No series had a greater comeback story than Dexter-- this year or arguably in general. Season six was lackluster at best, and with all of the changes made to Dexter's (Michael C. Hall)
character, I worried that something snapped and somehow I was
magically smarter than our favorite serial killer who always managed to
outsmart everyone around him. But I don't want to harp on shortcomings
past. Season seven infused Dexter with a new energy, one even
stronger than the series had at its initial start. Each new episode was
eagerly anticipated and thoughtfully dissected upon its end; that is
quality television at its best.
Watching Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) struggle with coming to terms with her brother's true self while watching Dexter
find someone who was actually worthy of being his soulmate put him in a
unique position of having to chose between two people he loved, and
come to terms with his Dark Passenger not really being all that separate
from himself in the process. Meanwhile, LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) in a move that didn't seem all-too-convincing actually wisened up and caught onto Dexter's true hobby.
At the end of last week's episode, I was surprised to find quite a few Dexter fans Tweeting us and asking if maybe Debra had set Hannah (Yvonne Strahovski)
up for poisoning her as a way to get her out of her brother's life.
Personally, I didn't think there was any question about that; Debra is
not a sociopath; Debra has had such a hard time shooting on the job and
seeing what her brother does to his victims, it would be completely out
of character for her to turn around and be so devious and cunning.
Dexter's explanatory voice-over aside, though, if there was a question
about that for some fans, rather than just a hope, which I admit I felt, too, I'm glad the season finale took time to
answer it. Because rather than repeat something I thought was already
obvious, what Dexter visiting Hannah in prison really gave us was a
sense of closure for her chapter in his life-- and a driving home of
just how deep Dexter and Debra's bond is.
Last week I lamented Dexter's choice,
not in picking his sister over his new girlfriend, but rather the way
in which he went about it. If he couldn't trust her, and she shouldn't
trust him, then he really should have just killed her, rather than
allowed her to live out the rest of her days in jail. We're not going to
rehash what we said then, but I hope you will go back and read it because it is pretty much what "Surprise, Motherf*!" was saying. Dexter and Hannah are the only Gone Girl I will ever need. Though Hannah may truly be "the only person in the world [Dexter doesn't] have to hide anything from," Dexter
is not allowing us to assume there will be a happy ending. For them as a
couple or Dexter in general. Actually, or for Debra in general, either,
but I'll get to that. He may be our hero, but he's still an anti-hero, and those kind of characters, traditionally, get their comeuppance in the end.
But "Surprise, Motherf*!" wasn't the end for Dexter-- just
for the season, so there were still a few twists and turns left.
Flashbacks to see Dexter's earlier years on the job with Doakes (Erik King)
offered new insight into a rare moment Dexter accidentally showed his
own true cards. It never made sense that Doakes had something out for
Dexter before, but the show finally delivered a real reason. It's a bit
of a shame that it happened so far after Doakes' storyline wrapped up,
though, because had I known then what we know now, I may have been a
bit more sympathetic to his plight. Seeing him resurface now, in
Dexter's mind, though, just made me sad I didn't get to know Mike (Billy Brown) all that well, either.
And Dexter may have thought on his feet quicker with LaGuerta than he
ever had to with Doakes, but considering the guy who killed his mother
wasn't actually already dead, it was certainly a prematurely risky move. I have been waiting for LaGuerta to get some kind of comeuppance
herself for all of these years, and some short disapproving looks and
the accusation of being an idiot was not enough. She has exhibited such
terrible behavior and lack of professionalism for so many years, even
though she's right about Dexter now, it's way too little too late, and
she doesn't deserve the collar, all personal attachments aside.
LaGuerta second-guesses anyway. One minute she's so sure about
Dexter, the next she's trying to make a case for why it's Debra who is
committing atrocities around her fair Miami. It's perfectly indicative
of the kind of trial-and-error guesswork police officers have to do when
they have only circumstantial evidence, but that kind of scrambling
just makes us think she is the one who needs to retire, not Angel (David Zayas). Any cop who grasps at any straws possible is a stain on the department.
However, if she's able to catch onto Dexter, he may actually
be getting a little too comfortable. Having Debra to help cover for him
is a crutch he could never rely on before, but now that he can, he's
getting a little brazen. Taking Estrada in broad daylight is ballsy
enough; leaving him in the trunk of his car while having a conversation
with Debra is a whole other story.
Finally being ready to kill LaGuerta, well, as much as I may have
personally wanted it to happen long ago (mostly inspired by the speed of
events in the books this series was based on), I'm glad the show
exhibited self control. It's extremely important to see how far Dexter
has come in life, intercut with the toughest decision he's ever truly
had to make. LaGuerta isn't entirely innocent, though she certainly
doesn't fit the Code Dexter has come to abide by. But what is that Code
anyway but a way to protect himself? Harry (James Remar)
enacted it so Dexter could scratch his itch and still maintain a
quote-unquote normal existence. And what is killing LaGuerta but the
ultimate way to protect himself? The fact that Dexter struggled with it
anyway was all I needed to know he was not just the unfeeling robot he
has claimed to be for so long. Sure, he came out and verbalized (to
Harry, so ultimately only to himself, but still) just how much his
"cover" life actually meant to him, and that was fine for the cheap
seats in the back. But actions speak so much louder than words, and in
the end, Debra pulling the trigger ultimately meant Dexter kept his Code
intact, while Debra shattered her own.
Cue her unraveling in three, two, one seconds into the next season premiere...
What screams deafened us were Debra's actions, heading towards the
ring of fire, so to speak. Last season she stumbled across her brother's
"heinous" actions by accident and then got emotionally manipulated by
her feelings for him, talked down from stopping him. This season,
though, she actively tried to stop him and still found she couldn't.
Maybe it would have been different if he was standing there threatening
her, too, saying she knows too much and now he has to put her down. But
he wasn't. He dropped his knife, like he dropped his guard and gave her
all of the power. And she took it and used it to solve his problem.
Of course, Debra is so emotional she immediately felt the weight of
her actions and seemed to regret them. In no way do I think her
shooting LaGuerta unleashed something inside her the way Dexter being
born of blood did, but I couldn't help but yell "Stay out of it, Debra
Morgan!" at the screen when she busted into the shipping container
anyway. As Hannah pointed out earlier in the episode, Debra has trouble
sleeping, knowing all she knows; she has trouble coping with
all she knows. Now, though, she has a secret of her own to live with.
Couple that with Hannah's escape (honestly, I assumed she was just
going to have Arlene bring her something with which she could kill
herself, but I'm glad to know she's still out there somewhere, maybe
to still pop up in Dexter's life again someday), and we don't see Dexter ending well for Debra. Even more than the man himself.
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