Dexter was born in the blood of someone he loved, his mother, and so it seems only fitting that he die in the blood, so to speak, of Deb, the only person he ever felt that same kind of love for. It’s the same sort of poeticism the show often deals in, such as with Rita’s death. The Trinity Killer left Harrison to be pulled by Dexter from a situation almost identical to the one Harry had rescued him from when he was a kid. It left him to wonder whether Harrison would grow up to be what he is.
Yet, it’s become more and more apparent that he has no need for concern. Outside of a couple moments in which Harrison’s actions gave Dexter reason to worry, moments clearly just meant to tease the viewer with the possibility as opposed to confirming it, all signs point to him growing up to be a (surprisingly) normal and well-adjusted child.
One might see Harrison and start to wonder if perhaps Harry was wrong to foster Dexter’s Dark Passenger, if the right nurturing could have snuffed it out before it got too out of control. Harrison could very well stand as proof to Dexter that he still has a chance at a normal life, that what he went through didn’t necessarily make him a monster beyond reform. Couple that with the chain of events concerning Deb and Sirko that I threw together and you could have the makings of an impactful final season. One that removes the focus from the external and places it wholly on the internal. The journey would be no less perilous than before. It would just be an emotional rather than a physical one.
And that’s exactly the direction I’d like Dexter to take as it winds to an end. I’m not saying they should take my ideas and run with them. Not at all. What I’m saying is I think next season, Dexter‘s last, would be best served by having Dexter finally realize the answers he never wanted to admit, not to Deb or anyone else. From the first episode, Dexter’s always been self-reflective, but it took Deb for him to begin seeing who he really is and what that means for everyone involved.
Now that she has, it’s probably only a matter of time before Dexter goes the way of Hannah McKay’s partner-in-crime, before he takes out the person most deserving of being on his table, himself. It would certainly make for both a fitting and poetic end to his story.
Bits and Bobs:
- Either I misunderstood or Quinn never agreed to that deal. So why would the man who offered it to him think he did? Just so you can introduce tension into his relationship with the stripper?
- Who Hannah McKay is and what purpose she serves is finally starting to come into view, thankfully. She wasn’t just along for the ride. That woman’s body they dug up was not her partner in crime’s victim, it was her’s. And she seems to get a sick sense of joy out of this whole process. Seeing their trophies again, digging up the bodies, being untouchable because of her immunity. Having seen this, it makes sense that Dexter would aim to take her out, which is just what we see him planning on doing in the preview for the next episode. One would think this means Yvonne Strahovski’s brief run on the show is about to be up, but that’s not the case at all. A quick look at IMDb reveals she still has seven episodes remaining, which means she’s not going anywhere soon. I just hope her character goes somewhere soon.
- Deb’s always hated LaGuerta’s way of handling police matters, so seeing her do her best LaGuerta impression when shutting down Batista and his suspicions about the bartender being innocent was telling. In that moment she saw the sort of person that Dexter was unwittingly making her into and it disgusted her even more than seeing the sort of person Dexter is and has always been. Without it, I think it’s safe to say that things would have been a lot different between the two of them, and I applaud the writers for bringing what seemed like a tangential storyline into the fold in such a way.