Dexter

[Deleted]

There seems to have been a build up to Deb losing her mind throughout the season. In her scene just before seeing Dexter she was full of angst and a total emotional mess. I'm hoping there's going to be more to next season than 'Deb catches Dexter in the act and has to figure out what to do about it.' The storyline with the therapist convincing Deb she is in love with Dexter has got to mean something more and play into the sequence of events that led up to Deb seeing Dexter kill. It's got to because it's just too weird to leave hanging there. So here's hoping that this cliffhanger is resolved in an interesting way because if the writers end up deciding to go with the "it was all a dream" technique the ratings will drop like a rock.

ETA: According to what the producers are saying they won't try to avoid the reality of Deb seeing Dexter kill Travis. Good to know. As far as a Deb and Dex romance, that's still a possibility and apparently always has been.

TVLINE | Was Deb developing romantic feelings for Dexter always part of the show’s grand plan?

It was something we realized very early on. It was not necessarily a plan, but it was something we all felt was in the DNA of that character. It just sort of made sense when we started to examine why she was the way she was. It wasn’t necessarily something we were always working towards, but when we examined it it seemed — at least on some sort of subconscious level — like that’s the direction it had always been going.

TVLINE | Was there a debate in the writers room about whether to go there? You must’ve known it would be controversial.

It came up several years ago. We thought about it, then dismissed it, but it would always come up again year after year after year. So it just felt like there was this big story there that we were denying.
TVLINE | And why now?

It just seemed so inevitable. There was no particular reason why this year, except that it felt like we had been ignoring it.

TVLINE | Finally, the reaction to a possible Deb-Dexter romance seems more negative than positive. There’s a genuine ick factor there. Will that impact how far you take the storyline in the final two seasons?

No. I’m not aware that there’s an ick factor, but that’s certainly not going to affect where we go with that story.

Inevitable? No ick factor? What are these people smoking?

[stina]

As a girl who grew up with one adopted brother and one biological brother: There is no difference in those relationships. You are raised as brother and sister from childhood = you consider each other brother and sister. Biology-schmiology.

So no ick factor? Are they serious? My bet is that they don't have a sibling of the opposite gender, or they would understand.

Iiiiiick But what really pisses me off, is not how unrealistic this turn is, but how unnecessary it is. Deb's intense love and loyalty to Dexter which makes her finding out such a great potential story line, could be well explained within the bounds of sisterly love. They didn't need to go there.

[Shanmac]

Pfft! That's crap the showrunners are putting out there to try to spin this ridiculous storyline into canon. I've never, ever gotten anything other than a sibling vibe between Deb and Dex, so this is particularly silly. Debra has never acted like she feels anything for him other than sisterly love, up until the last episode.

it was something we all felt was in the DNA of that character. It just sort of made sense when we started to examine why she was the way she was. It wasn’t necessarily something we were always working towards, but when we examined it it seemed — at least on some sort of subconscious level — like that’s the direction it had always been going.

Not buying it. In fact, I used to marvel at how great the two actors are, because even though they were a real-life couple, they never brought any of that chemistry to their roles.

[Deleted]

It just sort of made sense when we started to examine why she was the way she was.

This just boggles. Deb is a character who lost her mother and was a left with a distant father who showered attention on Dexter and pretty much ignored her. She has tried to emulate Harry and hasn't let go of the need for his attention and praise even after his death. So duh! She has daddy issues. If the therapist storyline was a must, then the revelation about Dexter should have been that she had an underlying and deep seated resentment towards him for stealing her father's attention. Having Deb be all "oh my god, I HATE Dexter!" would have been so much more interesting and kind of fun to see play out. Oh well.

[kostgard]

Dec 26, 2011 19:49:59 GMT -4 stina said:

As a girl who grew up with one adopted brother and one biological brother: There is no difference in those relationships. You are raised as brother and sister from childhood = you consider each other brother and sister. Biology-schmiology.

So no ick factor? Are they serious? My bet is that they don't have a sibling of the opposite gender, or they would understand.

Iiiiiick But what really pisses me off, is not how unrealistic this turn is, but how unnecessary it is. Deb's intense love and loyalty to Dexter which makes her finding out such a great potential story line, could be well explained within the bounds of sisterly love. They didn't need to go there.

I haven't watched this season past the first episode (which didn't impress me), but I've kept up with it and this stuff makes me glad that I didn't.

I can't believe that they are saying that they are completely unaware of an ick factor. Blood doesn't matter - Dex and Deb grew up together and were socialized as brother and sister. That social bond that says "don't have sex with that person" is stronger than a biological bond (in fact, it's apparently a somewhat common thing where biologically related people who weren't raise together find themselves attracted to each other when they first meet).

It would be one thing if Dex was adopted when they were both teenagers or something, but he was a toddler when Harry took him in. They have spent their entire lives as brother and sister, and Deb really shouldn't see him as just some dude who was always around the house or something. He. Is. Her. Brother. This is extremely icky.

I suppose they did it to make the impact of Deb finding out about Dex stronger. But isn't finding out that your brother is a serial killer enough? Wouldn't she be conflicted enough just because he's her brother and the only family she has left?

This is horseshit and it diminishes her character (and she was my favorite on the show). I agree that it would make more sense that she would have daddy issues and would resent Dex for pulling all of their father's attention. I was going to go back and watch this season, but now I don't know if I want to (or watch the next two seasons for that matter). It sounds like it is becoming a VC Andrews novel.

[Shanmac]

But isn't finding out that your brother is a serial killer enough? Wouldn't she be conflicted enough just because he's her brother and the only family she has left?

Exactly. Add to that the fact that she's always seemed to idolize (or at least idealize) Dex, and that's enough conflict. Why throw in the romantic crap that came out of nowhere?

I read somewhere (sorry, can't find it now) that Michael C. Hall pointed out that in S1, Dexter says of Debra, "If I could have feelings for anyone, it would be for [Deb]." Yeah, but he clearly meant ... feelings, period. That was back when the Dexter Voice Over was constantly telling us that Dex was a monster, Dex couldn't feel, Dex was only trying to convince people that he felt things. He did not mean romantic feelings. If the writers, etc., are going to try to revise history to convince us that this plotline is not totally out of left field, it's not going to work.

As for claiming there's no "ick" factor ... Come ON. Get real.

Deb is too smart to put any stock in what that crazy psychologist told her. The Deb we've scene in seasons past would have just laughed and said, "Fuck you," and dismissed her totally.

[bklynred]

Ditto what everyone has said. TPTB have thumbs up their asses re: Deb & Dexter etc. Worst decision since killing Doakes and having Dexter's brother be the ice truck killer et al.

[Deleted]

Dec 26, 2011 19:49:59 GMT -4 stina said:

As a girl who grew up with one adopted brother and one biological brother: There is no difference in those relationships. You are raised as brother and sister from childhood = you consider each other brother and sister. Biology-schmiology.

So no ick factor? Are they serious? My bet is that they don't have a sibling of the opposite gender, or they would understand.

Iiiiiick But what really pisses me off, is not how unrealistic this turn is, but how unnecessary it is. Deb's intense love and loyalty to Dexter which makes her finding out such a great potential story line, could be well explained within the bounds of sisterly love. They didn't need to go there.

Agreed 100%. And while I don't have a sister, I think that anyone who grew up with friends who had opposite-sex siblings is aware of the organic incest taboo that develops between them from being raised together. Further, this aspect of our social behaviour is pretty much common knowledge to anyone with a high school diploma. It is beyond belief that a group of professional writers would be ignorant of this basic element of human social psychology.

This season of Dexter, imo, has been a near-complete disaster (the HS reunion and the scenes with Brother Sam were rare examples of standard Dexter excellence). Olmos was wasted...Hanks was grossly miscast...Deb's character was mechanically twisted into into an unrecognizable dramatic pretzel.

I've never seen a good television show so completely ruined by its writers in the span of one season. Wow. Just wow.

P.S. Q for stina: who's that celeb in the gif? I can never place her.

[bklynred]

smithy, I think it's Swedish singer Robyn.

[cruising]

Okay, I'm hoping Deb thinks she is totally going bonkers, when she witnesses Dexter killing Hanks.

And. . .

She is out to rip the shrink a new one for effing with her mind.