Forum Overview :: The Netflix Instant Forum :: Basically Dexter was changed into a different, less-interesting character.

[quote name="Mischief Maker"]I see your point about the ice truck killer being creepy, but for me the really interesting creep factor was the character of Dexter himself. He <U>wasn't</U> creeped out by the doll head in the refrigerator, he was excited. The underlying theme of Season 1 was that Dexter was incredibly lonely. Even though he was surrounded by people who genuinely liked him, he could not relate to any of them. The ice truck killer/his brother opened Dexter's eyes to the idea that there <I>were</I> people he could connect with: other serial killers. This opens Dexter's broken mind to new possibilities and awakens dormant feelings. He turns to the murderous immigrant kidnappers for relationship advice, he tries to become a mentor to the teenage killer, he pours his heart out to the suicide-inducing therapist (and suddenly his sexual urges bubble to the surface.) For me the tension of Season 1 wasn't "Will Dexter catch the Ice Truck Killer before it's too late?" It was, "Will the Ice Truck Killer succeed in undoing Harry's conditioning and turn Dexter into the monster he would otherwise have become?" This is the reason Dexter was exploding in tears when he finally put his brother down. Like the teenager said, he killed people because that was the only way he could "feel" anything. His brother was opening Dexter up to a whole new world of emotions he didn't know were available to him, but by staying true to the Code of Harry, he sacrificed his own chance at being a complete person and would return to the dishwater brown of his old facade. Season 2 had an awesome A plot, but the character of Dexter had changed. When Season 3 rolled around with its crappy A plot, the changes showed in stark relief. He no longer longs for the camaraderie of other serial killers, he's getting along great with his regular friends. He psyches himself up to kill the gigantic gang banger not by fantasizing about the emotional release, but by saying he would be "avenging" one of the banger's victim's daughters. He has goddamn fantasies about being a superhero. Only Television Without Pity housewives would see fucking around with Lila as a sign of mental illness. He became the regular gee-shucks nice guy he was pretending to be, just with an irresistible drive to kill evildoers. In other words, a photogenic version of the Toxic Avenger.[/quote]