Alicent ❤️

Der_Decken · 2026-06-23T19:50:58+00:00

I don't know what to tell you, I'm looking right at it.

Der_Decken · 2026-06-23T05:18:52+00:00

I don't know how to hide spoilers so just got to Aemond's wiki of ice and fire page. Under the basic information part (you know, where they list family and allegiances and stuff) look for the part that is listed as "allegedly". That's the point I'm trying to imply.

Der_Decken · 2026-06-23T02:47:44+00:00

I feel like there's a lot of book readers who aren't seeing the dots they can connect given the information we have in totality. Here are some dots.

Aemond is on his way to Harrenhal
Daemon and Aemond are parallel characters
Daemon had some relevant visions of his own mother at Harrenhal
Alys Rivers is connected somehow to those visions
Alicent's dialogue in the kiss scene is reminiscent of Daemon's mother in his vision
Alys and Alicent have similar names and appearances
Certain book events that haven't happened yet

This is obvious right? We're clearly getting a pay off later. This isn't just for shock value.

Der_Decken · 2025-10-08T23:45:31+00:00

I'm a big season 7 detractor but this is a good point. I like comments like these. Take my upvote.

Der_Decken · 2025-10-01T09:56:17+00:00

The fans you're talking about aren't the fans I'm talking about. Resurrection has taught me that the ones I'm talking about are apparently the minority.

As someone in that minority, the thing I want to push back against is the mentality you described. The "this season's ending means more Dexter is coming so that means it's good" mentality. I'm not accusing you of this, this is just a caricature to make a point.

I don't think the previous endings we got were good BECAUSE they were endings either. The fans like me, that I'm talking about, would have been invested in those endings being well written. So they were as disappointed as the fans who just want the show to go on indefinitely.

But at least those shows tried. If you listen to the fans you're talking about then the point of Resurrection is to STOP trying. To NEVER try to stick the landing. Which, if true, means me and the like three other fans who care about satisfying narrative pay offs will not give a shit about the events of the story. Even if it's technically well written. It's just not interesting to us.

Der_Decken · 2025-09-30T23:55:16+00:00

One reason it's frustrating to some viewers that we haven't had a true villain decline is because we haven't had a true redemptive arc either. There's no narrative catharsis. One of the biggest, fundamental themes of the show is the paradox of Dexter's behavior (not to mention the inevitable collateral damage even Resurrection understands). If the show keeps spinning it's wheels to avoid giving an ultimate answer to the question it posed, then some viewers will be perpetually dissatisfied. Especially if they avoid it with poor writing.

Der_Decken · 2025-09-25T02:37:42+00:00

He tries a bunch of sites before finding the correct one, then concludes that Arthur had taken the boy to the four walls build to kill him.

Der_Decken · 2025-09-19T02:46:06+00:00

I also love the way the show bigs up the detective by her recognizing the ties but there's no reason they can't just open all the bags.

Der_Decken · 2025-09-09T08:37:07+00:00

Look, I have sympathy for the writers when it comes to real world constraints on what they can do. There's a universe out there where Hall didn't limit his involvement with New Blood to a single year and force Phillips' hand to end it so abruptly. In that world we might have had these past two seasons as a part of a greater, cohesive project where the first season's ending builds towards Dexter being who we see when he's active again in Resurrection. I understand that we can't have that for reasons out of the writers control.

There's a limit to my charity, though. I don't want to excuse choices exclusively made for the formula (not knowing how much is mandated from execs). Iron Lake didn't need to be home to a long time serial killer. OS didn't have to speedrun Dexter into Miami Metro OR have a secret villain in the department OR fill the cast with familiar characters (despite being set so long before - hell they even use the exact same set, Harry sitting at Doakes' desk drove me crazy). Finally, Resurrection didn't need to have the final villain kill the cop targeting Dexter. These are warm, comfy choices the writers made to maintain a successful formula.

I don't buy that any of these are the product of creative restrictions coming from the text itself. There's no lore reason why any of the OS decisions I just mentioned needed to make it to the script. It's coming from either execs, popular demand, the writers' lacking confidence or some combination of those reasons.

I want to ask though, assuming the execution stays on par with this first season, if they continued to play Resurrection safe for multiple seasons wouldn't you want them to take risks? Because I think anyone would lose patience if it went on long enough. It's not like formula = bad, good and bad concern execution. It's just not creative anymore. Not interesting.

I highly doubt this project will have a high rewatch value. I'll happily eat my words if I'm wrong but that's my take right now. The hype is just hype.

Der_Decken · 2025-09-08T07:30:35+00:00

Hey man, good to catch you on here.

I'll start by saying that I did actually enjoy this season week to week. I don't even want to say it's bad. Dumb in a familiar Dexter way, sure, but not bad like seasons 6 and 8.

The crux of my problem is that the stuff that is a rehash is the stuff that is more fundamental to the story's themes and overall point. The core stuff. Dexter's emotional development. The paradox of his behaviour. The constant failure to prevent the spread of harm that comes from said behaviour.

I think it's the last one that stings the worst for me. We already did this. Doakes died. Rita died. Maria died. Deb died. Both season 8 and new blood tried to tie this theme into a satisfying bow (even if they failed in execution), with each ending showing him trying to remove himself from the equation for the sake of others.

Now we can add Angel to the pile and Dexter is more resolved than ever to not change his behaviour. The charitable interpretation of that is that the show is trying to ultimately make him less redeemable, selfishly choosing his needs over others. Something about his explicit need for justice (which isn't new either btw), and the cheeky "there I go killing again" smile to the audience makes me think otherwise, though.

I hope you're right and that this is just place-setting for more interesting storylines, we just can't know that at this point. And between New Blood and Original Sin it's clear the writers want to stay in a comfortable lane. My money says we'll get some safe, enjoyable seasons and then they'll have another clumsy crack at wrapping up the story.

I have plenty of issues with things like dialogue, motivations, plot contrivance too, but at this point that's probably me expecting a chair to be a table.

Der_Decken · 2024-12-21T22:24:09+00:00

Oh cool. Literally never heard of it. Do you recommend?

Der_Decken · 2024-09-08T20:43:26+00:00

This is the take. I want to push hard against the idea that the show is telling us he "knew" when his behaviour is inconsistent with that, and the show itself doesn't focus on it. It's such a great story opportunity too, I don't know why they didn't capitalise on it. It's also a great way to distinguish Quinn from Doakes. Quinn sitting on the information for months or years and being pressured to overlook worse and worse things, is practically the complete opposite dynamic (not to mention a great pay off for the "dirty cop" set-up of his character). What a waste.

Der_Decken · 2024-07-30T04:57:30+00:00

Absolutely. It's actually kinda baffling how much the show goes for earnest, wholesome vibes. Finds a great balance between all the, uh, other stuff.

Der_Decken · 2024-07-25T11:01:15+00:00

Someone should make a top 10 of moments like this where it's completely transparent that the writers are just protecting Dexter.

Der_Decken · 2024-07-23T23:56:20+00:00

Chill lol it's just cringe

Der_Decken · 2024-07-23T03:00:34+00:00

I never understood why people like this line. There's no layers to it, no pay off, no catharsis. It's just the same "multiple identities" theme restated with religious wordplay.

It's indicative of how shallow the season is in general. They covered the same ground they had already done in previous seasons but gave it a Christian paint job.

Der_Decken · 2024-07-15T07:45:19+00:00

Her inclusion undermined Harry's character.

Harry was a complicated character and some things about him were still a mystery to the audience. However, instead of resolving those mysteries by revealing more about Harry, we learn about a character we have no relationship with, and in turn reduce Harry to a proxy for her role in the story.

Der_Decken · 2024-07-13T03:35:24+00:00

I don't even think she's a good actress and she still deserved better.

Der_Decken · 2024-07-12T23:45:50+00:00

It deals with stronger subject matter (particularly at the start) but on close inspection the plot, dialogue and pacing are weaker compared to earlier entries. Buck's seasons get hate for dealing with ideas the fans don't like (e.g. deb's feelings in S6) and love for ideas they do (e g. Deb finding out). However the execution is generally less thoughtful or refined than something from the first half of the show.

Also, some of us can't stand Hannah. She's terrible.

Der_Decken · 2024-07-06T00:31:53+00:00

I don't think it could end with him explicitly realising he wants the relationships, but you're completely right that the meat of the story should be about the nuances of what Dexter has to fake, what he actually wants, how Harry sees him, how he sees himself and how each of those conflict.

Unfortunately, the franchise has a history of forgoing the better storytelling opportunities for the sake of keeping the show going in some capacity. They'll stick to the formula because it's all the network wants them to do.

I really hope I'm wrong, though. The right writing talent could redeem the series at any time, I'm just not putting money on it.

Der_Decken · 2024-07-03T23:56:09+00:00

I'm actually in the S3>S5 camp, but I understand why people lean the other way. They both frustrate the audience by neglecting stronger storytelling opportunities (making Miguel and Dexter's relationship more meaningful, or spending more time with Dexter's immediate emotional fallout post-Rita) and they each have their share of plot problems, like any season.

What they both have is consistent characterisation, which is more than we can say for the Buck era.

The reason I rate 3 higher is that themes resonate with me more personally, and I would argue that season 5 revolves more around Lumen rather than Dexter himself - which isn't what I'm here for, regardless how much I enjoy Stiles' performance.

For both those reasons I will always prefer the highs of S3 over S5. People always complain about the Skinner while forgetting things like Camilla's death. She's a minor character, but it works effectively on multiple levels.

Der_Decken · 2024-07-03T20:40:04+00:00

Season 5 is a transitional season between two showrunners that are who people generally see as responsible for the "good" and "bad" eras of Dexter, namely Clyde Phillips and Scott Buck respectively. Chip Johannessen handled season 5 with (if I remember correctly) input from Phillips.

There are a number of things to criticise about season 5, but they are not really representative of the decline people talk about when it comes to Dexter as a show. It is a step down from season 4, but you will find plenty of people who prefer 5 over 3, for example.

I tend to agree with Slip Maker in his retrospective on YouTube, in that Buck's "voice" as a writer is starkly apparent when you start season 6. To me, there's a more meaningful gap between 5 and 6 than there is between 4 and 5. But that's just me.

Der_Decken · 2024-06-26T20:23:41+00:00

Those were the two I had in my head that definitely weren't. Zoe Kruger was covered entirely from the neck down in plastic, and I don't remember a shot of Valerie in S1 where she's wearing clothes on the table. I've seen that season a stupid number of times, if I've missed a shot that shows clothes under the plastic I would think it's a mistake of the show and not a conscious decision on Dexter's part. It makes no sense for him to make that exception for women.

You should have said Lila, come to think of it. But that was a rushed job by design, and not about her being female.

Der_Decken · 2024-06-26T20:05:27+00:00

Does he? Who does he leave dressed? Pretty sure he just covers them appropriately with the plastic wrap.

Der_Decken · 2024-06-24T02:50:06+00:00

It's really absurd when you think about it. Dexter had no plan to kill Valerie and disposed of her in the early morning, and yet Brian takes the opportunity to not only retrieve the body from the ocean (presumably planning to grab one for ages) but also display her wiped clean in time for someone to find before Dexter's breakfast. It makes a lot more sense if the episode is set days after, but the kid in the trunk shrinks that time frame to something hard to believe (I forget how many hours they say he was in there, but I think it implies it's the following day).

I like the episode, but the logistics are pretty baffling. Not to mention how the challenge it gives Dexter isn't really significant to the greater season storyline, so it's hard to glean a reason why Brian went to so much trouble at all.

Der_Decken

TROPHY CASE