Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER**

[Joe Washington]

Do you think because of Rita's death Dexter is going to quit killing people blaming it as the reason why Rita's dead but in the end, he becomes overwhelmed by the pressures of a kill-free life and succumb to the urges of his Dark Passenger? Like when Walter White try to quit the drug dealing business in Breaking Bad because of what happened in the Season 2 finale but because life without it was going wrong, he went back into it. Would you interested in a storyline like that?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

I was a bit leery of even peeking in here - worried that you were going to say what the S5 plotline actually is.

I don't think Dexter can stop killing, under any circumstances. The whole premise of the series is that he can't stop. If he could, then all the stuff he's done to accommodate his psychological needs becomes silly, and the whole show is undermined. He might try to stop early in S5, but that's not gonna last long.

Like when Walter White try to quit the drug dealing business in Breaking Bad because of what happened in the Season 2 finale

Walter White is not insane, so that's an entirely different thing.

However, I have stumbled across some spoilery tidbits for S5...

Spoiler: Dexter S5

Julie Benz is going to make a re-appearance - possibly a flashback or a Harry-type vision? And I glimpsed what seemed to be a promo poster for S5, can't find it now, but it had Dex with the hands of all three kids in the photo - implying he gets custody of all the kids.

 

[Tulin]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

"Has the hands"

Or maybe he cuts them off?

 

[Mojochi]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

I was a bit leery of even peeking in here - worried that you were going to say what the S5 plotline actually is.

I don't think Dexter can stop killing, under any circumstances. The whole premise of the series is that he can't stop. If he could, then all the stuff he's done to accommodate his psychological needs becomes silly, and the whole show is undermined. He might try to stop early in S5, but that's not gonna last long.

Like when Walter White try to quit the drug dealing business in Breaking Bad because of what happened in the Season 2 finale

Walter White is not insane, so that's an entirely different thing.

However, I have stumbled across some spoilery tidbits for S5...

Spoiler: Dexter S5

Julie Benz is going to make a re-appearance - possibly a flashback or a Harry-type vision? And I glimpsed what seemed to be a promo poster for S5, can't find it now, but it had Dex with the hands of all three kids in the photo - implying he gets custody of all the kids.

I had a strong feeling that this was the way they were going to go with season 5. Dex having both a devil & angel kind of influence. One persuading him that his dark passenger is inescapable, & the other persuading him that he has the ability to carry on being what he was trying to be & what everyone else sees him as

The ironic thing is that he couldn't stand the exposure & lack of privacy that the developments of the last season or two have brought on, & that challenge will become even more difficult with this new development. All kinds of people will be involved in his life now

 

[stj]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

The Dexter in the novels can't stop, because the author likes the killing (even if he will go tsk, tsk occasionally for a hypocritical obeisance to conventional morality.)

The television Dexter has been going sane. Dramatically, the culmination of the series is when Dexter genuinely realizes what Harry did to him and finally decides what direction hwill take. They've dragged out the disenchantment with Harry but I doubt that season four saw Dexter truly get that Harry was a nut who psychologically abused him, instead of helping him. True, Dexter's trumpeted that he's taking his own course but that's not possible, no matter how much he misunderstands himself, until he knows where Harry sent him.

The proper endings for the series are Dexter gives himself up, or commits suicide, or quits. Getting caught would be logical but irrelevant to the fundamental dramatic choice. Dexter getting away with it, winning, is not a dramatic choice, it's just character driven BS. We're already way past the point where Dexter winning is plausible, it's just a nasty little fantasy for moral pervs.

If Rita and the kids were ripped away so that Dexter can keep on killing indefinitely (an absurdity by the way,) without actually troubling to reject the sane life because it was, how sad, taken away from him, it will be a complete devaluation of the first three seasons. In those he rejected a brother who accepted his killing, a lover who accepted his killing and a friend who accepted his killing. If we find out at the end he was just a doofus who didn't know when he had a good thing, what is the series worth? Five years is a long time for a man to discover what fool he is.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

The television Dexter has been going sane.

In S3. Then the writers realized how boring this would be, and steered Dex right back into Crazy Lane.

The proper resolution of his story, which stays true to the character, is for Dex to remain Dex and the world to change, so that they see him for who he is and accept him. That seems like a pretty tall order, so I don't know how they end the story.

But they had better not end it by Dexter "getting over" his need to kill. That would render everything that's happened a joke - if he could "get better," then his justification for previous killing evaporates and he should turn himself in to the authorities for immediate prosecution and punishment.

It also undermines the core of the character, that we love him despite his being a killer (or maybe because) . For him to suddenly have the option not to be a killer is a mammoth cop-out. I have enough respect for the writers that I think they'd understand that.

On top of that, it's psychologically implausible that anyone who has shown himself to be so immensely damaged would spontaneously get better for no good reason at all. Even a serious attempt at psychological counselling and massive amounts of drugs shouldn't work. They've sold us this character as damaged beyond repair, and they can't back out now.

The proper endings for the series are Dexter gives himself up, or commits suicide, or quits.

He can't quit. That's the bullshit cop-out ending that I'm sure the writers would know to avoid. He needs someone to stop him, so giving himself up or suicide are options, but my hunch is that the writers will want to give Dexter more of a "win" ending than that. It would be more consistent with the series tone.

However, what that ending is, I have no clue. None of the options seem to work. Maybe it could be him vanishing with Deb and the kids - who by then know and accept him for who he is - and living on some Caribbean island (maybe in the path of the drug trade, so he'll have a steady supply of worthy victims). But then the story doesn't feel complete.

 

[Venardhi]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

I think Dex has to die. He will never know peace other than in death. He will go out a hero though, and someone in his life will make sure he is remembered that way.

 

[Harvey]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

The television Dexter has been going sane.

In S3. Then the writers realized how boring this would be, and steered Dex right back into Crazy Lane.

That's one possible reading of it. But (at this point) you could read the series in an opposite direction: it's about Dexter realizing he can't have normal human connections.

But, hell, I'm totally cribbing this thesis from the AV Club, so I'll just quote the relevant passage:

Last week, Paco Goldstein said in comments (and I paraphrase) that the arc of Dexter has been about the title character realizing he can’t have normal human connections. So when people like me bristle at seeing Dexter suburbanized, Paco thinks it’s part of the normal evolution of the show. Last season, he discovered that he couldn’t have a normal friendship; in season two, he learned that his real, serial killer self could not be loved; and in season one, he learned that even his blood relations could not be counted on. Therefore, in Paco’s thesis, this season is all about Dexter realizing he can’t have Rita and the kids and his own son as well, that they will inevitably have to be sacrificed. If Paco’s right, then the entire series is very cannily about one man realizing that he, essentially, IS his dark passenger, and he’s been bullshitting himself all this time.

The events of season four continue to allow this conclusion to be drawn, I think, but it will be interesting to see what happens in season five.

 

[Mojochi]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

I think he's always known this would end in his own death. It just strikes me as though he is in a kind of flirtation with his own downfall. Working right under the cops' noses, cop sister, & preying on the very people the cops investigate. As cautious & disciplined as he is, he is also reckless. I think the idea is to show that all criminals are reckless, just by being criminals, & Dex is no exception, despite being exceptional

The real question is whether the writers will choose to let him die. Being that it is what we are all prepared for, then perhaps they will go another route. It's hard to believe that "Healed" is really an option, & quitting or giving himself up are choices that would indicate some kind of healing. It's hard to believe, but it may not be impossible, & if it's done well, it could work. Even a subconscious motivation resulting in him allowing himself to get caught could be seen as a step on the road to redemption & recovery

In a way, the show seems like the opposite of Breaking Bad, where the conflicted lead has been moral, but is now unearthing all the levels of villainy within himself. Dexter seems more like we are seeing a man in conflict, who is traversing a self-designed course, to his own psychological recovery, psychological damage being the reason that he acts immorally

On the surface, Dexter is a serial killer, needs it, & doesn't want to stop it, but there is also a part of him that knows it won't & shouldn't last, because it's wrong & ultimately detrimental to him & others. This means there's really only two options. Either he finally accepts that other part of him which has been driven to near oblivion, by psychological damage, & somehow recovers from being the damaged person he is, or he doesn't, & I can't imagine that ending in any other way than with his demise.

 

[Mojochi]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

Last week, Paco Goldstein said in comments (and I paraphrase) that the arc of Dexter has been about the title character realizing he can’t have normal human connections.

Isn't that essentially saying he can't survive? Life is normal human connections. Family, coworker, friend, mate. Those are all normal human connections. Without finding a way to exist with them, survival is almost impossible, especially for someone like Dex, who has been attempting it for a long time now, while living a double life

That statement sort of makes Dex sound doomed

 

[Harvey]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

It does indeed suggest Dexter is doomed, at least as a human being attempting to co-exist with other human beings in society.

 

[Mojochi]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

It does indeed suggest Dexter is doomed, at least as a human being attempting to co-exist with other human beings in society.

Well, in that case, I guess the only two options are death, or disappearance. Dropping out of society kind of makes it a whole different equation for the Dark Passenger too though, because he depends on his societal connections for the info he uses to adhere to Harry's code, which means dropping out will also mean dropping out on Harry's code, or at least not following it as strictly. A lot more innocent people get the knife if that happens. This is in addition to the fact that it is almost impossible to live outside society, especially if you have a craving for executing people from it

 

[Mallet]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

Well what is a fitting "end" for the character is a lot different for how the series might end.

They don't need to do a "big, stunning ending" when the show wraps up.

I can easily see them ending off the season arc (whatever season it might be. And sure that arc might be more "epic" and threatening to Dexter then the previous ones. He might have to take very drastic steps to protect himself and his family) with him in the backyard of his house, having a BBQ, the kids running around (and I'd assume that Harrison is going to be messed up like Dexter, and Dexter will do the same thing to him his father did with Dex.) and the camera will pull out, and Dexter's voice over will say something along the lines that "the dark avenger is still hunting the night" or some such.

And that will be the end of the series.

He gets away with it, still keeps his cover, no one suspects him and he keeps on keeping on.

 

[Venardhi]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

Other than death, the only other way I see it ending is in self-imposed exile. Bearded and flanneled in the wilderness and satiating his need with animals, knowing he has only this meager existence or death to choose between.

^ Dexter's sickness isn't a biological one, though perhaps exacerbated by predisposition. Harrison is fairly unlikely to have any sort of antisocial personality disorder since he is far too young and the manner of Rita's death very subdued and unlikely to leave a very heavy mark on him . . . unless he walks in on Daddy at some point or has some other traumatic event. Dexter also very clearly would not raise any of the kids the way Harry did to him now that he better understands himself and how selfish and manipulative Harry actually was/is.

 

[Mojochi]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

Well what is a fitting "end" for the character is a lot different for how the series might end.

They don't need to do a "big, stunning ending" when the show wraps up.

I can easily see them ending off the season arc (whatever season it might be. And sure that arc might be more "epic" and threatening to Dexter then the previous ones. He might have to take very drastic steps to protect himself and his family) with him in the backyard of his house, having a BBQ, the kids running around (and I'd assume that Harrison is going to be messed up like Dexter, and Dexter will do the same thing to him his father did with Dex.) and the camera will pull out, and Dexter's voice over will say something along the lines that "the dark avenger is still hunting the night" or some such.

And that will be the end of the series.

He gets away with it, still keeps his cover, no one suspects him and he keeps on keeping on.

I'll agree that's possible, & even likely, given how most shows end today. Admittedly, I tend to set high expectations, with good shows, but I'd find such an outcome disappointing, because the series is a person, & a disturbed one at that, dysfunctionally stunted, in fact. We've invested into that person. It stands to reason that we would expect this person to succumb to the conflicts that he's been enduring, all this while, because that's what happens to real persons

Each season has been an arc unto itself, but there has also been a subtle overall arc, which is the character arc of the man & his development, that's essentially the basis for the show. If the last season is just another self-contained arc, (Even a good one) wherein the finale is to simply return to square one again, then it's not a character arc at all, it's seasonally episodic, for lack of a better phrasing

I can't say whether they'll do it or not, but I imagine all the fans expect some kind of deliverance for Dexter, one way or the other

If it were me writing, I might get crafty, & follow a similar pattern for the final season's arc. I'd lead everyone to think that Dexter had gotten away with another 12 hour close call, & make it appear as though Dex will just keep on keeping on. Then, at the last moment, do something that undeniably suggests he will meet an end of some kind

Personally, I'd choose to find a way to indicate that Dexter is soon to be dead, but then not show him die. The show doesn't have to end with his death, only with his end, & I would choose the doomed end, myself

Like maybe this! The arc involves Dexter feeling the need to raise one of his kids with Harry's code, because they are like he was & is. Then, right at the end, after the arc is complete, & it seems as though Daddy Dexter will continue along being the mentor, the kid says something to illustrate that Dexter, the murderer, will eventually become its target, & when hearing that, Daddy Dexter is oddly comfortable with it. I'm thinking Cody maybe

 

[bigdaddy]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

I think Dexter get's found out late in season 5 and in a season 6 (yeah yeah no one is signed on) he is on the run, and in the end kills himself.

 

[Beagleman]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

...and in the end kills himself.

I don't see it, I think (hope?) he will find some kind of peace, probably sacrificing himself for Deb or the kids.

 

[Joe Washington]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

Dexter won't kill himself or turn himself in. I also don't expect him to quit his hunger for killing because it's already a deep, unattachable part of who he is.

I expect Dexter to live at the end of the series. Whether he gets exposed a killer before that happens or not, I think Dexter is going to live, continuing to do what he does best: killing bad guys. I believe this because shows like Dexter such as the Sopranos and the Shield don't end on a moralistic note like the conclusion of a cautionary tale. It's always something in the area of morally gray.

 

[stj]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

A V Club misrepresents the series. Rudy did not prove himself unreliable and Lila did not prove herself unreliable. Miguel proved to be unreliable, which made Dexter's choice of normal relationships much easier (with less dramatic tension, too, another reason why season three was the weakest outing I've seen so far, even with Smits' great performance.)

How any of these are "normal" relationships is an even greater mystery.

The first three seasons make no sense at all if Dexter is not in some sense getting better. For an unrepentant maniac to pass on a brother who would help him, a lover who did help him and a friend who would help him, makes him a fool. But if he weren't getting better, if he really were damaged beyond repair, his success in keeping relationships with Rita and the kids, Deborah and coworkers, would be as unbelievable as his successful career as the greatest detective of all time. The show has presented Dexter as emotionally stunted, and a man who misunderstands himself, but a man who has humane emotions, is not just a gleeful incarnation of our desire to kill bad guys.

Leaving Dexter to go on successfully, even with just a handful of people knowing the "real" Dexter (the nice Dexter is the real one too, just not all of him,) so that Dexter goes out a "winner" is the copout. Clyde Phillips may have been ejected for fighting against this outcome. First, the most ludicrous part of the series is Dexter's success. Imagining his continued success in this nonsense is uncritical wishful thinking. Second, Dexter would win if he had a normal life. When he said it to Rita, he meant it, even if he didn't realize it. Third, it cops out on the moral issues.

The kid killing himself after Dexter's counseling foreshadows the most probable end of his psychological development. Truly realizing the gravity of what he's done and the speciousness of the rationale would lead him to consider one last righteous kill of a murderer.

Getting caught (or getting killed himself by a target) would be the most logical end in reality but the show has merely mimicked reality from the beginning.

Surrendering is of course another probable outcome. After all, he decided to surrender once already. The thing is, the idea that Dexter must be punished for what he did while under Harry's insane indoctrination presumes that mental illnes is not a mitigation, or even presumes that there is no such thing as mental illness. It puts entirely too much emphasis on the notion that Harry's code is somehow moral, a good faith effort at good intentions that justifies his deeds. If he drops the code, then the good intentions go, and he has to die. This strikes me as preposterous, an unconscious reflection of morally primitive superstitions conflating mental illness, evil and demonic possession (all that "Dark Passenger" rot.)

Dexter quitting would be a culmination of his progress, at least from season one to season three. It is unsatisfying in one sense. No matter how much swelling music and sincerity in the voiceover, everyone who's watched the series knows that Dexter is an unreliable narrator, even about himself. Will he stay quit? Will the rigors come out in another way, leading to wife beating or real drug addiction or something? Is a life of ceaseless struggle to do the right thing, not always rewarded with kudos or even a good time, all that there will be? It would be unsatisfying because it would be ambiguous and unheroic, much like real life. People hate ambiguity, unless it lets them avoid issues, which, come to think of it, is pretty much why its used in real life.

I think the series suffers too much from excessive focus on one person. There should be another player. Since Julie Benz is now The Flashette, Deborah should find out, not about Dexter, at least not directly, but about Harry. Although third season lamely turned "Harry" into some cliche unconscious persona revealing hidden wisdom from within Dexter, Deborah finding out about Harry will establish a genuinely deep connection between them, offering Dexter a meaningful choice between his (silly fantasy) vigilante career and a human life.

Time doesn't heal all wounds, but it can help with mental illness. The well known films about the concert pianist Helfgott and John Nash should have publicized this! And of course, there is nothing sudden about Dexter wanting to be normal, or even about succeeding in maintaining normality. I repeat, the idea that a hopelessly damaged person could have done this is absurd.

 

[Mallet]

Re: Dexter's storyline for Season 5 **BEWARE OF MAJOR SEASON 4 SPOILER

I'm not a psychologist so I can't say anything definitive about real life sociopaths, but in the context of the universe of Dexter (both TV series and books) I believe it is pretty clear that he can't be "fixed", and more importantly he doesn't want to be.

He is a serial killer. Killing is what makes him happy. He is driven to do it.

Everything else in his life (as he has said many times) is just a cover for what he really does. Brother Dexter. Cop Dexter. Boyfriend & Husband Dexter. Friend Dexter is all a cover.

If he could give up all of that and still keep killing successfully he would. But he needs the job (not just for money and access, but those are both two powerful reasons to keep it) and the friends and girlfriend so people won't be suspicious of him. What so people always say about serial killers? "They were quiet and kept to themselves." Dexter does the opposite to hide in plain sight. He brings donuts in to work to make people like him. It's a con. Emotionally he doesn't care if people like him, but he knows he needs to get people to like him in order to fit in and not be suspicious.

He believes what he is doing is right. He's never going to stop. He is saving people's lives by doing what normal people can't. Killing people who the justice system can't touch or failed to catch. In his mind he is a hero. "The Dark Avenger".

But he is also very selfish. It is all about him. Everything he does is to protect himself.

Why did he kill his brother? Not just to save Deb but because he knew that in the long run (or short run) by teaming up they would get caught. The police managed to track his brother not only without his help, but despite his efforts to hinder them.

He killed his ex-girl friend because she knew his secret identity and might some day use it against him or tell someone. Also she was unstable, ans that would be dangerous to Dexter in the long run so a relationship could never work out. he killed her because it made his life easier and safer.

The same with Jimmy Smits character, he was to reckless and emotional for Dexter to risk staying friends with him and since he knew his identity he was to dangerous to let live.

Everything in Dexter's life is just a cover for his "real job". It is who he is. He will never be normal. He's tried that and it not only didn't work, he didn't like it.