The finale was good, but not great, mostly because of the wedding and the hoopla surrounding it. I hate TV weddings. Sitting through one is like sitting through the musical act on SNL. I don't want to sit through 5 minutes of Vampire Weekend or Ashley Simpson or whatever...I want Mark Wahlberg Talking To Animals, and now, dagnabbit! Similarly, TV weddings are inherently formulaic and often jar the rhythm of the rest of the show. They take up valuable airtime which could have been better used for juicier plot development (e.g. maybe a longer exchange between Dexter and the Skinner, before the Skinner's inevitable demise).

Having said that, I do admit the droplets of blood emerging from Dexter's cast onto Rita's gown was a great touch, so maybe 45 seconds of wedding would have been permissible, but that's it.

To the writers of the show: I implore you to let the Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomies of the TV landscape have their frivolous romantic pomp and pageantry, and stick to the quirkier, more cerebral fare for our darkly dreaming hero.

AAAAAHHH. I'm in Canada. We don't get these until after January. THANKS. A BUNCH. I used to enjoy your column. Right now I have a pretty big hate on for you. Or whomever chose the title, and put it right on the front page of Salon with no Spoiler Alert. GRRRRR. Do not mess with people's entertainment outlets these days. Quality ones are few and far between.

Watched it when it was on network TV. Dexter is something like the heels in pro-wrestling who gain favor by battling the more repulsive villains. Having said that, the show does not lack for attention getting plotlines and bizzare characters. Would I pay to watch it on TV? Nope, but that is because I consider cable and sattelite TV to be overpriced ripoffs.

First of all, for anyone who is upset about the spolier apsect of the column, if you haven't yet seen the show, maybe you shouldn't, you know, read the article when it's clear from the title that it's about a show that hasn't yet aired where you live. If you didn't figure it out from the title, is there the possibility that you could have noticed from the bold-print letters spelling out "spolier alert" and advising you not to read this if you haven't yet seen the show? I'm just curious.

While I love the show, I have always had an ambivalence about the way the present Dexter and his supposed lack of emotion. Dexter keps referring to himself as emotionless, devoid of feeling, etc., but that's not really true, is it? We see Dexter get angry (as when he realized that Miguel lied to him about the blood-stained shirt), even if we only see him imagining his reaction instead of actually acting it out. We see that Dexter has a very protective "side" in terms of his feelings for Astor and Cody (Last season he saved the kids' lives and even went and killed Lila. This season was saw him track down and kill a pervy molester who had eyes for Astor) as well as Rita (he framed her ex-husband to protect her and the kids). He imagines and superimposes tender feelings with/for his father and he even killed his own brother, who understood and loved him, so that he could save his sister who only loves him for what she thinks he is and not actually what he really is. We have eben seen him feel some measure of regret over people he has hurt.

What I appreciate about this show is the way it walks a fine line and makes us feely sympathy for a serial killer. But I think it's dishonest for Dexter to keep saying he has no emotions. They may be stunted, they may be limited and they are certainly self centered and frequently narcissistic, but Dexter is, no matter how much he wants to deny it, someone who loves those close to him, protects his family, tries to do the right thing (or, more appropriately, does the wrong thing for noble reasons) and is capable of feeling happiness even when he is not doing the thing he likes the most (you know, murdering people). Dexter is, whether he wants to or not, becoming more and more human all the time.

Funny -- on my Salon front page, I see this: "Finale wrap-up: Dexter. On Showtime's third season finale of Dexter, the world's most popular serial killer loses the best man, but keeps the bride." Does it have to contain the exact phrase "spoiler alert" before some folks can figure out that it's a, y'know, wrap-up of the third season finale of Dexter?

I don't understand the griping about wedding scenes, either. Wouldn't have missed the ceremony at the end of Boston Legal for anything. And since our hero Dexter is trying to figure out how to reconcile a normal life with the urges of his Dark Passenger -- and that's apparently a big part of Season 4 -- the vow he finally decided on was relevant. Showtime aired plenty of promos in the several minutes after Dexter/before Californication, so it's not like this episode was running overtime and the relatively short wedding-scene time was needed for something else.

Waah. Whatever happened to just enjoying a decent episode of a decent TV show?

First of all, for anyone who is upset about the spolier apsect of the column, if you haven't yet seen the show, maybe you shouldn't, you know, read the article when it's clear from the title that it's about a show that hasn't yet aired where you live.

I believe the person complaining thought the title was the problem: "Dexter Final: The Serial Killer Gets His Bride." Some of the promos suggested that something happens to Rita in the final episode. The article title pretty much kills any mystery around that angle.

The title "Dexter Final: The Serial Killer Gets His Bride" appears on the Salon home page. You don't even have to access the article to have the finale "spoiled" for you.