Spoilers ahead for anyone who isn’t completely caught up with Dexter…
I thought that the previous season of Dexter (season 7) ended on an underwhelming note. Yes, that final scene between Deborah, Dexter and Laguerta was tense but I think I was expecting the season to end at 100 miles per hour sort of like the the last season finale of Breaking Bad. It made your jaw drop, your heart sink and left you thinking “oh f..k!” With the Dexter season finale, LaGuerta was killed by Deb and that was it. She was the biggest obstacle in Dexter and Deb’s life and with her gone, they pretty much got away with it. I guess I was expecting a bloodbath followed by that “oh f..k” moment, but either way, I’m very excited for this final season especially after seeing the official trailer and the behind the scenes video released by Showtime.
From what we can tell from the two videos, Deb is taking her decision to kill LaGuerta pretty hard. She resents Dexter for coaxing her to make the decision that she did and now she is self medicating with prescription pills, alcohol and sex with some guy she shouldn’t be having sex with. Meanwhile, Dexter is living free because nobody is hunting him. But then a neuropsychiatrist named Dr. Evelyn Vogel comes in to aid in investigating a series of murders. Her specialty is researching the brains of psychopaths, and from the looks of the trailer, it seems like she has a keen interest in Dexter.
I predict that in this final season, Deb will be a bigger threat than Dr. Evelyn Vogel because as she spirals more and more out of control, she might gain the liquid courage to spill the beans about her brother. In the trailer, she appears very inebriated when she says “I’d like to make an official statement.” This is a big selling point of the trailer, but with her slurred speech and heavy eyes, any statement she makes in that state won’t have much weight to it. But still, it shows that she has a threatening power to bring down Dexter at any moment.
On the other side, Dr. Evelyn Vogel presents a much different threat. She isn’t a cop and she can’t arrest Dexter but I believe that she will have her suspicions about him. First, Detective James Doakes accused Dexter of being the Bay Harbor Butcher based on a feeling (a correct feeling) and then Captain LaGuerta accused him later on down the road in an attempt to clear Doakes’ name. The reason why Dexter was able to stay under so many radars for so long is because he performs in everyday life like most serial killers. He is perfectly there but not there, he’s charming, he does his job well and he doesn’t get into anyone’s business. When most serial killers are caught, even close friends and family can’t believe that they’re the culprit because serial killers are masters of living under the radar. But to Dr. Vogel, she will probably see the guy that was twice accused of being the Bay Harbor Butcher who got off because those accusers conveniently died, and coupled with his “invisibility” and forensics expertise, her suspicions will have some weight after spending some face-to-face time with him.
However, I do not believe that Dr. Vogel will be a direct threat to Dexter because I don’t think that she will be out to “catch” Dexter. I think that she will want to research and interview the Bay Harbor Butcher while he is still in action, and more importantly, alive. I mean, she’s a neuropsychiatrist that specializes in psychopathic brains and she has the chance to interview probably the most prolific serial killers of the modern era. Getting Dexter to agree to such an interview will be tough for her, but because her career is dedicated to psychopaths, she probably knows how to manipulate them. In the behind the scenes video, Michael C. Hall talks about how this season is about “a sense of legacy” and I think that Dr. Vogel is Dexter’s chance to cement his legacy in his own words when he eventually agrees to be interviewed by her. Once Dexter has trust in her, I think he’ll let loose with some very revealing information about himself that we may or may not already know. Again, Dr. Vogel is a neuropsychiatrist and specializes in getting information out of psychopaths like Dexter, so I think that Dexter will find some comfort in spilling his guts out to her because she can accept who he is without necessarily condemning him. And yes, that pun was intended.
When it comes to how eight seasons of this story will end, I think that Deb will end up killing Dexter for one fundamental reason: She has empathy and Dexter does not. That being said, I think Deb will dive deeper and deeper into darkness this season and she will become very cold towards Dexter but not towards the other people in her life. By that I primarily mean Sergeant Batista and Detective Quinn. I think that Deb will tell one of those two people who Dexter is but she won’t make a statement because she knows what Dexter is capable of and the lengths he’ll go to make sure that he is not caught. Plus, if she made a statement about the night of LaGuerta’s death, she would go to prison as well for aiding Dexter and killing a police officer. With that in mind, I think she’ll tell Batista because he loved LaGuerta and after he is done being mad at Deborah, he will help her take down the real killer which is Dexter. In the previous season, when Hannah was being arrested by Batista, she tells Dexter “you should’ve just killed me” which Batista could’ve heard because he was standing right behind her. But Dexter is smarter than any of the detectives at Miami Metro and stories need conflict so Dexter will probably catch wind of their plans and chaos will ensue. As far as Quinn goes, I think he will get on the Dexter investigation because he investigated Dexter in a previous season and might have some useful information. Once Quinn and Batista know, I think that Masuka will get on the act at some point when they need a forensics expert that isn’t Dexter. Once those three guys know, it will create a lot of tension within Miami Metro. Imagine Dexter walking into the station with three sets of eyeballs on him and that’s when I think Dexter will get a clue that he is being watched. Dexter is great at keeping secrets and hiding his emotions but others aren’t, and at some point he’ll catch on after brief facial twitch or when Masuka eventually cracks and that’s when s..t will hit the fan.
In the end, I am going to stick with the Deborah kills Dexter theory because I feel like that is the best arc for the overall story. They start off as loving brother and sister and end up as a cop hunting a serial killer. Dexter will cement his legacy as the Bay Harbor Butcher and the public will decide if he is a hero or a monster. Despite some of the more lackluster moments during this series, Dexter is still one of my favorite shows and I pray that my blood-lust will be satisfied in this final season because one thing this show has taught me is how to kill people and get away with it. Please don’t screw it up Dexter show runners.
