Dexter: Season 4 Discussion Thread

[Salemite]

Jennifer Carpenter Warns Dexter Fans: Call Your Therapist!

If you've been obsessed with Dexter lately, you are not alone.

"I'm nerding out right there with you!" Jennifer Carpenter tells us, while admitting that she stuck around the set to watch the last few scenes of the finale because, "I couldn't wait to find out!"

The first of Dexter's final two episodes airs this Sunday on Showtime, and according to Jennifer (who kicks serious gluteus maximus as her real-life husband's onscreen sis, Debra Morgan), the fourth season finale is well worth the wait -- though you might need to invest in a little psychotherapy after it.

"I hope you have a good time talking to your therapists about it because it's beyond whatever you may think," Jennifer says.

So what's in store? Will Deb find out Dex's big secret? Without giving away anything too spoilery (we don't want to be responsible for that therapy bill!) here's the awesomeness Jennifer reveals...

Give it to us straight. How good is the season finale?
I have to give a lot of our fans credit. The stuff that they come up with and the guesses that they make on how it's going to end are really impressive, but you just can't top our writers. All the time you put in [episodes] one through 11 watching the show, you'll be glad that you did in 12. Everybody matters in the end. Everybody matters. We all had to be there to shoot the finale.

How does it set up season five?
At the end of every season, collectively, the writers, the producers, the actors, we all sort of cry, "What are we gonna do next year?" And this season it ended and everybody said, "Well, what can't we do next year?" I know the mold is sort of breaking and that's an exciting thing. I think people are kind of getting comfortable sitting in their living rooms with a serial killer, and my hope is to make him more dangerous.

Will Deb find out about Dexter's mom? It seems like she's getting close.
They've been sort of unraveling that cord for four years now, so I can't say that anything is finished. That's sort of the brilliance of the finale and the twisted psyche of our writers. It's sort of epic and vast, and it all counts. I feel like a lot of viewers are waiting for the big payoff, the big reveal when Deb finds out, but I think it will be more exciting and feel more dangerous if the blanket's not just ripped off the secret, if it's slowly discovered. So I guess we'll all get there someday.

Do you think Deb will ever discover Dexter's big secret, that he's a serial killer?
Personally, being a player in this game, I want to see it happen, partly, just because I'm curious. I think I know Deb as well as anyone, and I think they [the writers] would claim to know her just as well, and I'm interested to see if we're all on the same page about what it would look like. We all throw around ideas just for fun when we're waiting on-set, or even after when we're on hiatus and all hanging out as friends we all say, "Well, what if this happened?" and "What if that happened?" And I have real responses to what people say. I get angry about it; I get hurt about it. I get protective of it. So I'm ready to go in any direction that they tell me to move, but I don't think you can tease an audience the way we have about her getting close to it without giving them the payoff, whatever it is.

Deb has been a punching bag for a while now. Will she ever find happiness?
They certainly tested me all year long; I went to work afraid almost every day, and that's the way it should be. It's really visceral when you're living it. I think that I've earned a little bit of happiness on this show. I think it's coming. I think it will be all the more solid when she finally does get some safe ground to stand on because it will have come so hard earned. And Deb never ignores the lessons, so through all of this pain and all of this mourning and grief are opportunities. It will make her sharper and make her do better police work and will make the Dexter-Debra relationship all the more interesting.  

Well, thanks for talking to us and keep up the good work.
Thank you. I've been so excited about this season. It's amazing to be four years into a television show and still be excited about your job.

 

[Payton]

I don't think that Deb will be finding out about Dexter’s secret anytime soon. I do however believe she will find out from Valerie, which CI it was Harry was sleeping with.

By mid next season, she'll probably put the pieces together, and discover that the CI had two sons. One being Dexter, and the other being Rudy (The Ice Truck Killer).

 

[Salemite]

Who's going to watch the so-shocking-it'll-blow-your-head-off season finale tonight?!

 

[NotAlice]

I'll be watching it whenever it hits the internet for sure. Was gonna go out to a friend's house to watch it as it airs, but I'm sick as hell so I'm stuck in my apartment.

 

[Sero489]

So has the wait been as long for everyone else, as its been for me? I think I've been counting down the hours since Friday. The finale for this season is the most hyped I've ever been for a show.

 

[hotatlboi]

Maybe Trinity kills Rita in the bathtub.

Good call! lol

man that was a serious ending.

 

[Salemite]

I totally called Rita's death in the bathtub, LoL. What a fantastic ending! As soon as Dexter walked into the house I knew he was going to find her all bloody in the bathroom. Sooo good. I've been calling for the death of that boring bitch since Season One, so it was nice to see her snuffed out so fantastically.

Great finale. I'm a little disappointed that Arthur was killed, simply because John Lithgow has been amazing and he's one of the biggest reasons this season has been so addictive. Maybe we'll get to see him next season via flashbacks. I know this is twisted, but I really, really want to see what happened when Rita was murdered. Did Arthur tell her about his association with Dexter before he finally offed her?

Kudos to Deb for finally discovering the Laura Moser/Dexter/Ice Truck Killer connection. How long has it been now?! LoL. Hopefully next season we'll get to see her uncover the entire truth. I want to see how she'd react to the discovery that her brother is a serial killer. Would she freak out and go just as crazy as him? Would she turn him in? Or would she simply pretend she doesn't know?

Anyway, the setup for next season is obvious. Dexter is indirectly responsible for the death of another innocent -- his own wife. Will he decide that "the code" is no longer worth keeping? How will he handle life without Rita? Will he rid himself of emotion again? Will Rita's son develop a "dark passenger" of his own? If so, will Dexter teach him the code the same way his father taught it to him? So many possibilities...

All in all, this was a great season. Probably the best yet. Season 5 has alot to live up to!

 

[aijalon18]

I think killing off Rita was dumb as hell. Rita added a dimension that was needed for Dexter's character. Plus the creator/producer explained he just decided to do it at the last minute. It's not like it was a part of well thought out plan. It was lazy and cheesy. Every show just kills off characters for shock value it's so tired now. They could have done something really interesting with Quinn and how he was dealing with Christine's death.

 

[Salemite]

They could have done something really interesting with Quinn and how he was dealing with Christine's death.

I don't care about Quinn though, so anything involving him is instantly boring to me.

 

[hanzosword]

Aww dammit! I disliked Rita just as much as everyone else but it was still so sad seeing the baby there all bloody. I knew she was dead as soon as Dexter got home. Good call by the way Salemite!

I can't see Dexter functioning as a human without her though. He definitely can't raise those children without her. I guess her mother is gonna get custody or just live close by to help raise them, as crazy as she is herself.

What I wanted to happen was for Debra to find some clue that implicated Dexter as a serial killer. She'll definitely find out next season.

 

[The_Reaper]

I was sort of let down by the finale, actually.

They can only keep doing the episode 1 Dexter finds out about some serial killer (ice truck killer, skinner & Miguel, Arthur) only to end up with a bunch of will he or won't he catch them moments, until in the last episode he finally gets them.

It would have been great to see Arthur get away, or even better, to have Dexter change his mind and let Arthur go...That way when Dexter came home and found Rita in the bathtub, it would have been more meaningful.

I sort of like the idea of a nemesis for Dexter that gets away, and is always sort of in the back of his mind, as opposed to these one season only tricks. They'll have to change it eventually, or otherwise we'll all just call the end by knowing Dexter is going to get his man/woman in the end...Even if it costs his something along the way.

 

[Payton]

I totally called Rita's death in the bathtub, LoL.

I spoiled it major for myself the other day when I entered this thread. I wasn't aware that Dexter airs in the US on Sunday's, so when I saw this post, it killed me.


I'm thinking next season will be the last. I imagine Deb will start questioning Dexter's involvement with Trinity. She'll know that Rita didn't follow the trend, as the mother usually fell to her death instead of being killed in a bathtub. She'll know that it's something more than just another Trinity kill.

This will then trigger her memory in seeing Dexter at Trinity's house the day of the raid, and with her persistence, she's bound to uncover the truth.

 

[Ontariobear]

The grandparents who took Aster and Cody to Disney were Paul's parents. Recall the issues with Rita's mother in an earlier epi so the 2 older kids could be written out that way, leaving Harrison with Dex.

Killing off Rita was the right move, the family epis were getting too close to Wisteria Lane.

And as for killing off Rita as shocking? Please, Stevie Wonder and Jose Feliciano could have seen that one coming 3 or 4 epis back.

Still looking forward to Season 5 - everyone is under contract for that season and with the cable ratings setting records I doubt they'll finish up soon.

 

[Ohiospeedo]

Holy crap...After watching the finale, I am somewhat sad that Rita was killed off...I said somewhat, ha ha. I just hope that next season isn't revolved around Dexter trying to juggle raising kids on his own, and dealing with his dark passenger.

John Lithgow was such a great villian. Too bad they can't bring him back. As his son was hot as hell, hopefully they can tie him into next season.

 

[Salemite]

I think Dexter will be blamed for Rita's death next season.

Masuka had just told him about Rita kissing the neighbor. The neighbor witnessed Dexter's fury when he punched him in the face. The police also saw Dexter's fury just before they arrested him. We've also got Deb putting the pieces together about something being "off" with Dexter. All this will probably lead to Dexter being blamed for Rita's death. Everyone will think he was so enraged by her kissing the neighbor that he lost his mind and killed her in the tub.

 

[Salemite]

Will Dexter's Season 5 Jump Ahead in Time?

Though the sting of Dexter's season finale is still fresh, it's time to think about next season. Executive producer Sara Colleton tells TVGuide.com how far in time the show may jump ahead, who the No. 1 suspect in Rita's murder will be and how much the Trinity Killer will play a role in Season 5.

TVGuide.com: Did you feel that you had to push the limits with this finale?
Sara Colleton: It's something that comes so organically with the storytelling of where Dexter [Michael C. Hall] is in his life and what he's learning and what he needs to learn. Of course, when it first comes up, you think, oh no, we can't do that, because we've created these characters and we love them. It became self-evident as we progressed that this is where Dexter needed to be taken.

TVGuide.com: Why exactly did Arthur (John Lithgow) kill Rita (Julie Benz)? Was it just revenge?
Colleton: It's complicated. We left it that way so everyone, based on their own life and their own experiences, would interpret it so it made sense for them. One way to interpret it is that in some bizarre way, Dexter gave Trinity a finality in his situation, that he does this in a bizarre way to trigger Dexter to deal with who he really is. You can only fake it for so long.

TVGuide.com: Do you see Trinity playing a role next season though? Questions will be raised by Rita's murder and Arthur did show up at the police station.
Colleton: All of those things are legitimate. All those questions will obviously be a part of next season. Dexter can't say that he knows Trinity killed Rita and that he just killed Trinity. There are a lot of possibilities and they will all be thrown out in the room to be discussed.

TVGuide.com: Is there a chance that Julie Benz or John Lithgow might return next season to appear to Dexter in his conscience?
Colleton: Anything is possible on this show because it is a theatrical invention, so any of those devices are possible, but again, none of those have been discussed yet.

TVGuide.com: What are the odds that Arthur pushed a woman to her death before killing Rita and being bludgeoned, thus completing the cycle?
Colleton: But did he break the cycle? If you really examine his death scene, Dexter is giving him an opportunity to break the cycle. Rita is the tie-breaker because he says, "It's all over now." Trinity's thing is tied up with the way he hid the reality from himself. In his master plan, this is the gift he has left behind for Dexter. It can be interpreted, if you look closely at the script, in any number of ways.

TVGuide.com: Dexter can't get vengeance for Rita's murder because he already killed Arthur. Is he going to become more bloodthirsty?
Colleton: That's an instinct he may have, but he may not. Hopefully it will be in what we call the "Dexterous response," which is based in human behavior, but uniquely put through the prism of Dexter's special needs. The fact is that he has children now that he is the sole parent of, and how that affects what he does and the choices he makes.

TVGuide.com: Were Paul's parents introduced as an easy out for Cody and Aster to leave Dexter's care?
Colleton: We needed to have the children not be there for this finale. We're trying to find the most interesting way to have to handle this situation because obviously they can always go with their grandmother or their paternal grandparents, or Dexter can take custody of them. It just opens up a variety of ways we can have Dexter deal with his grief.

TVGuide.com: Are you nervous about writing or casting a villain that can live up to or surpass John Lithgow? Might you do without a villain this season?
Colleton: That's something that's on the table to discuss because of the awesomeness of what Dexter has to deal with on an emotional level. Obviously there's going to be an investigation into who killed Rita and the number— and Dexter is going to be involved in that.

TVGuide.com: Were you about to say that Dexter might be the No. 1 suspect in his wife's murder?
Colleton: If you know anything about crimes, usually a spouse is involved. We may jump ahead six months and it could be all handled. What we wanted to do is give ourselves something that gave us the widest range of possibilities. It's so intense on a show like this, so emotionally draining, and we have a scant couple of months before we get in a room again, so all of these things are up for discussion.

 

[Jacquemar]

I think Dexter will be blamed for Rita's death next season.

Masuka had just told him about Rita kissing the neighbor. The neighbor witnessed Dexter's fury when he punched him in the face. The police also saw Dexter's fury just before they arrested him. We've also got Deb putting the pieces together about something being "off" with Dexter. All this will probably lead to Dexter being blamed for Rita's death. Everyone will think he was so enraged by her kissing the neighbor that he lost his mind and killed her in the tub.

Thank you, Salemite, for your posts! They have been most informative!

 

[dude2121]

Too bad Lithgow is gone, he was an amazing adversary. Best guest starring role I've seen in a while.

 

[hotatlboi]

I think Dexter will be blamed for Rita's death next season.

Masuka had just told him about Rita kissing the neighbor. The neighbor witnessed Dexter's fury when he punched him in the face. The police also saw Dexter's fury just before they arrested him. We've also got Deb putting the pieces together about something being "off" with Dexter. All this will probably lead to Dexter being blamed for Rita's death. Everyone will think he was so enraged by her kissing the neighbor that he lost his mind and killed her in the tub.

I think it will be obvious enough that it is Trinity's MO and everyone will realize it was him.