Jennifer Carpenter has this really weird "eating with different characters" clause in her contract that requires the producers to include scenes that involve Debra eating opposite at least five characters per season. Apparently she feels like she does her best work in eating scenes and is hoping for a strong Emmy reel…

Exactly. Notice his name hasn't been mentioned since. But he brought the family together, which was important or something.

You're not missing anything considering how often direct implications of Dexter's guilt are completely ignored by the people best equipped to take action on them. Dexter has now been implicated both by his constant proximity to death (Rita, Cassie, LaGuerta, Hannah, Miguel) and actual implications like that of…

Not bad at all.

I've read other places the theory that Oliver dated Cassie to be able to "keep a close eye" on Dexter. I'm not. clear on why this would be better than using binoculars. Then again, you can't really take a good recreational shower with a pair of binoculars. So…never mind.

The word is "good" is inherently subjective (something the writers seem not to have a solid grasp on), but I think this is necessary to make a show with character integrity, and Dexter's concept is so character-reliant that to write it in a way that doesn't require any integrity to the characters makes it terrible.

It was originally an offshore wind farm instead of a car but, y'know, revise, revise, revise.

Oh, and I love the increasing prominence of Detective Angie Miller. I almost hate that this is the final season, just because I'd love to know what the inevitable Angie/Debra romantic pairing would look like.

Of course they won't die. But the writers are playing it pretty loose with the time jumps. We hardly ever see the immediate consequences of drastic choices, which can be expedient and create a momentum if its done right. But when it isn't, as here, it just seems lazy, a way to move the pieces where they are supposed…

The letter grades are as fuzzy as math gets. I don't effort to quantify it in any way, it's just sort of a "feel" thing to me. How I felt watching the episode, whether I was tempted to play Stickets on my phone during a scene, that sorta thing. It's entirely possible that we don't like the same episodes, but you'll…

Thanks to everybody who read and commented on this piece, this has been an incredibly cool and interesting discussion to read. While I'd love to participate in it more, I have to pack for a desperately needed vacation that starts tomorrow, and also, long comment threads intimidate me.

Fully agreed RE: Mickey's line about not being able to talk about his feelings. It was an affecting line that reframed much of Mickey's behavior. Still not forgiving him for the brutal assault on Ian though, and after that, I am by no means rooting for them to work things out. I never really was though, come to think…

I don't think killing Jimmy is an option. It's hard to say how I'd feel about it. It would be an odd choice, since I feel like from the pilot, one of the show's biggest flaws has been its tendency to beat the viewer about the head unless they agreed to root for Fiona and Jimmy. I'm just coming around on him at the end…

I didn't see the preview! I'd love to be wrong about the finale this year. The last two finales were total anti-climaxes.

Lots of interesting points here. I've obviously come around on Jimmy much more than you have, but looking back, I have a different view of the season one offer than I did then. At the time, I thought "He's such a jerk, doesn't he understand the kids need Fiona?" But this show has bent over backwards to demonstrate how…

This sounds like a reasonable idea, and wouldn't be a terrible way to execute this, but I'm so weary of the entire Estefania marriage plot I'd be relieved to be rid of it completely.

If the implication is that I'm less offended by the specific circumstances of what Mandy did to Lip than I am by what Jody did to Karen, then you are correct. If the implication is that, as a rule, I am horrified by sexual violence committed against women by men but unmoved when the gender roles are reversed, then you…

The bitch-happiness of this comment caused me to hear it in Jesse Pinkman's voice. Which is not a bad thing, just saying.

I dig Mike too, but I need there to be a bit of a catch to him. Nothing major, but I hope they don't present Mike as a character whose only flaw is not being Jimmy.

I agree. I can understand still hating Jimmy, but I've come around on the dude.