And so....
So Dexter's sixth season has ended, and for me, the show.
Yes, Deb finally found out in the very last scene, something I've been waiting for since eons. But it's not enough to keep me tuning in again. For starters, I don't trust the show anymore to play the consequences in an interesting way. They don't do consequences anymore; see also, Dexter endlessly relearning the same lesson about putting his own vigilantism/serial killing before other people's lives by letting the serial killer du jour run around longer just so he, personally, can kill him. (Which he even does in the finale, by pinching Travis' drawing.) And while some very good writers might possibly do something great, strange and shattering with Deb developing incestous feelings for Dexter, the current ones really aren't up to an incest storyline. If proof was needed, then the fact they had Deb arrive at this conclusion in a way that suspicously resembled my least favourite Angel season and storyline - Cordelia in the season 3 finale of Angel concluding she's in love with Angel after everbody and their dog, including her mirror, tell her so - courtesy of the worst therapist ever would be it. (Seriously: I know there are incompetent therapists out there, but surely no one is THAT INCOMPETENT as to go "oh, you're adopted siblings, not biological ones, so go for it, there's no problem at all!"?)
Possibly even worse: the way Deb finds out. Because the one thing this show had going for it even through the later seasons as the overall quality went down is the development of Deb as a good, smart police officer. So the logical thing would have been to let her find out because of her ability as a detective, right? Wrong. She comes across Dexter in the act of killing by sheer coincidence. I can't decide whether that's more or less insulting than the incest storyline which to me looks like it was brought up because obviously, Deb caring for Dexter as a brother isn't enough to cause her angst once she finds out. And so the world ends, indeed. Not in in a bang but in a whimper.
This was once a very good show, with a great character ensemble, and I'll always remember that show with fondness. I won't continue watching it's pale successor anymore. Ah well, it'll free up some icon space.
On the brighter side of things, the beta of my Yuletide story came back, and I posted it, discovering on the occasion there were several stories in the fandom in question posted already for Yuletide (and of course still disguised); this makes me happy and even more looking forward to the reveal. My own story I think will be very easy to guess if you're familiar with my stuff, but then, I thought this last year, and
bimo was nice enough to reccomend last year's effort to me before the reveal, which tickled me to no end. :)
Speaking of stories, here's a good one from Harry Potter fandom: For the Greater Good, which fleshes out Dumbledore's friend Elphias Dodge from Deathly Hallows and is a great example of a writer pulling off the trick of getting across things to the reader which the limited pov character does not realise himself. A great portrayal of Dumbledore developing from flashback into Potter era Albus, too.
Also something guaranteed to cheer me up after my Dexter blues: ye olde English musicians from the 60s. Seems Paul McCartney has taken to hanging out more and more with members of The Other Band. Here's Ronnie Wood (he of the Rolling Stones, young padawans) joining him for a rendition of Get Back at a concert two weeks ago:
Sidenote: ever since Keith Richards wrote in his memoirs that the northern guitarists hold their guitars closer and higher than he and his Southern pals, I can't get that out of my head and checked in the vid above, and it's definitely true for Ronnie W. and Paul. Who has also been busy indulging his penchant for classics from the 30s and 40s and will release an album with standards from Arlen, Loesser, Berlin etc. (first I heard of it was from Elvis Costello who mentioned it in an interview, as his wife, Diane Krall, is also on it) in February, plus two new compositions of his own. One of which has just hit the net. It's a lovely melancholy ballad called My Valentine. A bit jazzy, and what Peter Carlin would call an autumnal love song. With Eric Clapton on guitar.
Most annoying comment spotted on the net so far: "a song for grandfathers". You know, first of all, he is a grandfather (turning 70 next year and with six grandchildren so far), and secondly, one of the many reasons why I appreciate the man is that he liked these kind of songs already when he was a teenager, along with rock'n roll. Being a both/and rather than an either/or person myself - meaning I like rock, I like melodious crooning, and I never understood why this should be mutually exclusive anymore than liking, say, DS9 and Babylon 5, TNG and DS9, Spike and Angel, the Third and the Seventh Doctor... you get the picture. So boo to partisans; I'll sit back and enjoy the music.
ETA: I hasten to add there is nothing wrong with simply disliking certain styles of music.(For example, I'm not into techno.) It was the "grandfather" bit I found annoying, as if this was either news or something wrong for a 69 years old to enjoy singing and composing. (Or a 20 years old, for that matter.)
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/738200.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
Yes, Deb finally found out in the very last scene, something I've been waiting for since eons. But it's not enough to keep me tuning in again. For starters, I don't trust the show anymore to play the consequences in an interesting way. They don't do consequences anymore; see also, Dexter endlessly relearning the same lesson about putting his own vigilantism/serial killing before other people's lives by letting the serial killer du jour run around longer just so he, personally, can kill him. (Which he even does in the finale, by pinching Travis' drawing.) And while some very good writers might possibly do something great, strange and shattering with Deb developing incestous feelings for Dexter, the current ones really aren't up to an incest storyline. If proof was needed, then the fact they had Deb arrive at this conclusion in a way that suspicously resembled my least favourite Angel season and storyline - Cordelia in the season 3 finale of Angel concluding she's in love with Angel after everbody and their dog, including her mirror, tell her so - courtesy of the worst therapist ever would be it. (Seriously: I know there are incompetent therapists out there, but surely no one is THAT INCOMPETENT as to go "oh, you're adopted siblings, not biological ones, so go for it, there's no problem at all!"?)
Possibly even worse: the way Deb finds out. Because the one thing this show had going for it even through the later seasons as the overall quality went down is the development of Deb as a good, smart police officer. So the logical thing would have been to let her find out because of her ability as a detective, right? Wrong. She comes across Dexter in the act of killing by sheer coincidence. I can't decide whether that's more or less insulting than the incest storyline which to me looks like it was brought up because obviously, Deb caring for Dexter as a brother isn't enough to cause her angst once she finds out. And so the world ends, indeed. Not in in a bang but in a whimper.
This was once a very good show, with a great character ensemble, and I'll always remember that show with fondness. I won't continue watching it's pale successor anymore. Ah well, it'll free up some icon space.
On the brighter side of things, the beta of my Yuletide story came back, and I posted it, discovering on the occasion there were several stories in the fandom in question posted already for Yuletide (and of course still disguised); this makes me happy and even more looking forward to the reveal. My own story I think will be very easy to guess if you're familiar with my stuff, but then, I thought this last year, and
bimo was nice enough to reccomend last year's effort to me before the reveal, which tickled me to no end. :)
Speaking of stories, here's a good one from Harry Potter fandom: For the Greater Good, which fleshes out Dumbledore's friend Elphias Dodge from Deathly Hallows and is a great example of a writer pulling off the trick of getting across things to the reader which the limited pov character does not realise himself. A great portrayal of Dumbledore developing from flashback into Potter era Albus, too.
Also something guaranteed to cheer me up after my Dexter blues: ye olde English musicians from the 60s. Seems Paul McCartney has taken to hanging out more and more with members of The Other Band. Here's Ronnie Wood (he of the Rolling Stones, young padawans) joining him for a rendition of Get Back at a concert two weeks ago:
Click to viewSidenote: ever since Keith Richards wrote in his memoirs that the northern guitarists hold their guitars closer and higher than he and his Southern pals, I can't get that out of my head and checked in the vid above, and it's definitely true for Ronnie W. and Paul. Who has also been busy indulging his penchant for classics from the 30s and 40s and will release an album with standards from Arlen, Loesser, Berlin etc. (first I heard of it was from Elvis Costello who mentioned it in an interview, as his wife, Diane Krall, is also on it) in February, plus two new compositions of his own. One of which has just hit the net. It's a lovely melancholy ballad called My Valentine. A bit jazzy, and what Peter Carlin would call an autumnal love song. With Eric Clapton on guitar.
Most annoying comment spotted on the net so far: "a song for grandfathers". You know, first of all, he is a grandfather (turning 70 next year and with six grandchildren so far), and secondly, one of the many reasons why I appreciate the man is that he liked these kind of songs already when he was a teenager, along with rock'n roll. Being a both/and rather than an either/or person myself - meaning I like rock, I like melodious crooning, and I never understood why this should be mutually exclusive anymore than liking, say, DS9 and Babylon 5, TNG and DS9, Spike and Angel, the Third and the Seventh Doctor... you get the picture. So boo to partisans; I'll sit back and enjoy the music.
ETA: I hasten to add there is nothing wrong with simply disliking certain styles of music.(For example, I'm not into techno.) It was the "grandfather" bit I found annoying, as if this was either news or something wrong for a 69 years old to enjoy singing and composing. (Or a 20 years old, for that matter.)
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/738200.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.