Dexter, Season 5 (2010)

Still reeling from the events of season 4, blood-spatter analyst and serial-killer-of-killers Dexter Morgan is desperately trying to sort out his feelings (something he's not used to having) and his life when he stumbles across a new target: a man who has killed twelve young women and dumped their bodies in the Everglades.

For Dexter, a fresh kill seems like just the thing to settle himself down, but everything becomes a lot more complicated when the murderer's intended thirteenth victim witnesses Dexter dispatch her captor.  Killing this witness would contravene the code by which Dexter controls his 'Dark Passenger', but how can he trust her not to reveal his secret?  How will the young woman cope with what she experienced and saw during her captivity?  And what will the two of them do with the knowledge that there are at least four other men involved in the deaths of the previous 12 victims?

If you've seen any Dexter at all, or read my previous reviews, you might notice that the synopsis above makes no mention of the police characters with whom Dexter works: no Angel, no Vince, not even Dexter's own sister Debra.  That's because for much of the season that crew are mostly involved in another case.  It's something of an issue with this season, really, as much of the tension in previous years has come from the parallel investigations by both Dexter and the cops.  That takes a lot longer than usual to get going, here, and while the idea of changing up the formula is not a bad one, I don't think it works as well as the writers might have liked, here: probably in large part because the plots involving the cops in the first half of the season more or less just feel like filler to keep them on screen from time to time while the 'real story' plays out with Dexter.

There's a common opinion that you are probably better off quitting Dexter after season 4, and I can see where the idea comes from, but I think it's a bit simplistic.  There is good stuff in season 5; stuff with Dexter and his son and step-kids, for instance, and I think they were continuing to develop both Dex and Debra in interesting ways here.  If you're enjoying the show to this point, and can overlook the strained contrivances of plot (which to be fair, have always been a major part of the show), then this season is still worth your time.