Dexter’s Worst Season Wasted The Best Battlestar Galactica Star
Dexter is a great show, with a killer Michael C. Hall performance throughout, but it was running out of gas long before the finale. If you ask fans what season is the worst, the final one is usually named, with Season 3 another strong contender, but for my money, Season 6 is the worst. My biggest issue is the waste of Battlestar Galactica’s Edward James Olmos as Professor James Gellar, paired with a boring villain that never reaches his potential.
The Season About God
By the time Season 6 came around, Dexter had already gone through seasons where he tries to make a friend, work on a normal life with Rita (Julie Benz), and finds a girlfriend (twice), so in his continued journey, this season is all about religion. The theme of belief and redemption runs through the first to the last episode, exemplified both by Brother Sam (Mos Def in his best performance) and serial killer Travis Marshall (Colin Hanks in his…well…he tries). Individual scenes, specifically those with Brother Sam, are fantastic, but on the whole, it’s an entire season of wasted potential.
Edward James Olmos Deserved Better
First, the worst parts of Dexter Season 6, which include Marshall’s conversations with Professor Gellar, you can view these as a dark mirror of the way that Harry (James Remar) talks to Dexter, but Hanks’ performance keeps them from having any type of emotional resonace. Edward James Olmos tries his best with the material, but Hanks dweebish, clearly insane killer, lacks the depth or sinister nature of past villains, notably the Trinity Killer (John Lithgow) and Jordan Chase (Johnny Lee Miller).
Take A Drink When You Hear “Tableau”
Travis Marshall’s goal is to usher in the End Times, killing in the name of God, which earns him the moniker of the “Doomsday Killer.” Get used to hearing that name, and the word “tableau” said so often, that if you made a drinking game out of it, you wouldn’t make it past Episode 3. The term, which, according to Merriam-Webster, means “striking or artistic grouping,” first rose to prominence when it was used in the series Hannibal to describe the grotesque, yet oddly beautiful, murders.
Dexter Season 6 followed along, trying to do the same thing, with the biblicial murders leaving victims on display, from the angel hanging in the church to Mitchell’s own sister posed as a statue. But again, everything the show did, Hannibal had done earlier, and better.
The Bright Spot Of The Season
While the scenes with Hanks and Olmos are exceedingly dull, and ultimately pointless given the twist that you already thought of in your head, and yes, is exactly where Dexter Season 6 goes, Mos Def’s Brother Sam is an absolute highlight. The counterpoint to Travis Marshall’s view on religion, Brother Sam embraces God, and welcomes his eventual death, even explaining to Dexter that there’s still a light inside of him within the darkness.
Dexter Got Worse As The Years Went By
Mos Def gets to shine in his role, which is why it’s such a shame that Edward James Olmos gets to do nothing in his guest appearances except send Travis Marshall further down the path of his delusions. Thanks to the nature of his character, Olmos only ever shares scenes with Hanks, so we never get to see him sqaure off with Michael C. Hall. There’s a reaosn why when I get the urge to re-watch Dexter, I stop right before Season 6, it’s nothing but missed potential and every character spinning their wheels.
