I don't dismiss aggregated ratings sites out of hand. But all I have to do is look behind the numbers, look at the actual comments made there. Once again, here's a small sample: Spoiler "[Harrison] literally says to his face" maybe you deserve to die" .... after ALL DEXTER DID FOR HIM. Just because one guy died who got in the way and harrison couldnt take it." Comments like this are from people who did not understand the show. The show is not genius, it's not high art, but a look through the comments shows that there are a lot of "uninformed voters". Harrison did not think that "maybe Dexter deserves to die" simply "just because one guy died." Maybe the show didn't hit the viewer over the head with it, but Dexter's vigilante madness is indirectly but still responsible for Harrison's own mother's murder. If Dexter hadn't been playing vigilante, would Rita be dead by Trinity's hand? Of course not. And Harrison can now see this, and so much else. If Dexter hadn't been consumed by his "dark passenger", would Dexter have abandoned his own son, leaving him to live in a foreign country with someone who is not even a relative? Of course not. The death of Logan is just the final straw that wakes Harrison up, but the seeds are there before that. Further, this IMDb commenter writes that Harrison says that maybe Dexter deserves to die "after ALL DEXTER DID FOR HIM". What? Huh? What the hell did Dexter do for Harrison, other than immersing his life in tragedy and violence and ultimate abandonment? This is just one comment, but these are the kind of people who are running to IMDb all upset, and voting one star. If people want to criticize loop holes, lazy writing, great. But a lot of these people are just... I'm trying to be polite... They were likely attracted to the show because of its gratuitous thrills, but ultimately the show has always meant to take itself a little more seriously than that. Another similar comment, someone mocking Harrison's thought process in the ending: ""You've saved thousands of lives, dad!" ... "I have to kill your because I have friends now and I don't want to leave them behind... even though I will kill you and immediately be told to flee the area and never come back... and I will do it without question..."" Anyone who thinks Harrison shot Dexter because he "has friends now and don't want to leave them", again, did not understand the show. Is it really that hard? No, again, I think the show attracted a lot of people who would normally be watching Jackass or something, or Nightmare on Elm Street part 17 or whatever. Harrison's armed confrontation of Dexter in the ending has nothing to do with his desire to stay in Iron Lake. One last one: "Dexter planned everything to a T every single episode. But on the last episode does the opposite..." What? Again, I think either the whole season is lazy writing or not, but so many comments like this one act as if suddenly everything took a bizarre turn in the final episode. Dexter planned everything to a T every single (previous) episode? Did he plan for his house to get burned down? Did he plan to kill Matt out in the woods with any awareness that there were cameras in the trees? Did he plan on killing that drug dealer, only to have the cops show up? And then did he plan for the same thing to happen when he went to kill the dealer's supplier? Did he burn Matt's body and intentionally ignore the screws left behind? Did Dexter plan it "to a T" that he had to move Matt's body once a dog team was brought in right to his house? Was he planning everything to a T when Angela found out he actually wasn't Jim Lindsay? Was he planning everything to a T when he got kidnapped and thrown in some guy's backseat? All of these things happened before the finale. Dexter is effing up most of the time, as many protagonists do, because it's exciting to watch problems play out. This idea, repeated through many comments, that Dexter is suddenly a screw-up only in the final episode, is laughable. Dexter is a screw up from day one, season one, episode one, which is why so many of his loved ones and co-workers end up murdered. Audiences do love resourceful and smart protagonists, and Dexter often comes across that way. But the whole time, the reality is often otherwise - he's addicted to murder and as a result he keeps destroying lives, including his own. So again, apologies for length as usual, but behind those low IMDb ratings, I see little credibility or intelligence. I'm sure I could list a number of things in this season that could have been done better. But they didn't spoil my experience, and they certainly aren't found in those IMDb one star reviews.
I would have loved to see Dexter and Harrison drive off to LA like they discussed. Did Harrison even know the police officer died before Dexter showed up? Dexter could have just made up a story on how he escaped.
I think your previous post nailed it, pointing out that perhaps the showrunners didn’t have a great handle on their core fanbase. For people to think this ep was inferior to the previous finale is amazing. Though I’m not a fan, this finale was unquestionably better than the first finale.
Spoiler Uh...yeah, this is why I need to stop replying to every comment, and move on...haha...but I can't help it, and I have five more minutes here. Sorry! I've seen similar comments to yours, and I just can't understand them, in any way. "I would have loved to see Dexter and Harrison drive off to LA like they discussed." Why would you love this? Harrison seemed very conflicted if not truly upset to suddenly leave, that he would have to leave his new life and girlfriend entirely behind forever. How could we watch him in LA, having a blast killing people with his dad? I don't get this perspective at all. Harrison never really knew his father, his father wasn't around, and his father was a liar, and a psychopath. He only really knew who his father actually was in the last two episodes. And while he was desperate for his father's attention, understanding, and love...he didn't like what he saw, in the end. No right-thinking person would. I know it's fiction, but if my long lost dad I'd reconnected with suddenly was covered in a someone's blood and wanted me to drop everything and run away with him, so we could secretly kill bad guys, would I? I don't think that LA dream is any kind of good thing, just a moment's hope, that tragically could never come true, because Dexter could never stop doing what he does. "Did Harrison even know the police officer died before Dexter showed up?" No, but he figured it out easily. He saw his dad arrested for murder and kept at the station. Then he gets a call from his dad from the officer's phone, saying he'd escaped. Then he sees his dad covered in blood. He wasn't sure, so he asked, but it was a fairly strong deduction to make! "Dexter could have just made up a story on how he escaped." That's a good ending? Dexter begins his new life, on the run with his son, with yet another big lie to kick it off? Sorry, this is why I'm dismissing the episode's negative reviews so easily, and why I'm so thankful that fans don't write the show. The entire season was developed and promoted to bring a proper end to the Dexter series. I remain surprised by the kinds of endings people expected.
I wouldn't necessarily trust the crazy fans voting on IMBD as an indication of "the people." The key is what the ratings were for Showtime, and the producer recently said that it was the #1 new TV series on the network. Confirmed by Variety: TV Ratings: 'Dexter: New Blood' Becomes Showtime's Most-Watched Series - Variety The most recent Dexter novel (2015) was titled Dexter Is Dead, so you can make of that what you will.
I had to spend some time digesting the end. For all the less satisfying parts of the season, I would say they did justice to the franchise with the ending. The last encounter of Dexter and Harrison really brought a lot together. Dexter was always working to fit in and constantly wondering if he was capable of human feelings, of love. Before Harrison he tried sharing who he was with first Lila, then Hannah...and Deb, reluctantly-the first time didn't work out so well and he never had the opportunity to see where things led with Hannah. He thought he had the opportunity again with Harrison and opened up about who he was. In the end, I think Harrison opened Dexter's eyes to just who and exactly what he was. The code was stripped away as a justification to act on his urges rather than anything noble. He made the only choice he could make, knowing that he has always hurt those he cared about. Letting Harrison go and guiding him to end the madness answered all the questions for me.
I don’t think the two items (IMDB & Nielsen ratings) are necessarily contradictory. I think it’s pretty obvious much of the fanbase seems underwhelmed by the finale. Still waiting to see anyone throw up any data that shows otherwise.* However, the show was clearly a “hit.” I think @SRC has been making more interesting points about the viewers of the show, and what it says about them in relation to the finale. But again, I think it’s quite reasonable to have a “hit” and not have the fanbase care for it overall (anybody remember a show called Seinfeld?). *the best results I could find are on this site, where over a third (of 8000+ votes) “loved it” although 45% gave less than favorable responses.
Are there any other TV-series where the last episode get much lower rating than the other episodes that season. Dexter New Blood 9 vs 4.5 Game of Thrones finale/last episode 4.0 ! Game of Thrones - Season 8 - IMDb Like the original Dexter season 8 get very low ratings.
Interesting article from years ago with New Blood writer/producer Clyde Phillips stating how he would’ve liked to end the series the first time: Chills! Former Dexter Producer Clyde Phillips Reveals How He Planned to End the Series - E! Online
The changes in Dexter's tone and facial expressions was world class acting by Hall. He was pleading with Harrison to go with him, but once Harrison said he needed to turn himself in and said that maybe he deserved the death penalty, Dexter's face turned to stone and his tone got a bit sinister. And then when Harrison pointed the gun at him and Dexter thought of some of the people who died because of him, he then relaxed into calm realization that he couldn't run any longer and that it was his time to die and that it was deserved. He knew his son deserved better, and he knew he didn't have what it took to give it to him. I suspect that many still do not see it that way, and many of those are likely the ones unhappy with this finale ("how could you kill our hero?!"), but I cannot imagine the Logan murder making anyone suddenly realize that he was a bad guy. If you (the general "you") hadn't figured it out by then, I don't see that changing anyone's mind.
You keep referring to these people as “the fanbase”. They may be fans, but they’re not the base. That’s like confusing the lunatic fringe of any political party with being representative of the whole just because they are being the loudest and most obnoxious. The base is a LOT broader than these loud obnoxious (and frankly oftentimes ignorant) opinions suggest.
And I keep saying, show me any kind of proof that this finale was well received by the masses. To that, not a single person in this thread has offered ANYTHING to prove that point. You don’t like IMDB ratings - fine. Show me something better. Apparently that same “lunatic fringe” voted the previous nine episodes between 8.5 and 9.6 on IMDB? Was it all part of a master conspiracy to make it look like they enjoyed the reboot, only to trash the finale? Yeah, that makes sense. So 14,000+ people presumably just join the site to trash Dexter (and the GoT finale) while leaving high marks for other shows’ finales (Breaking Bad 9.9; The Americans 9.8; Mad Men 9.3). So clearly “not fans”! Yeah I’m going to spend energy trashing a show I have no interest in. Look out Young Sheldon, I’m coming after you!
Well you’re here talking about a show you don’t even like. People will do weird things online just for attention.
I explained my interest in the show upthread. Sorry if it was difficult for you to follow. But hey, rather than trying to refute my point with any kind of data, just call me a “weird” attention-seeker. Classy!
Undoubtedly, universal acclaim is what we’re seeing here: Why The Dexter: New Blood Finale Has Fans So Fed Up Dexter viewers furious over ‘anti-climactic’ series finale – again Dexter fans left 'in tears' as fan-favourite killed off in reboot finale: 'Why do this' 'Dexter: New Blood' Finale Reactions: Here's What Fans Thought of the Ending Dexter fans heap praise on “New Blood” series finale
@mrjinks , you are choosing an odd hill here to die on. What did you (not anybody else) think of the finale?
Let's take the second one from the top: How on earth is a finale in which the title character is killed "anti-climactic?" Are people so dumb they don't know what a climax is? I'm sad to see the whole franchise end. It is one of my favorite shows of all time. However, this finale was handled in a fairly logical way, graded on a curve of course, since Dexter was never the most plausible real-life scenario, to put it lightly. In other words, as series finales go, it was a good one, and I'm satisfied with it. Pleasantly surprised at how good New Blood was too, especially the last four episodes or so. I'm just not going to IMDb to say so.
“Interest” isn’t the same as “like” or “watch”. I get the distinct impression that you’re like grand dad from the Lost Boys who thinks that because he reads TV Guide he doesn’t need a TV. Or a person who collects baseball cards and memorizes stats without ever seeing a single game. I still can’t tell if you’ve even seen this season because all you talk about is what others say. You refuse to talk about the show itself.
I said upthread I thought it was much better than the S8 finale. But who cares what I think? I found the show entertaining, but far from a “quality” show (no offense intended to the fans). I’ve said it before, but the thing I find interesting here is that they got a “do-over” on a series finale, and while critics and some fans approved, clearly a huge number of fans are just as pissed off at this ending as the other one. I find that fascinating. But no one seems to want to agree with the central point here, that many (perhaps a majority?) of the fans didn’t like it, despite me providing many points to support that, and NO ONE providing tangible evidence to counter it. Instead, I hear that IMDB ratings and Twitter reactions and articles I’ve linked are all garbage, despite the fact that there doesn’t seem to be evidence of other series finales being highly criticized, excerpt ones that were generally perceived as bad (Dexter S8, GoT). Agree with most of what you say here, including the ridicule of people calling the lead character’s death anti-climactic. But - Nielsen ratings aside - I fail to see how a show’s finale that displeases so many fans will be seen as a “success” in the long run. Again, that’s what I find so interesting here. They did it twice and still didn’t come up with something that’s highly rated by the fans. Why are so many of Dexter’s fans apparently dissatisfied with an ending that was clearly superior to the original show, and what does it say about the show / the fans, in general?
3 million people watched the finale. 14,000 people thus far have opted to vote on imdb. That isn’t a huge number. It’s rather inconsequential, actually. You have a small subset of fans angry enough to take their bitching online. That is really all I personally glean from it.
And you STILL fail to counter my points, you just make simplistic characterizations of me. Amazing. I’ve seen all the episodes. Here are some comments I’ve made in the past: New Series 'Dexter' on Showtime Dexter - Season Eight Dexter - Season Eight Dexter - Season Eight Dexter: New Blood (2021) on Showtime Dexter: New Blood (2021) on Showtime At best, I expect you to ridicule these comments. The one thing I CERTAINLY don’t expect is for you to counter any of the actual points I made in post #287.
So why did all the previous episodes get such high ratings? Are those numbers to be disregarded too? How many people watched the original Seinfeld finale? Are you going to say the “inconsequential” vocal minority who complained about that show aren’t representative of the reputation that finale had? And, not that you’ll answer, but … Where are all the articles saying how well-received the finale was by fans???
You're really adding nothing to this thread. We don't care about your data. Move along. Now you're just trolling.
I’ve responded to questions asked of me. I’ve also asked for ANY KIND of evidence this finale received widespread acclaim from fans, and received none. I look at writer / producer Clyde Phillips comments before this season, when discussing the original finale: "I feel the same way Michael does and the way most people do. I think it failed to satisfy. It also, I think, broke a certain trust with the audience that we had built up in the early years. And I think it was a little coy and not successful. Let's just be blunt. If you Google “The Top 10 Worst Series Finales Ever,” Dexter is going to be on every list. People were so disappointed. And so, we have, in a non-religious sense here, a chance for redemption. I think that's one of the reasons, to go back to your original question, why people are so excited about this as well."And I ask whether he succeeded regarding the bolded comments above. But, I don’t wish to be seen as a troll, so I’ll bow out at this point, per your request. I just ask that people not respond with further questions to me (since I think I’ve been clear), nor continue to (mis)characterize me. Fair enough? I’ve been on this forum for nearly 15 years, and I don’t troll. Peace.
