![Image 1 — [Hated trope] Shocking cliffhanger happens... and we're back to normal.](https://preview.redd.it/tdug6q7utjjh1.jpg?width=830&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb2daad0b34211795b47c59fcbfed59b7f494024)
![Image 2 — [Hated trope] Shocking cliffhanger happens... and we're back to normal.](https://preview.redd.it/5wvkyr7utjjh1.jpg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b8cc3530336ea3d390977b09e62f516b5f2d9d8c)
[Hated trope] Shocking cliffhanger happens... and we're back to normal.
Watch out for spoilers, obviously.
Dexter - Season 7 Finale, to Season 8
Season 7 is one of my favorite seasons, and it would definitely rank higher for me if it weren’t for the fact that its continuation is the WORST season in the entire series. After cleaning up the Ukrainian mob and Debra (more or less) coming to terms with her brother’s identity, her boss puts him in her crosshairs. Eventually, they all end up in the same shipping container, and Debra has to make a brutal decision: kill Dexter and save LaGuerta, losing the person closest to her, OR kill LaGuerta, turning herself into a murderer of an innocent person so Dexter can continue his destructive vigilante games? Dexter does the honorable thing and tells Debra to shoot him.
And just like that, the decision is made, and LaGuerta takes a bullet. Debra sobs over the body of her friend, while Dexter is devastated by what has happened. They don’t even have a moment to grieve. They arrive at their friend’s party devastated and late, still with blood on their hands, forced to exchange looks with the friends of the woman they just took a life from.
When I finished Season 7, I was ready for Season 8 to pick up immediately after that scene. Someone would discover LaGuerta’s body, the entire department would rush from the party to the crime scene, and gradually more and more suspicion would fall on Dexter, until the legendary manhunt that I think everyone had been waiting for finally began.
But the writers decided otherwise. Season 8 begins a full SIX MONTHS after the events of the party. Angel has already come to terms with her death, we never got to see Debra descend into madness because she already has, Masuka makes jokes about LaGuerta's death, and you won’t hear anything interesting about that woman after the third episode of a season that:
- Retcons the most interesting plot threads from previous seasons, including completely destroying Harry’s character.
- Uses basically every other antagonist for shock value or as a plot device.
- Brings Hannah back and rushes through both her redemption arc and Dexter’s romantic storyline.
- Its moral is basically that Dexter is always fucked because he gets rid of perverts and murderers, and even when he tries to quit killing and has good intentions, life kicks him even harder.
- Kills Debra and makes Dexter run off into the middle of nowhere, far away from the woman he had just promised a wonderful future and from the son he left with a nanny for the last three seasons, only to abandon him for the rest of his childhood.
Jesus fucking Christ.
The Boys: Season 5 - Episode 6 to Episode 7-8
After five episodes of fucking around, the plot finally started moving. We witness a completely insane plot twist, as Soldier Boy gives his pathetic son the serum that will make him immortal. Soldier Boy is fully aware of the consequences of what he’s doing, so what makes him go through with it? Don’t pretend you don’t know, it’s already become a meme. I’ll admit, seeing Homelander firing lasers into the sky was absolutely breathtaking. The entire cast was standing out in an open field, completely exposed to an attack. They could run, but what good would that do when Homelander can massacre them from a distance? And what difference does it make when he can now move faster than the planet itself is moving around the Sun? Everyone was hopeless. And there were only two episodes left until the finale. How were our heroes going to survive? Or rather: would they even survive at all? Going into Episode 7, I was convinced that at least half the cast would die. Maybe Starlight would sacrifice herself in battle, maybe Butcher would abandon everyone again just to survive, or maybe...
Yeah, fucking right. The next episode starts several days later in a completely different location. Wait, how did they get out of there? Nobody knows. They probably dabbed up Homelander and went their separate ways. Okay, so how did immortality change Homelander? He banned soy milk and killed the president. He also killed a terribly written character played by an IDF soldier, but that was an incredibly obvious move, because the same guy had spent the last few episodes talking about what a beautiful future lay ahead of him.
In Episode 8, they SLIMED IMMORTAL HOMELANDER with the power of love, or some other bullshit.
And Soldier Boy? Homelander put him back into a coma. And that’s it.
See you in the spin-off, which apparently got most of the budget.
