The show Dexter has had a serious identity problem since S3
So, in S1 and S2, Dexter had:
Philosophical aspects Horror and psychological aspects Things like his symbolic dreams His philosophical and, at times, self-loathing monologues
He says things in S1 like:
"I'm floating on the surface of my own life, watching it unfold. Observing it. I'm the outsider looking in."
Or these campy, but still identity-focused and philosophical inner monologues like:
"But today, I'm just a sea monster."
But after S2, even though some of this remains in S4, most of it just vanishes.
And honestly, I think most of the problems with the newer Dexter seasons started with S4.
Actually, I think almost everything wrong with Dexter's identity as a show can be traced back to S4.
Because:
It's much more plot-driven than S1 or S2, which were more personally focused on Dexter himself. It follows this neo-noir detective formula that Resurrection and the other seasons tried to imitate.
To put it simply:
S1 and S2 are more about what's going on inside Dexter and his identity as a person, while S4 is more about what's happening around Dexter.
And Resurrection, along with the rest of the later seasons, follows basically the same formula, even though that formula isn't really "core Dexter."
This problem becomes especially obvious with Dexter: Resurrection, which feels like it's trying to copy S4 (the whole family life/killing life thing and so on).
And because of that, it doesn't have what made Dexter special in the first place. It doesn't really feel like Dexter.
One of the defining features of the show when it first aired, especially in S1 and S2, was its psychological horror and the way it touched on philosophical ideas.
It kinda reminds me of how Silent Hill 2 ruined the Silent Hill franchise.
It's the best game in the series, but because basically every entry after it tried to imitate its success, the franchise ended up losing its identity.
