Dexter 4.12 The Getaway

[selenak]

You know, as much as I didn't want to, I did see that coming. Especially since the previouslies reemphasized Trinity's m.o., and repeated the flashback to Dexter in the blood of his mother. Plus ever since the shipping container as Dexter's newest hideaway was introduced, I was sure this season would finish with a repeat of Dexter's origin scenario, the child bathed in the blood of his mother, with her dead body. I just wasn't sure which child (Cody was my guess, not Harrison), and I hoped I was wrong about the mother. Then the show had Rita tell Dexter she accepts he has his demons, and that she has faith in him, that he'll defeat them, and I knew my hope was in vain.

Oh, Rita.

Actually, I think that scene between Rita and Dexter crossed the line from moving into manipulative and was cheating. Because while Rita had realised now there was potential for violence in Dexter that she hadn't originally known he had, what she thought she accepted was so far from what he actually possesses. And as I said, that scene basically signed her death warrant to any experienced tv viewer, though the writing was on the wall before that. The season was constructed towards it, between Dexter's vows that he'd do anything to keep his family safe and all the parallels/contrasts to Arthur. Even the image concluding the last season, Dexter's and Rita's wedding dance, with the blood from Dexter's covered arm escaping and staining Rita's white dress, was a foreshadowing. If you like, even the physical similarity between Rita and Laura Moser which I first noticed in s1. And given that we saw how Trinity kills his bathtub victims, can you imagine what she must have gone through? What her last hour was like?

Oh, Rita.

Because we're dealing with the lawys of Greek tragedy, where both circumstance and the hero's flaws collide to ensure misfortune, this is partly Dexter's fault. He had about a million opportunities to let the police arrest Arthur, and he actively prolonged Arthur's time of liberty. Because he wanted to kill Arthur himself.

I'm not sure whether or not I regard Dexter's "I don't want it" (i.e. his serial killer life) and expressed hope that he'll manage to quit serial killing as moving or cheating. On the one hand, like Rita's expression of faith, it's there to set up the backhand from fate later. On the other, if the show doesn't' end with Dexter caught, it might actually end with Dexter managing to quit, and not a fake "cold turkey" as in s2, in which case this is set up for later developments. So, my decision on how to take Dexter's statement depends on what the next season brings.

As for the other big development: as I also expected, Deb finally finds out about Laura Moser and the Dexter-Brian connection in the series finale, in time to set up the next season. Despite being expected, these scenes were really well executed. It makes sense that the house would trigger Deb's memories and she'd immediately know she was there before. And that when reading the name of Laura Moser's second son she wouldn't go "what a coincidence, could this be...?" but realise this Dexter was indeed her brother. That Deb, as opposed to what Matthews tells her to do, tells Dexter the truth I see as part of the all season long development to show how Deb keeps being in similar situations as Harry but keeps making different decisions. (Of course, Dexter already knows the truth, but Deb doesn't know that yet. She had to make a choice between tell or hide, and she chose tell.)

What strikes me as a set up for s5 as well: Deb's uneasy reaction when finding Dexter in the Mitchell garage. Clearly, she knows there is something fishy about him being there; she just can't say what. Now the season has ended with Rita's death, I expect Deb will first be all about comforting and helping Dexter, but it will nag at her why Trinity should chose Rita of all the people to kill before leaving Miami. And she might wonder how likely it was that Brian/Rudy killed himself, given she now is aware Dexter was his brother and that her own involvement was because of this connection. How likely it was that Dexter found her by sheer coincidence in the house of Laura whom he claims not to remember. So she is in a position to finally draw those fateful conclusions...