Which, of course, brings up another of Deb’s flaws: She had no idea what kind of weapons the vigilantes had. They could have shot her dead while she was being nice to them.
Only if he can stay alive and free! No ending the show by killing Dex or jailing him!
It was pretty obviously a warning shot. She was four feet away, if she wanted to shoot them she would’ve hit them.
She told them to stay still, and when they moved a little, fired off a warning shot. They couldn’t have drawn on her.
I don’t think Dexter sees it that way at all. He’s not looking to serve justice, he’s looking to find an outlet for his homicidal tendencies that he can rationalize away as being acceptable.
I agree with you, he’s doing it because it’s the least bad thing he can do given his circumstances. The Lumen set of murders was an exception though.
One thing I really liked was Dexter’s facial expression when Lumen killed, uh, the first person she killed. Hall did a great job portraying gleeful hunger in that moment.
I don’t think Lumen’s rapists were much different than any other of Dexter’s kills. It was just a more compelling rationalization.
Thing is, almost all of Dexter’s murders now are exceptions. In theory, he kills because he has to and serial killers are just a practical target given to him by his father so he doesn’t hurt the innocent. But in the show, almost all his killings are driven by a sense of justice, a desire to protect someone, practical concerns (get him before he gets you), etc. He’s been a vigilante killer almost since season 1.
I like the show, but it ran away from its premise really early on and never looked back.
The premise wouldn’t work as a show. From episode 1, Dexter’s narrator bits were a constant source of worries, likes, dislikes, and statements of caring and kindness. That all flies in the face of being a sociopath. He loves Deb, Aster, and Cody, as well as Harry. Rita was always halfway a front, and certainly his version of love is a bit more shallow than most’s, but overall he’s far from being a monster. And if he was, people wouldn’t be interested in watching him.
His narration in the first season actually is pretty amoral. He cares for Deb as a special case, but other then that everything is more or less a front. All his friendships in the office are put ons. He dates Rita because she doesn’t want to be too intimate. He kills serial killers not because he’s concerned about their future victims, but because he needs to kill and Harry trained him to go after serial killers to sate that need. He still has worries, likes and dislikes (and in regards to Deb, even emotions of caring), but they’re almost all centered on his serial kiling and keeping his serial killing secret.
So I think they could’ve kept going in that vein and kept the show interesting. But as you say, Dexter would’ve been a monster, and presumably the writers felt the audience wouldn’t keep rooting for a monster.
I’m a season behind you here in the UK, but after seeing season 4 and reading this thread, I think the only way they can wrap up Dexter finally will be with a lethal injection or a Butch and Sundance moment.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the series, but there really is only one way it can truly end, if it is to maintain any reality at all.
Maybe in a few years we can have a sequel of sorts as Harrison follows in his father’s footsteps. Although with no Dexter or Harry to guide him he might not last long.
Walker! What kind of crazy are you to read this thread before you have seen this season??? Why ruin it for yourself??
Luckily I have a bad memory, by the time the DVD comes out I won’t remember enough to spoil it.
Plus I’ve only skimmed a few juicy bits and not read every spoiler.
The way to end it is to have Dex be the ‘victim’ of an even better Serial Killing avenger - the other way would be for him to turn himself in (or do himself in) after these floods of emotions make him realize he’ll never have anything as long as the mosnter is alive.
Every season has had him trying to be more human, only to be shot down at the end - and each shot is closer to the heart - as evidenced this season.
If Dexter found another Dexter-like serial killer, would he kill him?
Like a Trace Buster Buster Buster, but with Serial Killers?
Other ways Dexter could end -
1.) Mike, Sam and Fi convince him to leave town
2.) Horatio glares at him after removing his glasses.
3.) The BAU get involved - probably requires Gideon to come out of retirement.
4.)
The writers of Dexter aren’t interested in moving the story along. Each season we get a new prime target, a new emotional interest, a chance that Deb will discover everything, and all just to resolve itself so that the next season can be exactly the same. Breaking Bad or Sons of Anarchy have an actual advancing story line from season to season, but Dexter doesn’t. Technically speaking, yeah he got married, yeah his wife died, but in practical terms nothing different happened because of any of that.
Overall, I don’t see these writers choosing to end the series with Dexter’s death. I doubt that they’ll ever even reveal his secret to Deb (or if they do, they’ll immediately kill her off and replace her character with Aster or someone that Dexter wants to protect). At the end of the series, at the most he’ll have decided to move to a new town to start all over again. But, he’ll have his kids along and a boat. Everything will be much the same.
Probably not. He didn’t kill Lumen. He was also okay with the mayor up until he started killing for his own benefit.
Not the mayor – the DA.
Well Deb and Dexter, married in real life for two years, are getting a divorce. This may have been the biggest reason why Deb didn’t learn of Dexter’s secret this season even though everything about Deb’s character and the storyline was leading up to that moment.
Rumors abound about Deb even making it through the next full season.