Need advice.

OK, so Dexter had me with Season 1. I got it, I got him, I was recommending and enjoying and even Debra's character didn't irritate me. In fact, I kinda felt bad for her in the end.

Season 2 was meh, because although I could watch Michael C. Hall read the dictionary any day of the week and be entertained, all the Rita/Lila crap and Doakes drama left me slightly bored. But I watched and endured. And in the end, it was meh.

But Season 3? I plowed through it today in a sick coughing sniffling couch binge, and overall, it was a disappointment. Jimmy Smits' character was interesting and he's always fun to watch - but otherwise, a big fat fail to the writers of all those promising characters. Rita's drama was unbearable, I just could not believe Dexter would let anyone in on any of his secrets, and the love matches with Debra are always so contrived - really? after two meetings you're gonna go sleep with that guy which could totally eff up your case and then suddenly you LOVE him? REALLY? - but maybe as a purposely single person I suppose I should not judge...? Anyway, Angel, Vince and Mr. Quinn were the only redeeming characters in this season and they were all annoyingly normal. That doesn't bode well for season 4.

(And yet I watched the entire season 3 in a lousy day and couldn't get through each episode fast enough to see what happened, so in the end, who is the joke really on? But. Ahem.)

BUT. The best part about Season 3? It left with me two episodes of The United States of Tara, featuring two of my favorite people (Toni Collette and John Corbett), directed by Diablo Cody and produced by Steven Spielberg, with guest appearances by a very familiar-to-me band called The Eels (and/or A Man Called E, I can never keep up with that guy) and a fantastic comedian that I'm seeing tomorrow night. I'd heard about this show and then forgotten about it, and after two episodes I'm hooked for at least a few more episodes. Or seasons. Whatevs.

Damn you, Showtime. Damn you and the horse you rode in on. Eating up more of my life and what not what.

But the real question is... does this mean I would like Californication? I've been shunning it, what with the DD marriage issues and all, because I don't want to support those issues but I do love watching that man. And I have loved most Showtime shows, especially over HBO shows. (The only recent exception is Flight of the Conchords... which is AMAZING and if you are not a Bret/Jemaine fan I might have to send Dexter to your house immediately. But I'm not crazy like Mel or anything.)

Any Californication experience to report? I'm all ears. Eyes. Whatevs.