dexter dropped earlier. Doakes falls to the ground, in pain but not dead. Brian goes over and intends to put a bullet into his head, but finds his gun is empty. When he tries to use Doakes' gun, he finds the same result. Sirens are heard approaching, and police vehicles are seen pulling up. As the cops approach the house with their guns drawn, it cuts back into the cabin. Brian, getting the last line of the series, quips "Well, this can't end well," and then cut to black.

Prolly very messy and unorganized since that was all off the top of my head without having researched the show in months, but I still think that would have made for a much nicer show and ending than we got. Do you guys have any ideas for how the show should have been and ended? I don't mind if your posts are long, after all, mine ended up being way bigger than I intended it to be. Sorry for clogging up your wall, Zarbon! Haha.