Dexter Says Good Bye... For Now

Well this remains one of the shows best seasons ever, possibly THE best. I was slightly off with my predictions as to who would be dead by the end of the season, but we did have to say some goodbyes.

Naturally Lumen and Dexter killed Jordan Chase. This was inevitable. There was no way he would get away and no way they would let him live. He was the serial killer bad guy guest star, and as the season came to an end, so did he.

But what was amazing was the way in which it happened, and what came after. Lumen carried out the kill, but you could see on her face that she no longer got that same sense of peace that she got from killing Tilden and witnessing Cole’s murder. But what was shocking was that Deb showed up and as Lumen and Dexter stood in shock behind the tarp she told them off, but in the end the part of her that could relate to Lumen thanks to the Ice Truck Killer let them go. This was the closest she has ever come to discovering Dexter’s true identity, but he got away undetected. Something makes me think she may never learn his secret now.

Then there was the Quinn storyline. He seemed to be stuck, sure to go down for the murder of Liddy. He even had blood on his shoe, but he couldn’t rat out Dexter, he couldn’t do that to Deb. And so he didn’t, and after Deb let Lumen and Dexter go, unaware it was them, he botched the blood test so that Quinn could get away without being framed for Liddy’s murder. Now he and Deb are together and she is happy for once. I couldn’t have been happier to see him escape this situation. Granted the show is called Dexter and so if it came down to it, Quinn would take the fall for the Liddy murder, Dexter would see to that. But Quinn didn’t divulge that he had been spying on Dexter with the help of Liddy and he got away without it being explored too deeply.

But the one gripe I have with the season finale is that Lumen, whose dark passenger had left her after Chase’s murder, left Dexter. She knew that he would have to keep killing, but she no longer felt the urge. She was “cured.” It broke Dexter’s heart to see her leave, and it was equally hard as a viewer to watch her walk away. After Rita's murder he needed Lumen, and he was closer to Lumen that he had ever been to Rita. Now I fear that he will never get another love interest. All that he has is his kids, and they will spend the summer with him, hopefully filling the void that Rita and Lumen have left.

I have no idea what to expect in the next season as all loose ends were tied up here, but this has been the case with past season finales too, only Dexter had Rita in the past, now he has no one, romantically speaking. Looks like we’ll have to wait until next September to find out what’s next at Miami Metro.

Dexter Nears the End

Dexter came closer than ever to getting caught in this second to last episode, “Hop a Freighter.” For a minute is seemed that Quinn was finally going to know the full truth, see Dexter in the act of killing, killing Liddy. But he didn’t get caught, not yet.

Lumen is now in the hands of Jordan Chase, an angry Chase who in the name of cleaning up “loose ends,” kills Emily Birch, his first victim. Dexter will do whatever he can to keep Lumen safe, but will he be able to get to her in time? Will he be able to get to her before Deb and all of Miami Metro descends upon Chase?

As there is only one episode left of the best Dexter season so far I’ve decided to look into how it could possibly end, and what the body count of those close to Dexter will finally be.

As I have said before, those who question Dexter usually end up taped to a table with a knife in their heart before reaching their final resting place in bags at the bottom of the ocean. Unfortunately, as I have really grown to like him, this means Quinn. He got too close and Dexter thinks he was working with Liddy, which he was until recently. It can’t end well for Det. Joey Quinn, which will leave Deb, yet again, alone and abandoned by the men in her life. Poor Deb.

And what of Lumen, the woman who got even closer to Dexter than Rita ever could have? I hate to say it here too, but I don’t know how there can be a happy ending for her and Dexter either. It will kill Dexter to lose another woman, especially one with whom he shares such a special bond, but I think that’s where it is heading.

As a bad guy has never made it past one season, the end is coming for Chase. But will that be before Deb catches on? In the preview for the last episode it looks as if Deb may finally find Dexter out. In all honesty I would hate to see this, it’s not the time. The last thing I want is for a season of Dexter on trial. It can’t end that way for him. Which means he either can’t get caught or if he does get caught, Deb will turn a blind eye to his deeds thinking this was his first time killing.

Only one episode left so soon our questions will be answered and naturally we will probably be left with even more in some insane cliffhanger that will keep all the fans on edge until next October. Happy watching.

Dexter and Lumen Take the Next Step

It’s official. The Lumen-Dexter affair has been weeks in the making and yet I was unsure it would come to fruition until seeing the latest episode. Part of me couldn’t stand the idea of Dexter being with anyone after Rita’s death (and honestly it is way, way, way too soon for him to move on) but he is able to share his true self with someone for the first time ever.

She knows absolutely everything about his secret life, and she not only accepts it but embraces it and joins in. Her experiences with Boyd and the gang have changed her forever. She could never return to her past life, made clear when she chose Dexter and killing in Miami over her ex-fiancé.

I couldn’t help but what in glee as Lumen and Dexter interacted in the past episode. It was like the stake out/reconnaissance mission was their first date. He bought her a pair of her very own black gloves, “just like yours” she says to Dexter. He watches her examine them with a goofy grin on his face. The two are becoming more awkward around each other, a tell tale sign that their feelings for one another are evolving.

When they actually go to carry out the kill of Alex Tilden, the fifth man in the photo from Chase’s camp days where the horror began, she dresses just like Dexter. Again that goofy grin as he says to her “you look perfect.” Their second date has begun. Instead of flowers, knives and kill tools. “They’re beautiful,” she claims as she runs her fingers over the equipment.

And there you have it. Lumen carries out the kill and she is able to find some peace and let Dexter in. Perhaps he is the only way she can ever find her peace and find some semblance of a life after her horrific experiences. Obviously, life with Dexter, knowing Dexter’s secrets, isn’t normal. But the two are comfortable and in their own way normal with one another. This is Dexter’s first real relationship, and he will be able to feel about Lumen a deep range of real emotions that he could never feel with Rita, may she rest in peace.

Dexter says, “I Love You”

The season is quickly coming to an end and as it is the ninth episode in a twelve episode arch some things have begun to reach a boiling point. First things first, it is blatantly obvious that the Santa Muerte murders are not the key serial killer arch as I though in the first few episodes, but rather it is the Barrel Girl killings. The audience knows it is Jordan Chase and his fraternity of killers carrying out these murders, but the fallout has yet to occur at Miami Metro.

Most importantly, this episode saw the introductions of many of the key characters. Astor shows up at her old home, where Lumen is staying, completely drunk and, unfortunately, looking like a prostitute. She does not take kindly to the fact that Dexter has a new “tenant” so soon after Rita’s death. Yet again Dexter has to play the role of daddy to someone old enough to observe what is going on, and be angry about it.

Deb also meets Dexter’s beautiful, young new tenant. It was exciting to see Lumen hold her own against Deb. When Deb says, with her typical attitude, that she didn’t know Dexter had a new tenant, Lumen responded, with attitude, by saying she didn’t know Dexter had a sister. Naturally no one believes it is exclusively a tenant/landlord relationship, which at this point it is.

But it was so refreshing and wonderful to see Dexter play the overprotective, devoted father again. He beats up the step dad of Astor’s friend when Lumen discovers she has bruises all over her body. This actually brings Astor closer to Dexter again, and she asks a really insightful question, does helping Lumen make Dexter feel better about what happened to Rita? She finally accepts that Dexter may not have been to blame, and he is hurting from the loss of Rita as well. And then it comes, the words that make this show so multifaceted and wonderful, “I love you.”

Dexter is capable of love, as we have known for some time now, but he is finally accepting what he is and redefining what he isn’t. In one of the most heartwarming father-son moments, Harry says he is proud of Dexter for protecting his daughter and he finally admits that he may have underestimated Dexter, that he is so much more than just a monster, and had he seen this years ago he may not have lead Dexter down this path. Again, this is why this show is successful. Dexter is not a monster, despite his questionable extracurricular activities. He is one of the most fleshed out characters currently on screen, and I think this show will go down in history as one of the all time bests.

Dexter 5.8: Dexter Revealed

As Dexter attends a seminar hosted by the charismatic if not zany Jordan Chase, he speaks of following your primal instinct and not being afraid to “take it!” This is something Dexter can understand all too well, further solidifying the reality that Chase and his chief of security Cole are cold-blooded killers. Chase makes a comment that everyone will die, “some of us sooner than others,” right as Dexter thinks these words. There appear to be startling similarities between Chase and Dexter – although we know Dexter is never to kill an innocent and as far as the audience can tell the fraternity of killers pictured as teens in Cole’s house follow no such code.

Hilariously, as Dexter surveys those in the audience, he states in inner monologue, “I’ve never been around so many people that made me feel normal.”

One scene I found to be particularly telling of what may be to come in the end occurs in a dialogue between Deb and Dexter. She admits to Dexter that she doesn’t feel bad about killing Fuentes, in fact she doesn’t feel anything. Deb concludes that maybe some people do deserve to die. We know that she and Dexter are not related by any blood lines, but could she have Dexter’s sociopathic gene? What this makes me think for the first time is perhaps in the end she will find out Dexter’s secret and be able to come to terms with it. Before this moment I would have never thought this possible. Above all else she cares for Dexter and the law, and as much as she loves him I always thought finding out the truth would shatter her – make her choose law over loyalty and love. But now? Perhaps there can be a happy ending for these two after all. This is all assuming she will one day find him out, which I think is inevitable.

There was another important scene in this episode which occurred between Dexter and Lumen. He allowed her to be in on the Cole kill, but only if she wanted to be. It has become apparent that he needs her and no longer wishes for her to leave Miami. It also no longer has anything to do with him thinking she would rat him out, which is interesting because she now knows EVERYTHING about his life. She knows Boyd wasn’t his first kill, he’s done this all before. She even holds his latest blood slide, Cole’s blood. Now she has even helped prepare a kill room, something no one has ever been party to. “This is who I am,” Dexter says. And Lumen accepts him, gaping character flaws and all.

As the two dump Cole’s severed limbs into the deep blue, (and Lumen takes active part in this aspect of the ritual) Liddy captures it all on film. There they are, Dexter and Lumen, disposing of their latest kill.

All in all this episodes is one of the most crucial to the overarching Dexter storylines that I have ever seen. This season is destined for TV hall-of-fame greatness.

Dexter 5.7: Traffic Violations

While this season still continues to impress, this is probably the weakest of the episodes to date. However, it was still enjoyable and propelled various plot points forward.

Lumen has now been free for a month but can’t take her mind of the obsession of tracking down her captors. She barely eats and she can’t sleep. She explains to Dexter that they still need to find “watch guy” and “suit and tie guy.”

In a serendipitous twist of fate, for Dexter and Lumen, these two men find themselves right in the middle of the Miami Metro Police Station after a truck carrying the body-filled containers from the landfill winds up in the middle of an intersection. The viewer knows that it was indeed suit and tie guy who was driving the vehicle.

Dexter decides that if he and Lumen are going to be the ones to deliver justice to these men he must lead the police off their scent. He places Boyd’s wallet in the truck and now Miami’s finest are searching for a man they will never find. One other interesting fact: apparently all the killers knew each other as teenagers…this is one story I can’t wait to hear more about.

Quinn decides he doesn’t want to be part of the Dexter investigation anymore as his investigator seems to be spinning out of his control, but leaving their arrangement proves to be impossible for him. He’s stuck just where he is.

In a tragic twist, the stake out at the club goes terribly wrong when one of the Fuentes brothers discovers a gun strapped to her thigh. Batista and Deb promise nothing will happen to Yasmine but she is shot in the back and killed instantly when LaGuerta makes what Deb and Batista consider a bad call. Deb ends up shooting and killing Carlos Fuentes when he had a gun held to a hostage’s head.

I never thought it would happen but I am begging to question LaGuerta’s sanity. She seems to be slowly losing her grip. I’m wondering how much longer she can actually hold on to her job.

One more important thing to point out is how quickly Lumen is becoming the only person in Dexter’s life, other than Harry, who knows all aspects of his life. He introduces Harrison to her, and admits in inner monologue how much he needs her. But will she ever truly know everything about Dexter’s private life? My guess – absolutely. Dexter is about to finally let someone fully in on his secret life.

Dexter 5.6: "Autoerotic Mummification"

The episodes this season are growing increasingly stressful as Lumen continues to complicate Dexter’s already complicated life. She calls Dex in the middle of a kill and requires his assistance to clean up her mess – she tried to kill one of her rapists and botched the job, claiming she had no idea how hard it would be to kill someone. Dexter at this point is a natural.

This is not a distraction that Dexter can afford. As it is he is already stretched so thin trying to do his job at the station and take care of Harrison, as well as allow time for his extracurricular activities. In a somewhat comical moment, Harrison said his first words “die die” and Dexter can’t help but be worried yet again that Harrison will turn out like he has.

As he and Lumen search through the warehouses to find Lumen’s injured attacker the two bicker back and forth. All Dexter wanted was for Lumen to leave Miami but she stayed and tracked down her attackers instead. Now he’s in trouble, something she doesn’t seem to understand, because everything Lumen does is traceable back to Dexter. She said she had to catch the men herself because Dexter wouldn’t help her, yet she still calls on him to help her when she fails.

In what was arguably the most stressful scene in the entire series thus far, Dexter sprints after his wrapped-up would-be next kill as Masuka and Deb are wandering through the warehouses looking for a possible homicide (Lumen’s attacker). They come within inches of catching him, but yet again Dex thinks quickly on his feet and poses the two dead men in what looks like the throws of a strange sex act, to which Masuka determines it was “autoerotic mummification.”

Meanwhile Debra decides she likes Quinn more than she had anticipated and looks on with jealousy while Quinn flirts with young women in the club while undercover to find the Santa Muerte killers. The two decide that they will become a couple – all the while Quinn continues his investigation of Dexter. Can’t imagine Deb will be too pleased when she finds out – and I have no doubt that she will. I can’t imagine where this season is going but there is no denying that Dexter is becoming all too sloppy and that is not a trait that he can afford.