The second season of “Dexter” was left with the unenviable task of trying to replicate the success of its predecessor. All things considered, it did solid job, but suffered somewhat due to a decreasing sense of novelty and a lack of a clear main antagonist. Season three continued the decline, bringing in veteran actor Jimmy Smits who just always seemed out of place. The subplots of the supporting cast, while an interesting distraction before, began to infringe too much on the main arc as well.
Lightning struck twice when the fourth season recaptured everything that was great about the premier and then took it further. John Lithgow, the creepy-ass dad from “3rd Rock from the Sun” was expertly cast as (what else) a really scary father who kills people, rightfully winning an Emmy for his outstanding performance. The plot also returned to the level of intensity that existed in season one and ended on one of the most shocking, effective down-notes I have seen on television.
Last year’s season five ended up being a flat-out mess. Some genius decided to make the main antagonist a psycho self-help author in charge of a rape/murder cult because I guess that sounded really metal on paper. Lithgow worked so well as a villain because he seemed like an average suburbanite when he actually was a complete monster. Evil guru guy was about as subtle as a twelve car pile-up. Not to mention that Captain LaGuerta, arguably the most vile, detestable character on TV since Ralphie Cifaretto and Scrappy Doo, was apparently contractually obligated to appear for an exorbitant amount of time in each episode.
But there is hope. In season six, the always excellent Edward James Olmos and the surprisingly good Colin Hanks (son of a slightly more famous Hanks) make for a charismatic evil duo, and the story has been trimmed of the useless fat that pervaded the past run. While not on par with first or fourth season, “Dexter” has returned to its roots of fast plots and dark humor, and remains a must-watch show this fall.
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