So there we have it–another season of Dexter is in the history books. It’s been a roller coaster ride of redemption, damnation, lackluster reveals, too many needless secondary character stories, a few cringe worthy episodes and then a final shock.
Dexter Season 7: Flash Forward Expectations & Theories
The season started off with the introduction of the Doomsday Killer team of Professor James Gellar (Edward James Olmos) and Travis Marshall (Colin Hanks). The two were staging revelation tableaus to bring about the apocalypse. We then met up with Brother Sam (Mos Def), a reformed killer who tried to set Dexter (Michael C. Hall) on the path of righteousness.
Sam appeared to be a great addition to the cast, developing a slight bromance with Dexter. Unfortunately, the bromance was short lived. As soon as we grew to like Sam, the writers killed him off. C’est la vie.
By contrast, there were few fans who would admit to liking Gellar as the Doomsday Killer. Every time he appeared on screen he seemed to sap the energy and life from the scene. Perhaps that was his intent all along. However, we soon learned that Gellar was nothing more than Travis’ dark passenger. The real Gellar was murdered long before Season 6 started. The Fight Club twist was hardly strong enough to bring back the excitement of the Trinity Killer (it’s really hard to top John Lithgow’s performance in Season 4).
Dexter Executive Producer Discusses Season 7
During the mess of holy people dying and psychopathic visions, the main plot and viewers had to contend with a slew of secondary story arcs. Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) was promoted to lieutenant, leaving Quinn (Desmond Harrington) and Angel Batista (David Zayas) to go through a mutual mid-life crisis. Laguerta (Lauren Vélez) was staging a coup of Miami Metro, which often put her at odds with Deb. And, Masuka (C.S. Lee) was going through interns like nobodies business.
Just when the season was reaching its climax, the showrunners decided to throw a monkey wrench in the character relations. Deb realized she had feelings for her adopted brother. It made most viewers cringe.
Unfortunately, that cringing sensation sustained itself through most of the Season 6 finale. What could have been a great episode lost momentum every time Deb and Dexter got together. The two actually said, “I love you” to one another, but Dexter meant it purely from a familial standpoint.
In a word, it was “gross”. Forgive me for being so childish, but this random plot thread really hurt the finale. Travis was just starting to rise up to be a memorable killer, but sadly he only had two episodes to show off his worth. And, in the finale, most of his screen time was stolen by Deb’s feelings toward her brother.
Then the inevitable happened. Dexter and Travis faced off. Travis had kidnapped Harrison and Dexter was hell bent on getting his son back. Sure enough, Dexter came through with a victory.
He setup Travis on his kill table in Gellar’s church and made the sign of the cross, saying, “I am a father, a son, a serial killer.”
It was an awry sight. But then it happened. Deb randomly walked in. Why did she go back to the church?
Because it was time for Deb to finally learn the truth about Dexter.
As Dexter plunged the blade into Travis’ chest, Deb’s eyes widened as she saw Dexter’s Dark Passenger revealed.
Dexter said, “Oh God” and the finale was over.
So, after six seasons our Lois Lane has finally learned the truth about Clark Kent. He really has been Superman all along. With two seasons left of Dexter, it’s clear that she will accept Dexter for who he is. This would also mean covering up for Dexter as she runs Miami Metro. Now that she knows the truth about Dexter, she will probably shake off her twisted feelings towards her brother.
Now we know the truth about Deb’s added emotional problem. The showrunners wanted Deb to learn the truth so they raised the stakes on Deb’s relationship with her brother. Honestly, it was totally unnecessary. Viewers have been waiting for Deb to learn the truth for a while. The “shock” was still the same. Now, we’re just left wondering if Deb wants to get in her brother’s pants every time she hugs him. Will killing victims turn her on? In Season 5, Deb was actually happy that there was a vigilante helping out women. Now that it’s her brother it may serve as an aphrodisiac.
What were your thoughts on the final?
Overall, I enjoyed the Dexter vs Travis moments. Everything else just made me cringe.
