Dexter: Season 5

I've seen all six seasons of Dexter now, but this is the only one I've seen twice; the first four were DVD-only viewings, and upon catching up, the last two were seen in real time, but the sixth season hasn't come out on DVD yet. Were it not for my own stubborn desire for complete DVD ownership of every show in my DVD collection, I'd swear never to buy Season 6 because it was so damn terrible. (I mean, who only has half the seasons of any given TV show? Flakes and quitters, dammit!) But Season 5? Season 5 was flawed, for sure, but it wasn't terrible. With the understanding that anything that happened two years ago can't be considered a "spoiler" in the strict sense of the word, I'll proceed to "remind" my audience that Season 4 ended with a shocking moment - Dexter's wife has been murdered in her own bathtub. It was a bold cast-cutting move, but since it was organic enough to the story at hand - Dexter tends to make enemies out of some very sick and twisted people - it didn't feel like a shark-jumping moment at all. Actually, the strongest parts of Season 5 were the ones that dealt with the aftermath of the event, and how it affected Dexter's already frayed psyche. The moment where he had to tell his step-kids, while wearing Mickey Mouse ears, that their mother had been killed... you know what? Just go watch it. Even for those with zero understanding of these characters and their relationships, this short clip is something to behold. Best comic relief ever? Most uncomfortable G-rated scene in history? At any rate, it's unfortunate to note that the powerful stuff dealing with Rita's death was mostly contained in the premiere. Meanwhile, the worst of the Dexter - loose plot ends coming to unlikely resolutions, the preservation of Dexter's secret double life, and the utterly frustrating predictability of it all - ramped up later in the season, and especially in the finale. I can't even look back and cite this season as the one in which everything fell apart for Dexter; the second season's deus ex machina climax and tacked on falling action were pretty egregiously bad, and Season 4 was only a noteworthy performance by John Lithgow and a shocking season-ending moment away from being an altogether lackluster affair. Given how bad Season 6 was, though, I'm pretty sure I'll hold off on Season 7 until the DVDs come out. Still, holes and all, Dexter was compelling and entertaining enough in Season 5 for me not to hate the fact that I was re-watching it. And honestly, that's more than I can say for the final season of Lost.