Haven't caught the last two (and next week is the finale), so, as of episode nine, yes, it holds up. It's a thinking, talking show. A slow examination of Dexter's life and times. His nemesis is, pretty much, a background thing, though episode nine obviously starts the finale arc. Other folks watching rave about 10 and 11, which I'll catch this weekend.
Following Dexter's life may be a mistake in the long run. Hall is interesting, but Dex is so removed from humanity that there's no real point to all the characters in his life. Julie Benz, the girlfriend, alternates from being intensely annoying to being an interesting problem for Dex to deal with. His sister is the same. They don't quite know how to handle the other characters as Dexter is cold and emotionless and the series is being told through his eyes... So, naturally, we don't care about their problems. Nor have they chosen to try and enhance their problems and bring them into Dex's life. So we have pointless distractions that feel like they're simply trying to turn a half hour show into an hour show each week.
But they're trying to stick with the books. Dex exists -- works, lives -- like a normal person. Though the problems around him are observed by him. Tough to do through the eye of a camera, I guess.
I don't know... It's pretty cool. I'd say two or three stars out of four, varying from episode to episode. Enjoyable if you're into serial killers, can tolerate Hall and don't mind having about 20 minutes of downtime per episode. And there's the occasional gem. And now that we've had the Big Reveal in episode eight and nine, I'm really excited. The bad guy is successfully a creepy bad guy.
