Wikipedia actually seems to agree that it isn't based off the second novel.... dunno where my friend got the info
After seeing the first 2 episodes of season 2, they're definitely not patterned after the second book (which I've read). The first season, while adding or removing a few things still had the same basic story. Doesn't look like that will be the case with season 2.
The only thing from the books that I wish they would have tried to tackle in the show is the relationship between Dexter and Rita's son.
In the books Dexter realizes that Rita's son is showing some of the same signs that Dexter's father noticed in him, so Dexter decides to act as a mentor to the kid.
Dexter learns that a measured amount of honesty will get him much further than even the most carefully-constructed lie (and who does he learn this from? A used car salesman! Bloody brilliant). His willingness to share a piece of his authentic self with the twelve-step group wins their approval, puts him back on solid footing with Rita, gives him the possibly opportunity to work through some questions about his own motivations and gets Doakes off his back (I especially like how Doakes, with all his very deep suspicions and very pointed inquiries about Dexter, is thrown off by something so simple; and it's an interesting commentary, intentional or otherwise, on our modern Excuse Culture, where all someone has to do is invoke the sacred talisman of "substance abuse," and suddenly the most horrendous behavior is given a pass).
Meanwhile, I stand in awe of how well Deb is being handled. Rather than have her ordeal with Rudy/Brian be a story gimmick, quickly forgotten just a couple episodes later, it's being treated very much like a real trauma, with profound psychological effects on her character. I also see how, in trying to help her get someplace past her scar tissue, Special Agent Lundy (or "Special Agent Fucking Asshole," from episode 2) is emerging as a bit of a father figure; even his brief conversation with Dexter shows some traces of that.
Which brings me to Lundy. I REALLY like this guy, and I think it's a testament to the willingness of the show's writers to take chances that they bring in a character whom you want to see succeed almost as much as Dexter, despite the fact their two goals are directly opposing and mutually exclusive. Who'd have thought that Keith Carradine would make such a great G-Man? :)
I even like the continued digs the show is taking at The Secret, but given that these digs always come at the expense of Angel, a character I really like, I hope they wrap that up soon.
All in all, I'm ecstatic with how good the show is this season, and I can hardly wait the five days till the next one (the fact that Showtime, the bastards, have stopped putting "Next week on Dexter" teasers at the end of each episode does not help)..
"You owe me a new Michelin, motherfucker."
I thought it was an awesome episode, and it is showing how Dexter is starting to feel.
When the used car salesman calls Rita a cunt, and then Dexter out of anger stabs him right in the chest and says "Don't talk that way about my girlfriend." He has never had emotion for Rita before, but there is obviously something there.
And this is the first episode where they finally bring the dark passenger to light. Michael C. Hall needs some emmys. Now!
Fine example of his acting abilities is the scene that I described in the spoiler above.
[yt=425,350]wd7w94Pabyc[/yt]
I thought it was an awesome episode, and it is showing how Dexter is starting to feel.
When the used car salesman calls Rita a cunt, and then Dexter out of anger stabs him right in the chest and says "Don't talk that way about my girlfriend." He has never had emotion for Rita before, but there is obviously something there.
Ah, but wasn't the bit with Dexter slugging Paul with the frying pan (the thing that ultimately got him in so much trouble with Rita in the first place) a similar emotional impulse? It seems that the place that Rita and her kids have in Dexter is something that maybe even he is just staring to understand.
And this is the first episode where they finally bring the dark passenger to light.
I was mouthing the words when he finally said it (I am SUCH a nerd).
Michael C. Hall needs some emmys. Now!
QFT.
I thought it was an awesome episode, and it is showing how Dexter is starting to feel.
When the used car salesman calls Rita a cunt, and then Dexter out of anger stabs him right in the chest and says "Don't talk that way about my girlfriend." He has never had emotion for Rita before, but there is obviously something there.
Ah, but wasn't the bit with Dexter slugging Paul with the frying pan (the thing that ultimately got him in so much trouble with Rita in the first place) a similar emotional impulse? It seems that the place that Rita and her kids have in Dexter is something that maybe even he is just staring to understand.
I'll give partial points, but that was more of a protection from physical violence, which I think Dexter understands a lot more. The same thing that drives him to catch a killer before they kill another. The car salesman verbally abused Rita in front of Dexter, which I believe set off a pure emotional response rather than an instinctual one. Dexter attacked Paul out of necessity and instinct. Dexter killed the salesman out of raw emotion after hearing his girlfriend being slagged off, and I think he realized that and had that epiphany at the NA meeting.
Only episode 3 and its so dmn good already. A lot of people wondered how the show could go any further after the 1st season's finale. They kind of saw it as a wrap up. But I think they are really keeping in stride this season, even, dare I say, surpassing?
Last night's episode made me laugh at myself a little. When they first started introducing the British gal who is Dexter's NA sponsor, I thought, "Didn't Dexter watch Fight Club? Hooking up with Helena Bonham-Carter at 12-step programs is always a bad idea." Little did I realize that soon she would turn out to BE Helena Bonham-Carter. Seriously. I haven't had wind chimes on my house in three-and-a-half years, because Helena Bonham-Carter keeps stealing them.
As for the rest of the episode, I love Dexter's incredulity that it might be Vince's forensics work that ultimately takes him down. I like the element of danger that British gal represents. And I was even surprised to find out just exactly how much of a player LaGuerta truly is (if this had been any other show, the revelation that she'd been sleeping with Pascal's fiance might have come across as a bit "soap opera," but in the larger context of her character, it totally works). Speaking of players, was Angel really being penitent with the widow of that one victim, or was he just playing her? Inquiring minds want to know (and I'm glad they stopped using him as a vehicle to bag on The Secret; I don't mind insulting that crap book and its followers, but Baptista deserves better than that). So, is it just me, or did Deb and Lundy's interaction go past the fatherly stage I saw in it at first, and move on to something a little more... compromising?
I can't believe Dexter wrecked all the bodies, but was ultimately futile because he didn't get a chance to screw up the rocks. And I hated Rita's mom. I have known too many girlfriend's mothers like that. Always suspicious of me just because I like to secretly kill things. :D
Doakes breaks into Dexter's house and finds all the blood samples! Agent Lundy is hot on Dexter's trail. Lundy, Deb and Angel discover the Bay Harbor Butcher is one of their own!
One again the house of cards seems stacked against Dex.. next Sunday cannot get here fast enough.
It was insane.
Edit: The spoiler button doesn't seem to be working.
EDIT by torgosPizza. Yes it does.
With the possible one-two knockout from Doakes finding the blood slides and Lundy/Deb/Angel finding that the killer works out of their department, I'm really anxious to see what happens next week. And I loved the revenge chainsaw massacre. >:D
only to apparently be found out by Doakes in the end.
develop a little Stockholm Syndrome. Let's face it: on the surface, Dexter is doing what Doakes no doubt wishes he could do.
Think it's a permissions issue, should be fixed now.
OMFGCOPTER, that episode was intense. Absolutely just ... there aren't enough words.
Even after Doakes had been calling on it all along, he still couldn't believe Dexter holding the bags of remains of Jiminez. Damn good episode. What's he gonna do with Doakes?
Think it's a permissions issue, should be fixed now.
OMFGCOPTER, that episode was intense. Absolutely just ... there aren't enough words.
Even after Doakes had been calling on it all along, he still couldn't believe Dexter holding the bags of remains of Jiminez. Damn good episode. What's he gonna do with Doakes?
My 2 cents on where this is headed.
Doakes is gonna wind up dead one way or another. He's too principled to just walk away from the situation, assuming dexter would even let him. But I don't think it'll be a straight up killing a la getting tied down with saran wrap. I get the feeling Doakes will be killed by someone other than Dexter.
I am on the edge of my seat to see how things actually end up happening with Doakes. I'm just thinking that Dexter is putting himself at a huge amount of risk by setting up Doakes to be put away by the FBI. If and when Doakes gets turned in, it is pretty much a given that if he gets a chance to speak with LaGuerta, he will tell her that Dexter is the actual killer, and she will begin to investigate Dexter herself.
And is it just me, or did Rita look very sexy in this episode?
Every single episode is so damn good, and last night was no exception. This show is one of the best, if not the best itself, shows on television. I have found my self enjoying the episodes and anticipating upcoming ones more so than any other shows.
I am on the edge of my seat to see how things actually end up happening with Doakes. I'm just thinking that Dexter is putting himself at a huge amount of risk by setting up Doakes to be put away by the FBI. If and when Doakes gets turned in, it is pretty much a given that if he gets a chance to speak with LaGuerta, he will tell her that Dexter is the actual killer, and she will begin to investigate Dexter herself.
And is it just me, or did Rita look very sexy in this episode?
You're probably right, SASD. But, given that the first novel ends at LaGuerta's funeral
especially the Miami post card
I think there's really something about how it is like a long mini series (maxi series?), and it shows that each season is based on a separate novel.
Although they're not - I have the first two novels, and each season picks-and-chooses from them. The second one decidedly less so.
An amazing show nonetheless, easily among my top 5.
torgosPizza, have you read the third book? I (obviously) haven't read them, but sounds like he went all nutty on the third one. Hope the writers can salvage it. But from what you stated about the second book, sounds like they are off in their own direction anyway.
The second book really isn't related to the second season at all. The first season basically followed the plot of the first book with a few exceptions.
One thing I wish they would pick up from the books
Dexter seeing the telltale signs in Rita's son that Dexter's dad saw in him, and beginning to pass on Harry's rules.
alright, so in the third book (Dexter in the Dark) there's a supernatural element and a creature named IT, do you think any of that going to go into the series, or is it going to stay the way it is now?
why they gotta do that to Doakes, he was my favorite character, if anything happens to Batista or LaGuerta, I'll never watch this series again, It should have been Masuka :grr:
;D
Alright, I'm all caught up, just finished season 2.
why they gotta do that to Doakes, he was my favorite character, if anything happens to Batista or LaGuerta, I'll never watch this series again, It should have been Masuka :grr:
;D
Like it or not, killing Doakes was the only way to keep Dexter from being caught. What other way could you have possibly taken the story without having Dexter end up in Jail/Electric Chair and ultimately kill the series? Yeah it sucked. That's why Dexter got revenge on Lila. That, and the whole trying to burn him and the kids alive thing.
Thanks for the info on the spoiler button, jacobtaylor!
Right, Doakes HAD to die--it needed to happen SOME way. Very clever and tidy approach--two birds with one stone.
It will be sad not having Doakes around anymore--but it was cool that they made a one-dimensional character deep in his final appearances.
I hate that Dexter has "Repressed Memories." "Repressed Memories" are the result of suggestion and hypnosis and/or suggestive interrogation. For more on them, see http://www.fmsf.org (not ".com") It is a site started by people who were falsely accused of molesting their own daughters and sons thanks, in many cases, to the "therapeutic" efforts of unlicensed "mental health-care providers."
Please read the above. The point I am making is important, but I don't want to make everyone too annoyed by my spoiler to go to the website I linked to.
Spoiler-ish summation of start of season 3
This first episode seemed to drag a bit for me. Then it slowly started picking up speed but was by no means the kind of start last season was. I see a lot of potential for a few of these new characters. I've already formed some guesses as to how some of these guys turn out, especially Jimmy Smits' character.
After Dexter deals with (i.e., disappears) the Skinner, I think he's gonna kill Miguel in the Skinner's M.O. (which sucks for Miguel, since the skinning is done pre-killing, and an autopsy will reveal if you try to fake it). And, to show he HAS learned something about mercy, he's gonna plant Ellen Wolf's ring among the Skinner's belongings, so Miguel isn't implicated.
Any thoughts?
I have a theory.
After Dexter deals with (i.e., disappears) the Skinner, I think he's gonna kill Miguel in the Skinner's M.O. (which sucks for Miguel, since the skinning is done pre-killing, and an autopsy will reveal if you try to fake it). And, to show he HAS learned something about mercy, he's gonna plant Ellen Wolf's ring among the Skinner's belongings, so Miguel isn't implicated.
Any thoughts?
I can't believe that next week is the finale already. This season went by really fast!
I think that Dexter will plan to have the Skinner take the fall for Miguel's murder, but something will probably happen to screw things up. Based on the teaser for next week's episode, that something is probably Ramon. Could it be that Dexter will end up taking out all three of the Prado brothers?
As for Ellen Wolf's ring...if he plants it on the Skinner, would that be enough to cool off his lieutenant's suspicions about Miguel? Maybe, if she wants to be convinced that he didn't kill Wolf. There are a few possibilities here.
I had a feeling that it couldn't just end with Dexter killing Arthur and then having him go meet Rita, but I really didn't expect that to happen at the end. Yeesh.
Oh man... I understand why, but I am really sad that they killed off Rita. She was a great character and could have contributed so much more to the story. I do see the irony though. With Harrison's mother killed before his eyes he is supposedly going to grow up just like Dexter thus continuing that cycle and parallels the cycle that Trinity killed in. I wonder if in season 5 Debra will know Dexter's secret finally?
Oh man... I understand why, but I am really sad that they killed off Rita. She was a great character and could have contributed so much more to the story. I do see the irony though. With Harrison's mother killed before his eyes he is supposedly going to grow up just like Dexter thus continuing that cycle and parallels the cycle that Trinity killed in. I wonder if in season 5 Debra will know Dexter's secret finally?
The ending was... predictable if you think about it though. Nearly every main character in this season lost someone they loved. Cop lost his girlfriend, sister loster her boyfriend(s) and now dexter last his wife. They even hinted at this scenario earlier in the season when he killed the cop lady who murdered her family. At the time her story seemed a little out of place, but makes sense as a whole with the season. Talk about some superb writing! I was never really a huge fan of rita.... but I was really sad to see her get murdered. Gut wrenching to see such a main character die in such an abrupt and gruesome manner.
I was not expecting Rita to be killed off so abruptly. I fluctuated on my feelings toward Rita from downright hating her (season 2) to finding her tolerable in this season.
I'm really going to miss Lithgow next season though. He's not in nearly enough stuff, and he was REALLY good in Dexter.
As for Harrison ending up like Dexter simply because he witnessed his mother's murder and sat in her pool of blood, I don't see how that is very likely. I mean he is significantly younger than Dexter was when this happened to him (I mean, Harrison is what like 6 months old?)
I agree about Deb, also, though. I like her character well enough, but sometimes she does get really annoying. Her mouth does move in an overly tight lipped, strange manner. I thought maybe I was the only one who noticed it. I suspect that soon Dexter will tell her the truth about himself.
I have to also say that along with that, seeing the dead body of Sergeant Doakes was probably one of the most horrifying moments on Dexter(Way back in season 2). I thought he was kind of a jerk but I just couldn't stand seeing him like that. Really messes with me to see that.