By John Keegan

After the previous episode, I felt that the writers were setting things up for a relationship between Oliver and Helena that would evolve over a few episodes, until Oliver came to the realization that Helena was too consumed with her hatred to be redeemed. It was a logical way to approach Oliver’s own issues with his mission of vengeance, and the writers have been very smart about the slow but steady evolution of Oliver’s heroism.

By John Keegan and Henry Tran

Ten episodes into the season, and it marks the end of the Nick-Kalinda storyline. Producers had apparently intended for the storyline to go longer were it not for fan backlash that prompted the swifter conclusion here. I can't see how that would've worked, which makes the ending here make even less sense. This is because everything about Nick and his relationship with Kalinda made little sense. But he's gone now, thankfully, and the show can move on to other things involving Kalinda.

By John Keegan and Henry Tran

This episode, to me, had two fantastic moments that were surrounded by a lot of creaky plot mechanics. This is a byproduct of what happens in the previous episode. Pieces of a chessboard being moved into place for the conclusion of this part of the story. In that way, the pieces somehow end up with an assassination of Vice President Walden, an event that comes very suddenly and really, without warning. It's based on knowledge about Brody and Carrie's relationship that Abu Nazir is counting on as leverage to use against Brody.

By John Keegan and Paul Pearson

The midseason finale certainly has all the build-up of a big conclusion to this year's run of episodes, and the production itself seems bigger, more laboured, all designed to end with a bang and leave the audience on a big cliffhanger for next year. Yet when all's said and done, "Made to Suffer" doesn't distinguish itself too much from the average episode of "The Walking Dead". It's excellent, yes, but other than a few isolated moments, it doesn't make the final push into true brilliance.

By John Keegan and Gregg Wright

If I were to try to describe this season, so far, in only a few words, I'd say that it is a giant mess of good ideas and bad, which never coalesced into anything meaningful (which might be said of the show as a whole). For all of the obvious problems in seasons 5 and 6, there was at least something of a meaningful central story arc that tied each season together. Dexter himself had a meaningful character arc in each season. We're not quite to the end of this season, but I struggle to imagine how any ending could justify the jumbled storytelling of this season. I suspect that this assessment will remain just as true when it's all over.