Holy crap. Lot’s of spoilers so don’t continue reading if you’ve not watched it yet.
Rita’s Death
So Rita is dead. That pisses me off. It’s not that the character was killed that angers me, she was a total nag all season and at this point there was nothing much else to do with the character. I’m pissed that they killed her before she learned the truth about Dexter.
Main characters die on TV shows all the time, but how could the writers/producers kill off Rita and not spill the truth first? Some people are posting on forums that “well maybe Trinity told her,” but that’s garbage because Trinity didn’t know the whole truth. I mean I’ve waited seasons to see the look of disgust on Rita’s face when she learns that at least in the beginning she was nothing more than Dexter’s beard. I’m so freaking angry. What about her ex husband? Or Miguel? Or Lila? I wanted Rita to learn it all!
Too Much Filler
With that little rant out of the way, let’s talk about the episode. On a whole it really wasn’t a great episode. The structure was as follows:
- Dexter Tries to Kidnap Trinity
- Dexter Ends up in Jail
- Dexter Gets in a Fight & Makes up with Rita
- Dexter Tracks down Trinity & Kills Him
- Dexter finds Rita Dead
Pretty much the whole episode was a set-up for the “twist.” As proof look at the whole sequence with Dexter getting arrested. That was filler. It was fluff added to explain why Dexter didn’t kill Trinity at the first chance he had. Then the rest of the episode really didn’t have much conflict or a sense of urgency because the writers were trying to protect the twist. Trinity showed up at Deb’s apartment but there was no sense of drama or that things were going to go bad. Boom we then cut to Dexter seeing Rita safely off in a taxi (they never did show the taxi driver, but a quick flashback or lines of dialog could easily explain when/how Trinity found her). From there he kidnaps Trinity and it’s easy sailing until the last few minutes of the episode.
Trinity’s Death
Where was the drama? The big smack down? I mean even after Dexter put Trinity on the table… there was a few lines of dialog but nothing good. Trinity was ok with dying and Dexter had a quick zinger and that was it. All season long Dexter has been questioning what it means to be a family man and Trinity was clearly created to serve as a juxtopostion for Dexter. So where was good stuff?
Dexter’s Arc
This season was all about Dexter having a story arc. The whole first episode was devoted to Dexter questioning if he could have a family while still being a serial killer. The villain of the season was a family man turned serial killer and in nearly every episode Dexter questioned how he can juggle both parts of himself. Ultimately, in the finale he decided to turn away from his darker half. I of course rolled my eyes because as Trinity said on his death bed, “You can’t control the demon inside of you anymore than I can control mine.”
My fear was that next season would all be about Dexter trying to fight his addiction, which isn’t interesting. Plus, because of the nature of the show he can’t beat it. Then Rita was killed and everything changed. So even the the last episode of the season sorta sucked, Dexter’s arc throughout the season is terrific. It’s a very Shakespearean tragedy type of arc.
Deb
About fricking time Deb learned the truth about who Dexter is and where he comes from. They set it up in last season’s finale so really it’s no surprise that she finally pieced things together. In fact when it happened, it had been so strung out that I just shrugged.
Supporting Cast
Uhhh so Angel and LaGuerta are going to move in together? That’s it? So the whole perjury thing was dropped? Does anyone but Dexter know yet? I want to see more!
At first I wasn’t happy with Quinn’s reaction to Christine’s death. You’d think he’s be a little more upset to discover he’s been sleeping with Trinity’s daughter, but I rewatched the scene where he and Dexter get into a tussle and now I’m ok. He clearly isn’t ok. My one concern with him is that they will turn him into another Doakes. He already knows something is wrong with Dexter and his attitude makes it clear he’s not going to let things go.
Where Do We Go From Here?
So although I was disappointed in the finale, this season was still one of if not the best season “Dexter” has ever had and it will be interesting to see what happens next. I have a friend who’s read the books and in them Cody is f*-up to the point that Dexter brings him on as an apprentice. So it wouldn’t surprise me if next season jumps ahead a few years until Dexter Jr is old enough to start learning the code from his father.
Though one thing I’m dying to see is the aftermath of Rita’s death. I want to see Dexter call homicide. I want Deb to question why Trinity went after Dexter. I want to see the kids learn that their mother was murdered. So hopefully, even if the show jumps ahead, we’ll still get to see that kind of stuff via flashbacks.
I’m hoping to see the aftermath as well. In particular because it’s very sticky. I wonder if it’ll be an out of order chronologically episode/season if they jump forward and we gets bits of what happened. Maybe even start with him in a holding cell or something like that. They have done a lot of setup with a lot of characters that sorta show Dexter’s “other” side (even though it’s not really what it was) This episode alone setup a bunch of things that we could easily see play out next season. A lot of people have suggested they’ll just give Astor and Cody to the grandparents to write them off the show, I hope they don’t do that, especially since essentially he is their father biological or not. It could be interesting if Dexter is a suspect in Rita’s murder trying to make it look like Trinity did it.
-Masuka, thinks Rita cheated, and knows Dexter knows about it.
-Quinn thinks he cheating on Rita and knows there is something up with him.
-The sheriff’s dept picked him up and saw him get super angry and then get sent home with wife the day before.
-he punched Elliot the next door neighbor
It’s probably a bit thin, but it wouldn’t be surprising if they were seeding stuff for the next season. I’m hoping they don’t turn Quinn into another Doakes. Maybe Deb can move in with Dexter and they can raise the kids as husband and wife since they already are in RL, hehe.
Getting out of the perjury thing seemed weird to me, they weren’t married when they committed perjury so how is it ok now? Also you can’t work with your boyfriend, but you can work with your husband in the same department? It was ok for filler, but I didn’t really care for that whole storyline. I’m thinking there will be some pay off next season.
Side note Harrison is the most calm baby in the history of babies, A to not cry at all until the cell phone rang, and B to not move from the poetic puddle of blood for like 5+ hours.
Maybe it was just a dream. I hope so at least. I don’t want rita to be dead. I wanna bang her!
They’ve already said in interviews it wasn’t a dream.
Here is the EW interview I read it in:
http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/12/14/dexter-boss-confirms-timeline-goof/
I thought the final episode was a fitting end to what I am starting to think is the very pinnacle of TV shows I have ever seen. – I cannot think of a single season from another show that has had me this hooked and has been this consistently impressive.
Structurally it was always going to be a bit jumbled, they had so much to fit in and we knew this going into it. I think it added to the relentless tension throughout the episode. I also think it was important for the twist to be as carefully protected as possible. Seeing as its so big within the show, any hint of it early on would have been really off-putting for the remainder of the episode and would obviously have spoilt the end. In this way I like that we felt the shock at the same time as Dexter, it made it a more heart-stopping, more real moment. If the audience had known befor dexter then the scene where he finds her would have been far less emotional.
Finally, as for Rita learning the truth, I personally am pleased that she never finds out. It would have added the possibility of one scene of acting which may or may not have been done well. We know that she would never be able to handle the truth and forgive him, that has been obvious by her lack of trust towards him for years. So it really would have added nothing to the storyline that we dont already know. So the one scene of acting aside, all that changes is our memory of Rita in the show, and mine will now always be that she loved Dexter right to her death. Something the show needed as everyone else who has died (that knows the truth and that matters) has always been disgusted by him. There was just no need for the wife that he loves to also know and have the same opinion of him.
He surely deserves that much as he ran around all season trying to keep his family together.
Just my opinion but it makes sense to me (although i have just realised how bad i am at explaining things)
Anyway, as i said at the start I think this is the best single season of a show I have ever had the pleasure to sit through. Can’t wait for next year!
I will say that watching the ending a second time now knowing is almost even more chilling, especially listening to Arthur’s final words to Dexter and then the subsequent message from Rita.