Blood Spatter Review
A Review of Dexter Season 6 Episode 12
By Mother Brain
Another season of Dexter has finally come and gone. The season 6 finale was full of intensity, suspense, new questions left unanswered, and shocking game changers that will serve as the driving force of the next (and possibly final) two seasons. For me, it was overall the most satisfying year unlike the dreariness of season 5.
Continuing off from my previous review post-episode 6, Dexter’s will to bring light to his dark passenger was briefly thrown off-course with the reappearance of Brian Moser aka the Ice Truck Killer as he located the Trinity Killer’s son Jonah, suspected of murdering his family in Nebraska where they relocated after season 4. The dead Moser served as Dexter’s evil conscience who wanted him to drop the code and become a ruthless killer. But ultimately the wisdom of the late Brother Sam helped Dexter overcome the evil and put him back in course to seek out the Doomsday Killers.
As for the big subplots, Debra begins to see a police psychologist while in the midst of not only adapting to her Lieutenant duties but also learning the disturbing truth about a dead call girl who had a fling with Chief Matthews the night she died. Despite all of her emotional strain, Deb finds herself wanting to become more attached to Dexter which leads to the unbelievable truth that her failed relationships were a result of her inner romantic feelings for her adopted brother. More on this later.
Fast forwarding to the finale, we’ve learned that Professor Gellar has long since been dead and what we saw was Travis Marshall’s own dark passenger at work. Now he takes full command of his doomsday mission by manipulating two religious nuts to help carry out his final killings as Dexter gets closer. But after foiling the plans and failing to kill Travis at the marina, Dexter is nearly blown to bits off the Miami coast. Fortunately, he survives and gets back to shore so he can continue the pursuit. Travis; however, learns of Dexter’s son, Harrison, and kidnaps him which leads to the final showdown atop the Transcorp building where Dex fakes his own injection to stop Travis from sacrificing his son.
Then came the final 5 minutes of the episode. Feeling down that she didn’t catch Travis, Deb comes to terms with her love for Dexter. Dex gets sloppy in telling Batista’s sister, Jamie, that he’s going out to work at the crime scene of the Doomsday Killers while she babysits Harrison. Presumably, Deb finds out and tracks Dex to the abandoned church where to her horrifying surprise she discovers the real truth about her brother in the act of impaling Travis on the plastic covered table. It was right about time that this happened after spending the last 5 years teasing this moment. Both characters are now in a place where they can evolve and grow toward a new direction and only time can tell how Deb will stomach the disturbing truth differently from the books. As for the brother-sister romance, I find it troubling personally even though they’re not biologically related. Then again, when we’re introduced to Deb in the pilot episode, Dexter does say if there was anyone he would have feelings for that it would be her. But will Lumen resurface and turn this into a complicated love triangle?
On the unanswered questions department, what’s the real deal with Louis the lab intern? He has a strange obsession for Dexter, feels like shit when he disapproves a serial killer game he made on his computer, and mails him the severed hand from the ITK case. I’ve heard a number of theories thus far including Louis being ITK’s son, Louis working undercover for the FBI to get Dexter, and just simply the idea that he’s trying to impress him. Whatever the truth is, we’ll find out in the next 2 years since he begged Masuka to stay on as his assistant.
Have we also seen the last of Joey Quinn? Since breaking up with Deb, Quinn has been a total mess and unreliable as Batista’s partner. Although Quinn saved his life from a burning house, Batista still tries to get him transferred out of the department. So he fakes alcoholism to go to rehab so he’s not transferable. To me, I think Quinn is done altogether (I also feel the same about LaGuerta) unless the writers find big plans for him. But you gotta love the weed smoking scene earlier in the season between him and Batista. Only on cable can you get away with such priceless moments.
All and all, it was an incredible and momentous year for our favorite blood splatter analyst. He got sloppy at points. But it didn’t matter to me. Dexter is still one of the best written shows on television today. The only downside: No more Brother Sam. Such a sweet guy. Rest in peace good sir.