Coupled together with having to hunt down Jordan Chase and the captured Lumen, having to deal with his own family making a surprise appearance made for one hell of a situation for Dexter. Add to that the situation with Quinn and Liddy and my gut’s in danger of some serious ulcering from my nerves being shot.
As anyone watched this episode — and, heck, the last half of the season — it seemed for sure that Deb was going to find out Dexter’s secret; or, if it wasn’t Deb, Quinn or someone else would be thrust into his world, and we could only guess what would happen next to either of them. I have to admit that Deb not making Dexter and Lumen come out from behind the curtain felt like a cop-out, but it was a hell of a lot better than them somehow slipping out the back. In fact, I thought for a moment Jordan Chase was going to sit up and cause Deb to shoot him.
No Dexter review would be complete without my pointing out a nitpick from the episode, and that would be Deb taking a shot at the crime scene. If they’re scouring that place from top to bottom, won’t they find the bullet hole or the spent bullet itself? OK, end nitpick.
I got to wondering what Quinn wouldn’t decide to snap and simply call out that Dexter just had to be the one who killed Liddy. He had to think there was something to go on, and even if he didn’t have the evidence he needed, at least the heat on Dexter would be extreme. Sure, he’d lose Deb, but in doing what he did, he might soon lose her anyway. One reason for not coming right out and saying it would be for fear of Dexter knowing about his involvement with Liddy and that he’s likely next on his to-kill list. But now that Quinn is cleared, doesn’t the request for a lawyer look really, really fishy to his co-workers?
With Lumen’s revelation of losing what Dexter called her “Dark Passenger,” I wonder if that at all spells out a possible way for the show to end someday without Dexter dead or behind bars. I’m not sure how I feel about that. As much as we love to watch Dexter do what he does, do we really want to see him with a happy ending? It’s a strange thing to contemplate, isn’t it? We don’t hate Dex, but what he does isn’t right — should he pay for that in the traditional way?
There are two ways to look at why Dexter helped clear Quinn from the Liddy investigation. He either wants Deb to be happy, as she clearly has feeling for Quinn, or — as he usually does with those he’s stalking — he’s saving him for himself. Whether or not Dexter absolutely believes Quinn knows about his secret is such a gray area, as is whether or not Quinn absolutely believes Dexter is a killer. What do you think? Could Quinn find out about Dexter one day and cover for him, making that take care of the one he says he owes him? I’m betting we’ll find out in season six.
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Dec 12, 2010 @ 22:04 EST5EDT
I was watching and chatting with Carla, who does not watch, and kept writing OMGOMGOMG – What a fabulous season and a great finale. If they hadn’t renewed it, it would have been fine as a series finale.
I don’t think Dex is saving Quinn for himself. He understands happiness now and I think he’ll fight to ensure his loved ones have it, even if he can’t. Quinn is one lucky dude!
*POST AUTHOR*
There’s too much missing to have made this a worthy series finale. We got a little closure with LaGuerta, for example, but not enough regarding the chief and his issues with both her and Deb, and the department as a whole.
I just think LaGuerta is a nut. I don’t find her storyline in the least bit compelling, so if they never visit her issues again, I won’t be upset. :-)
Great season finale, but the last quarter or so, particularly the final scene with Lumen, was really hard to watch. I do want Dexter to have a happy ending. I give him a Freudian excuse, I guess, and it really seems like he does want to do the right thing, insofar as his Dark Passenger allows him to. But everything goes wrong for him the moment he reaches any kind of goodness in his life, it seems. Or maybe that’s an overly negative view – he has his family back now, and Astor has finally warmed up to him after 2 years of teen angst. But the last line of the season tells me that deep down, despite the way Lumen made him feel, he believes that the idea of him ever finding redemption is unrealistic – and I find that very sad.
As for your nitpick, I had the same thought, but a cop always has to account for any shots fired. She probably explained it away as being startled by a rat or something in such an intense situation. Not really a plot hole to be worried about.
Regarding Quinn, I think he knows (if he lets himself believe it), but has come to accept that a) going after Dexter now would end his relationship with Deb, who he cares very much about, and b) Dexter is to be taken seriously. He was really shaken up when he found out about Liddy, but was basically willing to go down for murder before he hurt Deb again. Now that’s love.
Quinn: Thank you.
Dex: For what?
Quinn: The blood work.
Dex: Just doing my job.
Quinn: Yeah, well… that was the one thing hangin’ me up. I owe you one.
I think Quinn knows what Dexter did for him there, and now they each have something over each other. Maybe Dexter doesn’t know that he knows, but I don’t think Quinn will give him anymore trouble down the line either way. I’m surprised Dexter doesn’t think more of the guy now, and I can only explain his apparently altruistic choice by saying that he does genuinely care about Deb, if not Quinn – and perhaps he had the thought that if Quinn changes his mind about remaining silent, bad things could happen. Best not to give him any motivation to do so.
I hate that we’ll have to wait for another season. I want to see more of this show now.
I agree with you about Quinn just dropping the whole thing. That whole last scene between him and Dexter read to me as them striking a détente, albeit not in so many words. As to Dexter’s opinion of Quinn, the man struck me as a sleaze in his first episode, and I’ve never faulted Dexter for thinking the same, even before Quinn started obsessing over him.
When Deb was holding the vigilante killers at gunpoint, saying that she knew who they were, I had the sense that she was speaking specifically to Lumen and Dexter, rather than #13 in general. And then there’s her quip to Dexter at the birthday party: “I am; I’m happy. You must be, too. Now that this is all over, I mean.” That doesn’t make any sense if it’s supposed to refer to Quinn being cleared or Lumen leaving town as reasons for Dexter to be happy. Can anyone think of what Deb could be referring to, other than the fact that the last member of the Rape, Torture, and Kill Club was dead? I’m almost certain that Deb already knows, but I’m probably just misreading the show once again.
In the future, though, I can now see Quinn and Deb being happy together, both knowing and choosing to ignore Dexter’s after-hours hobby because they agree that his victims deserve to die.
I had the same nitpick about the gunshot. Although if Miami Metro PD ammunition is not specially marked in some way, she could just retrieve the spent bullet and casing, then replace the round in her Glock with an identical one from her personal stores.
If Quinn called out Dexter, I doubt the scrutiny on Dexter would be extreme in any way. There was no remaining evidence, physical or electronic, linking Dexter to Liddy in any way, but there was plenty to show that Quinn was in repeated contact with Liddy in recent weeks. It would just look like a shady cop in a suspicious situation wildly trying to deflect blame off of himself, without the flimsiest shred of proof. The only thing I can think of is the accident report involving Lumen and Liddy, if Quinn remembers Liddy talking about it, and even that doesn’t tie Dexter in directly.
I didn’t get the sense that Quinn was afraid of Dexter at all, just caught between two bad choices from which Dexter ended up rescuing him. I also don’t think his decision to wait for a lawyer would seem fishy, as there was plenty to make him a suspect in Liddy’s murder even before LaGuerta noticed the blood on his shoe.
Do we really have to wait another nine months to see how it actually plays out? Crap.
Amazing show and season. La Guerta is interesting in that she’s almost psychopathic in her career mindedness. She’s singleminded in her sense of self preservation and desire to achieve her goals, which makes her similar in some respect to Dexter. I was reading about how the name Dexter was a reference to the word dexterity. This word is rooted in the Latin ‘dexter’ meaning skilled and on the right hand. Conversely, the Latin for left hand, unlucky, cursed, is ‘sinister’. Is this Dexter’s ‘dark passenger’?
Loved the season finally, and i’m sure that Quinn story line won’t end up here, he now really knows that something is wrong with Dexter (don’t forget the pictures in the boat), in some point these will be an issue again.
I really love these show :)