Dexter Finale: I'm... Not Sure...

This post is obviously regarding the Dexter finale that aired on Sunday, so if you haven't watched, you've been warned. Thar be spoilers off the starboard bow! (Sorry, there was a lot of bloodshed and and more than a few nautical references last night... makin' me feel a bit pirate-y.)

As I'm sitting here trying to articulate my conflicted feelings about this season of Dexter, I went to label this post only to find that I have apparently never talked about Dexter on this blog. That seems unfathomable given my devotion to the series over the years, but maybe that speaks to the nature of the show itself. It's not easy to write about, even after the season is over. I'm feeling the sudden need to atone for the lack of attention, so fasten your seatbelts... this could be a doozie.

My relationship with the show has varied season to season. I loved the first season, loved the second season a little less (Lila won't be missed), could barely finish the finish the third season (if I never hear the name Miguel Prado again, it'll be too soon), came back for the fourth season a little shaken (given the spectacular failure of the previous year), and was met with the most astounding creeping, intense, jaw-dropping season of them all. John Lithgow's turn as The Trinity Killer was skin-crawlingly disturbing and marked a return to form that surpassed their form. Good god, then you throw in Rita's death at the end and you've got a season that's pretty impossible to top. Quick note about Rita before I move on. I was pretty sure she was going to be killed last season. At the end of season 3, during their wedding, blood from Dexter's arm dripped onto her bright white wedding dress. Beyond simply alluding to the blood spatter work he does, the darkness he brings to the people around him, and the fact that Dex's presence manages to mar even the purest of things, I instantly saw that as a foreshadowing moment for Rita. I was pretty sure she was going to die in the coming season and in a pretty brutal way. I'm not saying I saw her death play out the way it did, because even though I assumed she'd get killed at some point, it was still a shocking end, but I wasn't as blown away as many viewers who didn't see it coming at all. Quite frankly, I've hated Rita since the second season (of Angel), and was actually looking forward to her being written out of the show. It was still a jarring way to end things, but I can't say I miss her much. What's that you say? Killing Rita means we get rid of the kids as well?! Bonus!

So yeah, season 4 left things in a sobering, quagmire of a place. I could hear the Buffy soundtrack in my head after all was said and done with a somber, "Where do we go, from here...?" To boot, some of the creative team behind the show stepped down after that, so going into season 5 was a dubious prospect for me. I was concerned with how Dex would deal with Rita's death, what he'd do with the kids, how on earth the writers would top a baddie like Trinity, etc...

Although this most recent season wasn't my favorite of the series, it eventually turned into something pretty satisfying (albeit riddled with plotholes and fridge logic--more on that later). For me, Dexter has always been a show about connection. Dex is a sociopath, a "very neat monster," who has never understood human interaction, interpersonal relationships, love, affection, etc. Although Dex often voiceovers that he doesn't see the need for human connection, he has spent the past five seasons trying to tap into this phenomena that normal feel come to so easily. Season 1 was so successful because Dex's relationship with, as it turns out, his brother, started off like a secret admirer. I loved watching Dexter see himself in the Ice Truck Killer and sense a connection there. Where most people immediately sense connections with those around them, this sensation is entirely new for him. This need for human contact which has so long been such a mystery for Dex starts to make sense. I loved watching the, well... I'm going to say courtship of Dexter and the Ice Truck Killer. I know they turn out to be brothers, but from where I was sitting, their interactions were romantic in nature. It was like they were anonymous chatroom identities that fell in love. I think my favorite of their interactions, and the one that lent itself the most to my theory that they were meant to be lovers, were with the personal ads, calling each other Ken and Barbie. Finding out they were brothers threw a wrench into that theory, but it engendered a whole host of other implications. It was incredibly satisfying and forced Dexter to confront his past and present in a very real, life and death way. He ultimately had to choose between the brother who sees him for what he is and loves him for it, or the sister who has no idea who he is, but loves him regardless. The blank way in which Dexter chooses Deb, stating that he's "very fond of her" in the most impassive of ways, speaks to Dexter's ostensible character, but also points to something deeper that he never really explored prior. He loves his sister. It seems like such a simple statement, but for someone like Dexter, it takes a murderer strapping her to a table to make him see it. Season 1 made Dex look at himself and his relationships like he never had before and also look at what he could have turned into without Harry's guidance. How do you judge someone like Rudy? Is he really all that different than Dexter? Ultimately, no. And yes.

Seasons 2 was a less successful attempt at giving Dexter a real sense of connection. I loved the fact that Doakes saw Dexter for what he really was and hunted him, but Lila's involvement made for a rather detestable addition to the cast. Even for as insane as Lila was, her interactions with Dexter never felt as genuine as I would have hoped. His connection to her just seemed so implausible at times. I can see where the writers were trying to show us that for Dexter to be himself, he has to be with someone who's pretty awful, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. Lila did manage to make me love Deb a little more (there wasn't much to speak of after season 1), however, and seeing a character I hated that much get Dextered at the end was incredibly gratifying. Season 2 had its problems, but on the whole, it was still a solid outing.

Season 3 was not. I hated season 3. Beyond Rita becoming even more of a nag (and that's saying something), and the kids becoming even more irritating (a high bar in its own right), Dexter's bid for humanity took the form of Miguel Prado. Ugh. I didn't have any positive or negative feelings about Jimmie Smits prior to that season, but afterward? Well, I don't think I need to see him in anything ever again. I never really bought the idea that Miguel would really team up with Dexter. Had I liked the character more, I might have tried a little harder to embrace their relationship, but he was just a drain on every scene he was in the entire season. Add to that the fairly lame big bad of the season (the Skinner? really?) and a wedding to the she-devil incarnate in the finale and I was ready to throw in the towel. There are still episodes of that season that I never saw. Dull and annoying are not words I generally bandy about with regards to shows I watch, so it was a tough choice to come back the following season. I figured the show had run its course and had lost its magic. Boy, was I wrong.

Season 4 was amazing. Dexter's bid for human connection took an unnerving turn with his marriage to Rita (good god, Dex, you're sure you don't want to off her yourself?), but it was with Dex's realization that there are other serial killers out there with families that made the season such a success. Trinity was creeptastic on a whole other level than anything I had seen on the show (or any show, really) before. Hats off to John Lithgow. Even better, unlike previous seasons, season 4 seemed to have fewer loose ends and plotholes. Maybe it was just that I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't notice, but it all seemed much more cohesive and well-plotted than years past. If nothing else, it brought to light the fact that those god-awful, tacky as hell family member decals in car windows are not only an eyesore, but potentially deadly. (For anyone of you who have those, I'm sorry if I offend, but man alive I hate them... and they might just get you killed, so I'm, uh, not insulting you, I'm, umm... looking out for your welfare... yeah, that's it.) How do you follow up a season like that? How could you possibly outdo yourself? Turns out, ya can't.

Geez, this thing is already an epic and I haven't even talked about season 5 yet. Phew. Anyway... I'm pretty conflicted about season 5. It started off pretty strong, then sagged in the middle, but ultimately came to a fairly fulfilling end. It's hard to know where to start... Oh, wait, I know.

Lumen
When Dex was first discovered by one of his victim's victims, I was shocked. I knew Julia Stiles was joining the cast, but didn't see it playing out like this. In terms of finding a character who could truly relate to Dexter's "dark passenger" and who would not only sympathize with his killing, but actively join in, I think the writers came up with the perfect figure. I'm not saying her characterization was always consistent or even, but in terms of her dynamic with Dexter alone, I believed this one way more than Lila or Miguel. I think most people could easily believe that a woman would had been through that kind of torture would not only overlook her rescuer's tendency to murder people, but in looking at the kinds of people he dispatches, she would look at him as a hero. Geez, someone saves me from something like that? I don't care who you are or what you do, you get a gold star in my book. I can't say I'd have had their relationship unfold in exactly the same way that the writers did, but it ultimately worked for me. It was genuinely intriguing to see what it would be like for Dexter to have no secrets from someone--to see who he is when he's in a room with more than just his latest victim. Heretofore, the only people who really saw Dexter for what he was were killed minutes later. Over the previous season he tried to show his true colors to the likes of Rudy and Lyla and Miguel, but even then, he was hiding. With Lumen? All the cards seemed to be on the table (so to speak) and there was something kind of liberating about that. With this one person, he didn't have to play all the angles and hide who he really is. For the first time, he had a true partner, a friend, an even a lover. There was a twisted sort of intimacy between the two that really blossomed toward the end. She knows all his secrets, and just as importantly, he knows all hers. I can't imagine coming back from what Lumen went through at the hands of those sick, twisted bastards, so I don't envy the writers' task at making her whole again. Stripped down to the most basic of forms, Lumen's psyche had to be rebuilt from the ground up. Dexter saved her. He didn't save Rita, but he rebuilt Lumen. That was the trade. Although the narrative may have suffered a bit as a result, the writers did a nice job building her up in such a way that audiences could absolutely believe that she would be Dexter's partner in crime. I can see where it needed to be a slow build, but I can't say I was exactly chomping at the bit week to week. I find that I'm appreciating the season a lot more in retrospect. At the time, I was a bit underwhelmed and a bit bored by the process, but now, as a whole, it's actually kinda beautiful. Through Dexter, in order to become whole again, Lumen had to relearn how to trust someone, how to trust a man, how to take control, how to relinquish control, and how to put her darkness behind her.. It was an elegant progression watching this character who had been raped and tortured and almost killed by a group of sociopaths find her way back from the brink through the help of another sociopath. That she was able to trust anyone again was one step, that she was able to take control of her life was another. I think the most pivotal step, and the one I was the least sure of, was allowing sex to be a positive experience in her life again. After going through what she went through, it's pretty powerful that she was able to be vulnerable in a sexual way ever again. It made perfect (and even predictable) sense that she would cross that bridge after her first kill. She regained some control over the universe and experienced ultimate trust in Dexter. It only makes sense that after such a step, she'd be ready to take another. I was still a little unsure if she was ready for it as the scene played out, but it was surprisingly tender. They're both completely vulnerable and both in complete control, at the same time, and that's what makes them truly connected... which makes it all the more confounding that she leaves him in the end...

Okay, this is the main point I've been grappling with. One the one hand, I can't believe she left him, but on the other hand, and for a number of reasons, I guess I can. From a logistical standpoint, having her around next season just wouldn't work that well. If she had been a bit more fully-formed and compelling, maybe, but Julia's turn as Lumen missed a few notes for me. Her journey was compelling, her persona... not so much... From a narrative standpoint, I can see where staying with Dexter would be a constant reminder of what happened to her. I really think there was a reasonable measure of hero worship going on that was perceived as love. Transference, is it? Whatever, I think a lot of their mutual perceived attraction was based on similar, and harrowing, experiences. When you've been through something like that together, it's impossible not to feel connected. Once Lumen's demons had been excised, and her thirst for vengeance had been sated, I suppose it makes sense that she'd need to get out of there. At her core, she's not a killer. He is. That wouldn't be easy to live with for either of them. On the other, rather large hand, how the hell could she leave him?! After all this?! It just seemed like an anticlimactic sucker-punch. Dex's plate throwing helped add some heft to her decision to up and leave, but ultimately, it was simply confounding and disappointing. They've been through so much together and share so many secrets that it seems unfathomable for their partnership to end like this. Should she have left? Possibly, but not like this. I think the idea of them playing house together like everything is fine and dandy is an unreasonable fairy tale of an ending, so I don't quibble so much with them not working out, but I would have liked a more pointed, poignant end to such a journey. After such a nail-biter of a finale, it just felt like she packed a bag and said, "So... later." I can hear the needle scratching off the record in my head. He made her whole again and is willing to carry enough darkness for the both of them. That's too lovely a sentiment to have been met with such a pedestrian parting of ways. Dexter's reaction to the news was the real powerful note. Just heartbreaking. Such a break-up deserved something grander... more elegant. Sigh... I would have preferred the writers had found another way. Something subtle, but powerful. I don't know what that would be, and apparently neither did they.

The Big Bad, er, Bads
How do you top Trinity? You don't. How do you come pretty close? Have five sick bastards for the price of one. Like I mentioned prior, the middle of this season kind of sagged. I wasn't sure where the barrel girls storyline was headed and for several episodes, I wasn't sure I really cared if it went anywhere at all, assuming we'd end up in Criminal Minds territory (not that that's a horrible place to be, but it has been correctly indicted as 'torture porn' by more than a few critics). To a certain extent, that is where we ended up, but in a much more heartrending way than I expected. Unlike on Criminal Minds, we actually know one of the victims here. There was definitely an element of one-upmanship going on in terms of what kinds of horrible things could we possibly do that haven't already been done?, but it all carried much more weight here because of Lumen. We needed to see the horrors in order to understand the journey she was on. We had to see the horrors of humanity so that we'd have a new prism through which to view Dexter. At what point are people so reprehensible that Deb is willing to let a couple of vigilantes get away with their murders? Well, I think the writers hit the nail on the head with these guys. Johnny Lee Miller did a lovely (and by "lovely" I mean "disturbing as hell") job as Jordan Chase, the sickest one of them all, even though he "just likes to watch." Gilroy was truly menacing as his head of security, and Boyd's job as a roadkill removal guy took on untold and unexpected creepy dimensions. I can't say that this storyline was as cohesive as Trinity's, but it was at least as unsettling, if not more. Jordan Chase managed to make the self-help nut job an even more disturbing occupation than usual... impressive.

Deb and the TRUTH
Who all's sick to death of Deb getting this close to finding out the truth only to not find out anything at all? Ooh, ooh, I am! This is yet another point on which I'm pretty conflicted. I loved that Deb let the mysterious vigilantes go, but I think it would have carried a lot more punch if she's found out it was Dexter and Lumen and then let them go. I can see why the writers didn't do that though, and if my patience weren't wearing thin, I think I would have found it to be a more moving, powerful road to take. Deb's moral compass has always been pretty rigidly fixed. She has a code, too. And because of this innate sense of right, Dex has always believed that if she knew who he really was, she'd be horrified. Back when the Bay Harbor Butcher was at the center of debate, more than a few people said that they'd like to shake the man's hand, including Deb, but Dexter knew better... or so he thought. Dexter thought Deb would recoil in disgust, arrest him, and never look at him as a brother ever again. After this season's finale, I'm not so sure that's the case, and neither is Dex. Deb has been through some serious shit in her day and to a degree, she knows what the barrel girls went through. After watching all that footage and imagining the horror they endured, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find many people who wouldn't have at least considered letting the vigilantes who offed those sick sons of bitches go. I certainly would have. While I would have liked to have seen Deb find out that it was Dexter all along (it would have made for one hell of a game-changer for next season), I think keeping his identity a secret was a valid choice. Deb's decision to let the vigilantes go marks a watershed moment in her and Dexter's relationship, whether she knows it or not--and I like to think she does on some level. She tells Dex that he must be relieved now that it's all over... what did she mean? It was an intentionally vague comment that I'm hoping points to Deb's suspicions about her brother. I like to think that on some level, deep down, she thinks those silhouetted figures behind the plastic might have been Dex and Lumen. Whether that's actually the case, I'm doubtful, but I think it's high time Deb start to realize what's been right in front of her face all along. In letting the vigilantes go, she shows Dexter that she might not see him as a monster, even if she knew the whole truth. This is a possibility that he's never truly entertained and I think next season will be spent exploring the nature of justice and of right and wrong. "It's complicated..." Very complicated.

Plothole-a-palooza
One of the reasons I hoped Deb would discover the truth about Dexter (or at least develop some serious suspicions) is that it would help to fill some of the plotholes and loose ends that riddled this season. You see, if Deb knows the truth, maybe she came up with some story to cover why the car that Dex stole from Liddy's crime scene ended up at the new crime scene... magically... at the same time that Dexter never showed up back at the lab to do the blood work he was so eager to get to. Ooh, and maybe she casually got those pictures of Deb and Lumen dumping a body out of Quinn's apartment and then convinced him not to say anything because he loves her, or whatever... Maybe this is all one huge incredibly convenient conspiracy! How else would Dex falsifying blood evidence clear Quinn of all suspicion when there are absolutely no other suspects at this point? Oh, except for whoever Liddy was surveilling, of course, but that's beside the point (you know, because the Pacific Ocean is made of acid and all evidence thrown in immediately melts). Dex does have superpowers though, so maybe that's it. I'm sorry, how exactly did he get a giant knife out of his kit between the time the car crashed and the 8 seconds later when Jordan found him, hide it somewhere on his person without Jordan noticing it, then get it out of this magical knife compartment and cut his ligatures? Don't get me wrong, seeing him pin Jordan's foot to the floor was exciting and all, but I was so confounded with a little thing called reality that it took away a bit of the impact. What would have been better, and what I thought was going to happen, was that Dex had picked up Lumen's pocketknife, stowed it in his back-pocket (you know, because it actually folds in such a way that you can hide it on your person), and cut the ropes with that. It would have been just as meaningful (if not more), and a hell of a lot more logical. Sigh...

That list of logistics is really only the tip of the iceberg, but I'm moving past it. In spite of the problems and more ridiculous plot devices, I still enjoyed this season because really, the police work and whatnot aren't really what the show is about. It's still annoying and distracting when glaring problems arise in the plot, but this show, and particularly this season, was about Dexter's connection to the world around him. I'm hoping next season see Deb uncovering the truth early on (assuming she doesn't already know) and then exploring how her moral code is upset by the reality of the situation. I'm very eager to see how Deb handles the truth about her brother, especially in light of how she handled the vigilantes this year. It'll be an interesting dynamic and it's one of the primary reasons I'll be back again next season. From what I hear from the creative team, this is the last time they'll dangle the possibility of Deb finding out. It's inevitable. And about damn time. They've laid the groundwork that Deb finally understands the gray areas of morality and that's she's now in a position to possibly handle the truth. To the writers' credit, had they not laid this foundation and Deb had let Dexter go, there might have been cries of her actions being out of character. I think it would have made good sense, but I could go either way. Had she known it was Dexter and let him go, the audience wouldn't have known if she let him go because he's her brother or if it was because she accepted what the vigilantes had done. I can appreciate the decision to make it more insular and unequivocal than that.

Until next season, Dexter. Adieu.