The code has at all times outlined Dexter Morgan.
It was Harry’s approach of shaping the inevitable, a algorithm meant to include his son’s urges and make one of the best of a nasty state of affairs.
However by the point the Dexter: Resurrection Season 1 finale fades to black, one thing has shifted. The code is not only a cage; it’s a mission. And for the primary time, Dexter appears pleased with who he’s.
That delight comes by way of within the finale’s closing monologue, the place he acknowledges that his urges are evolving.
For many of his life, Dexter handled the darkish passenger as a curse. He wished for normalcy, dreamed of what it might imply to stay freed from the compulsion to kill.
However now, he admits that’s unimaginable. As a substitute of eager for what he can’t be, he’s reframing what he’s. “I’m precisely who I must be,” he says. “Precisely who YOU need me to be.”
It’s the sort of line that lands on a number of ranges. On one hand, Dexter is lastly claiming his personal identification. Then again, he’s holding up a mirror to us as viewers.
As a result of the reality is, he’s not improper. We do need him to be this manner. We wish him to maintain going after the monsters the system fails to catch, even when it means rooting for a serial killer.
What makes this shift particularly fascinating is that it’s tied on to fatherhood.
Earlier variations of Dexter typically used household as camouflage — Rita, Hannah, Harrison — however these relationships didn’t rework his darkish nature a lot as conceal it.
This time, Harrison isn’t a protect. He’s a accomplice, the individual Dexter leans on when the darkness threatens to eat him.
“When my darker urges begin to swell, I can lean on him to grow to be extra human, extra related,” Dexter admits. That modifications every little thing.
It nearly appears like a vigilante rebrand. Not fairly Batman, however shut — somebody who channels his violent urges towards those that deserve it, with a newfound sense of objective.
The information he stole from Prater’s vault virtually beg for a second season.
They’re Dexter’s rogues’ gallery, every folder holding the potential for an additional takedown. And with Harrison learning criminology, Dexter lastly has somebody who each understands and legitimizes the mission.
That doesn’t imply the present is making an attempt to justify homicide, but it surely does give Dexter one thing he’s by no means actually had: delight.
For as soon as, his life’s work isn’t solely about hiding blood slides in a field or evading suspicion. It’s about tackling the rotten apples that make the world worse — the predators who prey on innocents.
He’s nonetheless improper, and he is aware of it. However in his personal Dexter-like approach, he’s additionally proper.
That duality has at all times been essentially the most compelling a part of Dexter’s story, and the finale leans into it extra immediately than ever.
There’s a second the place he admits lacking the individuals from his outdated life — Deb, Quinn, Batista. It’s nearly startling to listen to him say it out loud.
We all know he doesn’t match with them anymore, however the longing makes him really feel deeply human. Even after every little thing, he nonetheless craves connection. That bittersweet notice makes his bond with Harrison resonate all of the extra.
In fact, none of this is able to land with out the season’s central antagonist, and Prater will get the sort of send-off solely Dexter can ship.
Wrapped in plastic, provided one final probability to plead his case, and finally dismissed as unworthy of remembrance, Prater turns into each a logo and a turning level. He thought he was Dexter’s equal, a like-minded killer who loved the fun of the hunt.
However Dexter lays it out plainly: the distinction is that his victims deserve it. That’s the razor’s edge between the monsters Dexter hunts and the monster he refuses to grow to be.
After which comes the picture which will keep on with me the longest: Dexter disposing of Prater’s stays beneath the Statue of Liberty. 4 baggage, dragged into the ocean, framed by one among America’s best symbols of freedom.
In Miami, the ritual was tied to the Slice of Life.
Right here, it’s tied to New York’s most iconic landmark. It’s chillingly poetic, a visible reminder that Dexter’s definition of liberty has at all times been skewed — freedom by way of killing, order by way of blood.
It’s the sort of scene I hope the present immortalizes in an official nonetheless, as a result of it captures the contradiction of Dexter in a single shot.
After which there’s Claudette. I can’t not point out her pleasant second on the dance ground. In any case the strain of the vault, the kill desk, and the close to misses, she breaks into the Saturday Evening Fever routine to “Stayin’ Alive.”
It’s the sort of wink the present doesn’t at all times give us, but it surely labored fantastically right here. Claudette’s pleasure was infectious, a reminder that even in a collection about loss of life and darkness, moments of levity matter.
To not point out the cutaway shot when Dexter gave Harrison “safety” throughout Dexter: Resurrection Season 1 Episode 9 paying off with mentioned safety being a full syringe! That he accepted it says every little thing we have to find out about Harrison’s acceptance of his father’s affairs.
The finale does what good finales ought to: it ties off the season whereas leaving simply sufficient open to maintain followers speaking.
Charley strolling away together with her mom, Olivera stumbling onto the NY Ripper claw, even the glimpse of Al’s file — all of it hints at roads not but taken.
Showtime has formally renewed Dexter: Resurrection for an additional season, however as followers know, renewals will be rescinded in a heartbeat. If this seems to be one other “finale finale,” it really works. But when the collection continues, the stage is ready for Dexter’s mission to evolve additional.
For me, what makes this finale work isn’t the twists or the setup for an additional season. It’s the acceptance. Dexter isn’t making an attempt to be one thing he’s not anymore.
He isn’t wishing away his darkish passenger. He isn’t mendacity to himself about who he’s. As a substitute, he’s leaning into his identification with readability, with delight, and most significantly, along with his son at his aspect.
That evolution is unsettling, but it surely’s additionally surprisingly satisfying. As a result of, as Dexter reminds us, we’re not harmless on this.
We wish him to do what the justice system received’t. We wish him to make the kills, so long as they’re the fitting ones.
And by the point the display screen fades, Dexter Morgan has grow to be precisely what we hoped he can be — a killer who is aware of himself, a father who’s discovered his objective, and a person who dares us to maintain rooting for him.
However what about you?
Do you see Dexter’s new path as heroic, harmful, or each?
Tell us within the feedback — I can’t wait to listen to your tackle the Dexter: Resurrection finale.
And when you’re craving extra TV that wrestles with justice and morality, don’t miss our ideas on the emotional battle of Job, premiering this Sunday, or the high-stakes justice of The Rainmaker.
Watch Dexter: Resurrection On-line
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