For the most part, the second half of Dexter seasons are considered to be weaker than the first. The main character went through significant changes during this time, separating himself greatly from the person he was when the series began. The downside is that his character development wasn’t all that worth it.
Instead of growing stronger through his experiences, Dexter became worse in many aspects. These ranged from his emotional depth to his skills as a killer. There’s hope that the revival might be able to fix the damage to his characterization. Until that happens, it’s worth checking out the areas where Dexter got worse.
10 He Became A Pathetic Loverboy
Among many other things, one of the top things in fans’ wish lists for the revival is to see Dexter be more independent. He lost this trait by Season 8 when he became hopelessly reliant on his love for Hannah, to the point where he turned into a total sap.
It wasn’t really character development, as Dexter devolved into someone who couldn’t go long before pining over his lover. His knack for being a fully functional person with no need for others was gone entirely, which ended up making him seem kind of pathetic. Being in good for him but it shouldn't take him away from who he is.
9 He Started To Ignore Killing Non-Killers And Innocents
The fascinating thing about Dexter was how he had something of a conscience without really having a true conscience. This was because he had a dark passenger, which he considered to be the reason for his thirst for killing but also directed him toward taking out other killers.
However, he later figured he just liked killing in general and started to take out others whenever he pleased. It’s one of the most unpopular opinions if someone claims to prefer this version of Dexter, as he lost the edge that separated him from other killers when he abandoned his dark passenger.
8 He Stopped Thinking About His Stepchildren
Part of the positive change in Dexter had been how he grew to care for Rita’s children, which was faithful to the source content of the book. After Rita’s death, Dexter did try to keep them in his life but eventually agreed to their demands to move away.
Later on, Dexter pretty much forgot about his stepchildren entirely, something that he earlier wouldn’t have dreamed of. He didn’t think of them at any point -- save for one episode in Season 7 -- not even when he decided to fake his death. The affection he once had for them was no more as time passed.
7 He Began Making Excuses To Let People Go
In the earlier seasons, it made for highly unexpected scenes to see Dexter break away from his principles. This wasn’t so much the case for later seasons, where Dexter not only let would-be victims escape, but he also made excuses to himself to do so.
These weren’t all that convincing either, with Hannah being the biggest example since she really was a killer who meant to kill the people she did. His judgment wasn’t tip-top anymore and Dexter made it worse by fooling himself to believe he was right in letting victims go.
6 He Started Jumping To Conclusions About His Victims
Dexter’s planning was a vital part of his activities, as he never went through with killing someone unless he had thought of all the ways to execute the plan. This changed in time, with Dexter usually figuring he had the right person to kill purely on instinct.
He was wrong about it more than a few times, and would always regret going after a person who didn’t deserve to be on his table. It wouldn’t have happened had he not jumped to conclusions and instead relied on his earlier methods of fully scoping the victim out.
5 He Twisted His Own Code To Fit His Motives
Just about all the kills Dexter committed in the earlier seasons fit into the code left by Harry. Dexter didn’t question it or look too much into it. However, he then began to interpret the code in his own ways, always twisting it to justify his motives.
While not getting caught was within the code, Dexter knew enough that killing an innocent was a greater wrong. And yet, he was happy to kill someone like Laguerta if it meant he remained free or keep Doakes trapped when the latter figured out Dexter’s true nature.
4 He Placed Too Much Trust On Authoritative Figures
The weakness Dexter exhibited most was being influenced by someone who had an authoritative hold on him. His reliance on Harry wasn’t really that bad since his father was his mentor. What made it worse was how Dexter became something of a slave to a person who could emulate Harry’s influence.
This was most evident in Dexter’s experience with Evelyn Vogel, who showed no fear of him and became something of a mother-figure. Dexter then started to heavily rely on Vogel. So much so that his ability to think on his own was damaged as he constantly wanted Vogel’s approval.
3 He Began Making Snap Decisions
Much like how Dexter jumped to conclusions, he also started making snap decisions that weren’t the right choices. It’s no wonder the final episode is the worst in the series, as it featured Dexter’s grandest snap decision yet.
By choosing to fake his death, Dexter lost everything he’d ever worked for despite having the chance to be with his son and Hannah. This habit of making snap decisions was a trend that had been going on for quite some time over the years.
2 He Enjoyed Finding Similarities In Other Killers To Himself
Dexter had started out finding it amusing how he was a killer but was an entity of his own. Afterward, he found the idea of being like others more appealing, to the point where he tried to shadow the Trinity Killer in hopes of learning from him.
This only brought him bad luck, as failing to kill Trinity when he had the chance eventually led to Rita’s death. Dexter also compared himself to Oliver Saxon and failed to prevent Saxon from killing Evelyn Vogel. This increased habit of comparing himself to other killers only delivered ruin.
1 He Became Too Emotional
Fans found it funny how monotone Dexter was and even made memes out of his behavior. Unfortunately, he started having so many emotions that he couldn’t separate the right things to feel from the wrong ones. Stuff like his anger and restraint became worse because Dexter didn’t know what to make of them.
It might sound strange to consider the sociopathic Dexter to be better, but being that way had worked out for him since Dexter didn’t suffer any great losses. By becoming too emotional, Dexter channeled them in the wrong places and was too shaken from heartbreaks to recover from them.
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