10 TV Shows That Should Have Ended After One Season

Dexter has its devotees, and we’re not here to deny that some of the later seasons had decent moments. Season four, in particular, ranks among the show’s best, with John Lithgow doing superb work as the Trinity Killer, a piece of against-type casting that worked phenomenally well.

The shock factor of the show - i.e its raison d’etre - was gone by the time the credits rolled on the season one finale, though. Dexter was built around a gimmick as much as any sci-fi or fantasy schlock you’d care to name - here was a serial killer who killed other serial killers! Once the novelty of that has worn off, the Dexter formula is all too clear to see.

Fans grew tired of the same old, same old in due course, but from the off, the writers had every intention of doing the same thing over and over again. Dexter meets a kindred spirit who he ends up having to murder. Dexter almost gets caught by a colleague, only for them to meet a convenient end.

While Michael C Hall’s stellar performance papered over a lot of the cracks, everyone can agree Dexter went on too long. One would have been plenty.