Has anyone else noticed that you get way more info from the trailer at the end than in some episodes?
If I didn’t know the series had been picked up for another season I’d be seriously worried about the finale.
See though, I don’t think Dexter has ever indicated that he relies on instinct in identifying killers. He may get an instinctive feel that a crime was murder rather than suicide (like with the shrink this season) but he still has to put in the investigative work.
Mr. Excellent, I stand corrected.
I think Doakes is a bit of a bully. He reprimanded another cop for shoulder-checking Angel after Angel reported him, but has no problem doing the same thing to Dexter for no reason at all. Plus, he’s weird-looking. 
You used the b-word! I find that offensive!
Although I don’t disagree that Doakes is a bit of a bully, that’s kind of missing the point of the scene. The uniformed cop that pushed Angel did it because Angel testified against Doakes. Doakes reprimanded him both to let Angel know that they were still cool and to relay the same to the rest of the department. It’s especially meaningful since Doakes was similarly ostracized earlier in the season.
Brother!
I did, and did not, see that coming.
Rudy/Brian must have been watching Dexter all their lives. He didn’t have to “take time to get to know” Dexter (as Dex said in an early episode), he already knew him. And very well, o push all the rigth buttons. As soon as ‘Rudy’ was revealed, I knew it was not coincedence that he was dating Deb. I knew he had to have a connection to Dexter. I just didn’t know what that connection was
That has to be one of the best things I’ve seen on TV in a long, long time… The connection was perfect, the execution (pun intended) was truly exceptional… Knowing Dex will “win” is one thing… being on edge trying to figure out “how” he will win is something else entirely.
I’m curious whether this was the same storyline as the novel. Perhaps someone who has read the book can post in a spoiler box?
I haven’t read the books, but I’ve been reading spoilers at another board, and according to them, the major twist was in the first book.
I realize that some of my dissatisfaction (and it’s minor) has to be laid at the feet of the original author but I found the whole “Harry takes in Dexter but leaves Brian to rot” scenario to be very strained. Harry the great and compassionate takes pity on the three year-old but dismisses the, what, six year-old as a hopeless case, condemning him to live out his life in foster care and separated from his only remaining family? That just doesn’t make any sense to me. It struck me as a very forced reason for the separation of the brothers. Nor do I believe that a newspaper would leave out that not one but two children were found alive at the scene. Any reporter worth her salt would’ve dug into the background of the murder victims and discovered that Mother had two children unaccounted for.
Wasn’t too happy with the parade fantasy sequence at the end but that’s a small quibble. I did love the I heart Dexter poster with the most unflattering twisted looking shot of Dexter imaginable on it.
Overall, though, I’m pleased with the ep. The groundwork is laid on several fronts (Doakes, Rita, what exactly did Deb see and hear as she was coming to) for the next season. The two female lieutenants could make for some interesting drama as well.
I didn’t like that either, Otto. What did Rudy say? Something about how Harry saw something in his eyes and didn’t want him? But that’s from Rudy’s point of view. Rudy felt rejected. Maybe Harry leaving him behind, even for a minute, maybe that’s what turned him. We saw him being loving with Dexter, putting a bandaid on his knee, etc.
(I can believe that the kids would be kept out of news reports, to protect them.)
But I’m starting to wonder about Harry, whether he projected too much on Dexter, made him believe he was twisted and needed to be untwisted. You tell a kid he’s stupid or clumsy or ugly and he comes to believe it. Maybe Dexter would have been okay with some straight-up counseling.
But then we wouldn’t have a story, would we?
Maybe it’s the times we’re living in, when every baby bump and Suri-come-lately gets her picture in he tabloids for just existing, but I would find it hard to believe that there wouldn’t be a single reporter in Miami, let alone the country, who wouldn’t have a “the kids who witnessed the slaughter” angle or at the very least mention that one of the victims had two children who were missing.
I have been saying this for weeks. I just don’t believe that Dexter is really a sociopath. Clearly he connected emotionally to Harry and Harry’s opinion, even after his own death and the revelation of his betrayal, matters to him. He has connected with Deb. He’s connected with Rita and the kids to the point of lashing out in anger at the scuzzy husband. It matters to him what these people think and he cares for them, He was deeply emotionally conflicted over killing Rudy/Brian. But Harry took one look at the pile of animal carcasses that young Dexter generated and pegged him as a sociopathic serial killer in waiting and then made sure it would happen by giving Dexter license to kill within the confines of Harry’s imparted personal code. I haven’t read the books but I would be interested to know if they, or the next series, explores this notion further of what Dexter could have become were it not for Harry pretty much forcing his hand.
Well… Rudy/Brian made it reasonably clear that he wasnt even put up for adoption… he pretty much went straight to the mental hospital from the crime scene, and his issue was that he was never able to supress the memories at all…
So, while we don’t have the detail, clearly Rudy/Brian was much worse off from the get go… probably due to his being older and more aware.
Could be that Harry saw Rudy/Brian doing “something” in the crate that we aren’t privvy too as well…
“Your dad was a good honest cop, but something he saw that day changed him forever… leave this one alone Dex”.
It’ll be interesting to see if the records lady knew about the other brother, and if any record exists that would tie Brian to Dexter by means of last name… and I’ll lay a dollar on it that this is the path that Doakes takes… and what affect, if any, the public knowledge of that fact would have on Dex’s life.
How about our boy, Dexter, taking it to Doakes? Apparently Harry made sure he had hand to hand combat training.
Good point. But I’m willing to believe that the cops got the kids out of there and managed to keep them out of the news. And if no one was ever arrested, there wouldn’t have been a trial, so the cops wouldn’t have had to lie in court about what they found.
The 70’s weren’t quite so bad as now. Children were more protected, publicity-wise. No Nancy Grace. No Geraldo.
You’re probably where I got the idea. 
simster, I think Camilla the records lady did know about the other child, and that there’s still more to learn about the kids being in the container for two days. And Doakes, for one, will wonder why Rudy targeted Deb – a cop, of all people. They’ll be checking Rudy’s background and find out he was adopted, won’t they?
It seems to me that self-preservation was high among Dexter’s reasons for killing Rudy. If Rudy disappears, then the investigation into his background would be conducted with a fine-toothed comb. With Rudy dead, the investigation will probably be more cursory.
Once it’s established that Rudy was institutionalized from childhood, the story of where he come from and what happened to his family is much less important.
I’d also bet that Harry would have done something to muddy up the paperwork connection between Dexter and the rest of his family.
About the shoe: I was expecting Dexter to spot it under a hedge or something on the way to his car and think to himself, “Glad I saw that. Sure could have made things difficult later.”
As it is, I’ll be interested to see how Rita reacts. Given her history, I think she’s likely to see Dexter as someone who was willing to do something extreme to protect her and her kids.
After years being abused by an addicted asshole who is still abusive even if he’s not using, she’s finally with a guy who wouldn’t hurt her or her kids, and in fact did something she believes to be out of character for him, both personally and professionally, to protect her family.
She very well might see Dexter as a hero and not a criminal, kind of like in his daydream. I’m looking forward to next season.
Rudy’s records will be at the hospital, and may contain some documentation of his arrival there, inthat he was a survivor of a horrific crime… it may/may not contain any information on a “brother” or other survivors… but rudy never was adopted, and I doubt that Dex’s adoption records would be mixed in with Rudy’s.
My question is wether or not anyone else knows Dex’s “birth” name… although with Rudy killing dear old dad and Dex being the administrator, I suppose there is now a connection there.
Camilla (thanks for the name!) said that the original records of Dex and the crime scene were destroyed (by her) when the adoption went thru… and I’ll bet that the adoption records themselves would;ve been lost as well.
I think it would be interesting to find out more about why Harry went thru the trouble he did…
Yes. When Dexter got to be an adult, why couldn’t Harry tell him that he was found at a crime scene and his mother had been killed? It’d be a hell of a shock, but it’d be something an adult could deal with.
Camilla left Dexter with the impression that there was more that he didn’t know, even after Dex found the newspaper clipping. Could it have been just the news that he had a brother? Another shock, but not so terrible, and it’d be good news for most of us.
Maybe Rudy chewed on the bodies. Maybe they both did. It had been two days. I can’t go two hours without eating or drinking something.
I thought in an early episode it was established that Dexter did know he was found at a crime scene. The specific memories were buried but he had been told.