3. Dexters Love Stories
One of the most intriguing aspects of the show when it began was the idea that Dexter didnt have any emotions and only pretended to love others in order to blend in and not raise suspicions about any extracurricular (serial killer) activities. The early focus of the show on this aspect was the relationship between Dexter, his girlfriend Rita, and her two children. You could see that Dexter was concerned for their well being, but you could also tell that he was still putting on a front for the world. This made Dexter a well-rounded and fleshed out character. Several of the series tensest moments would come from Dexter having to juggle being a murderer and still trying to be a good boyfriend/step-father. The warning signs that Dexter love stories were going to turn bad could be spotted as early as season two, when Dexter cheated on Rita with a crazy chick named Lila. Lila was everything that Rita wasnt and accepted Dexter for who he was, going as far as to be drawn to him because he was a killer. Dexter eventually killed her and fans everywhere thought this was the end of any hokey Dexter love angles. Fans really just wanted Dexter and Rita to be together. And they were, for about two more seasons. After Rita was killed by the Trinity Killer at the end of season four, the Whos-Gonna-Date-Dexter Next show began. His first love interest post-Rita was Lumen, played by the aforementioned Julia Stiles. Her character needed Dexters help tracking down some guys who kidnapped her and were planning to kill her. Lumen was also okay with Dexter being a killer. As a guy who had trouble finding a prom date simply because I liked comic books and video games, its a little disheartening to see that women would rather overlook
being a serial killer as opposed to liking Batman. The peak of idiotic Dexter love stories was reached during the latest season, after Dexter falls in love with Hannah McKay, another serial killer. Originally, Dexter planned on killing her, but instead, they ended up having sex on his killing table, which one could assume lead to some very awkward pillow talk. The problem I had with this was it was another season with Dexter falling in love being the main focus. It takes away from the entire premise that Dexter is just a shell, trying to fit in a world around him. While the series may be trying to humanize Dexter or show that Dexter is growing as a human being, giving him another serial killer as a girlfriend not only reaches new heights of stupidity, but also discredits any sort of realism that the show tries to create. For someone who cant fall in love or feel emotion, Dexter seems to be smitten with any girl who bats an eyelash at him. The worst part is that this storyline hasnt been resolved yet so we can only assume that even more stupid is yet to come.