Dexter Season 8 Episode 12 "Remember The Monsters?"

          At first, I was filled with an interesting combination of rage and sadness by the series finale of Dexter. I felt betrayed by the writers who made Dexter grow and struggle with being "human." The ending I had hoped for was the opposite of what really happened. However, I realized several things in this episode that made me understand the choices behind this final episode of Dexter.
          From the very beginning, Dexter was all about a man who couldn't fit into society. He struggled with girlfriends, his wife, his kids, his sister, and his job because he was a serial killer. He longed to be like everyone else. Slowly, he began to make progress on becoming normal. He had a girlfriend, got married, and had a kid. Dexter began to look like a normal human being. However, the grass is always greener on the other side. Dexter could not handle being normal. It is much easier to not care about others than to love and lose. SPOILERS! Dexter has lost everyone he loves. He killed his brother in season 1. Rita was killed by Trinity at the end of season 4. His step-children wanted nothing to do with him in season 5. Deborah finds out about Dexter at the end of season 6. She then kills LaGuerta and saves Dexter at the end of season 7. At the end of season 8, Dexter mercy kills Deb so she won't be left in a coma, he abandons Harrison and Hannah, quits his job and moves to an isolated location where he cannot hurt anyone else. It is easy to say based on these characters that Dexter has ruined many lives. By learning to be human, he cared for people, made sacrifices for them, and hurt many. This is what he realizes as he drives into the hurricane. Being with Dexter is like being an alcoholic. While it feels good now, the pain will come.
          While I understand the reasons behind the writer's decisions, I am not sure how they should have ended it. I would have enjoyed watching Dexter move to Argentina with Hannah and Harrison and watching Deb finally have a successful relationship with Quinn, but that would have been hard to do while keeping with the themes of the series. I feel like the fans deserved better and while it may have not fit with the rest of the series, the audience would have wanted it to end happily.
          In my mind, there are 3 ways this show could have ended: happily, a big bang, and the mercy kill. For it to end happily, Dexter would have gotten away with Hannah and Harrison, Deb would be with Quinn, and Saxon would be caught or dead. I feel like this is what the audiences wanted. For the big bang ending, Dexter would have gotten caught by Miami Metro, gotten into a huge battle with Saxon, or ended up in prison on the death penalty. While this seems to be the realistic ending, it wouldn't have gone over well. How the show ends is like a mercy kill. The kills weren't satisfying, but they were understood. Everything makes sense mentally, but isn't emotionally satisfying. When it comes to writing stories, I guess I have learned that emotions are more important than facts. If the ending feels good, the audience will learn to get over the flaws and missteps of the writers. However if the show ends with poetic character arcs and logical conclusions, but fails to meet the emotional needs of the audience, then nobody is happy.

Dexter Season 6 Episode 12 "This is the Way the World Ends"

          I don’t know what to say other than how awesome this episode could have been. The tension steadily rose throughout each episode, but my hopes for the conclusion were shattered. 

          The opening scene begins by showing Dexter drifting in the ocean on a piece of the boat until it becomes waterlogged and sinks. He than is rescued by a spanish fishing boat and taken to shore. One thing that I am thankful for is that he did not “simply” swim back to the mainland. This would have been extremely unrealistic and rather disappointing, but I figured that the writers wouldn’t be this cheap.

          For one of the few times in this season, the relationship between Dexter and Harrison is actually shown. Usually the two only appear in a scene casually as Dexter arrives home, but Dexter was seen spending quality time with Harrison playing and talking. Being the last episode of the season, their relationship must wrap up somehow to begin again in the next year.

          One by one, the pieces and questions in this enormous puzzle are finally being put in place and answered. The 3 most prominent examples of this is when Dexter covered up his relationship to Travis by punching a hole in the painting of him, Deb finding out she loves Dexter, and finally witnessing him kill Travis.

          Of all the things I have seen in Dexter, Travis kidnapping Harrison was quite predictable, but also incredibly creepy. However, as all this was happening I felt a level of anxiety that has disappeared since season 2. Dexter playing with Harrison one moment, losing him the next, than almost witnessing him being sacrificed made for an incredible build up that made my blood pressure rise and my mind go blank. This being said, the conclusion to this drama was incredibly disappointing. Not only was Travis not instantly murdered by Dexter for nearly killing his only son, but Travis was gone. One thing that I realized in this scene is that it subtly represents the story of Jesus. Dexter plays the role of God, watching his only son be sacrificed by his nemesis (Travis). Luckily, this episode doesn’t conclude like the bible, where the innocent son dies. 

          Now that I think about it, it only makes sense for Dexter to kill Travis in the church where many of the rituals were performed. Except now, a guilty person is being killed instead of an innocent one. For the first time in a while, Dexter performs his ritual on Travis 

          The religious banter flies between the mouths of Dexter and Travis as we watch and soak in the profound quotes. So far, the best quote of the season happens here. While making the sign of the cross, Dexter says, “I am a father, a son, and a serial killer.” While this is an incredible quote, it is also one to summarize the season. These are the 3 things that really matter to him. He does not believe in a god, and leaves him out of his life. Just as I said earlier, Dexter has started right where he left off, not knowing if God is real or if he should believe in him. It is for this reason that I think that Brother Sam’s character was virtually meaningless. 

          As viewers, we not only see Travis twisting the bible, but also are aware that Dexter is doing it as well.  I am incredibly disappointed by this seemingly unnoticeable act because it feels like Dexter has forgotten all that Brother Sam had taught him. He has stooped to the level of Travis, while committing a murder. Dexter and Travis may have more in common than they thought: they both kill based on principle and beliefs, they speak to their victims before they are murdered, and they both believe that they are doing the right thing.

          While the ending was good, I also found it unbelievably disappointing. It was blatantly obvious that Deb would walk in on Dexter as he was killing Travis for several reasons. First, Deb told Dexter to go there that night and finish up the blood work. Second, Dexter told Jamie Batista that he was going there in order to finish a task. Third, if you have been watching for 6 seasons, you should be able to notice how the writing works and make reasonable predictions. Fourth, doesn’t it seem like it would be the perfect twist? Yes. That is why it wasn’t the perfect twist, because we could see it coming. A twist like Rita’s death in the end of season 4 was perfect because it came out of nowhere and surprised us all. Fifth, this was hinted at in the finale of season 5, except Deb let Dexter and Lumen go. In this episode, Dexter (and the writers) failed to create Dexter’s kill room, which would have provided cover for Dexter (just like last time). The ending of season 5 could have easily been the same if the plastic wrap were to be missing. 

          As I watched the episode drawing to a close, I became furious. Lewis’ character was never explained. His creepiness around Dexter turned out to be a meaningless red herring that wasted time. While it felt like something cool could come out of it, nothing arose. Showing Dexter his serial killer game was bizarre, but buying the Ice Truck Killer prosthetic illegally and writing things on it was meaningless. While these things could be explained in season 7, I find that unlikely because people aren’t going to be focused on that at all compared to the new drama with Dexter and Deb.

          The “surprise ending” will make for an incredible 7th season, but in retrospect, season 6 was only slightly above average. Dexter didn’t change any of his beliefs, Deb realized she is in love with her brother, and all of the cute relationships (Deb and Quinn, and Batista and LaGuerta) were destroyed. This season had an enormous amount of potential and it was simply ruined. My love and respect for the writers of Dexter is virtually nothing now. 

          In conclusion, the only word I can think of right now is disappointed. 

Dictionary definition:

disappointed     disəˈ point id  

adjective

(of a person) sad or displeased because someone or something has failed to fulfill one's hopes or expectations

Thesaurus:

Upset, saddened, let down, cast down, disheartened, downhearted, downcast, depressed, discouraged, displeased, dissatisfied, frustrated, disgruntled