Not a bad finale, but it's high time they stop with the eternal game of footsie and move the ball off the mark. I would have ended the episode with something that reveals that Deb knew it was Dexter behind the curtain and she wasn't ready to confront him with it. I also think they missed an opportunity to keep Lumen in the story next season and far from having her conveniently lose her dark passenger (in a psychologically unconvincing twist; trauma just doesn't vanish overnight like that), have her become crazier and crazier, until she's a threat to Dexter but can't admit it to herself, much less him. I don't believe that killing all the rapists would cure her magically like that. The writers need to show some guts and make choices that change the story permanently. They're being too conservative for a show like this.
Well, that was a little underwhelming, considering the possibilities. Not bad and still orders of magnitude better than anything else on TV, but Dexter can do much better. They could've made Deb find out about Dexter or let us understand that Quinn knows that something's up with Dexter and that he suspects Dexter to be connected to Robocop's death (after all, he still has shots of Dexter and Lumen on the boat), but the writers chose the easy and predictable path of "everything is back to normal".
It was underwhelming to tie a bow onto everything, but Quinn knows that Dexter faked the test result for him so that's got to go somewhere. And if you really want to kick a future season into high gear, have Deb find out in the FIRST EPISODE. There's your arc.
I think the scene in the basement... when Deb's on one side and Dex is on the other... I have a feeling that particular moment will be something Dexter might bring up when she find out about his Dark Passenger. Coming to Ipod: The Dark Passenger App. Prepare your kill room! Coat the room in plastic. Prepare some take-down drugs. Take a blood sample from the cheek! All with the touch of a button! Lumen will be back. I enjoyed the finale very much, but I'd be much more eager for the series to continue had Deb found out. As it stands, I'm pretty satisfied but not frothing at the mouth for Next Time on Dex.
That was more of a character piece finale, something we have never really gotten before in the show. I loved the scene with the curtain seperating Deb and Dexter it was a wonderful metaphor of things to come and I love the twist that Quinn knows not Deb. I wonder if Quinn realises that Dexter was behind Chase and his friends dissapering and that he only seems to go after bad people and that Dexter is not just sort crazy serial killer. I know we all want it but with the show possibly getting a 7th season after the 6th next year, it would change formula too much to let her know now. Deb finding out is going to be Dexter's downfall and the end of the show. Overall the 5th season was a good season of TV though probably the 2nd weakest Dexter has produced but it was still VERY GOOD September 2011 hurry up.
I wish the season finale had went that direction that could have set up a very interesting Season 6: "Refusing to let Lumen leave his life, Dexter injects her with a sedative and goes to extreme lengths to restore her Dark Passenger while holding her captive. He starts looking for potential victims whose crimes could stir up Lumen’s hunger for retribution that she once had with Jordan and his rape group." It could have been a way to go back to exploring the darker side of Dexter who's reached the breaking point after going through his share of disappointments and failures with other people he thought he had a connection with like Miguel and Lila. It could have also been a way to give the Dexter/Lumen relationship that bent, passionate craziness I was talking about and mold it into having that terrifying Macbeth vibe Temis the Red-Nosed Vorta was talking about a while back.
So Dexter does to her a lighter version of what Chase and his rape club did? That would definitely win Lumen's heart ...
This was a fairly entertaining season but not one of the series's best. I wish they had found some other way to resolve the Quinn / Dexter conflict, preferably something more in alignment how they used to characterize the Quinn character. I don't think he'd just turn a blind eye to whatever Dexter is doing, love-struck though he may be. They'll probably resurrect this thread again next season, at least until Quinn gets distracted by some bright, shiny object.
This season was such a let down. I was waiting and waiting and then waiting some more for some amazing twist, turn like Season 4 and absolutely NOTHING!! I definitely would rank this as one of the worse let downs in television history. There's Deb, right there on the other side and it would have been so great if she found out Dex was there. I mean this season was worse than the very predictable network television shows. I didn't expect this from Dexter so it's very disappointing. Let's see what Season 6 has in store but they better go back to the Season 4 route to have me stick around.
Wow - it seems pretty unanimous that this season pretty much stunk! And did I miss something(attention span is not up to snuff these days and I only watch tv now in the corner of my monitor while doing other stuff - not enough time in my day and most shows do not deserve my full attention)but why did LaGuerta congratulate Deb on solving the barrel girl deaths when there was no body at the kill site? Didn't Dex and Lumen(HATE that name btw)get rid of Chase's body and cut it up? As far the Miami PD know, SOMEONE was killed at the camp and presumeably the vigilante(s) is/are still on the run. Sloppy writing this season and I rolled my eyes at the car crash deus ex machina(was I supposed to be impressed?)to get Dexter into Jordan's clutches. This show USED TO BE better than that and besides, anybody watching Dexter is beyond the hick yokel type that is going to exclaim, "Oooooo lookit that Tullulah-Belle - they done made a VEE-HICK-EL go WHAMMO!!!!" Lame. Just let Deb find out ALREADY!!!
Deus ex machina? You need to look up the definition of that term. We saw the digger that Dexter ran into when Jordan was headed into the camp, and Jordan knew he would be in a hurry, so I thought it was fairly obviously implied that Jordan moved it into a place where it would be hard to spot until it was too late. Overall, however, the episode was definitely a letdown, and I can't help but feel that the show will be seriously spinning its wheels next year. I think they're going to need to seriously shake things up early on if they want to keep it compelling. That said, overall season 5 is still stronger than season 3.
Its weird cause on other boards, where I go to check on TV news/ratings etc, the season seems to have gotten better reception from fans and critics overall seem happy enough.
Man the Deb/Dex thing was such a cop out. It really feels like they chickened out there. All of the "Deb almost finds out!!!!" near misses are just getting obnoxious. I thought they had set up Deb learning Dex was the "vigilante" and accepting it pretty well. It's a shame they didn't go there.
When Deb finds out she will not accept it, she needed that curtian because if she saw the faces she kne she would have to take them in. Brother or not, I believe Deb will not accept Dexter for who he is. awww Ratings News 2.5 million for the live and 2.9 with the same night repeat. The show has averaged over five million when Showtime included all weekly repeats + DVR + On Demand site viewers. Infact with all of that above included Showtime has said they expect 6 million will have watched the season finale.
From the dialogue of their last scene together, Deb said a lot of stuff to Dex about learning that people weren't who you always thought they were, and about secrets and deception. And while all of this could refer to her earlier revelations about Harry, and her recent squabbles with both LaGuerta and Quinn, it could also be interpreted as referring to a strong suspicion of Dexter and his true nature. To tell ya the truth; I not only think that Deb knows the truth about Dexter, but that she's known in her heart of hearts for a long, long time. Perhaps even since childhood. In fact, I'm beginning to suspect that her becoming a cop had more to do with her wanting to help protect Dexter than any desire to follow in Harry's footsteps. And as for Lumen leaving... Well, we've seen her get as far as the security check at the airport, with boarding pass in hand, and it came to exactly nothing. Moreover, Julia Styles let some info slip earlier in the season about the relationship between Lumen and Dex and where it was ultimately going, and the relationship she hinted at didn't really materialize. The question is, did it not materialize because TPTB altered their plans; was she simply wrong or projecting her own wishful thinking; or have they simply not materialized yet, because the relationship still isn't over? I'm guessing the latter, and think we have not seen the last of Lumen. Not by a long-shot.
This is what I'm thinking they're going to do . Sure it would have been nice to have that revelation in this episode, so we're left wondering what will happen. Temis is right though, the writers need to grow a pair and turn Dexter's world upside down from here on out. My only complaint for this season was that he got over Rita's death pretty quickly, although for somebody somewhat void of emotions I guess it works. I wonder how they'll solve Liddy's murder.
Huge let-down for me. Many others have stated the same problems I had - a few too many contrivances, the Dex/Deb copout, Lumen leaving, and everyone gets off way too easily in the end. The whole Dexter universe is starting to seem a little too convenient. Other things that bugged me were: - Deb driving up to the camp - possibly an incredibly dangerous situation - completely alone, without calling for any backup before going in. She's not that stupid. - Deb getting credit for "solving the Barrel Girls case" - uhhh...no she didn't. - Jonny Lee Miller hamming it up waaaaay too much. Distracting. Too bad, as everyone else (especially Jennifer Carpenter) gave great performances this week. Overall, I'd say it wasn't a great season. Good ideas, let down by the writing and trying to do too much. We had 6-7 episodes of Santa Muerte and developing Officer Manzon's character (who I liked a lot, actually) that ended up serving no purpose except to get Deb into the file room for 2 scenes, and then Manzon is never mentioned again. We had the World's Best Nanny, aka an easy way to get Harrison out of town so Lumen could move in. I haven't seen season 3 since it aired, but I recall the writing being much tighter even if it wasn't the most exciting season. I hope the show steps outside the box a bit more for Season 6 and starts taking some risks again.