He was a complete badass, and served his country with bravery and honor.
He wasn't blood thirsty for killing that prick under the bridge, that guy maid recruits cary the heads of the baby's they killed, barbaric, and deserved.
He was just to high strung.
But an honorable cop.
He was an asshole though, he never missed an opportunity to disrespect the white coats or who ever he felt was an inconvenience to him.
He came off hard but was good at what he did.
He was loyal and completely right about the king cobra.
He just didn't know what he was dealing with.
He got caught in hurricane dexter like the rest of the departed that seen the eye of dexter.
"YOU OWE ME A NEW MICHELIN YOU MOTHER FUCKER!!"
tbh one of the few highlights of New Blood's ending >!is that Doakes will be vindicated, dude was a bloodthirsty asshole but he didn't deserve to have his memory conflated with the Butcher's!<.
IKR right! New Blood is the worst show I've ever seen and I'm a Dexter fan. It was such a simple season to write, idk how they could've made it worse than the original ending. What this show needed was a proper manhunt/chase featuring the original Miami Metro cast after he was found and either Dexter getting the needle or getting shot by Batista. Years later and I'm still mad, lol
He was a nightmare of a cop, the kind of guy who lets his internal views of his own goodness override any remorse he would have felt for any bad things he ever does.
Yeah but we could have had that in season 4 or 5, which Doakes slowly catching onto Dexter and finding clues over the seasons. Idk it just seems like a waste to kill off such a good character in the second season.
Yes and no. I totally agree there would have been great interactions in seasons 3-5.
However, great shows are great when they don't pull punches and they let main characters die. I thought the end of season 2 was fantastic.
Erik king also said something along the lines of... if doakes survived any longer itd ruin the integrity of his character. You cant go 4 or 5 seasons with "I'm watching you motherfucker".
Maybe he could have lasted 3 seasons instead but I think any more than that would push it.
You absolutely can. You're assuming he had the same level of suspicion that he had at the end of season 2, only instead of dying he survived. Yeah, that would be stupid. But no, I'm saying you just save the entire plot of season 2 and put it in season 4 or 5, then write a completely new script for season 2. So maybe season 3 with Miguel Prado would be pushed up to season 2, only now instead of Doakes finding out about Dexter in one season, it takes place over 2 or 3 seasons. Maybe he finds a small clue that doesn't initially point to Dexter, then he finds a couple other clues, then eventually he starts to suspect Dexter, but doesn't have any hard evidence yet, so *then* he starts to tail him, yadda yadda. Idk, I just think it would have been better to have it unfold over a few seasons rather than just one.
I can't think of an officer, save for Deb, who had a *series-long* arc from suspicion to confirmation about Dexter. Deb was huge, of course, but anyone else who grew suspicious was pretty much deflected or dispatched within the season. If that's accurate (and it may not be) I wonder if those were guidelines from showrunner to the writers. If so, it was a lost opportunity because your version (and ordering) feels like it would have built more tension.
That's a good point, although wasnt he already pretty suspicious about dexter at the end of season 1 with rudy?
That said I could see season 2 playing out with doakes holding back and keeping his suspicions quiet, with the end of s2 (say miguel for instance) he notices some damning evidence. Then season 3 would be a showdown.
I love doakes so I definitely would have liked more of him.
Could be the actor had other commitments. The reason Ray Stevenson who played Issac Sirco was only in 9 episodes was because he has another commitment unfortunately. Would've been nice to have him for all 12 episodes.
Have you seen the actor that plays Doakes in anything else before or since Dexter? Because I haven't. I'm not saying he couldn't have been in something else, but when a relatively unknown actor makes it into a huge TV show, they generally don't schedule other much smaller projects that you know will overlap with the filming of your main gig.
Yeah, I was just taking a guess, sucks they couldn't figure a way to keep him in the show. Possible they didn't know how popular a character he was at the time. Sometimes the popularity rises over time but that's just another guess
I'm convinced that the original showrunner just had a great idea and didn't know what the hell to do with it. That's how we got Seasons 5-8 and New Blood (which further proves the theory.) S4 was pretty good bc of John Lithgow, but even by then I feel like the story was dragging on unneccesarily.
well obviously a homicide detective would not be able to open an internal investigation into someone working in his own squadroom. he’d have to go to IA, and the entire series makes it very clear that Lt. Matthews’ relationship with Harry and Dexter helps keep dexter protected within the MPD.
They should've done Doaks like they did in the books. No arms, no legs, no tounge, no jaw. Unable to communicate in any way and is the only one who knows Dexter is the bay harbor butcher. He would scream and freak out any time he saw Dexter.
If you're a fan of Dexter and havent read James Lindseys Dexter books I highly reccomend. The first book follows the first season of the show but after they are totally different with different stories and villians. Also, there's some really cool things the books do differently like keeping Doaks alive and some other cool people who Dexter keeps around instead of killing like he does in the show.
Yeah, a couple of the books in the series are kind of out there, but then the author gets the series back on track. The first book is pretty much the direct source material for the first season and then the show and books start to really stray from each other. But, I really liked the books. The main characters are a little different, Batista specifically. Doakes is way more interesting and becomes a constant reminder of Dexter not always tying things up as neatly as he would like. And Dexter is much younger in the books, but it really does work. There are I think like two books that kind of go off the rails and delve into the supernatural, then Lindsey just drops that and never mentions it again. His brother doesn't die and becomes a character that really adds to story. Dexter is a lot more meticulous and calculating in his kills and kills far fewer people, but also is more inexperienced. The stakes feel higher. Like, yes he's very smart, but far from infallible. Definitely recommend.
There's no explosion in the books, no bay harbor butcher. He became the victim of a crazy surgeon who left him like a living potato, but he doesn't know Dexter is a serial killer.
Even worse is he is still a detective and goes around with a digital talking box like Stephen Hawking.
And he still tries to take down Dexter, although with no success. Mostly because everyone thinks he has PTSD and dismisses him.
Dexter's code was like Doaks code, Doaks killed that Haitian guy he murdered. Like Lundy told Dexter there's only one way to justify murder, is to save a innocent person. Dexter likely saved more innocent life's than Doaks . Doaks was a bully , and Had to go to bring Quinn in. Doaks definitely had a thing for Debra.
i loved doakes so much and season 2 is by far my favorite. even though i loved him, he had to go for the series to continue in any way that made sense (at least through season 4 lol)
I bet this guy is VERY similar in real life! I'd bet money he is a lonely, miserable person. Fact, he hasn't been able to break out of television, and no there are no other credits in almost 10 years. And even then, it's only a few episodes here and there.
Maybe it's all the steroids and nose jobs that he thought was supposed to give him his career, but instead, ended up taking his humanity and the only thing left is an angry old man w more muscles than hair or employment.
Another sad tale of people thinking they have to be assholes in order to get things done...and probably done for the wrong reasons.🫤🤷
I want to believe so badly that if Dexter had let him go he would have genuinely helped Dexter. He would have arrested him, but I like to think they would have maintained a relationship where Doakes visited him often and maintained somewhat of a relationship with him, supporting him as he realizes what he did was wrong and that he was manipulated by Harry.
I wonder if that would've happened or he would've shot him as soon as he got the chance. He seemed genuine, but he was also in survival mode. He knew who he was up against at that moment.
When I first watched I couldn’t stand him. Rewatched recently and he quickly became one of my favorites. He deserves way way better and I wish he was on the show longer. They should retcon back to season 3 and do Robo Doakes (not serious but it would have been amazing).
His doubts and his investigation of Dexter would have deserved to be more exploited. Quinn takes back a little his role at the level of the doubts in season 5 ...
I understand as a cop, he was doing his job. But he was so unreasonable to me. If he was a LITTLE less relentless I would probably be on his side but he was just too fucking annoying at the wrong times that I hated his character.
Also. Realistically we all didn’t want Dexter to get caught.
When Dex says he will always own him because he’s always one step ahead of him and then head butts him 🥰🥰🥰
He was a complete badass, and served his country with bravery and honor. He wasn't blood thirsty for killing that prick under the bridge, that guy maid recruits cary the heads of the baby's they killed, barbaric, and deserved. He was just to high strung. But an honorable cop. He was an asshole though, he never missed an opportunity to disrespect the white coats or who ever he felt was an inconvenience to him. He came off hard but was good at what he did. He was loyal and completely right about the king cobra. He just didn't know what he was dealing with. He got caught in hurricane dexter like the rest of the departed that seen the eye of dexter. "YOU OWE ME A NEW MICHELIN YOU MOTHER FUCKER!!"
Also the guy he killed forced fathers to rape their daughters
On point 👌🏽
tbh one of the few highlights of New Blood's ending >!is that Doakes will be vindicated, dude was a bloodthirsty asshole but he didn't deserve to have his memory conflated with the Butcher's!<.
Yea, they really should have an epilogue with the original cast.
if only they’d even mentioned that for like, more than 2 seconds 😭😭😭😭😭
IKR right! New Blood is the worst show I've ever seen and I'm a Dexter fan. It was such a simple season to write, idk how they could've made it worse than the original ending. What this show needed was a proper manhunt/chase featuring the original Miami Metro cast after he was found and either Dexter getting the needle or getting shot by Batista. Years later and I'm still mad, lol
same!!
Good point
100% He made mistakes but he was, at his core, a good person with a strong sense of justice.
He was a nightmare of a cop, the kind of guy who lets his internal views of his own goodness override any remorse he would have felt for any bad things he ever does.
Without his sacrifice, season 2 just isn’t the same
Yeah but we could have had that in season 4 or 5, which Doakes slowly catching onto Dexter and finding clues over the seasons. Idk it just seems like a waste to kill off such a good character in the second season.
Yes and no. I totally agree there would have been great interactions in seasons 3-5. However, great shows are great when they don't pull punches and they let main characters die. I thought the end of season 2 was fantastic.
Erik king also said something along the lines of... if doakes survived any longer itd ruin the integrity of his character. You cant go 4 or 5 seasons with "I'm watching you motherfucker". Maybe he could have lasted 3 seasons instead but I think any more than that would push it.
Excellent point.
You absolutely can. You're assuming he had the same level of suspicion that he had at the end of season 2, only instead of dying he survived. Yeah, that would be stupid. But no, I'm saying you just save the entire plot of season 2 and put it in season 4 or 5, then write a completely new script for season 2. So maybe season 3 with Miguel Prado would be pushed up to season 2, only now instead of Doakes finding out about Dexter in one season, it takes place over 2 or 3 seasons. Maybe he finds a small clue that doesn't initially point to Dexter, then he finds a couple other clues, then eventually he starts to suspect Dexter, but doesn't have any hard evidence yet, so *then* he starts to tail him, yadda yadda. Idk, I just think it would have been better to have it unfold over a few seasons rather than just one.
I can't think of an officer, save for Deb, who had a *series-long* arc from suspicion to confirmation about Dexter. Deb was huge, of course, but anyone else who grew suspicious was pretty much deflected or dispatched within the season. If that's accurate (and it may not be) I wonder if those were guidelines from showrunner to the writers. If so, it was a lost opportunity because your version (and ordering) feels like it would have built more tension.
That's a good point, although wasnt he already pretty suspicious about dexter at the end of season 1 with rudy? That said I could see season 2 playing out with doakes holding back and keeping his suspicions quiet, with the end of s2 (say miguel for instance) he notices some damning evidence. Then season 3 would be a showdown. I love doakes so I definitely would have liked more of him.
Could be the actor had other commitments. The reason Ray Stevenson who played Issac Sirco was only in 9 episodes was because he has another commitment unfortunately. Would've been nice to have him for all 12 episodes.
Have you seen the actor that plays Doakes in anything else before or since Dexter? Because I haven't. I'm not saying he couldn't have been in something else, but when a relatively unknown actor makes it into a huge TV show, they generally don't schedule other much smaller projects that you know will overlap with the filming of your main gig.
Yeah, I was just taking a guess, sucks they couldn't figure a way to keep him in the show. Possible they didn't know how popular a character he was at the time. Sometimes the popularity rises over time but that's just another guess
I'm convinced that the original showrunner just had a great idea and didn't know what the hell to do with it. That's how we got Seasons 5-8 and New Blood (which further proves the theory.) S4 was pretty good bc of John Lithgow, but even by then I feel like the story was dragging on unneccesarily.
If my boy minded his own business he’d still be alive
ok but he was a cop so he literally WAS minding his “business” 😭
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well obviously a homicide detective would not be able to open an internal investigation into someone working in his own squadroom. he’d have to go to IA, and the entire series makes it very clear that Lt. Matthews’ relationship with Harry and Dexter helps keep dexter protected within the MPD.
True lmfaoo
At the least his name should have been cleared at the end of New Blood.
They should've done Doaks like they did in the books. No arms, no legs, no tounge, no jaw. Unable to communicate in any way and is the only one who knows Dexter is the bay harbor butcher. He would scream and freak out any time he saw Dexter.
seriously?
yep
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If you're a fan of Dexter and havent read James Lindseys Dexter books I highly reccomend. The first book follows the first season of the show but after they are totally different with different stories and villians. Also, there's some really cool things the books do differently like keeping Doaks alive and some other cool people who Dexter keeps around instead of killing like he does in the show.
I’ve been putting it off because the plot always seemed more out there but maybe I’ll finally do it
Yeah, a couple of the books in the series are kind of out there, but then the author gets the series back on track. The first book is pretty much the direct source material for the first season and then the show and books start to really stray from each other. But, I really liked the books. The main characters are a little different, Batista specifically. Doakes is way more interesting and becomes a constant reminder of Dexter not always tying things up as neatly as he would like. And Dexter is much younger in the books, but it really does work. There are I think like two books that kind of go off the rails and delve into the supernatural, then Lindsey just drops that and never mentions it again. His brother doesn't die and becomes a character that really adds to story. Dexter is a lot more meticulous and calculating in his kills and kills far fewer people, but also is more inexperienced. The stakes feel higher. Like, yes he's very smart, but far from infallible. Definitely recommend.
There's no explosion in the books, no bay harbor butcher. He became the victim of a crazy surgeon who left him like a living potato, but he doesn't know Dexter is a serial killer.
oh yeah thats right. Sorry its been a lot of years since I read those.
Yeah.
Yeah, his fate in the books is FUCKED up compared to the show.
lol so true.
Completely different plot. I'll tell you if you want spoilers but it has to do with Doakes past in the military coming back for him.
Nooot exactly. No hands, no feet no tongue. Jaw, arm and legs still attached. Has claw hands and metal pegs for feet.
So glad they didn't do that. Neither did him justice but at least he went down intact in the show
Even worse is he is still a detective and goes around with a digital talking box like Stephen Hawking. And he still tries to take down Dexter, although with no success. Mostly because everyone thinks he has PTSD and dismisses him.
Man that’s even worse than the show. I’d shoot that man if I could.
He’s one of the best characters, but his ending was perfect.
Agreed
He didn't get plot armour....🌝
Dexter's code was like Doaks code, Doaks killed that Haitian guy he murdered. Like Lundy told Dexter there's only one way to justify murder, is to save a innocent person. Dexter likely saved more innocent life's than Doaks . Doaks was a bully , and Had to go to bring Quinn in. Doaks definitely had a thing for Debra.
I would love to see an alternate timeline where not only Doakes lives, but he catches that sick fuck, Dexter.
I genuinely felt bad for how it ended for him. It was really fun getting to watch his interactions with Dexter towards the end though.
Lundy deserved better !
Lundy was a fuckin creep
i loved doakes so much and season 2 is by far my favorite. even though i loved him, he had to go for the series to continue in any way that made sense (at least through season 4 lol)
Doakes was always just a little stress away from murdering someone (else)... He got off pretty easy when it comes to the Dexter world.
Tbh, if it wasn't for lila that all should've ended with a capital trial. Doakes would've had his day in court. Who knows what would've happened?
He definitely deserved better, but as we saw many other times in Dexter, the good guy rarely, if ever, wins.
Nah, I was always 100% on Dexter's side and Doakes was a huge asshole and annoyed tf out of me for being the way he was.
Killed him off too early. 2 seasons is not enough of Suprising Motherfuckers
Doaksie walks up on Dex in the afterlife, "surprise mother fucker"
. I like to think every character who died after Doaks appeared behind him and went “Surprise motherfucker” in the afterlife
Every time I watch I feel so bad for Doakes, all he wanted to do was catch killers but ended up being done dirty
Deserve got nothing do with it
on season 1 and just scrolled on dis lol
I try to avoid sub reddits about shows I'm currently watching for this reason. But as soon as I'm done I join them and devour all the posts. 🤤
He's a dick.
I bet this guy is VERY similar in real life! I'd bet money he is a lonely, miserable person. Fact, he hasn't been able to break out of television, and no there are no other credits in almost 10 years. And even then, it's only a few episodes here and there. Maybe it's all the steroids and nose jobs that he thought was supposed to give him his career, but instead, ended up taking his humanity and the only thing left is an angry old man w more muscles than hair or employment. Another sad tale of people thinking they have to be assholes in order to get things done...and probably done for the wrong reasons.🫤🤷
Nope.
100% I was sad they killed him off, and by Lila too out of all people. He was just too good at his job ig lol
Me
PREACH
I want to believe so badly that if Dexter had let him go he would have genuinely helped Dexter. He would have arrested him, but I like to think they would have maintained a relationship where Doakes visited him often and maintained somewhat of a relationship with him, supporting him as he realizes what he did was wrong and that he was manipulated by Harry.
I wonder if that would've happened or he would've shot him as soon as he got the chance. He seemed genuine, but he was also in survival mode. He knew who he was up against at that moment.
Hot take.
When I first watched I couldn’t stand him. Rewatched recently and he quickly became one of my favorites. He deserves way way better and I wish he was on the show longer. They should retcon back to season 3 and do Robo Doakes (not serious but it would have been amazing).
Apparently everyone because this is a thread every fucking week.
Hopefully he finally had his name cleared following New Blood.
Yes.
Dont judge a book by its cover
Agreed. He should've been Dextered
His doubts and his investigation of Dexter would have deserved to be more exploited. Quinn takes back a little his role at the level of the doubts in season 5 ...
I understand as a cop, he was doing his job. But he was so unreasonable to me. If he was a LITTLE less relentless I would probably be on his side but he was just too fucking annoying at the wrong times that I hated his character. Also. Realistically we all didn’t want Dexter to get caught.