'Dexter' Season Four Review: Dexter starts to feel

I took a little bit of a break from Dexter for the first time since I started watching it. I binged through three entire seasons in what was just around a week. I have no idea how I managed that, but shortly around the time that I started the fourth season I started watching a few other shows here and there. This season took a little longer than the rest, but it was actually one of the most engaging seasons in terms of its attention to its characters. With each new season, Dexter manages to develop its characters in various ways that pulls more sympathy for them. Things have been significantly more engaging as a result of this. Season four continues with the ripples of its former seasons as it promotes the continuous trauma through past events. In the case of Dexter, much of this continues to be his past, the childhood he had as a struggled youth with psychotic mannerisms. The adoptive father Harry which raised him to hide in plain sight while also acting out on his urges on those who deserve it. In the previous seasons we saw how Dexter had managed to gain new information on Harry, discovering that Harry wasn't all as innocent had Dexter and Debra had been led to believe. A lot of this truth had been seen by Dexter far sooner than Debra; this season shows how both of them had gone their own routes to discover more.

Dexter's constantly in fear of his past catching up to him, and not just in the sense of his endless killings finally leading back to him, but the reality of his childhood being discovered. Here and there to some people he has opened up on the reality of this. Utilising the trauma to get out of certain situations. Dexter's lack of emotion has been a constant, his inability to feel and his often awkward interactions with people as he attempts to choose the right outcome, often failing to understand people properly. With this, there has been a frequent change in Dexter's inability to feel: he is actually starting to feel. A lot of this is guilt, the ways in which his actions continue to impact the innocent. From the fact that Dexter is now a father, as well as a husband to a gentle woman that has already seen enough darkness in her life. This change in Dexter has led to a few slip-ups, and in the previous season one of these mistakes led to Dexter fully opening up to someone he thought was a friend. Season four sees Dexter realising the weight of his actions upon his family, and realising that he has to somehow balance his monstrous actions while still somehow managing to be a good person. Not causing harm upon the innocent has been a constant theme within Dexter, but this tends to be more pertaining to the idea of causing physical harm over the killing side of things.

The feeling of empathy seems newer in season four. Dexter no longer just fears of harming the innocent directly, but also fears the potential of causing emotional harm through the ways he lives his life. From the lies to the manipulation. The harming of innocent children that he now has to be a father to, and Rita the housewife that always seems to buy into Dexter's deceit. In this season there were a lot of flashbacks to Dexter's childhood, but also a lot of scenes that detailed Dexter's fears over what might happen later on. The inevitable day of being caught. The types of children he may end up having if they follow in his footsteps. This season isn't entirely about Dexter though, or his hunt for the season which happens to be a similar reflection of himself. Something that has become quite the familiar tale as he strugglers to differentiate himself from the evil of the world under the idea of morals. Debra had a significantly larger amount of story this season as her relationship struggles continue to be an absolute Hell for her. I really liked her story this season though, and it felt like she had a lot more depth to her that went beyond relationship struggles and deeper with the feeling of loss; as well as her growth that had her looking into the past as well in search of the true Harry. Debra gets constantly beaten up in this show, but more in the emotional sense more than anything else. Probably the most tormented character in the show in that regard.

I really liked her treatment in this season, she's still the show's main punching bag and definitely suffered a great ton, but had a more balanced mentality to her this season which felt more mature and prepared with her side of the police work. Albeit, much of this is due to her personal attachment to the case at hand, having lost someone to a serial killer while also having been shot herself. But her dramatic shift into someone far more serious and motivated definitely served as a nice side development that had Dexter on his toes a little more this season. Primarily as Debra and the rest were constantly catching up to his discoveries, leading to Dexter's plans getting more and more stretched out as the season progressed. It was a bit different to the previous seasons in which Dexter is constantly a few steps ahead. This dynamic has more desperation in Dexter's side of the story as he's almost always in the wrong place at the wrong time, and this impacts his personal life too with how much he's constantly having to make excuses to leave home and be away from the wife and kids.

John Lithgow did an excellent job performing as this season's main villain. To the point where in moments he was genuinely insane to watch. His lack of patience that springs up out of nowhere, while appearing as the collected family man with a lot to lose. His moments of intellectual sounding speech mixed with the chaos of total mental collapse made his character stand out the most compared to the rest. Where it had more similarities to Dexter and his own personal life, bringing us back to that central theme of balance that Dexter now has to try to learn about. Characters Angel and Maria also managed to gain a lot more screen time this season, which held an unexpected outcome in the form of their newfound relationship. It added to the more human side of the police side of things, which I found quite engaging with the drama that came with it. That work and life balance narrative finding another way to show itself into the story. Though that side of things ended up on a more positive note rather than leading into heartbreak. I found it a nice addition to have, and it gave more exposure to two characters that had been mostly ignored or almost villainised previously.

It was a pretty good season that ended on a really insane note that had me instantly wanting to watch the fifth season, so I guess the Dexter binge continues.