For the record I thought “Breaking Bad” had one of the worst finales of all-time. Unrealistic, stupid, and too cute. Fail.
I am kind of torn on which series finale was worse, Sopranos or Dexter. They were both disappointing in their own ways....
You've gotta be kidding. The final scene of Sopranos was expertly edited, soundtracked and choreographed. There was compelling dialog by the characters that echoed a conversation in the final episode of season 1. There was symbolism. The Dexter scene was just an afterthought or sloppy epilogue by comparison. Final episode of Sopranos had etter acting, writing, direction, better music, thought-provoking plot. Dexter was a hot mess. The main fatality in that final episode aside from the "killed you with my pen" (writer's cliche) of the bad guy was the death of Dexter's sister. What a bummer. He abandoned his son. No chance of redemption. The main fatality in the final episode of Sopranos was Phil, quite the entertaining demise. He was not liked even by his own people. Tony was eating dinner with his family at the end. If you make a list of what was disappointing vs satisfying about the final episodes, there is no contest.
watching the series as the aired, I thought there was a gentle decline after season 4, followed by a precipitous drop for season 8, sort of like if Van Morrison had recorded a party album with Will.I.Am. Seeing it for a second time, with my expectations lowered, the last season wasn’t as bad as I remembered, though it was still comfortably the worst of the lot.
I was very late to Dexter but decided to watch it knowing full well how problematic the final few seasons were and that craptastic ending. I still enjoyed it, even though his ability to escape detection was well beyond plausible.
But is the last show of Dexter worse or better than the last show of the original run (before the two recent mini-seasons) from The X-Files? I was pretty much equally pissed after seeing both enders.
I can't disagree with anything you said. I probably shouldn't have used the word worst to describe both together, but this was more a comment on the feeling I was left with upon each conclusion....
Just finished it via Netflix. I hated Doakes within minutes of "meeting him," and was hoping he'd be killed. The ending did leave me unsatisfied, but then my Netflix is free, so I get over such things pretty quickly.
Always enjoyed Michael C Hall's acting in Six Feet Under and Dexter but got to really see him act in the off Broadway production of Lazarus (the David Bowie inspired play). When we entered the theater and sat in our front row seats, Michael was laying on the floor playing dead and stayed there for about 20 minutes till the play started.
Here's the thread on season 8. If you wanted, you could read through the posts to see people expressing as the season was airing. I might do that myself just to refresh my memory on what I thought of it at the time. Dexter - Season Eight
The season with John Lithgow was really good. The one with Colin Hanks, not so much. I can’t even remember what season 8 was about. I just remember the finale was really bad.
She was the star of the show in my eyes, even more than Hall. She showed more range than him, if not due to greater talent then due to the roles, and got to really dig in to her character in remarkable ways that made the jobs of other actors much easier. I was impressed.
How many seasons of a long running show need to be excellent before people will recommend a show without needing to mention that the last season or ending was bad.
I dunno. 7-8 feels like the right answer (though I know there isn’t one). All shows have their own deal.
Jennifer Carpenter did a good job on Dexter, but I don't see her as being an actress that could do a lot of different things. I see her doing well within her narrow range, but that's about it. On the flip side, Michael C. Hall is an extraordinary talent with incredible range. Most of Season 8 was pretty mediocre, not just the last episode. This is still one of my favorite dramas ever simply on the strength alone of Seasons 1, 2 and 4, but it could've have grabbed a spot in that top tier if the drop-off hadn't been so severe.
