Discussing “Dexter” with my children poses some challenges. On the one hand, I am a huge fan of the show and want to talk about how great it is. On the other hand, as a parent I must condemn the horrific choices made by the lead characters. When the season finale concluded on Sunday night, my daughter called to ask what I thought. Fortunately, my children are old enough to appreciate the show without being scarred by it.
Both my son and daughter have been keeping up with the episodes online. For the finale, my daughter couldn’t wait and went to the home of a friend who subscribes to Showtime. One of the people present had never seen the show but was fascinated by Sunday’s episode, asking questions throughout. If you aren’t familiar with “Dexter,” what follows won’t make much sense. If you have a backlog of episodes on your DVR or if you wait for the DVD, consider this a spoiler alert.
In a post-show interview on Showtime, Julia Stiles talked about how her character is the only one who truly knows Dexter. Lumen becomes his partner, accepting everything about him but then rejects him when the darkness leaves her. Stiles also reminds the viewers that Debra Morgan would have sympathy for victim 13 because of her own capture by the Ice Truck Killer in season 1. I think the Debra in the book series has an understanding of Dexter’s vigilantism and chooses to look the other way.
My daughter pointed out that Dexter had to help get Detective Quinn off the hook because he was responsible for the blood drop that put Quinn on the hook. I wonder if Quinn will end up getting dispatched like Sgt. Doakes or if he could end up as an ally for Dexter. I also wonder if the TV producers will pick up on a story idea from the books in which young Cody displays some serial tendencies.
