Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Dexter Season 7: The Season That Wasn't...

So in the midst of the ass that was Season 7 of "Dexter", I decided to express my thoughts on the way I would have done this season! As a preamble, I am foregoing the addition of sub-plots and so on just so I can make things go much faster as this is a LONG article as it is. Some of the same plot points happen here, such as Speltzer (The Minotaur Dude) and so on, but I'm changing a LOT of stuff. So join me if you will for "Dexter: Season Seven"...Enjoy!


Picking up directly from "Are You...", a new serial killer appears, his name is Lucas Robins and he has a strange tattoo on his wrist, that's craved into his skin. He kills a man and a woman in a ritualistic fashion (slits both wrists of the victims and remove their eyes) stripping them naked arranging the bodies next to each other, and spray painting his tattoo on the scene. Dexter and Debra have the clash about who and what he is, and Dexter vets Lucas, eventually catching him.

Lucas is surprisingly happy to meet Dexter and to meet his end in such an ironic fashion. Dexter is confused and asks Lucas to elaborate, however Lucas just makes a cryptic statement that "he'll be back.". Dexter of course ignore him completely and kills him. Meanwhile Louis and Dexter have the same fall out as they did "Sunshine and Frosty Swirl". Dexter gets Lewis fired. The episode ends with Dexter discovers that another kill has been committed in the same fashion Lucas committed his kills, which fulfilled Lucas' prophecy of "coming back." leading Dexter to wonder what's going on. The next episode begins with Dexter retracing Lucas' steps and Debra trying to figure out what the tattoo symbol means. Louis, pissed off at Dexter, follows him in an attempt to screw him over somehow, BUT find Dexter stopping at Lucas' house and committing some breaking and entering. Louis is now interested as to what Dexter is doing and takes some photos.

While Dexter is in Lucas' house he discovers a book, a book about DEATH! Dexter steals the book and upon further study realizes that the tattoo is a symbol of Death or rather worshipers of Death, a small and obscure cult who sought purity through death (hence why Lucas was more than happy to be killed by Dexter). Dexter, being a serial killer is intrigued by the idea of a group of people who enjoy death and makes it a mission to find them. Debra meanwhile tries to come to grips with Dexter being a serial killer by following up on the ritual murder, however this time the victims were brother and sister. Dexter meets up with Debra and he tells her that he killed the guy who committed the murders, which leads Debra to ask about a copy cat killer but Dexter tells her that the kills were committed in the same exact way, minus a few small details (blade precision and such) the height of the murderer was much smaller than the previous killer. Dexter spills the beans about what he discovered in Lucas' house and they both come to the realization that there are more of them.


The next episode would start off with Dexter vetting another kill while Louis is following him (unknown to Dexter). Debra meanwhile has Miami Metro look into cults, playing a "hunch" (really trying to catch the killers before Dexter does). Louis catches Dexter setting up the Kill Room and leave, causing Louis to get out of his car and enter the kill room and finally realizing that Dexter is The Bay Harbor Butcher (after all Louis would be aware of the details of the case having worked briefly for Miami Metro). Louis is overwhelmed by this revelation and leaves the room QUICKLY! Debra talks to Batista about "can you really know someone?", to which Batista comments about his failed marriage to LaGuerta and raises the idea that you can't really know anyone completely, you have to let them reveal themselves to you. Which Debra doesn't like the answer but acknowledges that she is just now getting to know the REAL Dexter.

Dexter returns home find Louis there waiting for him. Dexter orders him to leave but Louis insists that they talk in order to "bury the hatchet" *insert comedic line about Dexter wanting to bury the hatchet in Louis's chest*. Dexter agrees and allows Louis inside his apartment. Louis begins to talk about his game and why Dexter was so upset about it, and he comes to the conclusion that Dexter is The Bay Harbor Butcher. Dexter laughs it off until Louis shows Dexter the photos of The Kill Room, him catching his victim, and disposing of the body. Dexter is awestruck about how he could have been so clueless (citing the fact that he's been discovered as throwing him off his game). Dexter asks Louis what he wants and Louis asks to accompany Dexter on a kill. Dexter recalls Miguel Prado and how that whole ordeal ended but reluctantly agrees after Louis threatens to reveal the photos to his friend at The Newspaper.


The next episode starts with Dexter and Louis going to Lucas' house to find clues about the cult, with Louis asking Dexter questions about killing and how he got started and such, Dexter is less than inclined to answer. They arrive at the house and look through Lucas' things when suddenly the door bell rings. Both Louis and Dexter are at a loss about what to do. The person at the door just so happens to have a key and they let themselves in, Dexter and Louis rapidly taking shelter in a nearby closet. All is good until Louis' cellphone goes off. The person opens the closet and it's revealed to be a woman, Amy Marsden. Dexter and Louis are at a loss about what to do but Amy doesn't appear to be alarmed or anything. She asks them both who they are and Dexter fakes that they're friends of Lucas' from college attempting to play a prank on him. Amy isn't buying it exactly but she doesn't press the matter, she tells them that if they find Lucas to tell him to contact her as soon as possible. Dexter and Louis both agree to do so. Once outside, Dexter quickly reprimands Louis for allowing his cellphone to go off. Lewis promises he'll make it up to Dexter.

Another ritualistic kill takes place and Debra is getting heat from "Upstairs" about closing this case, since it's been 4 murders in the same fashion and Miami Metro is nowhere on the case. Masuka returns with information on the tattoo and reveals it to be linked to The Death Cult. Debra asks if they can somehow figure out how they're choosing their victims so they can prevent the next kill. Dexter returns to his apartment and gets a phone call from Louis who apologizes to Dexter about having his cellphone on AND to make it up to Dexter, Louis did some digging into Amy and discovers where she lives and the fact that she owns a warehouse. He raises the subject that Amy's occupation is a Botanist, so why would she need a warehouse and notes that something was off about her, Dexter agrees and decides to check it out (citing in his head that Louis maybe good for something).

Dexter arrives at the warehouse and finds a lot of people going inside. Dexter sneaks in and watches. All the guests are lead to the basement where they are all wearing robes and masks, Dexter picks up a robe and a mask and joins the procession. Dexter witnesses a young man, high school aged sits in the middle of the crowd of masked figures, Amy steps forward and removes her mask, she kisses the boy on the forehead and tells him he did well, the other applaud, Amy asks the boy if he's ready, he nods and then she produces a brand and burns the symbol of his wrist. All the members applaud and remove their masks, leaving Dexter the ONLY ONE WEARING A MASK. Dexter contemplates his next more before he is questioned. Having no other option, Dexter makes a run for it but is captured and unmasked, Amy immediately recognizes him and orders the others to prepare him as a sacrifice. Dexter, thinking fast reveals that he knows what happen to Lucas. Amy stops her followers and asks Dexter about Lucas. Dexter reveals that he killed him. The member release Dexter and kneel before him, Amy warmly embraces Dexter and thanks him, much to Dexter's confusion.


The next episode picks up with Dexter at Miami Metro reflecting on what happen the previous night, Flashback: Amy thanks Dexter for killing Lucas and explains the purpose of The Cult is Life is Suffering, Death is release. The victims, all of them were suffering in life, the ones Lucas killed had recently suffered a miscarriage and were suffering in life so Lucas released them and Dexter released Lucas. Amy said that Lucas had worked long and hard to release people and it was time he was released. Dexter asks why the group doesn't release each other. Amy says that Death must make it's course and they are merely messengers of it, but Amy states that none of their members have ever been killed before which leads Amy and the rest of the cult to believe that Dexter is Death's emissary (Death incarnate).

Back to the present, Dexter wonders if he really is Death's emissary or just a serial killer attempting to justify his kills by comforting himself that he's only killing bad people, also citing the dichotomy that those "bad people" are (in Debra's eyes) just like him. Debra arrive and grills Dexter about where he's been but Dexter assures her, he hasn't been killing. Dexter gets a call from Louis, asking him how it went and Dexter tells him it was a dead end. Louis hangs up the phone and then looks over his pictures of Dexter's kill room and starts thinking.


Debra tells Dexter that Miami Metro is closing in on the cult but they have no idea who the members are or how they're choosing their victims. Debra asks Dexter if he knows or has discovered anything, Dexter says he has not, in his head saying that Debra still doesn't accept him but the Death Cult does and it was "nice" to be around people who understand him. Dexter returns to the warehouse and finds the cult waiting for him and they ask him to talk about his origins (as Death), Dexter is confused about the question but tells the tale about his mother and the cult are now sold that Dexter is in fact Death himself. They start to ask him questions about his kills and how it feels to take a life, Dexter reflects on how Debra reaction to this part of him was VERY different than theirs. As Dexter elaborates he get a phone call from Louis who reveals that he made a mistake and needs Dexter's help ASAP.

Dexter leaves the cult and finds Louis panicked outside a shack. Before Dexter enters the shack, Louis explains on how he did everything right and doesn't know what went wrong, Dexter enters the shack and finds a dead hooker and blood everywhere. Dexter grabs Louis and yells at him for being stupid, citing that the plastic he used would tear easily, he notes the bruises on the hooker's forehead and asks Louis if he had to attack her before he brought her there. Louis affirms and Dexter reveals that he uses M99 because it's fast and effective with no confrontation. Louis claims that the hooker ripped him off and he just wanted to get his money back but when she denied him, that's when he snapped. Dexter agrees to clean up Louis' mess (because he's implicated) and tells Louis that now he has something on him and he'd better not do anything like that again otherwise he'd get Miami Metro on him and Debra, being the head of homicide would see to it that Louis gets the book thrown at him.


Louis says he'll make it up to Dexter but Dexter brushes Louis off and tells him that maybe they should stay out of each other's way. Louis disagrees and finally breaks down revealing that Dexter is his idol. Surprised Dexter asks Louis to explain, Louis confesses that The Bay Harbor Butcher was the reason he started making the game, Louis had always thought that serial killers were misunderstood, citing The Ice Truck Killer as his secondary inspiration, as both The Ice Truck Killer and The Bay Harbor Butcher were killing undesirable people (ie, hookers and murderers) and Louis was ashamed of himself because he wanted to take an active role of riding the world of scum but was too much of a coward to do so. Louis also cites that he doesn't have any other pictures of Dexter and was never planning to expose him. Dexter order Louis to go home. Louis does so, but it's clear that he's still resolved to help Dexter.

At this point in time I'm not exactly sure how to maneuver the mechanics of how this would happen, BUT through a series of events Louis would eventually become a copy-cat Bay Harbor Butcher, actually getting better at it. Louis would eventually follow Dexter and find out about The Cult. After confessing his desires to be a serial killer and his philosophy about them, Amy accepts Louis, which puts Louis and Dexter at odds. Dexter (still being considered Death himself) tells Amy that Louis shouldn't be with them (realizing to himself that he's being a major hypocrite and wondering if he feels jealously because he has to share his new found acceptance with someone who'd naturally end up on his table). Amy presses Dexter for a reason why, but he can't come up with a valid reason and therefore Louis stays. Louis finds out that in order to gain entry into The Cult you have to rid yourself of all Earthly ties (which basically means kill the people closest to you).

Louis considers this and realizes that his parents have already died and left him a nice inheritance (hence his apartment) so the only person left for him to kill is Jamie Batista, despite her breaking up with him Louis realizes that he still cares about her and she must be done away with if he's going to surrender to Death it's self. Louis prepares a kill room and kidnaps Jamie under the pretense that he just wants to talk to her. Louis prepares to kill Jamie but he's stopped by Dexter at the last second (in a scene that resembles Season One when Dexter saved Debra). They fight but Louis escapes, Jamie being none the wiser as she is still out from the M99. Dexter takes down the kill room and gets Jamie home, telling her that she had too much to drink and called him to come pick her up. She doesn't exactly buy it but doesn't press the issue.

Louis returns to Amy and tells her that he couldn't go through with the kill because Dexter stopped him. Amy is confused as to why Death's emissary would stop a kill from happening unless Dexter is NOT Death emissary. Amy tells Louis about "The Great Death", a plan she has that will "release" a lot of people. Using her skills in botany and chemicals she creates a gas that she will release in the ventilation system of a local hospital (as one of the members of the cult works in the hospital and can see to it that the switch is made).Louis vows to Amy that he will bring her Dexter's head.


Debra meanwhile manages to arrest a member of the cult and thanks to Masuka is able to figure out how they're choosing their victims as books about the cult talks about Death as a release from suffering, so naturally the cult would target addicts, people who suffer from serious injuries or things of that nature. The grills the member even harder and he mentions "The Great Death" before biting a suicide capsule hidden in his tooth. Later that night Dexter calls Debra and warns her about Louis and The Cult, but Louis has already arrived and after a struggle takes Debra down. He then calls Dexter and orders him to come to The Shipping Yard, "Where it all began.". Dexter arrives and finds Debra awake and zip-tied to a chair and Louis with a chainsaw, in his very own kill room. Louis orders Dexter to zip-tie his hands together and he does so. Dexter urges Louis to put the chainsaw down but Louis taunts Dexter and goes on about how they could have been friends and how they understand each other. Dexter asks Louis what he's going to do and Louis reveals that he's not going to kill Debra, he's going to kill Dexter in front of Debra.

Louis prepares to start up his chainsaw but before he does his cellphone goes off, distracting him long enough for Dexter to rush Louis into the wall of the container and the two have a struggle eventually ending with Louis getting knocked out. Dexter frees Debra and she tells him to check Louis' phone. It's a text message with an address. Debra calls Batista and sends for back-up, Dexter asks Debra about Louis and she tells Dexter that she'll deal with him. Debra traces the address to a hospital and figures that'd be a likely target they'd hit, she gets Amy's phone records and finds that several calls have been made to William Lounds, an employee at the hospital. Debra scrambles a team together and they storm the hospital and Debra finds Louds and stops the canister from releasing the gas in time. At the same time the police arrive at the homes of several of the cult members finding they all committed suicide, leaving the symbol at the scene. Amy prepares to commit suicide but Dexter arrives and M99's her.

She awakens in the kill room and sees Dexter. Dexter asks her if she knows what's about to happen and she says she does and doesn't want to wait any longer. Dexter states that the majority of his victims don't want to die and are afraid of death. Amy tells Dexter that there is no point in being afraid as everything dies eventually. Dexter kills her but then notes about how he feels empty and killing her brought him no satisfaction because she wanted to die and saw her death as a reward than a punishment. Dexter wonders if maybe he is releasing criminals by killing them rather than allowing them to live with their guilt. Dexter than notes that maybe he is suffering himself and needs someone to "release" him.

Meanwhile in the middle of nowhere, Debra arrives at a shack and enters to find Louis tied to a chair and gagged. Debra removes the gag and asks Louis if he'd like some water. Louis drinks the water and taunts Debra about what she's going to do about Dexter being the Bay Harbor Butcher. He taunts her that she can't kill him because that'd make her a murderer. Debra says that she doesn't have to kill him and Louis starts to feel woozy, realizing that his water has been spiked (in a scene resembling The Doakes Frame Job), Debra than goes on to say that despite Dexter being a serial killer she can't turn her back on him. Once Louis is out, Debra does a cheek swab and gets a strand of hair from Louis, and then in a twist Harry appears to Debra and asks her what she's doing, and Debra collapses saying she doesn't know.


Debra arrives at Dexter's apartment broken and tells her that she doesn't know how to handle who Dexter is, she doesn't know what to do with Louis and she doesn't want to be involved. She confesses to Dexter that she was going to frame Louis but couldn't and she tells Dexter to take care of his mess. Before he leaves Debra tells Dexter that she understands why he does what he does and is willing to work out a deal, the deal being that if Miami Metro CAN'T get them, then Dexter will have the green light. Dexter agrees and apologizes. He arrives at the shack only to find an empty chair, an open window and Louis gone. The end.


The theme ultimately for this season would be acceptance. With Dexter's secret being revealed to Debra and her rejection of him, Louis' idolization and betrayal and The Death Cult essentially understanding Dexter fully, the conflict rises from Dexter having to choose Family, which is terrified of him and he has to hide himself from OR a group of people who think and feel the same way he does. Of course Dexter chooses his family because when it comes down to it, Dexter is not able to kill Debra or all his loved ones for the sake of not having to hide. As Dexter said in Season 4; he'd rather risk getting caught than lose his family. Those are strong words and after saying it to a group of people who understand him, it now has more meaning.

On the flip-side of things you have Louis Greene, someone who didn't experience a traumatic event like Dexter and chooses to be the way he is. Louis is a essentially a dark mirror of Dexter. While Dexter sees serial killers as unchecked versions of himself, Louis sees serial killers as undesirable people and sees killing them as good and proper. Making Dexter at odds with his own philosophy and code, and Dexter even coming to the realization that he himself meets the code. This reveals that Dexter isn't completely lost as he cannot fully embrace or worship death the same way The Death Cultist do, which reveals more of Dexter's humanity and the fact that he did not choose to be the way he is, rather something was done to him that thanks to this revelation can potentially change.

Then you have Debra who after coming to grips with Dexter, realizes that while she maybe frightened of him and COMPLETELY disagrees with what he does and who he is, she still loves him and will have his back, after all the countless times Dexter has saved her and had her back. She realizes that she can allow Dexter to do what he "needs" to as she realizes that having a killer with some form of control is better than having a loose cannon. Hope you all enjoy. n_n;;

1 comment:

  1. WOW that was amazing that would had been one hell of a season so many missed opptunities this past season - Ricky

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