# Dexter 13 Oct \*OPEN SPOILERS\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 15, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780 "2007-10-15T12:54:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780/41 "2007-10-17T21:31:50Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] Gosh, could it possibly be that **he loves her and the kids?!?** [/QUOTE] I thought it was made excruciatingly clear that he was a sociopath and had no feelings. Maybe the writers are trying to change that, but I didn’t think you could actually “cure” a sociopath. Harry Morgan did the closest that can be done, redirecting their impulses as productively as possible. Maybe that’s what he’s doing with Rita-- redirection to a different goal. But is it love? I don’t know. I think it would be corny as hell if the message of this show turned out to be “all it took was the love of a good woman.” Bleah. ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780/42 "2007-10-18T02:17:44Z")
I think LaGuerta is going much deeper - she’s still cheesed at the Captain and is planning to take him down with Esme as the tool. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780/43 "2007-10-18T02:32:31Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] I thought it was made excruciatingly clear that he was a sociopath and had no feelings. [/QUOTE] _He_ believes that. But in fact at least in the show ( I haven’t read the books ) there seem to be strong hints that he is fooling himself. His brother was a genuine sociopath, but Dexter appears to be just a little shy of that level of total alienation. I think there is reasonable argument to make that his foster-father jumped to conclusions and created a monster out of someone who could have been healed ( somewhat ) of his trauma with the right help. I think there were discussions along these lines in some of the threads from last season. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780/44 "2007-10-18T04:14:18Z")
[QUOTE=Tamerlane] I think there were discussions along these lines in some of the threads from last season. [/QUOTE] Yep, a lot of them from me. I place a great deal of blame at the feet of Harry Morgan. There’s no indication (in the series or that I can recall from the books) that he _ever_ tried to get Dexter any help at all. He found Dexter’s animal graveyard, decided Dex was a sociopathic killer and immediately started training him to be the best sociopathic killer he could be. ---
**Author:** ![jellyblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e480ec/32.png) [@jellyblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jellyblue)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780/45 "2007-10-18T05:41:17Z")
[QUOTE=Terrorcotta] I think LaGuerta is going much deeper - she’s still cheesed at the Captain and is planning to take him down with Esme as the tool. [/QUOTE] This is my take too. She has no real reason to be all that pissed at Esme, but every reason to want to make the biggest ass out of the self-important cheesehead captain as she possibly can. Esme didn’t screw her over - he did. Will someone kill Deb soon - _please_!!! I’m not convinced Dex is a _real_ sociopath either. He shows a considerable amount of Growth and Change - not something you see with true sociopaths very often. They might refine their game, but he has some degree of true empathy (his connection with the traumatized little girl) and that just isn’t consistent with sociopathy. I think he’s more a case of PTSD with repetition compulsion, but we shall see. ---
**Author:** ![Terrorcotta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@Terrorcotta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrorcotta)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780/46 "2007-10-18T11:19:53Z")
Say, what’s Deb going to think when someone (Rita or Doakes or the need for an alibi) spills the beans about Dexter’s AA meeting? Could that be what drives Deb into Lundy’s arms? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780/47 "2007-10-18T16:48:14Z")
Deb and Lundy? Nuh uh. Please no. I’m not picking up any chemistry between them. You’re feeling some chemistry? ---
**Author:** ![YPOD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e99b99/32.png) [@YPOD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YPOD)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780/48 "2007-10-18T22:04:32Z")
I don’t think that Dexter is a total sociopath - in both books and the series, he obviously cares for and enjoys the company of his sister. He doesn’t seem to think about that relationship as much as he does all the others, and it does not appear to be a “cover” for him. He does care for Rita, much to his surprize, but since he thinks he shouldn’t, tends to think it is not real. The kids he cares for, and remember, they have some of his killer tendencies. If nothing else, Harry wanted to be a good father, and maybe influenced Dex that way. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2007, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780/49 "2007-10-18T23:39:37Z")
dexter has been faking it so long he is living it. it seems anytime he may have a sliver of feeling, he shuts it down and goes into scientist mode. must analyze. brian is def. the true sociopath. dexter leans that way but does have a wee bit of connection left. his connection to harry, harry’s wife, deborah, rita, and the kids keeps him from falling totally into the socio pigeon hole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dexter-13-oct-open-spoilers/422780.md?page=2)