America’s favorite serial killer, Dexter Morgan, had his final bow last night in Showtime’s series finale of “Dexter.” There were disappointments taken to social media, claiming the series finale was a sellout. However, I think the writers ended the hit show the only way they could.
Dexter, Hannah, and Harrison are riding off into the sunset of Argentina, while Deb and Quinn continue their life in Miami? Sounds good in theory, but let’s be serious, it’s just not “Dexter” material.
From the beginning, we saw Dexter’s two worlds collide and come dangerously close. By day, he balanced his family and career in order to appear normal. The other part of him, his dark passenger, always got in the way of any humanity he felt in his other life.
Through the entire series, he struggled to feel what regular people do, but it’s just not who he was fated to be. Every single turning point in the series happened because of Dexter’s selfish addiction. It’s no secret he was responsible for the death of characters like his wife Rita, arguably Captain LaGuerta and, in last night’s episode, his own sister, Deb.
Throughout this season especially, we saw Dexter as more of a human being than a serial killer. The motherly figure character, Vogel, entered the season to make Dexter’s understanding of who he is come full circle. Dexter’s darkness makes him who he is. We love to love him. We root for him, but the same joy we get watching him take out bad guys is the joy he gets from doing the actual killing. His drug is killing; our drug is watching.
We are reminded of this during the shocking finale. Dexter gets into his traditional kill clothes and ends Deb’s suffering, takes her onto his boat and into the impeding storm. Viewers are led to believe he is going to kill himself and his sister.
When Dexter tells his son, “I love you. Remember that every day until I see you again,” I was sure he was long gone. Hannah reads about his boat wreckage and suspected death in the newspaper, chokes back her tears and walks off with Harrison in Argentina. The screen goes black and, simultaneously, viewers choke back our tears too.
It’s not over, however, as we see Dexter has actually survived the wreckage. He’s made a new life for himself as a lonely lumberjack.
Ok, so a lumberjack life isn’t exactly what we were expecting. But isn’t that what makes us Dexter fans who we are? We admire the element of surprise. Also, it’s kind of ironic he’ll still be “cutting things up” in his new life of solitude.
Two obvious endings would have been death or jail, but the writers chose exile. It’s odd, yet unpredictable considering his almost perfect getaway with Hannah. In regular “Dexter” fashion, the episode ends with us guessing whether Dexter chooses exile to remain free of all human contact or specifically goes into exile to continue killing.
“I destroy everyone I love,” Dexter said. It makes sense that he would end up alone since everyone he cares for ends up dying. Plus, it’s nice that Hannah got her dream of having a child. After all, one killer parent is better than two. Besides, Dexter wasn’t really cut out for parenting. Chances are Harrison would have turned out like him.
“For so long, all I wanted was to be like other people, to feel what they felt,” Dexter said. “But now that I do, I just want it to stop.”
When Dexter finally grasps what viewers knew he could reach all along, he banishes himself. If you stop and reflect for a second, you realize it’s brilliant.
For the last time, I find my emotions in sync with his. I disregard what a selfish father, brother and lover he’s been, and I find myself sympathizing with his “If you love ‘em, let ‘em go” philosophy.
