“Oh God” is right!
What a perfect final quote to the season, given the theme of Travis Marshall’s killings and that final send off speech from Dexter. Oh, and then, of course, the big talking point of the episode: Deb now “knows” Dexter’s secret. I put quoted around that word because, without seeing what’s to come next season, we can only guess how much Deb will be let in on. Yes, she clearly witnessed Dexter murdering Travis, but Dexter can twist things around such that this comes off as a one-time thing. Remember, Travis took Harrison and threatened to kill him — that right there’s enough for Dexter to call this a justified killing. It could be proven next season with a “look, we found this weird lion mask on the roof where Marshall killed the officer” next season.
I’m not convinced at all that Deb will be given the full low-down on Dexter’s past exploits. It will come off that this was an exception for him, because of Harrison. But will Deb see that big bag-o’-knives that Dexter’s got with him and wonder — in classic Deb fashion — “what the holy jesus fuck is that?!” Deb won’t turn Dexter in — that much is clear. But she’s going to have to keep that secret from her shrink and everyone they work with. That is going to make for one hell of an interesting couple of seasons.
What I am not looking for — as I already made pretty clear — is for Deb and Dexter to hook up. I don’t have an adopted sibling, nor a sister, but I still think it’s just wrong. I guess I should clarify and say it’s just wrong for this show. It feels cheap and weirdly out of place; it doesn’t make sense. If there was even a tiny hint of sexual tension in the past, then OK. But there were times in the past that Deb was clearly sickened at the thought her brother walked in on her having sex with someone else, and Dexter … can you really see him figuring this is a good idea? And then the awkwardness in the office while people found out? And … jeeze, Harrison growing up with “Aunt-Mommie Debbie?!” Guys who think this is hot: please stop. It’s just stupid, and it’s going to ruin the show; not because it’s gross, but because it just doesn’t fit.
The wowness of the final sene of the episode doesn’t erase the fact that there were a few flaws in this episode. Heck the entire season was lackluster, to be honest, though I still love this show and believe it can get back on its feet next season. What really frustrated me was when Dexter was called to the house Travis was holed up in, and all of the authorities waited for Dexter to enter before anyone else? Bullshit. When there’s a murder, armed officers would be called to completely sweep an area before anyone else. Instead, they send in unarmed Dexter with his blood-geek bags first for a lurking murderer to take out? Come on!
We got a little bit of reminder material with Louis the intern, and they’ve paved way for him to return next season. I thought it was a bit funny that Travis opened that package he sent to Dexter first, though I don’t have much more to say about that other than I’m sure he’ll be a big part of next season. Commenters have noted that the search engine he introduced Dexter to — Eliot Search — was likely Louis’s own site, used to track what Dexter searches and possibly planted a trojan on Dexter’s computers. Dexter actually used a different search engine this time — something called “Net Wrangler” — but I like that theory.
So, writers of Dexter, my plea to you is this: kill the Deb-Dexter in love storyline dead in its tracks, and let’s just concentrate on Deb’s knowing about Dexter being a killer and the Louis storyline. Here, I’ll help you out: Deb’s shrink is the first victim of a new Big Bad next season, and Deb forgets this whole idiotic storyline about being in love with Dexter. Sound good? Good.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Dec 18, 2011 @ 21:58 EST5EDT
Didn’t Deb see Jordan Chase strapped down in Dexters usual fashon when she let him and Lumen get away? And now again. I don’t see Dexter being able to pass this off as a one time thing, at least not for more than a minute or two.
I don’t think it’s really “incest-y” when we’re presented with the whole Dex/Deb thing. It’s more like we’re just not used to seeing them that way, because they’ve always been in the audience’s eyes as “bro/sis” so to see them in a wholly different angle is strange. Having said that, come on! Give the writer’s a break! Sure this wasn’t the best season, far from it. I enjoyed the fact that dexter didn’t have any love interest, woman problems= boring dexter. He just went back to good ‘ol killing. I do agree with what the producer for Dexter said though: Dexter executive producer Sara Colleton told The Hollywood Reporter that the finale would set up the final two seasons of the Showtime drama and that Deb’s growth over the series has been tantamount in setting the table for how the series ultimately ends.
“We want to lay the groundwork to have the most interesting way into examining how Deb will react,” Colleton told THR, citing Deb letting Lumen escape in last year’s finale as an example of the character’s deeper complexities. “If we hadn’t evolved Deb, then there could only be one reaction, which is horror and arrest, and end of story, which indeed may be the case. It just allows us to have a more complicated character who has to deal with it in a more nuanced way.”
The mere fact that Deb is “in love” with Dexter and has this incredible bond to him will save him, they HAD to develop that or she would just turn him in. So jeez have patience and not come to conclusions about this. This whole deb’s-in-love-with-dex won’t drag on for much longer next season after what she’s seen but it had to be done.
What I find freaky about the whole Deb/Dex thing is when you factor their real-life relationship in. These two actors were married..now divorced but are working together still. So is their real-life relationship now rather bro/sis and on screen they need to show passion/love in a bro/sis relationship. Will their love be rekindled and they end up getting remarried off-screen? Too weird!
Deb doesn’t need to be “in love” with Dexter to explain why she would choose not to arrest him after finding out his secret. He’s already her brother, her rock, her confidant, her best friend. That is more than enough reason for her to choose loyalty to her brother over her duty as a cop. I can suspend disbelief when it comes to most of the “jump the shark” moments this season, but Deb actually accepting the shrink’s insinuation is ludicrous. Even if she subconsciously felt that way about Dexter, would she admit it to herself or to anyone else? Would she tell Dexter, knowing that disgust would be the likely reaction? Hell no. I mean, if your shrink told you that you’re subconsciously in love with your mom, would you accept it and tell your mom that you’re in love with her, or would you assume that it’s a bunch of psychoanalytical crap?
This season started out pretty good, but after we lost Brother Sam and Gellar, Dexter no longer had any interesting foils. Travis could not hold his own as the Big Bad. Travis was better as the reluctant minion of Gellar, who even as an imaginary person was more intelligent and menacing. While other seasons ramped up to the end, this one sort of petered out. But that said, I still enjoyed many things – Dexter’s relationship with Harrison, his strange friendship with Brother Sam and the resulting character development, the addition of Detective Anderson, the mystery surrounding Louis the intern, Deb as boss, Deb finally catching Dexter red-handed. I’m looking forward to next season.
The last 5 minutes of the season seems to be a very awesome ending cliffhanger, with all these possibilities going through everyone’s mind of how Deb’s going to react to Dexter. But most likely she’s going to cover for him and take the credit for Travis and at the same time save her case-closed track record. Dexter gets what he wants and Deb gets what she wants. Pretty anticlimatic once you think about it.
One thought about Deb finding out (and about the question: how much will she find out) – before killing Travis, Dex cut his cheek and put his blood on a piece of glass, just like he did before with other vitims, and we all remember, that Miami Metro found Dexter’s bloodslides in Doaks’ car in the second season, and Doaks is considered to be the Bay Harbour Buther. So, assuming that Deb is smart enough to put those facts together, she may fin out everything about Dexter’s dark passenger. But maybe, being shocked with what she saw, she will miss this tiny detail (cut on Travis’ cheek).
Net Wrangler is a real site the show made – you can go there yourselves and see all kinds of fun stuff about the show, comments from the cast, etc. A ‘wrangler’ in Hollywood is anyone who handles an area, if you handle extras, you are a background wrangler, growing up in California, I have always thought this term was a left over from so much of it being ranch land! Anyway, this season was hijacked half way through, the real ending didn’t work, editing and reshooting and rewriting took place, and we got stuck with the stupidest last two episodes EVER in the history of the show, I do hope they can dig their way out!