Dexter - Season 7 Review - The Beginning of the End

"Who is Deb now? Who am I? Is this a new beginning? Or the beginning of the end?"

And thus ends another season of my beloved Dexter. And was it a good season? You're damn right it was. I haven't seen a season this good since S4. The major plot was solid, the recurring guest stars were terrific, and overall the show sure did go up a few notches. I just hope they keep this momentum running in its next and final season. Before season 7 began, I made a wish list of things I'd like to see in it. Now seems like a good time to look back it and see how much of it came true. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

1. Kill LaGuerta - Ding dong, the b*tch is dead! It took them long enough, but they finally got rid of her. I kind of expected that's the way she'd go as her plot developed. Speaking of which, what's up with that? Along the series LaGuerta wasn't really the sharpest tool in the shed. But when she found that blood slide she somehow turned into super-cop. Some people say this change was because it was a personal case, seeing that she and Doakes were close. Others say it's simply because the writers change. Anyway, it felt pretty out of character. But hell, if it led to her long-awaited demise, who am I to complain? Adios, LaGuerta.

2. Give New Characters an Actual Purpose - Let's talk for a second about the old-new characters. Like I said in the list, Mike Anderson was a pretty pointless character. Hell, the coolest thing he did was to "Flamingo" someone. I guess the writers wanted to get rid of him ASAP so he got killed about 20 minutes into the premiere. Sure, it was kinda random, but it led to Dexter killing Victor, which ignited the whole Koshka plot, so I guess it served a purpose. And on the other hand, there's Louis. Louis didn't do much either in S6 except dating Jamie, being weirdly obsessed with Dex and sending him the hand, all of which looked like a tease for a bigger role he'd play in S7. So we get a cool scene in Louis's place where Dexter threatens him, some mind games and mean looks, and it feels like it's leading up to some boiling point....And then Isaak kills Louis. Ummm....Seriously? I understand that they killed Louis early on, but why Isaak? This death was also pretty freakin' random. They built up all this tension between Dex and Louis only for Isaak to shoot him in a case of mistaken identity? That was kind of a let-down, I must say.

But I guess I can somehow forgive them, since - and this brings me to the new-new characters - Isaak is awesome. Of all the characters which are not Dexter, I think Ray Stevenson's Isaak really stole the show this season. On the outside he was this tough, threatening, fearless mobster, but as the season went on we also saw his sensitive, human side. His scenes with Michael were a sheer pleasure to watch, and after the one at the gay bar I decided he would make one hell of a Bond villain. Thank you, Isaak, for being a major reason this season was so great.

The other new character was Yvonne Strahovski's Hannah. She was kinda the opposite from Issak - in the beginning she looked just like a pretty girl who was a naive victim of her boyfriend's bloody hobby; but turned out to be pretty dark herself. But I liked her. She had some great scenes with Dexter, and with Deb as well. Plus, you know you're awesome when your dad is Supernatural's Jim Beaver. 

3. Better Writing - Again, the whole LaGuerta thing kinda bugged me, plus the sudden death of characters.  Another weird thing was Deb's confession to Dex about her feelings to him in "Argentina". Am I the only one to whom it seemed kind of out-of-the-blue? And even after it happened, it didn't really effect anything. Well, maybe Deb's actions in the seasons' final minutes. By the way, I'm surprised at all the reviews claiming it was a "twist ending". Like I said, I pretty much saw it coming since a few episodes earlier. Maybe it wasn't exactly as I imagined, but I knew Deb was gonna kill her to defend Dex.

Also, some characters were just neglected. For example, Harrison, Dexter's freakin' son. Sure, Jamie's his babysitter and all, but what about the days Dexter stayed with Deb? Jamie looked after Harrison 24/7? And when they remembered he does exist, they sent him away with his grandparents or something, anything to get rid of him. Also, why do they keep Matthews around? He doesn't seem to do much, does he?

4. More Blasts from the Past - I gotta give it them here. Aside from Miguel (and Lumen, I think ) there were references to pretty much everything from past seasons - Rudy, the Butcher case, Rita, Trinity, Travis. But they saved the best for last, and in the finale with the oh-so-fitting title we got...Doakes! Seeing Erik King again was awesome, and reminded me why Doakes is one of my favorite all-time characters. His flashbacks scenes were without doubt the highlights of the finale, and I loved every second of them. Can we get more flashbacks next season too, please? Or better yet - Zombie Doakes!

5. Interesting Side Plots - Let's talk about the elephant in the room here - Quinn. And it's not just in this season. Seems like the writers don't really know what to do with him, so they just give him some bullsh*t side plots. This time he fell in love with a stripper (really?), and was pretty much George's little pet until he finally grew some balls. At one point I thought he might also die by the season's end, but he lives to be useless for another day. Oh, Quinn....How did we come to this?

So that's pretty much it. Sure, this season had it's flaws, but I loved it. Now I can only hope the last season (What? Oh, there' just....something in my eye) will be just as good, if not better. Goodbye, Dexter. See you again in about 9 months. 

If you have any thoughts, I would love to hear them. What did you think of the season? What are you theories for the next? Any guest stars you'd like to see? (I would love to see Mark Sheppard on the show. Or Michael Rosenbaum).