10 Worst Dexter Episodes

In the first season, Dexter mentions there's less than 30 active serial killers in the North American continent. With that in mind, it's simply astounding how many turn up in Miami.

While this slight break in realism is forgivable when the characters are great (like The Ice Truck Killer and The Trinity Killer), it becomes quite glaring when a lesser villain arrives. Colin Hanks' raised eyebrow, pursed lips approach to an evil guy face isn't hugely menacing, nor is the nonsensical nature of his apocalyptic slayings.

After some somewhat interesting narration from Dexter adrift at sea, the episode stumbles into a fairly straightforward cat and mouse game. The inclusion of Harrison in Travis Marshall's Biblical war is a tad forced and feels like a desperate ploy to up the intensity of this dragging story arc. Worse still is Marshall's insistence on referring to Dexter as The Beast, presumably an Antichrist reference rather than that horned thing from Angel season 4.

Things get even more ridiculous when Deb reveals she doesn't just love Dexter, she's in love with him. Given how quickly this angle was dropped in season 7, it's safe to say the writers realised their error here. As Deb gears up to tell her adoptive brother she's into him, she discovers what she should've discovered at the end of season 5: Dexter's a serial killer.

While the surprise ending is exciting, its execution is poor and overly convenient as she walks in on him slaughtering Travis in a church. This was easily the weakest Dexter finale yet at the time. Sadly the worst was yet to come.