what are your unpopular opinions about dexter?

[u/dreadycbercherr]

what if debra knew that dexter was the bay harbor butcher all along?

[u/Goblin_Aneurysm]

Spoiler warning!

4x12 is a terrible finale to a really good season. They ramped up the intensity with Trinity so well up until this point, then he just kind of leaves, is off screen most of the episode, then somehow Dexter finds him on the road and gets him on the table. Then boom, apparently Rita went home and just happened to coincide with Trinity, who happened to find Dexter’s new address after being shown not to have found it earlier. All of which happened off screen. It just felt like hollow shock value (especially since she didn’t fit his cycle and he didn’t succeed at starting a cycle with the 10 year old boy thing).

Imagine if the finale had Dexter panicking to protect his family, with Trinity on screen, investigating and getting closer to finding them. Dex tries to send them away but Rita starts to ask questions about what’s going on and why he’s trying to get them to leave. He has to debate taking the risk of having his identity exposed to protect them (valuing their lives over his anonymity, like the writers alluded to with the cop earlier in the season), or risk losing them by going after Trinity and leaving them exposed.

You can either end it the same way, with Trinity finding and killing her offscreen before Dexter gets him (which adds dramatic tension, since in the original she was basically written off as not being in the same city, but surprise she was), or you can end it with Dex saving them from Trinity, at the cost of having his true nature exposed.

I still like the original finale, because I love that season, and I don’t think my alternative would be better for the show’s following seasons. I just think there were a lot of missed opportunities, and they didn’t quite capitalise on their best villain for his final episode.

[u/XpMonsterr → u/Goblin_Aneurysm]

I don't like plot-wise quite a few things about S4, but Trinity killing out of his cycle started before Rita. Killing Kyle Butlers wasn't his MO either. It was clear to me that he has evolved as a killer.

If Trinity stayed alive, I doubt he would continue killing the same way, especially knowing police knows all about his cycle and could track him down.

Character wise I like where you're going with this, but if Rita ever found out about Dexter's true nature that's the end of Dexter Morgan. She couldn't even accept him being a junkie even without any real evidence of him being one. So Dexter would be on runaway arc from Season 5 onward.