Dexter Fans???(Spoilers if you missed Sunday's episode)

[_Yoda]

Oh....My....God!!!!!!!

Tonight's final episode was unbelievable!

I DO NOT like the ending...but the writers are amazing.

Until I know all of my Dexter buddies have seen it, I won't say more.

[_msnobody]

Just waiting for someone to post. Want to chat?

[_MsJack]

Thematically I understand the ending, but it was incredibly unsatisfying. I liked Rita. While I'm sure Julie Benz may make re-appearances as a ghost, I'm going to miss seeing her on the show.

I have no idea what the theme of next season is going to be. Trying to make it as a single father? That doesn't appeal to me nearly as much as watching Dexter try to make it as a family man.

I have a theory: Harry is the dark passenger.

[_Yoda]

I liked Rita, too...and I liked Rita and Dexter together. I was very disappointed by the ending.

Now, what is going to happen with the kids? Do you think that the older two kids will stay with the grandparents, or do you think that Dexter will attempt to raise them all as a single Dad.

Since I'm new to the Dexter series...let me ask a question that may have been answered in a previous season....

Is Harry Dexter's biological father, or not? My impression is that even though Harry slept with Dexter's mother, it happened AFTER Dexter was born. Am I right, or wrong on that count?

I know this sounds a little weird...but would it be possible that Debra and Dexter might actually end up together as a couple? If they are not biologically related, I see that as a possibility. They already rely on each other, and they have an amazing chemistry. They are also married in real life!

Jack...How do you mean that Harry is the dark passenger? Do you mean that Harry is actually encouraging Dexter to kill?

[_MsJack]

In Season 1, Dexter learned about a man who had died recently in a nearby town who was supposedly his biological father and that he was inheriting his (meager) possessions. Dexter, Rita, Debra and "Rudy" (Brian Moser, the Ice Truck Killer, who is Dexter's brother and dating Debra at the time though Dexter and Debra have not made those connections yet) take a road trip to the house to collect his things. DNA testing confirms that the man who died is Dexter's bio dad, and it turns out "Rudy" had killed him and made it look like a heart attack or something. So no, Harry Morgan is not Dexter's bio dad in any way, shape or form; he was just having an affair with Dexter's mother.

As for what the future holds, I predict that either (a) Aunt Debra will move into the house with Dexter and help him raise the children, or (b) the children will go to live with their grandparents permanently. I doubt there will ever be a Dexter-Debra romance. It's technically possible since they aren't really biologically brother and sister, but they've played up the bro-sis angle so much since the start of the show, it would probably be revolting to viewers (to say nothing of the children).

The more I think about it the more disappointed I am by this ending. I'll still watch the fifth season at least, but my confidence in the show is a bit shaken. Getting rid of a relationship that's been building for four seasons will be a seriously difficult hole to fill on the show. Besides that, the thought of Rita meeting such a revolting demise makes my stomach turn.

Regarding the Dark Passenger (i.e. Dexter's need to kill)...

Seasons 1 & 2 explained that when Dexter was young, his father (Harry Morgan) caught him doing things like torturing small animals. Because of this, his father decided it was inevitable that his son would become a serial killer, and that's why he taught him "Harry's Code." He taught Dexter how to kill people and to channel that violent energy into vigilantism against other violent criminals.

But what if it wasn't inevitable that Dexter would become a serial killer? What if that's just what Harry made him become? Is it really impossible to help children who torture small animals curb their violent desires?

Note that Harry is the one who always converses with Dexter in Dexter's mind. It was Harry who tried to convince him to give up Rita and his family, Harry who always drops him tips and clues on how to make his murders work. In the most recent episode, when Dexter yells at Harry that he wants to get rid of his Dark Passenger, Harry immediately disappears.

So I think Harry is the Dark Passenger, and it wasn't that he was just channeling inevitable murderous urges. Dexter had violent urges, sure, but it was Harry who made him a serial killer and tries to keep him that way.

[_msnobody]

Just waiting for you to comment, Jack before posting. I too, liked Rita. I think Dexter was beginning to see a possibility to rid himself of his dark passenger. Interesting comments on Harry being the dark passenger.

I imagine Debra will be all out to find Arthur and all the while Dexter knowing Arthur's demise.

Regarding the home where Rita and Dexter lived, didn't it once belong to Rita's 1st husband? I remember R & D out looking at houses, but If I recall correctly I also remember the 1st husband complaining about Rita having Dexter in his home while Rita and the 1st husband were still married.

There are so many twists and turns the story could take from here. I do think that Deb is getting disenchanted with her late father, Harry.

[_MsJack]

Dexter and Rita moved into a bigger house between the 3rd and 4th seasons. Presumably they needed more room to accommodate the new baby.

I've read some interviews with the creators and writers on the matter, and I can understand why they did it, but it all feels so bleak. I mean, these are how the Dexter seasons have played out:

Season 1 - He can't have a brother
Season 2 - He can't have a lover who understands what he is
Season 3 - He can't have a best friend
Season 4 - He can't have a family

A lot of people are speculating that Cody and Astor will go to live with Paul's parents while Dexter holds onto Harrison. I guess that's a possibility, given how the biological connections between the three children work out.

If Dexter doesn't give Harrison up for adoption, I think that we can count on Deb to move in and help him raise Harrison---and you'll likely also see them hire a nanny or something. I'm also wondering if the creators won't move the show forward a few years so that we'll be able to skip the period of re-adjustment in Dexter's life and age Harrison to a slightly more interesting phase of childhood.

It all just feels so depressing though. Dexter's efforts to balance serial killing and family was one of the things about the show that I had really come to enjoy. I'm going to miss Rita.

I'm calling it now: Season 5 will be the last.

I'm also getting a good laugh out of all the morons out there who are speculating that maybe Trinity wasn't really Rita's killer. Gods.

[_msnobody]

I'm also getting a good laugh out of all the morons out there who are speculating that maybe Trinity wasn't really Rita's killer. Gods.

I haven't doubted that Arthur was Rita's killer, but so many things have turned out differently than I had thought they would. If Arthur was OCD or had to follow a pattern, Rita's death wouldn't fit the pattern. I don't recall Arthur ever having a child setting in the floor or in the bathroom while he was making a kill in the bathtub.

[_MsJack]

Trinity already deviated from his pattern when he killed the real Kyle Butler.

It definitely wouldn't fit his pattern, especially since the women who died in bathtubs were always single women with no kids, not mothers. But Trinity probably figured he was running out of time to stick it to Dexter and needed to cut some corners.