I didn't care for his old blood...

MY POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

I'm not sure if I was aware this was a limited series or not, when I started watching.

I remember last week there was a flash of "coming next week," where you see him in front of a wall where someone is booked. (Height chart.)

So when I looked, and realized it was a limited series, I knew this was going to be a bigger ending. Or at least, there'd be a better resolution to anyone and anything than in the original series. Not every show sets out for a do-over. (I think about how Married with Children was just ended with no real ending, as many other shows have been ended.)

To the show and spoilers:

For a while, we thought Harrison was going to be end up being the new Dexter. That his taste for blood and Harry's code would develop, or we'd at least have a hint toward that end. But we didn't. I felt the most bad for Harrison, because he can't catch a break. He lost his mother, then eventually lost his father.

I don't think Harrison has a dark passenger like Dexter did. I do believe he's angry. He has parental issues and that can fuck anyone up, but doesn't necessarily lead them to be a serial killer. I think his anger with his father and such is what led him to break the kid's arm. Of course, Kurt's own murderous proclivities found potential new blood in Harrison, encourging similar behavior (ergo, the arm break; Kurt was the only one delighted by the moment).

I would have liked to see Bautista and Dexter together on screen again. He was on his way, and it would've been great to see them face to face again, even in a "holy shit" moment. We sorta got that when he got Angela's email, but still. Maybe always one step behind, he's at the police station while Angela is on Caldwell's property. Then after Harrison has shot Dexter, and Angela is there, Bautista catches up only to see Dexter actually die. It'd give Bautista no great relief for LaGuerta's death.

I thought it was pretty interesting to hear Dexter say he'd never felt true love before until this moment, when Harrison was going to kill him, to save him from himself, and save Harrison. Dexter had to be miserable doing what he did, on some level. There was some satisfaction from it for him, but also there had to be stress from just lying and hustling to not be caught. All that ended when he knew he was going to die. Harrison ended up being the only voice of reason through it all and Dexter probably also felt relief that maybe his son wouldn't go down the same path in life that he had for his life. That he saw the code, etc., and ultimately rejected it. He was a better person, despite being born in blood and having every reason to be an angry young man. Dexter had to find happiness in that. He was happy his son was better than him, and helped end his own misery as a man in hiding with a nasty habit.

He also probably knew that with him out of his son's life, as he was before Harrison showed up, that Harrison had a better shot at being a normal human being.

I think Dexter died happy for all those reasons.

Logan's death seemed pointless. He could've just head butted him or whatever, instead of breaking his neck.

One thing I noticed was that the more Dexter let his secret out to Harrison and hustled to keep his secret, the less Debra showed up. Debra was his subconscious talking, of course, and that thorn seem to become less and less of a problem for him. He found a new comfort zone again in his killing. In alignment with that, Angela became more and more like Debra. Hard edged, over thinking, using "fuck" a lot. She damn near looked like her. It's something I noticed early on, but it was more and more as the episodes continued.

In general, I'm happy with the ending. It felt complete, and full. Harrison moving on with a new life, albeit sad and confused for a while, was hopeful. The last 2 or 3 episodes, I kept yelling, "I hate this show! This is too stressful!" That was a good thing, because it was getting big reactions from me.

I'm glad they did this limited series. It felt right.

PS I'm glad we didn't see Dexter and Debra side by side after Dexter died. Debra was never a ghost, she was his subconscious, so to see them next to each other, lording over his body, would've been a bit too Dead Like Me for my taste.

As a fan of the old show, I was glad to see the new series continue. In late 2020, Micheal C. Hall did say that the new series would be limited and would continue and conclude in a way that resolved everything. When I saw the coming attractions of the "mugshot" and Dexter running, I knew it was pretty much over for him...I kind of wanted to see Dexter and Harrison ride off together as father and son, but the story might have dragged on and on. Time was running out for Dexter and everything was quickly catching up to him... Needless to say, I was content with the way it ended.

SPYZFAN1 said:

I kind of wanted to see Dexter and Harrison ride off together as father and son, but the story might have dragged on and on.

And I believe that was the mistake the first time around. They didn't kill him off. There was supposed to be some thing about him exiling himself as not to be able to kill again, in an uncomfortable place as some form of self-flagellation for his sins. Then him breaking the fourth wall and looking into the camera. It was all so fucking hokey.




I don't know who wrote that or why it got by anyone in charge, but it sucked. That's not even to mention him taking a fucking body out of the hospital in the middle of a shitty CGI storm and no one notices?! It was all a bit too convenient.

To have him not die again, and dragging Harrison into something would've been just as bad. He was an anti-hero, but he certainly needed to be checked before it was all over.

I sorta think he was redeemed by telling Harrison to kill him. Plus, I failed to mention that his death pose was a bit religious in nature. He looked like he'd given the ultimate sacrifice...

I got to thinking... it's true Logan's death was seen as a means to an end. Unnecessary, but necessary in that situation. He'd killed before out of mistake or whatever. It wasn't always up to his code. Rarely, but it happened.

However, I wonder if it shows just how much deeper Dexter was willing to go in his psychosis. He's getting older, more life experience. He hadn't killed in a decade. Was he sorta losing it by that point?

I'd be disappointed if they did a second season. It'd have to jump in time, or just be a rehash of Dexter in some fashion. I like it left as is. Leave Harrison's story to the ether and imagination. I can deal with that sort of untold story. It felt hopeful, and positive. I don't necessarily need to see his struggle finding himself.

No, not at all. I'm pissed they killed him off. At least the ending in the original series left me knowing he was still alive. This is a worse ending imo. Harrison is a whiny little bitch and there is no chance whatsoever that I'd watch anything more with him in it.

Mumio said:

onlyforaminute said:

Mumio said:

No, not at all. I'm pissed they killed him off. At least the ending in the original series left me knowing he was still alive. This is a worse ending imo. Harrison is a whiny little bitch and there is no chance whatsoever that I'd watch anything more with him in it.

But is he dead? I don't believe until they've been embalmed and fully buried 6-feet under. It's freezing out there. There's a saying, they ain't dead til they're warm and dead. For all we know Hannah pops up outta nowhere diposes of Angela and drags Dexter away so he can recover.

We don't know it for a fact. But I just can't imagine that Showtime would risk their viewer base like this unless his death was their intent. Showtime scored record viewing numbers revitalizing Dexter Morgan so there's clearly a huge viewing audience out there. Stupid on their part.

Mumio said:

We don't know it for a fact. But I just can't imagine that Showtime would risk their viewer base like this unless his death was their intent. Showtime scored record viewing numbers revitalizing Dexter Morgan so there's clearly a huge viewing audience out there. Stupid on their part.

We do know it for a fact. Michael C. Hall has done multiple interviews saying that they (the cast and crew, everyone) realize how the original series ended left a lot of fans a bit cold, unsatisfied and upset. They wanted to correct that, and put a new taste in folks mouths with it. Fans wanted to see this, and frankly I think a lot of fans wanted to see him dead. And it was always announced as a limited series.

Like I said, he's an anti-hero. He was someone who did bad things, had bad ways about him, but you still found yourself rooting for him. No one was rooting for Doakes when he was onto Dexter. We wanted Dexter to make it out alive, even if it meant Doakes dying.

So yeah, Dexter is dead. As dead as anyone he killed. The only way they'd do another season is to either have it be Harrison with Dexter in his subconscious like Debra was with him, or go futher back and cover the last decade between the last series and this one. Which, I think, would be over done.

onlyforaminute said:

A lot of people are saying it was all a Dexter dream sequence. Not like it hasn't been done before. I didn't realize Michael is 50, I'm sure he's ready for this portion of his life to end and move on to other things. I didn't know he's in a band. They even have one of their song at the end of epi 4. Ketamine-Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum https://youtu.be/waylMzCaznE It definitely fits show. Seeing that the finale was one of the highest view shows still leaves a possible continuation.

He's a very versatile dude in real life. He was in some Bowie play (Lazarus ?), and sang very much like Bowie. I forget the name of his band, but there's a funny story behind it. He was on CBS Mornings but I can't find the clip on their pages right now.

If they continued it, and I pray they don't, it'd have to be something like Dexter: Next Generation or whatever. And as someone said, no one wants to see Harrison's baby face trying to take some bloke twice his age out for a crime.

Here he is on The View talking about it.

It ain't no damn dream sequence. I think fans have a new taste for blood (SWIDT), and are hopeful for more, but this ain't Dallas, and Pamela Ewing didn't just wake up from a bad dream.

SPYZFAN1 said:

As a fan of the old show, I was glad to see the new series continue. In late 2020, Micheal C. Hall did say that the new series would be limited and would continue and conclude in a way that resolved everything. When I saw the coming attractions of the "mugshot" and Dexter running, I knew it was pretty much over for him...I kind of wanted to see Dexter and Harrison ride off together as father and son, but the story might have dragged on and on. Time was running out for Dexter and everything was quickly catching up to him... Needless to say, I was content with the way it ended.

I feel the same way. I watched the original series and loved it, so I was really looking forward to this one. It was a great series and I'm also content with the way it ended. I agree it would've dragged on and become repetative, so I think it ended the way it should have. Michael C Hall was terrific in this series, I'd like to see him in something completely different next time. Farewell Dexter!

onlyforaminute said:

People have had some time to marinade on it and they're pissed. Mainly let down by the whole Bautista and Dexter meet. Let alone the thin reason a troubled teen kills his dad.

I think Harrison wanted to stop him until Angela showed up. He didn't want to kill him. For a minute, we thought maybe Harrison had a dark passenger. But maybe he just had a moment to be insanely curious about something most of us don't delve into - murder.

The most his dark passenger came out was actually having permission to kill Dexter, by Dexter himself. I believe that maybe if Harrison had a dark side, that it died with his father, having killed who is, arguably, the most influential person in his life despite his absense in his son's life. Clearly, the kid was padding around the U.S. just trying to find his dad. He got to know his dad enough in the time he was there, until he had to kill him. I think it was a mercy killing, the same way Angela had mercy on Harrison and let him go without facing any trouble for killing Dexter.

I do agree - Bautista and Dexter... that was a cock tease. That and Logan's death were the low points.

TrivialPursuit said:

Mumio said:

We don't know it for a fact. But I just can't imagine that Showtime would risk their viewer base like this unless his death was their intent. Showtime scored record viewing numbers revitalizing Dexter Morgan so there's clearly a huge viewing audience out there. Stupid on their part.

We do know it for a fact. Michael C. Hall has done multiple interviews saying that they (the cast and crew, everyone) realize how the original series ended left a lot of fans a bit cold, unsatisfied and upset. They wanted to correct that, and put a new taste in folks mouths with it. Fans wanted to see this, and frankly I think a lot of fans wanted to see him dead. And it was always announced as a limited series.

Like I said, he's an anti-hero. He was someone who did bad things, had bad ways about him, but you still found yourself rooting for him. No one was rooting for Doakes when he was onto Dexter. We wanted Dexter to make it out alive, even if it meant Doakes dying.

So yeah, Dexter is dead. As dead as anyone he killed. The only way they'd do another season is to either have it be Harrison with Dexter in his subconscious like Debra was with him, or go futher back and cover the last decade between the last series and this one. Which, I think, would be over done.

You've clearly got a different opinion than I do. You are more than welcome to it, but I'm sticking with what I said. Is that alright with you?

An Anti-hero?!! He's a frickin' serial killer and that's no hero--anti or not. My late friend Angel loved this show because I guess it allowed her to imagine revenge on her enemies--as a sort of catharthis to her bad life growing up. I tried watching a couple of episodes and I found it depressing, demeaning, and sad. The torture scenes drove me away. Dexter is no hero of any kind, "anti" or not. There are "anti-hero" characters I've admired thoughout this years; this isn't one of them.

You can only kill so many people.

2freaky4church1 said:

onlyforaminute said:

2freaky4church1 said:

You can only kill so many people.

Well according to Dex he's killed hundreds which begs, how many frikkin serial killers live in Miami? I aint never going to Florida in that case. Unfortunately the more you dig into this series the more absurd it becomes. Which was the point of it in the 1st place the absurdity of technically a vampire who feeds on vampires. Such a unheard of idea.

I suppose at some point you have to suspend logic and reality to watch a show like this. The show is absurd, you're right. Which is sort of the appeal of it. It's equally absurd to root for a killer, but that's what the show did - it had you rooting for Dexter to stay hidden in plain site, for Doakes, Bautista, Debra, LaGuerta and anyone else to not find out.

Also, time goes on, people grow up, and do bad things and Dexter finds them. Remember, he didn't kill just serial killers. He killed pedophiles, murderers, etc. Not just those who had multiple kills under their belt. I always found his life, his code, whatever fascinating. Not fascinating enough to do what he does - I ain't goin' to prison for anyone. I have no desire to hurt someone. But to think someone somewhere could be doing that... crazy.

One thing I noticed he didn't start doing was saving blood samples like he had before (and kept in his A/C unit).

I think I saw on Twitter recently the ratio of people who have murdered someone, and that in all likelihood, we've all been in some sort of close contact with a murderer (whether accidental, on purpose, serial killer, or otherwise). That makes ya never want to leave the house!

onlyforaminute said:

A lot of people are saying it was all a Dexter dream sequence. Not like it hasn't been done before. I didn't realize Michael is 50, I'm sure he's ready for this portion of his life to end and move on to other things. I didn't know he's in a band. They even have one of their song at the end of epi 4. Ketamine-Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum https://youtu.be/waylMzCaznE It definitely fits show. Seeing that the finale was one of the highest view shows still leaves a possible continuation. [Edited 1/12/22 16:19pm]

I'm hoping for something like that but not placing bets on it.

Mumio said:

onlyforaminute said:

It's possible but given how this was put together it seems it'll be a very simplified storyline. A very teen-centric show. Somehow I get the feeling Audrey would be his conscious.

Sometimes the simpliest of approaches is the best to tell a story. We know Dexter's past, histroy within the show, and psychosis. This was the last chapter in his life. So I didn't mind it being more simplified. And really, the Kurt storyline almost seemed secondary. It was a reaosn for Dexter to kill again, and have it directly involve his son (because this other monster was trying to pull Harrison in the exact same direction Dexter did, which is probably why Harrison bolted in general).

The teen-centric comment made me think: It'd probably be a horrible idea to have Harrison or The Book of Dexter: Harrison be some Young Adult Drama, a la 90210, Melrose Place, Riverdale, Super Girl, Smallville, and like. While anyone of any age could be a serial killer, I fear a YA show like that having a bit too much influence on a teen or early 20-something that could be otherwise troubled anyway. Not blaming media on people's crimes. I suppose maybe it's a bit too heavy for a targeted YA audience.

However, Harrison just being a young adult dealing with being an adult orphan, and forging his own path would be interesting. Just a straight forward YA drama. Maybe he finds something of his father's and journals about something, and that somehow plays into his real life in a non-I'm-going-to-Saran-wrap-you-and-murder-you way. Maybe the show picks up a year after Harrison leaves Iron Lake, landing even back in Miami, or a place like New Orleans or Austin, and struggles to find himself through grief.

Granted, none of this is going to happen. But it's fun to riff on it.