I have just finished watching the last episode of Dexter (late, I know, but school has been getting in the way of my TV watching schedule) and so I thought I'd do a review of it, because I have a lot of thoughts on the ending.
Now, the first half, I loved, I loved it to pieces. It was another classic Dexter episode, with the added 'Oh no, is Deb going to die?! I don't want Deb to die!' because, personally, I loved Deb. She had her short comings, her love life being one of them (because I don't care her and Dexter weren't related, her being in love with him was WEIRD and a bit incestuous, and so gave me the creeps) but overall, her character I enjoyed watching (maybe because she stood up for herself and swore a lot, unlike a lot of conventional female characters on TV).
Another thing I loved, was the suspense of whether or not Dexter was going to kill Saxon, and if him, Hannah and Harrison would get out of Miami without being caught. I was routing for the three of them to get out alive, and for Saxon to end up in a body bag. One last kill, for the greatest TV serial killer I've seen. And the kill, oh the kill was perfect! Watching Dexter stab Saxon in the neck, slightly symbolic of how Dexter has knocked out previous victims, was brilliant, and had me whooping at my screen in joy... and then the show went a bit down hill.
Now, I understand why Angel and Quinn let Dexter off for killing Saxon, because Deb was their friend, and in Quinn's case, lover. They wanted revenge for Saxon putting her in the hospital, fair enough. That bit I dealt with, and kinda agreed with, because where would the fun be if it was Dexter's own friends catching him out after a kill like that? At least when Deb found out, that had been a dramatic in-the-middle-of-a-massive-kill reveal! But, then, when Dexter got to the hospital, that's when I started to switch off and get very disappointed. The flashback to Harrison's birth was all very sweet and lovely, a nice reminder of where Dexter has come from, but as Dexter said goodbye to Deb before turning off the machine, I was a bit disappointed. To me, it felt like Dexter gave up a little on her, and was getting rid of her so he could get out of Miami with no ties there.
So as he carries her onto the boat, I'm still not feeling any kind of emotion as to his actions yet. For me, it was all a bit too symbolic of Dexter's old life, saying goodbye to the old, and hello to the new. And then, Dexter said something I can not forgive him for. He said he had to leave Hannah and Harrison forever to protect them from him. The line is so cliche and reminds me so much of Edward Cullen I nearly slapped my hand to my head screaming 'moron!' Yes Dexter, you are a dangerous serial killer, yes people around you die. And yet, Hannah can look after herself, and you've done a fine job of keeping Harrison out of trouble for years now, this does not mean you get to up and leave them! Deb died because she was a cop, doing her job, not because of you being a serial killer! She was recovering from the trauma of finding out who you are, but Hannah already KNOWS who you are, and Harrison needn't find out. So there is no need to leave them to live by themselves.
But, being the big 'hero' if you would call Dexter that, he drives towards the storm, and dumps Deb into the sea, again, symbolic of his other kills. She sinks, which wouldn't actually happen, as bodies float in water, but never mind, Dexter is still alive, mourning his sister. So, what does he do next? Drive towards the storm, facing certain death. At which point, I am screaming at the TV again 'NO DEXTER! GO BACK! GO BACK TO HANNAH AND HARRISON!' which of course, he doesn't hear. Someone invent a TV show where you can personally choose what the character does, please?
Anyway, so flash forward to Hannah and Harrison, who are looking at the news on the internet, where there's a report that Dexter is dead. She's upset, but she hides it from Harrison, and takes him out of the cafe, never to be seen again. We all think its over, but then we see a lumberjack yard, what's going on here then? We see none other than Dexter! He's alive! Woooo! But wait, why is he there, is he on a kill mission? What's going on? Why is he hiding in a room, which looks a bit like his own room, and why does he have a beard? There is no-one talking, not even Dexter's voice over, or Harry, his Dad who guides him on these things, talking. Not even a bit of music, just the sounds of the construction site outside. Dexter sits down, and stares at the screen for a few seconds, then the screen goes black. No explanation on what's going on, where he is, how he survived the storm, nothing. Just the lumberjack yard and the beard. Leaving a lot of questions. And naturally, I was not impressed.
I wanted a big, fantastic, mind meltingly awesome ending, where either Dexter get's his comeuppance for being the real Bay Harbour Butcher. Or maybe him actually getting away with Hannah, living a normal life with her, as she seems to calm his 'Dark Passenger.' But no, we got Dexter 'protecting' the ones he loved, by hiding away from them. With no explanation as to whether or not he still was killing (he proved in an earlier season he couldn't stop, so was he still killing, if so, was he still following the code, and if that was true, how was he checking these people were bad people?) how he survived the storm on his tiny boat, that clearly got smashed up, as we saw in a previous scene, or anything of the sort. I would have taken watching everyone die in a mass shoot out, or something similar over the ending we got. I'm highly disappointed in the ending, and I really wished it had been better. Dexter had been such a good show, that I had highly enjoyed watching, but this ending just wasn't up to par with the rest of the show.
