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So, the Dexter finale.
My mind is kind of blown. Yes, the show has never shied away from gruesomeness and shock value, but I’m still surprised they actually went THERE.
I don’t know if it’s even so much about the death as the manner in which it occurred. Doakes’ death in late season 2 was undoubtedly awful, but being (presumably instantly) killed in an explosion kind of pales compared to the whole process of Trinity’s bathtub murders. We saw how it happens in the season premiere; I’ve seen the argument around that it’s almost worse that it occurred offscreen, since our imagination fills in the details, but personally, I’m glad they made that choice. I don’t think I could cope with watching Julie Benz play out that scene. Or more John Lithgow nudity, for that matter.
Rita was never my favourite character to watch on the show, but this was just beyond horrifying .For a woman who survived years of unspeakable abuse, and fought her way back to a normal life and reclaimed her identity, only to go out in that way brought an amount of horror that surpasses everything the show has done before. And yes, this is a fridging, even though I like the development from a pure storytelling perspective.
I was surprised by how much of the sympathy online seemed directed at Harrison rather than Rita. I…don’t get it. And all right, I’m not a baby person, and I can’t be invested in Harrison as a character (he’s a BABY! All he does is cry or look around in a confused way), but my sympathy is for Rita being murdered in such a horrible way with the added tragedy of her baby being present and her not knowing whether it would be next. This is not an equivalent to toddler!Dexter in the container. Do babies that young even retain memories? I have some blurry memories from when I was as young as 3, but nothing before that. I really don’t think we’ll be looking at Dark Passenger: The Next Generation, you know?
Having said that, the scene was clearly set up to utterly fuck up Dexter and oh man, it did it beautifully. The symmetry of the two ‘born in blood scenes’ (fyi, show, we GET IT. We don’t need the meaning beaten into us with a sledgehammer) and the fact that Dexter is very much responsible for what happened…well, let’s just say that I think his head next season will be an even scarier place to be in.
I admit that I kind of hated the whole suburban vomit-fest that were the family scenes this season, but after this finale, I finally see their purpose in the larger picture. It’s amazing how utterly the split priorities turned the previously coldly efficient monster Dexter was previously into the directionless, at times downright spazzy mess he’s been this year. What do you know, it turns out that ghost!Harry (and Doakes, for that matter) were right: sooner or later, the darkness will seep into all areas of Dexter’s life and do serious damage to those he’s closest too. This is not even comparable to Debra and Rudy, or Lila kidnapping the kids, because unlike then, Dexter had as much information as the viewers did. He knew exactly who Trinity was, yet he chose to play the extended cat and mouse game, first out of fascination and later because he simply had to be the one to kill him. And Rita paid the price.
Where does he even go from here? There are a lot of loose ends (Trinity’s family, Quinn, Debra’s newfound knowledge about the Moser boys), and it seems the walls are closing in. I’m almost positive next season, Debra will find out and I can’t see that going very well. Their scene kind of killed me, btw, with the emotion on both sides and the usual slightly inappropriate vibes (I need post-finale Dexter/Debra fics YESTERDAY! Why is this such a small fandom?). Either way, I predict next season will be the best we’ve gotten since S1.
On another note, this> interview with Julie Benz about the finale
My mind is kind of blown. Yes, the show has never shied away from gruesomeness and shock value, but I’m still surprised they actually went THERE.
I don’t know if it’s even so much about the death as the manner in which it occurred. Doakes’ death in late season 2 was undoubtedly awful, but being (presumably instantly) killed in an explosion kind of pales compared to the whole process of Trinity’s bathtub murders. We saw how it happens in the season premiere; I’ve seen the argument around that it’s almost worse that it occurred offscreen, since our imagination fills in the details, but personally, I’m glad they made that choice. I don’t think I could cope with watching Julie Benz play out that scene. Or more John Lithgow nudity, for that matter.
Rita was never my favourite character to watch on the show, but this was just beyond horrifying .For a woman who survived years of unspeakable abuse, and fought her way back to a normal life and reclaimed her identity, only to go out in that way brought an amount of horror that surpasses everything the show has done before. And yes, this is a fridging, even though I like the development from a pure storytelling perspective.
I was surprised by how much of the sympathy online seemed directed at Harrison rather than Rita. I…don’t get it. And all right, I’m not a baby person, and I can’t be invested in Harrison as a character (he’s a BABY! All he does is cry or look around in a confused way), but my sympathy is for Rita being murdered in such a horrible way with the added tragedy of her baby being present and her not knowing whether it would be next. This is not an equivalent to toddler!Dexter in the container. Do babies that young even retain memories? I have some blurry memories from when I was as young as 3, but nothing before that. I really don’t think we’ll be looking at Dark Passenger: The Next Generation, you know?
Having said that, the scene was clearly set up to utterly fuck up Dexter and oh man, it did it beautifully. The symmetry of the two ‘born in blood scenes’ (fyi, show, we GET IT. We don’t need the meaning beaten into us with a sledgehammer) and the fact that Dexter is very much responsible for what happened…well, let’s just say that I think his head next season will be an even scarier place to be in.
I admit that I kind of hated the whole suburban vomit-fest that were the family scenes this season, but after this finale, I finally see their purpose in the larger picture. It’s amazing how utterly the split priorities turned the previously coldly efficient monster Dexter was previously into the directionless, at times downright spazzy mess he’s been this year. What do you know, it turns out that ghost!Harry (and Doakes, for that matter) were right: sooner or later, the darkness will seep into all areas of Dexter’s life and do serious damage to those he’s closest too. This is not even comparable to Debra and Rudy, or Lila kidnapping the kids, because unlike then, Dexter had as much information as the viewers did. He knew exactly who Trinity was, yet he chose to play the extended cat and mouse game, first out of fascination and later because he simply had to be the one to kill him. And Rita paid the price.
Where does he even go from here? There are a lot of loose ends (Trinity’s family, Quinn, Debra’s newfound knowledge about the Moser boys), and it seems the walls are closing in. I’m almost positive next season, Debra will find out and I can’t see that going very well. Their scene kind of killed me, btw, with the emotion on both sides and the usual slightly inappropriate vibes (I need post-finale Dexter/Debra fics YESTERDAY! Why is this such a small fandom?). Either way, I predict next season will be the best we’ve gotten since S1.
On another note, this> interview with Julie Benz about the finale