Should have been a low point for the entire series, and until the series finale it is the lowest point of the series.
The general idea of the episode isn't in itself horrible, but it very awkwardly/abruptly diverts from the main season 6 story arc and throws off the entire pace of the season. It's essentially a "bottle episode" that feels like it was thrown into season 6 at the very last minute. Aside from that, it's really just the execution that's lacking here. I'm generally on board with Brian Moser taking over as the voice of Dexter's conscience, but they reduced him to melodramatic cartoon villain-like dialog and campy delivery of lines. Excessive use of crooked cameral angles throughout the entire episode is reminiscent of what made Battlefield Earth so notoriously terrible. The scene where Dexter and Brian are shooting the gun out of the car is truly a low point for both the episode and the series. It feels like the writers and director of this episode had never seen a single episode of Dexter before and had no idea what the show feels like or how it flows.
Every single line of dialogue from Brian in this episode sounds like it was pulled from a 13 year old's fan fiction script. The entire premise of Trinity's family suddenly being murdered seemed very contrived and the entire subplot of the creepy pot-growing farmer trying to extort Dexter was a true head-scratcher. There's maybe 6 minutes of total screen time this entire episode that either moves the season/series plot forward or at least aids in character development of series regulars.
On top of all this (and quite secondary to my point) are a couple plot points where the writing makes no sense: 1. The witness protection people wouldn't move Jonah again after Trinity supposedly found their secret location/identities and tried to murder all of them? 2. Dexter is somehow able to grab a pitchfork from behind himself and stab it through Norm's stomach while Norm is pointing a loaded gun at Dexter. It makes sense that Norm was unable to see/react in time to Brian since Norm was staring and pointing the gun at Dexter, and Brian came at him from the side. But Brian wasn't real, Norm had his eyes and his sights set dead-on Dexter. (You have to suspend a lot of plausibility to watch Dexter, which I'm generally very okay with because it's fun, so I'm not too concerned with those last 2 points)
The general idea of the episode isn't in itself horrible, but it very awkwardly/abruptly diverts from the main season 6 story arc and throws off the entire pace of the season. It's essentially a "bottle episode" that feels like it was thrown into season 6 at the very last minute. Aside from that, it's really just the execution that's lacking here. I'm generally on board with Brian Moser taking over as the voice of Dexter's conscience, but they reduced him to melodramatic cartoon villain-like dialog and campy delivery of lines. Excessive use of crooked cameral angles throughout the entire episode is reminiscent of what made Battlefield Earth so notoriously terrible. The scene where Dexter and Brian are shooting the gun out of the car is truly a low point for both the episode and the series. It feels like the writers and director of this episode had never seen a single episode of Dexter before and had no idea what the show feels like or how it flows.
Every single line of dialogue from Brian in this episode sounds like it was pulled from a 13 year old's fan fiction script. The entire premise of Trinity's family suddenly being murdered seemed very contrived and the entire subplot of the creepy pot-growing farmer trying to extort Dexter was a true head-scratcher. There's maybe 6 minutes of total screen time this entire episode that either moves the season/series plot forward or at least aids in character development of series regulars.
On top of all this (and quite secondary to my point) are a couple plot points where the writing makes no sense: 1. The witness protection people wouldn't move Jonah again after Trinity supposedly found their secret location/identities and tried to murder all of them? 2. Dexter is somehow able to grab a pitchfork from behind himself and stab it through Norm's stomach while Norm is pointing a loaded gun at Dexter. It makes sense that Norm was unable to see/react in time to Brian since Norm was staring and pointing the gun at Dexter, and Brian came at him from the side. But Brian wasn't real, Norm had his eyes and his sights set dead-on Dexter. (You have to suspend a lot of plausibility to watch Dexter, which I'm generally very okay with because it's fun, so I'm not too concerned with those last 2 points)