Dexter. *GASP* (may contain spoilers)

[PeaceNikki]

Did you see!?!?

:o

[HipChick]

1. OMG!..did not see that coming..

[PeaceNikki]

2. Me, neither!

:o

Part of me is sad that Arthur is gone.

[jumptheshadow]

3. Aaargh...

We generally wait to see it during the daytime because it tends to provoke strange dreams.

However, tonight we wanted to watch the finale in real time.

It may be a sleepless night.

[blue_onyx]

39. It was a sleepless night

I couldn't stop thinking about the show. I was imagining what happened when Rita came home and Trinity grabbed her. Did Aurthur tell her about Dexter? I thought about what happen when Dexter called the police and all his work friends and Deb showed up. It's weird to be so invested in a show and character but I am.

[Connie_Corleone]

4. That was messed up!!

DAMN!!

[NMDemDist2]

5. I figured Rita was a goner

esp at the kill scene when Arthur said 'it's already too late'

wow, great season ender IMO

:applause:

[PeaceNikki]

7. I think so, too.

For a minute, when Rita was making him feel all good telling him he could control his demons, I thought that Dex may consider stopping... but I guess that was just the foreshadowing I missed in real time. Now he has more reason than ever to continue. :o

[SoCalDem]

6. What a shitty ending

and how is he going to explain his connection to Arthur?

It would have been better to have let the cops catch him:(

now everyone just thinks he got away, and since a law enforcement guy's wife was a victim, Dex might have more questions asked, than he can answer..

I did not see it coming at all...

[NMDemDist2]

8. as long as Trinity's family doesn't see Dex, there is no connection

the family of Arthur's is the only loose end at this point, the cops think Trinity is in the wind, Dex is the grieving husband and can take off for a while (or forever at this point) and let it all blow over

Except the baby, will Dex keep him or give him to the g'parents? I don't see him raising 3 kids......

[Connie_Corleone]

10. Rita's older kids will probably stay with the grandparents.

Dexter will probably raise his son with Deb's help.

[blue_onyx]

11. I bet the 2 older kids stay with their grandparents

and Dexter keeps the baby.

[NMDemDist2]

13. yeah, that's probably how it will run

will he teach the baby 'the Code'????

[blue_onyx]

17. Maybe

Although the baby isn't even one. Dexter was 3 when he witnessed his mom's murder. There's a big difference between what a 6 month old baby can remember and what a 3 year old remembers.

[LearnedHand]

27. Don't know if you've read the Dexter books

but in them, Astor and Cody both have budding Dark Passengers of their own.

Off topic: Is it snowing where you are? We're getting rain in ABQ, but a friend tells me it's snowing at his place near Estancia.

[NMDemDist2]

28. interesting........

and no, there's no precip right now but it is forecast for tomorrow

we're pretty low elev (3100) so we rarely get the white stuff.....

[LearnedHand]

29. :-)

Hope our turns to snow. </off-topic>

The Dexter books are VERY good, if you haven't read them. The have almost NO similarity to the show excepte for the main characters and the backstory. His inner monologue is the same though, and it's marvelous! Well worth reading.

[blue_onyx]

9. A great ending for a great season

I didn't see it coming.

[Ohio Joe]

12. Awesome

I've said it before and I've not changed my mind, John Lithgow better get awards for his performance in this season.

[NMDemDist2]

14. agreed!! Lithgow better get an Emmy for this season

he was awesome!

[blue_onyx]

19. Yes!

Dexter should win best Drama too (they'll probably give it to Mad Men again though).

[PeaceNikki]

15. Agreed. John Lithgow has been amazing.

I'll miss him.

[kwassa]

16. It was quite a shock. I was thinking "this is a boring ending" until ...

Just Dexter doing his thing with Trinity, then ....

[LearnedHand]

18. OMFG!!!

I was so not ready for that. And to boot, I HATED Rita's character, and I even joked about maybe Trinity will kill her. I feel so small souled!

[NMDemDist2]

20. don't feel bad, hubby and I were both pretty much over her emotional

BS

I won't miss her character at all.....

[PeaceNikki]

21. It's your fault Trinity killed Rita!!

I'm sure they wrote the character with the intention that we wouldn't like her and wish her dead so we wouldn't hate the writers when it happened. I don't know a Dexter fan that liked her.

[blue_onyx]

22. Well, I'm one that liked her

Rita had become a little whiny and one-note but there's something I liked about her.

[Bolo Boffin]

37. Me, too.

She had this Gracie quality about her.

[LearnedHand]

23. Totally guilty

It is my fault :cry: I hated her, hated her helplessness, hated her little girl voice, hated her bossiness. But I was just feeling a little sympathy for her. Shit.

[LearnedHand]

24. How fucked up am I to root for the serial killer

and wish the innocent little wifey to be a victim of the killer? Man, that's messed up.

On edit: correct a fat-fingered typo in the thread title.

[PeaceNikki]

25. You're in good company.

I assure you.

[LearnedHand]

26. ... trying to feel better about myself ...

:cry:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

60. Ain't that the truth! I feared for her though after last week's episode but so caught

up in the story I forgot. lol!

[blogslut]

38. She'll be back

...as Dexter's new ghost.

I knew they cast Julie Benz for a reason. It never made sense to use this actress (so well known for playing twisted characters) as boring old Rita. Now she'll taunt Dexter with that sweet, evil smile and guilt him into true psychosis.

Next season's going to be one hell of a ride.

[TommyO]

30. WOW! OMFG!

I certainly didn't see that one coming, but the clues were there.

Is it next season yet?

[LearnedHand]

31. withdrawals coming on already nt

[Lindsey]

32. Whoa...the emotional intensity of tonight's show was off the

charts. I didn't see any of that coming. I'm re-watching it now to see it from the perspective of knowing what I now know. The potential for next season is unreal. There are so many ways this can go.

[EOTE]

47. Tell me about it.

My heart was beating a mile a minute through the bulk of last night's episode. I was almost wishing for commercial breaks so I could stop a bit and catch my breath. I don't think I've ever had a show affect and upset me (in kind of a good way) as much as Dexter, and this season especially so. I thought the ending was gut-wrenching, but very good. I absolutely can't wait until the next season.

[Fleshdancer]

33. YAY!

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[slay]

35. I'm glad I'm not the only one with that reaction

I was so glad to see whiny old what's her face go - she did nothing this season but nag Dexter. I even called it (half joking) in the middle of the ep while watching with a buddy. Gonna be crazy to see how the writers handle this. I think he needs to be haunted by Rita now the same way he's haunted by Harry. :evilgrin:

[Fleshdancer]

40. The writers changed her character too much

At the beginning of season 1, she was very quiet and not at all naggy. Her character in this season was over the top annoying and ridiculous. What kind of wife nags her husband about not "being there" enough for his family after he was so sleep deprived from getting up in the middle of the night with the newborn that he crashed his car and got a concussion? That's when I decided she needed to die.

Hmmm, Rita haunting him? I can picture it now: "Dexter, I know you're busy catching and killing that guy who raped and tortured 30 people in Miami last week, but what about MEEEEE????"

[slay]

44. LOL... yeah I wonder if they altered her character so much this year so that

when she did get offed there wouldn't be much fan backlash. Although I have friends who were much like Dex and Rita the couple but when they got married - the chick became very similar to Rita - very controlling and naggy so I dunno. Great actress, way too naggy this season. Although I always thought him and Lila were a perfect match.. if it weren't for her being totally fucking insane and what not. :evilgrin:

*on edit - as far as Rita returning as a ghost similar to Harry - I would think it would be more to resolve the Dexter she knew with the Dexter he really is. But the more I think about it, I think it's not likely mainly because my guess is Aster and Cody will stay with the grandparents and Dex will keep Harrison probably have Deb move in to help. Unless they go balls out and jump forward a couple years. Mark my words - we will see this before the series ends - the show will jump ahead about 15 to 20 years and we will see Dexter teaching Harrison the same way Harry taught him. And the cycle continues...

[Zavulon]

34. I knew she was dead as soon as her phone message said

she had to return because she forgot her photo i.d.

Like many above, I was tired of her whiny BS and won't miss her, although I've got to say that the actress who played her role was superb.

[slay]

36. Exactly - Julie Benz rules - she was awesome as Darla in Buffy/Angel and great in Rambo as well

But Rita - god I just don't know if I've even seen a more annoying character. Even I wanted to kill her. lol.. doh.. poor Rita.. RIP.. :evilgrin: Great ep though even though the phone call did kill the surprise. Would have been better to have Dex call her - hears her phone ring FROM THE BATHROOM, hears Harrison crying, and runs slow-mo down the hall into the bathroom while the voiceover during the slow-mo could have been the message Rita left for him. I dunno but I knew right then as well. Ah a small complaint I suppose.

[Zavulon]

65. Your idea is much better.

It would also explain why Harrison began crying on cue.

I appreciate the pic :)

[Blue_In_AK]

41. I had a hard time even going to sleep last night.

That was AWFUL! Can we imagine that Dexter will become a suspect in Rita's death next season, and, of course, he will have no alibi because he was off "doing" Trinity. Certainly, Matsuka might be suspicious since he saw Rita kissing the neighbor and could easily assume that Dexter became jealous and killed her in a rage.

[PeaceNikki]

42. And the more I think about it, I don't think Trinity killed Rita.

A) Leaving blood like that was not his MO
B) Based on how Dex's kid was left in the pool of blood, whoever did it knew the story of Dexter and his mother's murder. I don't think Trinity knew all/any of of that.

Could have have been Quinn? They left a lot open-ended between Dex and Quinn after Dex hit him.

Or Maybe the cop Debra confirmed Dex's history with? But why? Is there some elaborate cover-up?

So many possibilities.

[slay]

43. Sorry, but Trinity killed her for sure - Showtime aired an interview with Lithgow

and Michael C Hall right after the credits rolled and after a preview for Californication (i almost turned the tv off and would have missed it) where they confirmed it. There is no doubt - Trinity did it. The toy train Dexter stumbled over when he got back to the house before he found her was a clue to that as well.

[Blue_In_AK]

45. What an appropriate screen name you have

for this thread. :rofl:

Did they say whether Dexter would be a suspect? \

[EOTE]

46. Nope.

The season pretty much just ended right there, and there was no preview for the upcoming season. I'm guessing he won't be come the new season, but I can't be sure. I'm guessing that if Rita's murder is a plot point of the next season, it will be due to homicide trying to figure out how what Trinity's relation to Dexter was. This season was incredible. I can't wait for the next one.

[Lindsey]

48. And, remember..Trinity's family knows Dexter as "Kyle" so

I would think the F.B.I. will be really getting into Dexter's part in all of this. Man, to be a writer on this show would be awesome (and a lot of pressure).

[EOTE]

49. But if the family never meets up with "Kyle" again, he shouldn't need to worry, right?

Perhaps the FBI will just assume that Trinity's acquaintance was one of the Kyle Butlers who was killed in the penultimate episode. But so long as Arthur's family never sees Dexter, I'd think he'd be safe.

The writers for Dexter are amazing. One thing I've noticed over these past 4 seasons is that whenever I see a loose end or something idiosyncratic, the writers will almost always address it later on. I'm guessing the aftershocks of Trinity's death will be felt into next season. I really can't wait to see where they go from here. This past season of Dexter was one of the best seasons I've seen of any show. I was really blown away.

[Duer 157099]

50. I don't see how "Kyle" can disappear from the story

Remember that, as far as we can surmise, the Trinity case will remain open because they will not find his body, so it will remain a hot and open investigation, especially with Rita's killing.

I would have thought that they would have spoken about "Kyle" to the police as soon as the police busted down the door.

Dexter will have some 'splaining to do.

I wonder if he'll get involved with Trinity's son's life? A mentor perhaps?

[EOTE]

51. But how will they link Kyle to Dexter?

Sure they'll be able to describe him, but will they be able to track down Dexter because of a physical description?

[Duer 157099]

52. Well, both Deb and Quinn saw Dexter in the garage and were surprised

And they, being detectives and all, should hopefully be able to put one-and-one together, no?

Although I did notice in this episode that pink Polo shirts seem to be so common in Florida, that even that won't clue them in.

[EOTE]

53. I suppose they could.

It seemed a little too perfect that he was able to play off being there as being job related. That could provide him cover for Rita's killing as I'm guessing she was being killed about the same time, but if Deb and Quinn start doing a bit of work, they might realize a different motive for him being there. Either way, I can't wait for next season. If it's half of what this season was, it should be quite a ride.

[Duer 157099]

54. The more I think about this, the more it seems that this will *have* to play a big part

Otherwise, I can't understand the motive for including the scene of Dexter going to the house at just that time.

It will be very sloppy if they just let this go.

When they start investigating Rita's murder, they'll be grilling Arthur's family about every detail of that day, and it's impossible for them to not mention a "Kyle Butler" having been there; and the detectives will have to pay attention, especially since there had just been a Kyle Butler victim a couple of days prior.

Quinn will reprise the role of that cop who was on to Dexter in the first season (forgot his name).

[EOTE]

55. I think you're referring to Doakes

He was eventually killed by Dex's pyromaniac mistress. And yes, it seems that Quinn already has taken that role.

As for the including of the scene where Dexter gets ambushed by the FBI while at Arthur's house, it could have been included just to create tension in an already tension filled episode. There are lots of scenes that seem to be in the show just so we can see how Dexter gets out of some seemingly insurmountable situation.

It did seem rather sloppy how Dexter created his Kyle alias. I mean, he didn't even create an email address for the guy. I'm guessing Kyle is going to be mentioned in the next season (assuming it takes place immediately after the events of season 4), but I don't know if Dexter left enough clues for them to figure that he was actually Kyle. I was sweating as Arthur's family left the house, thinking maybe one of them would spot Dexter and want to talk to him, but that never happened. I agree it's likely to be a plot point, I'm just clueless as to where it's going to go.

[PeaceNikki]

56. Also, don't forget the piece that gave Trinity the confirmation that Kyle = Dexter

The picture of the bowling team hanging at the station. If Trinity's family sees that, they will know, too. BUT... since he was such a help, will they talk to Dex and cover his ass? I can even see Trinity's son using it as leverage against Dex, perhaps creating a new student for "the code"? Remember when Dex told him that "we have some things in common"?

Oh, there are so many ways it can go!

[EOTE]

58. All these bits of evidence I tend to forget.

I guess Dexter isn't done sweating yet. One possible way I can think of him avoiding spending the rest of his life incarcerated would be for him to pay off Arthur's family (or perhaps as you say, they might be inclined to cover for him). He still has all of Arthur's 6 figures of savings and he mentioned that he intends for the family to get the money. I was thinking before that he'd give it to them anonymously, but maybe now he can use it to buy off their silence. I fear my mind will be dedicating much of its time to pondering these scenarios before the next season starts.

[Duer 157099]

57. Right, Doakes.

And the pink shirts, in this episode we see Matsuka, Quinn, Deb and Dexter all wearing pink polo shirts.

Why? I think it's a hint to us as to how Kyle will be described.

[EOTE]

59. It's going to be a very long 9 months. NT

[PassingFair]

64. Remember, the FBI has taken over now....

The case won't be worked by Miami cops.

[Bolo Boffin]

61. And it was the second time in a couple of days that Deb had asked the question:

"How did you get here so fast?"

A lot can be glossed over at the very start - both of them have had one hell of a couple of days - Deb watched a suicide, solved the Trinity case, found out her dad's CI was Dexter's mom and that her brother was the Ice Cream Truck's brother. And then Rita is Trinity's last victim.

People might be crossing themselves to avoid thinking about the Morgans for a while, much less trying to draw problematic threads together.

And the Mitchells know how to keep a secret. But they are definitely going to be in play for the fifth season.

[Kat45]

62. Holy fucking shit!

As I was watching the show unfold and it got later in the episode, I was feeling a bit disappointed; it seemed anticlimactic. Though when he was killing Trinity, I enjoyed the use of the train set and the record; he was using the same mileu that Triity used when he grabbed the boys. But then Trinity, maybe because of his religion, maybe not, was comfortable and accepting of it. And with the train and the record, he was in the place where he felt the comfort of his childhood innocence. I wasn't sure what I thought of that, if I liked it or not. The episode still seemed rather innocuous for this show, then when he got to the Keys--holy shit! I did not see that coming at all! I'm still trying to digest it, to understand exactly what happened. I think I'll have to watch the episode again.

[yurbud]

63. I missed this thread and started another, but my thoughts:

I just finished it, and the ending made me feel guilty and ashamed, like I was Dexter and I fucked up and let my wife get killed and endangered my baby.

As literature, this kicks it up to the level of tragedy--Dexter's way of dealing with his dark passenger reaches out and bites his attempt to be normal in the ass. That grows organically, and inevitably out of the character unlike other plot twists this season like Christine being Trinity's daughter, which was a melodramatic soap opera trick (but once revealed, it played itself out in a painfully realistic way).

The scene with Debra when she told him she found out who his mother was seemed anti-climactic (though her acting in the scene was great) like Dex had dodged a bullet again, which made the ending all the more surprising.

Someone wrote a story on Salon.com saying the ending was like a snuff film, having the baby sitting in a pool of his mother's blood. I didn't think of that when I watched it, but after the fact, I can see how that could fuck the kid up. I can remember stuff from about age one and a half. How will the kid process that memory? I suppose the actress would sit up so he could see she was okay between takes, but even sitting in the puddle of blood might haunt you late on.

The other emotional impact of the episode was the killing of Trinity. The show spends so much time with Dexter the family man and Dexter the cop and Dexter doing leg work for his killings that it's hard to think of him as a serial killer. Then as he's about to kill Trinity, he turns the hammer from the blunt face to the claw side, and you feel that ugliness.

Apart from the emotional impact of the episode, it also opens up some story questions: will the police automatically tie this to Trinity? If so, will they ask how he chose Rita? If they consider Dexter a suspect at all, won't that give them an excuse to dig into his ugly childhood and possibly put some stuff together? Dexter will hardly have an alibi--he was killing and disposing of the Trinity killer after all. On the other hand, maybe it isn't Trinity, it's the smarmy suburban neighbor. But that wouldn't be as tight as Dexter's actions, leaving Trinity free and even leading the police away from him, so that he could kill him himself--and even saving him from committing suicide so Dex could kill him in his ritual fashion, and that leading to his wife's death, that's almost operatic.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x9169599

[PeaceNikki]

66. Angel and LaGuerta both saw Trinity meet with Dex at the station.

I don't think that can be overlooked.

Another thing that I can't shake: After escaping the van when Dex was arrested, Trinity went to his house to gather $. He said to his son "gather your things we have some unfinished business". And they left that hanging. I cannot help but think that Trinity's kid also has a dark passenger. I am more and more inclined to think that he could become the next guy to learn "Harry's Code".

Also... could Trinity be Dex's biological father? That would explain how he knew of Dex's mother's death and the "born in blood" twist.