Dexter review, Season (6) Finale Episode - This is the way the world ends.

By Time Spiral
December 19th, 2011, Tampa **SPOILERS**

Read what happened previously on Dexter Episode (11) Talk to the Hand (Season [6]).

I'm ready. It's the season finale. No matter what your take on this season, it's a fine moment. You're either happy for it to be over, enthralled in the story, or somewhere in between. I've my theories going in and I'm ready to go. Showtime has been claiming huge things for this season and I'm wondering if it was all because of the last three seconds.

This review will be slightly longer than usual, due to it being the Season (6) Finale episode. Enjoy!

Trapped at sea, tired and discouraged, Dexter reflects on his current predicament. A fitting location for him to meet his end, he decides. He does not dwell on the past but laments in the loss of a future with his son. He's floating, trying to conserve energy, and thanking the gods, maybe, that he was able to find something to hold on to.

The Milagro comes to a timely rescue, Dexter whets his palette with a quick kill, and swims to shore with a score of immigrants seeking a new life in Florida. Taking Travis's departing words literally, Dexter decides that he has failed. Travis is gone. Dexter is going home, to his son.

The near death experience is an ultimately powerful thing. I'm sure we can all look back to moments in our lives when something so big was happening that it caused us to reevaluate everything. The opening scene, while maybe a little unrealistic, was very well done. A group of people, looking to start a new life in Florida, have to swim through the same waters Brother Sam's ashes were given to - Dexter being among these people.

It's a special thing to have one of these moments. I felt, truly, that Dexter was appreciating this. It became more apparent in the following scenes of him playing with Harrison, adoring him, being with him, and thinking to himself. Unfortunately for Dexter, Travis is not finished.

Dexter's called to the crime scene, a double murder. Should be a piece of cake, or maybe a doughnut and coffee. The entire team is waiting in front of the house for Dexter to arrive (new protocol?). Dexter's spidy-sense is going off and he walks over the two corpses into the living room. He face is that of pure shock.

He stutters backwards. He almost falls. His heart is racing. His face is on the beast being thrown in to the lake of fire. His face! His team could walk in at any moment ... he cannot let this happen. The sun glints off the metallic surface of a hammer. He knows what to do.

I remember last week thinking how excited I was to see what would happen with this mural. It had such potential! But, deep down, I knew that the team would never see Dexter's face. I actually felt a little cheated, because even though Hall's response in that room was superb, it just feels like it was all for nothing.

It became really obvious shortly after that they are going for the Dexter and Deb romantic interest angle and Deb fumbles around like an awkward teen. It's crazy to watch Dexter look at her, befuddled, as his lil' Sis stumbles over her self, bumping into things, as she leaves the crime scene. Dexter was hardly thrown off by all of this as he's able to deftly spot another Marshall doodle in the trashcan. A few quick searches later, and he knows exactly where Travis is going to go!

After a tough morning of table-leg smashing and altar preparation Travis decides to take a ride. When he returns, apple in hand, he sees Miami Metro combing the front door. He doesn't panic. He simply drives a few houses down and parks. Eating his apple he wonders what he is going to do. Apparently, he needed that place still. Or does he? He thinks to himself as he rifles through Dexter's wallet.

"Thank you," he says as he starts the car and drives away.

Travis walks up to Dexter's condo, keys in hand, and ninjas the lock by guessing the correct key on the first try (Genius!). And like a kind neighbor, decides to bring in a package that he sees waiting by the doorstep. After changing shirts, partaking in some dry Cheerios, he decides to check the contents of the package. You can imagine what he's thinking when he pulls out a strangely marked mannequin hand. Then he notices it. He's not alone. Someone else is in the condo, but he doesn't think he's been made yet.

Travis watches Batista's little sister selecting an outfit and chiding Dexter for being so careless with his large kitchen knives. Travis creeps through the shadows, like a spider, listening, planning. He's found his lamb.

I knew they were going to put Harrison on the chopping block for this season finale. Part of me even thought they might off him! But this whole scene felt odd to me. Those condos are pretty small, albeit nice, they are small. I'd like to think that when you're alone, babysitting, you'd be a little more conscious of things like doors opening and closing and people opening boxes of Cheerios and eating them. Come on, girl. But that wasn't all that was weird with this scene.

Does Dexter's condo have a back door? I mean, he's not on the floor level, so the back door would only go to a balcony which almost certainly does not have stairs leading down to the floor level. Also, she is in the back room Harrison's room. How did she get out? Travis watched her walk in, heard her dressing Harrison, then basically walked right in after them. I was fully expecting a confrontation, and a kidnapping. I even expected Travis to kill Batista's Sister, but instead ... They're gone? What?! I was legitimately confused, just from a logistics perspective.

Travis with his shadow-Dexter genius powers discovers the Noah's ark pageant is happening very soon, and decides that'd be an opportune time to snag Harrison. So of course he's able to show up, in broad daylight, without being spotted, ID Dexter and Harrison, wait for Dexter to take a phone call outside, and then steal the lion mask and a child in a room full of Dads and Soccer Moms ... ok. We're told the whole city is scared of DDK. Travis Marshall's picture must certainly be on every single TV every couple hours, every day, yet he kidnaps a kid from a pageant from a room full of adults? Yikes. I mean, cut that whole scene and just have Travis fight Batista's sister (kill her) and steal Harrison.

But of course, they cannot do that because they don't want anything pointing back to Dexter's life, so of course, Dexter must save Harrison before Miami metro is clued in to anything. Also, I'm guessing Batista's sister did not stay to watch the pageant? Ok.

Quinn sits down in the interrogation room. Batista is pissed. Quinn doesn't really know what to expect but is floored with the news that Batista has put in a transfer request. This compels Quinn to take action as he later informs Batista that he is seeking help for his problem and will not be transferring.

I'm glad to see this situation between Quinn and Batista, because I think a serious Quinn is leaps and bounds more interesting then this comedy-relief joke of a Quinn that we've been seeing.

They are really hammering this "Deb is in love with Dexter," thing way harder than I expected, and you know what? It is super awkward, and strange. I'm almost uncomfortable watching it. Not because of the faux incest references, but because it just feels awkward. And congrats to Carpenter, because she is extremely believable in these situations, which is a feat. There are three situations in this episode where Deb is basically googling over Dexter: (1) While he is shirtless and recovering in his Condo. This is also where she openly confesses that she is in love with him. (2) At the crime scene where she cannot even look at him, and then (3) when she is talking with him in his blood-splatter/serial-killer research center at Miami Metro.

Deb finally comes to terms with her herself and reveals her intentions to the therapist. Deb is warned that his reaction may not be what she expected, which is obvious, but there was an interesting moment in the Deb therapy scenes. She straight up says something like, I've been looking for someone like Dexter in all of my past relationships. Then she corrects herself and says something like, or rather I've been looking for someone who is the opposite of Dexter to hide the fact that I'm in love with him. Her logic does not make sense, the therapist does not pick up on it, which is unusual, and this to me was a huge tell that she was going to discover Dexter's secret. This coupled with the fact that she told him to go to the church, at night, and Dexter openly admitted to us that he plans on executing Travis there.

LaGuerta has totally changed gears now that the DC is out of the way and she is playing the good gal with Deb. This was disappointing to me, because I was expecting there to be some future tension there with LaGuerta continuing to be an antagonist. Oh well.

The team deciphers Gellar's old journal and realizes Travis means to strike again and will likely do it on a skyscraper while the sun is being eclipsed by the moon. She comes up with the idea to stage men on the rooftops, which is actually pretty brilliant, but then she makes an epic fail. Instead of two man teams, which is standard, she only sends one officer and tell him to basically stand guard in plain site, and apparently look off the edge of the building instead of standing sentry over the entry points to the roof. This was a little unbelievable. It was a good plan, and it should have worked, but they needed it to fail. You search the roof as soon as he gets there, if he is not there, you stake out the entry points in hiding, and wait until he reveals himself and is vulnerable, then you and your partner take him down. Easy mode.

But, I understand they needed to have a dramatic Travis vs Dexter scene, so whatever.

Dexter is running, but not for his life. He's running for the life of Harrison. He needs to get to Travis' pillar of light before it is too late. He rounds a corner on the rooftop and spots Travis with has ancient blade up against Harrison's neck. Dexter calls out to Travis.

Stunned, questioning his senses, Travis halts his sacrifice. He squints his eyes. It cannot be! The beast has returned from the lake of fire. Reluctantly, he cannot disagree with his nemesis' logic. The beast must die. The lamb is no longer important. A deal is struck. Dexter will M99 himself and Travis will let the lamb go.

Dexter agrees and reveals his syringe. Travis lets the boy go. Dexter feels the needle dive deep into his neck. Travis watches as Dexter falls to the ground, unconscious. Travis calls to his God and ceremoniously brings the blade down. He misses! The beast has rolled out of the way. Before he can realize that he has been deceived, he's out. It's over.

In true season (6) styles, some of the scenes just felt a little strange, and awkward, and a little unbelievable. Does Dexter always carry a spare, fake, M99 just in case he needs to inject himself during a deal with the devil? Or did he know he would have to bargain and planned ahead for this? I suppose I can believe the latter. But this scene, the super-failure of not staging the sting correctly, and Travis abducting Harrison from the Pageant and not the condo all felt like really bad writing decisions.

Travis comes to and realizes he is wrapped in plastic. At first he is thrilled. He's in heaven! He calls out to his savior, only to realize that it is the beast, staring him down. Dexter questions his victim, and Travis denies his reality. The two engage in a quick yelling match. Deb, ready to submit herself to Dexter's will, enters the church. She immediately hears a commotion and creeps around the corner.

Wide-eyed, and horrified, Deb watches Dexter plunge a knife into a plastic-wrapped victim as if he were a spider draining a bug's lifeblood. Dexter senses something and turns his head. His heart drops. His life just permanently changed.

Conclusion, and looking forward

We know there will be two more seasons of Dexter. Showtime has confirmed this. Dexter has never been sloppier as he has been in this season and I'm glad to see the writers actually punishing him for this. He was caught red-handed. There is no good way out of this. Deb told Dexter to go to the church and finish his forensic sweep. He agreed. He sets up a kill room fully knowing that he is expected to be there by the Lt. of the Miami Metro homicide division, who is also his Sister. Yet, despite being one of the worst possible locations for a long drawn out ritual killing, he decides to set up out in the middle of the reception hall?! Dear lord, Dexter. You deserve to get caught.

I'm actually nervous about the show. This was a decent finale, but only because they threw a wrench into the formula. Will Deb mirror Lumen and accept Dexter for who he is? Are they framing the romantic interest at the same time he gets caught so he doesn't actually get caught because Deb cannot turn him in? Is she so disgusted and betrayed that she makes it her life mission to catch Dexter? There are a few different ways they could go with this, and I hope they choose the right one.

There are two seasons of Dexter left, and despite this season not being excellent, I'm more excited than ever to see what they do with Seasons (7) and (8). There are so many questions. Will Dexter abandon Miami Metro and go into hiding? Will he be forced to kill Deb? Does he have it in him? Do him and Deb team up and use the Miami Metro as a front to their dual serial killer escapades (I seriously hope not!)?

They could really do this right, and come out with an amazing new season, or they could flop, big time. I don't see a gray area with this one.

We will wait and see. Until next time, be peaceful on your way,

Time_Spiraling

• Dexter falls off his boat, his boat washes ashore, and the same day they discover a lake of fire tableau, say they searched for a wrecked boat, and did not connect the dots - or even ask any questions?
• So I guess Mike Anderson was just a stand-in. I felt he was underused, big time. Are they just setting it up for next season? What are your thoughts on Mike Anderson?
• The church as a kill room has got to be the biggest Dexter blunder ever. It is such a bad decision, I don't even believe it is real.
• Is sweater-vest-guy going to be a quick kill, or is he a new big-bad?
• LaGueart verifies Deb's plan as being the worst executed plan in the history of plans by claiming it was a good one.
• I felt cheated by Dexter smiashing the painting of the beast. Did you?
• They let Travis open the sweater-vest-guy's package and reveal its contents. How is this going to play into Dexter season (7)?
• And finally, I will leave you with this ... Masuka does a killer Yoda!