Dexter

:

Season 6
  • Network: SHOWTIME
  • Series Premiere Date: Oct 1, 2006
Season #: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
6.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 596 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 369 out of 596
  2. Mixed: 126 out of 596
  3. Negative: 101 out of 596
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User Reviews

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  1. JennetP
    Dec 29, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This season, "Dexter" seems desperate to reclaim its daring and dark charm. And completely at a loss about how to do so. Part of the problem is the widening gap between sentimental Daddy Dexter and Dexter the calculating predator, as well as the show's increasing substitution of simple spectacle for its earlier blend of black comedy and insight into our culture's shared nightmares. I had hope for this season, scheduled to take on religion. I had looked forward to some interesting conflicts. Dexter now has a son who, as he did, witnessed the brutal slaughter of his mother, bathed in her blood. Do you send such a son to Catholic school, with its intense focus on a brutally slaughtered deity and thousands of comparably mutilated martyrs? A religion that finds salvation in the most extreme physical suffering? Well, aside from the occasional quick shot of a crucifix, the show avoids such thorny questions, focusing instead on whether Dexter "owes" Harrison religious training, even though he himself does not believe. Oh, and it dangles the idea of redemption for a few episodes but doesn't do much with it, pointlessly killing off its messenger halfway through the season. (The writers should have revisited BRIGHTON ROCK, which asks the fascinating question of whether an evil man can be redeemed despite his best efforts to damn himself.) Anyway, most of the religious conflict is the kind of angsting around I'd expect from "Brothers and Sisters." The season's rival serial killer starts out well enough, representing the twin spiritual dangers of biblical literalism and assurance of a divine mandate that justifies . . . well, anything. Not all that resonant in Dexter's universe but interesting-ish, especially if it were to push a little on the nature of ritual and the religious significance of sacrifice. Nope. Instead, we get increasingly preposterous psychologizing that takes us through several physical impossibilities and/or gross lapses in continuity, winding around until we're back at . . . redemption, with Dexter now trying to redeem a fellow serial killer. Sigh. But Dexter, the character, is at least still recognizable, while nearly every other principal has lost his or her coherence completely. Deb is the worst, though I can't decide whether it's her promotion or her sudden incestuous desire for Dexter that is less convincing. I mean, she has already dated one semi-brother-cum-serial-killer, for heaven's sake; are there really no other taboos to break? The last few seconds of the show held out hope for next season, but the show won't make a comeback without some new blood in the writer's room. Yes, both kinds.… Expand
  2. nguthomas
    Dec 20, 2011
    6
    As a fan of Dexter, I am very disappointed with this season. It does have a bad first impression, but when you watch the next episodes, it gets worse. This season has uninteresting new characters, several plotholes, and (last but not least) poor writing. I don't mind that this season is religiously themed, but when you watch its episodes, it really lacks our interest. However, the seasonAs a fan of Dexter, I am very disappointed with this season. It does have a bad first impression, but when you watch the next episodes, it gets worse. This season has uninteresting new characters, several plotholes, and (last but not least) poor writing. I don't mind that this season is religiously themed, but when you watch its episodes, it really lacks our interest. However, the season finale really fascinates me and it makes me become impatient for the next season. I hope the next season is better than this season, but it better be good!… Expand
  3. KissMyAss
    May 6, 2012
    5
    What the hell happened?
    This season is superficial and hollow.
    The fresh idea to take religion as the central theme was good thinking, if it wasn't for that terribly bad execution. And all this bull about Dexter the Hero is retarded since they showed us in 5 seasons how much he isn't a hero. And for all of us original Dexter fans, that is inacceptable! So let's hope they wont **** up    What the hell happened?
    This season is superficial and hollow.
    The fresh idea to take religion as the central theme was good thinking, if it wasn't for that terribly bad execution.
    And all this bull about Dexter the Hero is retarded since they showed us in 5 seasons how much he isn't a hero.
    And for all of us original Dexter fans, that is inacceptable!
    So let's hope they wont **** up season 7 as well...    … Expand
  4. nothere413
    Feb 28, 2012
    4
    This season was unbelievably silly. Gone are the days where Dexter actively tries to not get caught. Now he just sort of wings it and manages to stay under the Miami Metro's radar. The only good subplot of the whole season got killed off halfway through, and while I like Colin Hanks, his part was horribly miscast. I don't know if I've just grown up since I first started watching theThis season was unbelievably silly. Gone are the days where Dexter actively tries to not get caught. Now he just sort of wings it and manages to stay under the Miami Metro's radar. The only good subplot of the whole season got killed off halfway through, and while I like Colin Hanks, his part was horribly miscast. I don't know if I've just grown up since I first started watching the series or if it really has gone downhill, but I can say that I just didn't enjoy this season.… Expand
  5. w_underwood
    Dec 21, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One scene pretty much sums up the sheer ridiculousness and humorous of this season and that is the one from the last episode of the season where Dexter is floating in the middle of the ocean after his encounter with Travis and gets rescued by a boat of what appears to be Cuban immigrants trying to get to Miami. One of the immigrants decides it's a good idea to rob everyone while they are still in the middle of the ocean and Dexter rolls up and spears him with a trident. Then Dexter being the badass he is, takes command of the boat and heads back to Miami. This scene along with many others as well as the whole premise for this season were completely unnecessary and quite ridiculous. This show is starting to lose it's edge.… Expand
  6. Reiver102
    Oct 3, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Oh dear. This is not a promising start for season 6.
    It's been a year since the events of last season. I understand WHY they needed to skip a lot of time (both season 4 & 5 took place within a very short amount of time relative to each other, so a gap was needed to offset, I get it), but the way they did it caused one of the main issues with the whole episode. There was so much heavy-handed exposition (and heavy-handed is a term I will probably use repeatedly for the whole episode) that it made everything seem fake...if you have to spend most of the episode explaining what happened before the episode, then you know there's a problem! Remember the whole romance between Batista and Laguerta during seasons 4&5? Well, it's over. Whether that's a good or bad thing is purely up to the viewer, but there's no gravity given to it in the episode: They got divorced, and everything's back to the way it was before, no hard feelings or anything. Really? Such a situation is not unheard of, but it seems MORE like the writers just wanted to wash their hands of it and go a different route. In fact, it seems like they've used the large space of time between seasons to "resolve" a lot of things they didn't want to deal with this season. Quinn seems completely off the hook for Liddy's murder. Sure, Dexter helped him out by fudging the blood results at the end of the last season, but since when is a blood analysis the end-all of an investigation? Yes, it's a necessary step, but there were other implicating factors in Liddy's murder, such as the fact that Quinn had made a crapload of phone calls to Liddy right before he was killed. Well, such complicated issues won't be a problem here, they've all been swept under the rug like they never happened! Apparently to clean the slate for this season's own "issues", which apparently are going to focus on religion. Again, I am going to state how heavy handed this episode was. We've known all along that Dexter is not a religious person; remember that episode in season 5 where Dexter takes the nanny's little saint figurine and told the nanny he didn't like it, but later reconsidered it for Harrison's sake? Well, they redid that as a whole subplot here: Dexter takes Harrison to a preschool but finds out it's a Catholic preschool, so he rejects it, but later reconsiders, because it may help Harrison. Wow, Dexter, are you really going to be spinning your wheels like this, relearning the same things and never getting anywhere? I realize this is a tricky point with shows: the character needs to evolve, but if they go to far from what made them appealing in the first place then the show will collapse. But at the same time, if the character NEVER evolves, despite the various things he experiences which "open his eyes", he feels fake, almost a parody.
    Unfortunately, Dexter did feel like a parody of himself the whole episode. In fact, his first kills in the episode (where he kills two organ harvesters) were out of character for him; did he really kill them by shocking them to death? But isn't Dexter's whole thing his obsession with blood? That's why he stabs them to death! And then, he goes to a class reunion to stalk an old classmate who murdered a highschool friend (and the coincidence factor in all of this had my reality-check meter going crazy), where we get to see Dexter become "popular"...and the ghost of Harry (yes, I know it's not really Harry, just part of Dexter's psyche) actually encourages him to embrace this...which seemed COMPLETELY weird. Harry is supposed to be that part of Dexter's brain that encourages him to be safe and cautious, to blend in, not stand out, to stick to the code. If this is what's going on in Dexter's head I think he's getting mentally unstable (and keep in mind we're talking about a sociopathic murderer here). Then he ends up dancing with his old classmates (it's completely ridiculous to watch and even Michael C. Hall looks embarrassed) and playing football (yes, I know he's trying to get blood; it looks more like an excuse to get Dexter into increasingly absurd situations to get what he wants).
    There was a scene with Batista and his sister here that was just weird, and I don't even know why it was there. It wasn't interesting, it was just strange. Also, it seems like all the actors were "phoning it in," hardly any convincing dialogue at all.
    Now, having said that, it wasn't ALL bad. I'm interested to see how Laguerta's and Batista's promotions play out in the group dynamic. The appearance of this season's villains, while underwhelming, is still somewhat interesting (although why they didn't show the actual murder happening is beyond me). And finding out why Quinn had been acting weird was a relief, and kinda cool, though the ending scene with the shootout in the restaurant seemed completely random.
    Hopefully the season will pick up after a few episodes, but this was not a good start.    … Expand
  7. rayhgranado
    Oct 6, 2011
    4
    There seems to be a low production value that really bothers me. The lighting seems very generic and too bright. The camera angels are boring and shaky. I felt like I was watching a day time soap.
  8. drlowdon
    Apr 2, 2013
    4
    Guest starring Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks Dexters sixth season finds Dexter Morgan on the hunt for a pair of serial killers, known as the Doomsday Killers, who are seemingly being inspired by stories from the Christian Bible. In fact these religious overtones are very much the theme of a season which, while not quite the train wreck some fans would want you to believe, undeniablyGuest starring Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks Dexters sixth season finds Dexter Morgan on the hunt for a pair of serial killers, known as the Doomsday Killers, who are seemingly being inspired by stories from the Christian Bible. In fact these religious overtones are very much the theme of a season which, while not quite the train wreck some fans would want you to believe, undeniably continues the shows decline into mediocrity.

    Part of the problem lies with the overuse of these religious overtones but the largest issue is that while in its earlier seasons the writers always strived to retain some sense of plausibility making for tense viewing as Dexter Morgan kept his dark urges from his closest friends and family much of this has been eroded with each passing season. In its place cheap plot devices, that often find Dexter quickly discovering and dispatching yet another criminal that the LAPD seem to have missed or on some occasions killing people on the spur of the moment, yet still getting away with it, are becoming increasingly common. There are plenty of other examples of lazy writing, including characters constantly talking out loud to themselves just to explain things to the audience, that simply where not present when the show first hit the air.

    A once great show is now really no better than the majority of other drama series on air and I have come to expect more from Dexter. If it is ever to return to being essential television once again its seventh season needs to return its sense of believability (please stop putting him in situations in which he escapes at the last minute!) and recapture what first attracted its viewers. This season’s final scene certainly hinted that the show may be willing to shake things up a little so I still hold out hope.    … Expand
  9. musstang62
    Dec 19, 2015
    5
    Having seen the entire series, this is the 2nd weakest season in my opinion. It's almost completely worth it to just skip this one and jump right to season 7, where the quality hits its last high point in the series
  10. timjune8th
    Feb 15, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. this season was basically a parody of previous years and was another filler season like seasons three and five. The only redeeming thing this season has to offer is introducing us to season 8's bad guy, Louis Greene. There is a story arc that has begun, but wont be very parallel to Dexter's under your nose the whole time story arc unless it waits until season 8, so don't count on that until the final season.

    in the meantime, other than that we could have skipped the whole season by having Deb find out he was a killer at the end of the also bland season 5.    … Expand
  11. moonman1994
    Jul 27, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Although this season was still interesting and a lot of fun to watch it was just much less interesting than the previous seasons. Unlike every other season the writing appeared to be lacking some on all fronts. The contrast of Dexter's brother appearing to him and Travis seeing the professor was interesting but other than that and Deb finding out Dexter's secret at the end of the season there's not too much to say on the interesting or innovative aspect for this season.… Expand
  12. Blofeldploy234
    Aug 7, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. An improvement over its messy fifth season. The sixth season of Dexter had a solid start and a solid ending. The main problems were the middle act of the season. While I liked how it was a new start in Dexter\'s life, Season 6 started to take a big stumble after pursuing unnecessary subplots that culminated in an uneccessary endgame towards the first half of the season. The episode 7 titled Nebraska is hands down one of the worst episodes this show has ever had. The result of these unecessary subplots was the poor development of its villains which are vital to a season\'s greatness. Instead of unnecessarily pursuing and combining the Ice Truck and Trinity Killer stories in the above mentioned disastrous episode, there could have been enough time to develop the new villains. The twist involving Gellar and Travis didn\'t work out well considering it was done towards the end. All that being said it had a strong start and it\'s finale was very good which could have been better considering the very week episodes that built up to it. Overall it\'s better than Season 3 and Season 5, but nowhere close to Seasons 1, 2 and 4… Expand
  13. Camillozzi
    Feb 22, 2014
    6
    Talvez seja a hora do fim, Dexter já não impressiona como antes, o esforço para manter o fôlego é vã, e o que era um colosso aos poucos vai se transformando em um pequeno busto.
  14. fbtimesofficial
    Sep 1, 2015
    5
    Dexter's sixth season takes some rather bizarre turns with its story, characters, and overall sense of self. And unfortunately, this time around, Hall's brilliant performance is not enough to make it right.
  15. JPK
    Jun 16, 2019
    6
    Disappointing Season
    Season 6 just isn’t a clever as the first 5, At least it’s not insulting like 8.

Awards & Rankings

80
#80 Best TV Season of 2011
17
#17 Most Discussed TV Season of 2011
52
#52 Most Shared TV Season of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
62

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Emily Nussbaum
    Dec 8, 2011
    50
    If there's a TV writers' version of Stockholm syndrome, Dexter is Exhibit A.
    Read full review
  2. Hitfix
    Reviewed by: Daniel Fienberg
    Oct 3, 2011
    58
    After a lively and appealingly hilarious premiere, Dexter goes entirely off the rails with two episodes hobbled by clumsy victims-of-the-week and then crushed with endless repetition of the core theme.
    Read full review
  3. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Oct 3, 2011
    50
    Having peaked a few seasons back in the amazing John Lithgow season, Showtime's hit Dexter at least seems to be enjoying itself as year six kicks off.
    Read full review
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