I just finished watching the 7th season and I was underwhelmed. I am wondering if the 8th season is worth watching.
Dexter is a crime procedural and while delving into the emotion aspect of the characters can add to it, the show sometimes reminded me of a Telemundo soap opera with their “What I regret most about our relationship is that we never got to share our feelings” and “Brother, I love you but it cannot be, our love is forbidden!” I’m almost waiting for one of the characters to hit his head and get amnesia. Such elements are very jarring when placed in a crime/detective/serial killer/avenger procedural. If I were in a kill-or-be-killed situation with the mob, family time at the beach would be a low priority.
So, how is season 8 compared to season 7?
I don’t recall the specifics of the first half, but IMO the last half of season 8 pretty much sucked. The did a pretty shitty job wrapping up the series.
I’m not quite done with 8, but it is better than 7. It starts off extremely strong. If I have any complaint, it’s that they bring in too many characters to try to wrap up some loose ends.
Oh, and if the brother-sister attraction was a sore point for you, there’s a lot less of that. There are still some soap-opera-worthy interactions, but they pretty much go back to the old Deb and Dex from earlier seasons.
Oh, and I thought I’d add that I think it’s strange you describe it as a procedural. I’ve never seen it as anything other than a dark soap opera. The procedural elements are just there to nudge the story along the persona drama slows down.