Showtime’s programming is notoriously hit or miss. Their “comedies” (Weeds, The Big C) generally center around high concept and ultimately unsustainable premises (a pot dealing suburban Mother, a woman with cancer keeping a secret from her family, etc.). These ideas are strong out of the gate, but a TV show cannot be sustained on these premises forever. The only way for these types of serialized shows featuring protagonists that keep secrets from the world to survive is to develop interesting characters that we care about beyond the initial premise. Showtime shows tend to burn brightly for a short amount of time because they fail to do this. The best example? Showtime’s biggest hit drama series, Dexter.
Dexter is a fan favorite for Showtime, so despite recent stalling in contract negotiations with Michael C. Hall, it’s unlikely that the show will not be picked up for one or even two more seasons. Dexter’s season six premiere scored Showtime’s highest ratings ever—you can bet on them keeping Hall happy until the show is no longer profitable.
So, what does this mean for the series? Well, it means we can most likely look forward to two more years of Batista and LaGuerta in useless subplots about their relationship affecting their work environment, and we can look forward to resolving Quinn and Deb’s riveting relationship. Dexter’s biggest problem (aside from the most irrelevant supporting cast on TV) in its uneven fifth season was the general feeling that the show was spinning its wheels. The show had already been picked up for a sixth season, so any stakes that the ongoing plot had were immediately gone. Showtime’s going to keep the show on—Dexter’s not going to be exposed as a serial killer this week.
So, when the show rolls out its annual “someone suspects Dexter of wrongdoing but can’t prove it yet” plotline, it’s hard for viewers not to roll their eyes. Dexter was once a very interesting character study about a man who doesn’t understand the world around him but blends into it only because of his moral compass. But with every passing season, it becomes clearer that Dexter can never change or else there would be no more show. Dexter’s narrative limitations make it into almost a procedural show. It’s hard to take serialization seriously when there are no stakes.
The first two episodes of Dexter’s sixth season have established a running theme based in religion. Dexter grapples with the thought of faith, God and Christianity. This season’s villains have a religious slant that we haven’t found much out about. Dexter’s adherence to Harry’s Code have always kept him somewhat moral, but now the series is getting into the very heady territory of faith. It’s obviously too early to tell, but I’m not sure why the writers felt that Dexter needs to grapple with morality and religion when it was already established that Dexter understands morality through the scope of Harry’s Code.
Dexter is symptomatic of an illness many Showtime shows seem to have. It’s too early to tell whether the sixth season of Dexter can overcome the show’s previous wheel-spinning season, but unless the show finds a way to break out of its rigid narrative formula, this season will likely go down the same path as its predecessor.
