Dexter (aka 'Darkly Dreaming Dexter') New Episode Tonight

Me and the wife are pissed! I know this was a good gutwrenching twist to the show but it really might have ruined Dexter for us. I know what you are saying Jango, I am a dad too and I was heartbroken thinking about Harrison alone.

We are just hoping that somehow Dexter was dreaming or something since that last shots had the graniy camera like with Harry......I hope anyway, not to confident though.

 

Yikes!

 

My friend thought that the end of Season 2 was a dream because how did Dexter find that girl in Paris and after killing her, how did he get her back to the states, and if he didn't bring her back to the states, where did he dispose of the body in Paris?

It wasn't a dream. Rita is dead. It's HIGHLY implied that it was Trinity, but we never may know for sure, unless they flash back to it and have John Lithgow films scenes that were never shown to us to fill in the holes. But who knows. Anything is up for grabs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Getaway_(Dexter)

 

It was also highly implied that Trinity shot Deb and Lundy, and we all know how that turned out.

 

No. Rita was killed with the M.O. of a major serial killer who had recently been linked to Dexter's family in a way (because Christine shot Deb). I think it would be pretty clear that this was Trinity's work. And they have absolutely no reason whatsoever to suspect Dexter as he has no record or motive in their minds.

Revenge. He threatened Dexter pretty heavily for coming after him. Pretty cut and dried.

He could have. But I feel like that's not Trinity's style. He's not Lila, trying to taunt or whatnot. If you think about it, when Dexter had him on the table, Trinity specifically said "I don't care about your life. Or death". I think this was an indication that at this point Trinity had accepted what was going to happen. He wasn't pleading or trying to trick Dexter into letting him go like some others. The dude was just going into religious ramblings.

And the real clue here as to why Trinity didn't hint at Dexter or something might have been when he himself said that the difference was he never enjoyed what he did or was proud of it (unlike Dexter). So if killing Rita was, for him, a kind of revenge mixed with compulsion, why would he feel the need to revel in it? Maybe he wasn't happy about it.

Because of that, I'm not entirely sure Trinity did it. Also, weren't Trinity's bathtub kills meticulously clean? Furthermore, I need to rewatch to be sure, but it looked like Rita's neck was slashed. That doesn't mesh with Trinity either.

It is heartbreaking. Luckily unlike Dexter Harrison is too young to remember. But really, isn't all the stuff about Dexter's mother even more heartbreaking? That's part of the brilliance of this show.

Yeah, but the difference is that this is the end of a season. From a writing standpoint, this is a wrap-up. Christine killing Lundy was an open issue to carry a plot through the season. There's really no other person who could have killed Rita or who would have had any motive to. I highly doubt they will even bring up any suspicions that it wasn't Trinity.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

I'm sorry, but if Trinity is vain enough to seek such revenge for a perceived extortion attempt and robbery, he's going to want to hold it over Dexter's head as a way to reclaim the upper hand; to get the last word, if you will.

Everything point to Trinity being vain, shallow, and narcissistic. I don't think he'd be able to resist rubbing Dexter's nose in the fact that, in his mind, he won.

I had the same feeling when all signs pointed to Trinity being Lundy's murderer. Neither crime fit his MO. If Christine Hill wasn't already dead, I'd say she did it.

 

Keep in mind that Trinity threatened Dexter, then Dexter resolved to catch him, and then Dexter got arrested and Trinity woke up and he knew who did it. He also stole Trinity's ID and money. So I think the 'why' was pretty much answered.

 

two things:

1.) Rita's dead and she very recently was kissed by a neighbor. Said neighbor knows Dexter was furious about that (or appeared to be furious).

2.) the Mitchells. They will tell the police about this Kyle Butler person who just seemed to intuitively know some very dark things about Arthur. I don't recall the Mitchells ever taking photos or video with "Kyle" but still, they can rely on their memories to describe him after the PD makes the connection to the recent Kyle Butler homicide.

So I don't think Dexter's in the clear as far as not being a suspect in his wife's murder goes, especially now that Deb is unsure about him for good reason. She's already said "**** you" to him because she's afraid she's going to lose the "only consistently good thing" in her life.

And as sj noted, Rita was possibly cut on the neck, not the leg, like all the rest of Trinity's bathtub victims. It only takes an astute eye to pick that up, an eye belonging to, say, Vince. Suddenly, Miami PD won't be so sure Trinity did it.

Whatever the case, it's clear that season 4 will have the biggest effect and "shadow", by a country mile, on its following season than any of the seasons so far. Besides the Rita Morgan homicide case, I almost think Rita will be appearing to Dexter like his dad does, not as stern guide of the Code, but as an angel of compassion, the light, conscience, all those wonderful things. And perhaps... Trinity may manifest as Dexter's Dark Passenger.

BTW, am I alone in thinking that Dexter's monologuing right after he discovers his wife is dead is kind of unbelievable? I mean, I know he's a cold and compassionless psychopath, but, still... I think it should've just been Dexter, us the audience, and some somber music. Plus, Dexter had already done his usual "end-of-episode" monologue right before calling Rita.

 

Cor, I was just discussing this with my mom and we, too, thought that Rita might appear next season as the other side of Dexter's conscience. If the season is about whether or not Dexter will lose control or remain somewhat good, I think it would be great to have her in his mind. Because then his Dad is the one telling him he can't change, he has to accept it, and Rita is the one telling him (as she did just before she died) that he is good and can be whoever he wants.

I also think that ending monologue ("this is fate") was fine. Because he'd just had that convo with Trinity. And if he thinks now that he has no other choice but to lose it, having Rita in his mind to tell him that's not true could be quite interesting.

As far as whether Rita was cut on the leg or neck, I didn't really see. Nor did I remember that Trinity cuts on the leg (?). I honestly feel like that seems more like the kind of thing the writers would do accidentally rather than as a purposeful hint. I honestly don't think anything will come of it, but we'll see.

However, I did rewatch the scene of Trinity's death and he does give hints about Rita's death. Dexter is talking about how he can have a family and it'll be okay, and Trinity just laughs and says it's already over. I think that "it's already over" serves as his version of a hint. Like I said, though, even though he was angry and wanted revenge as he says afterward he's never been proud of what he's done.

The neighbor. No way. Not a chance in hell. First of all, he's just a regular dude. Secondly, he has absolutely no motive to kill a woman he finds attractive. None. Just because Dexter punched him? Sane people don't do that and Elliot's just a normal dude who seemed genuinely regretful about messing with another guy's wife. Thirdly, he has absolutely zero knowledge about Trinity. Not even on his radar. And I'm pretty sure the information about how Trinity kills people would only be available to police. And why the hell would he leave Dexter's kid in a pool of blood? No. That's only the work of a serial killer. And it would be extremely unbelievable for someone with police connections to find the Trinity information, have a motive to kill Rita, and carry it out just in the time frame that Trinity would have been able to. No. It was Trinity. It's really not that confusing.

Trinity's family. This is something they may or may not touch on. They've been known to leave well enough alone before. This is a loose end I could see them just not picking up again. It's plausible that the family would never mention Kyle Butler because any recent family events probably pale in comparison to the fact that they've just found out about 30 years worth of murders. So I could buy that.

However, I do think realistically it's likely they'd mention him. Especially because he was there *when* the SWAT team surrounded their house and just disappeared. So yeah, I think this is something that could get Dex in trouble. Would they specifically be able to identify him? He'd have to stay the hell away at the station, that's for sure. But I think Deb, who was already suspicious of Dexter being there already, might well run with this information.

I will be really surprised if Deb doesn't find out the truth next season.

 

Just off the back- you misunderstood why I bought up the neighbor. My bad. I should've elaborated. What I meant is, the neighbor can provide to the police a motive for Dexter to kill Rita. Since he doesn't know anything about Trinity, his mind would immediately jump to Dexter.

Now that I think about it even more, I guess the double monologue at the end is warranted, shock of his wife's murder and all, since it's not just an end-of-episode, but of-season.

As for whether or not the Mitchells will remember Kyle Butler, realistically, definitely. The show has kind of sloppily explained such stuff away before, but it's always been because it's trying to get the character to some great emotional situation or philosophical truth/realization that's too good to pass up. Putting Dexter in jail briefly and then tying it up with a "budget cuts" explanation is one such example. When he was going fast on the road, they didn't necessarily need to show him breaking someone's rear-view, but because it gets Dexter to Jail, and it makes Rita pick him up, and it contrasts wonderful Dexter to ghastly Paul, we get the beautiful swan song scene from Rita in their bedroom, where Rita convinces Dexter he can change. So, it's just a question of whether or not the ends/destinations/scenes are good enough to justify a bit of sloppy "getting-there."

I wonder if the Mitchells will return, or just one of them, even if they don't talk to police about the Kyle Butler angle. Of course, they didn't bring Sylvia back from last season, so...

 

And now you're convinced that Trinity has to be the one that killed Rita. An emerging pattern, perhaps?

I never believed it was Trinity that shot Deb and Lundy, and I don't believe that Trinity killed Rita for the same reasons. It just doesn't match his MO.

-Punitive murder is not his style. Every other murder he's committed has been part of the ritual or self-preservation.

-Slash on the neck rather than the leg is not his style. He's recreating his sister's death, and she died when glass severed her femoral artery.

-Messy crime scene. Trinity's bathtub murders are neat and clean.

Furthermore, we don't know enough about the neighbor to dismiss him out of hand. We know Dexter seems like a perfectly normal dude to other people so "being a regular dude" doesn't mean squat in the Dexter-verse. We do know that he has anger issues (he argued loudly with his, then, live-in girlfriend and Rita implied that it was not the first time), boundary issues (kissing another man's wife), and will force his way onto other people (again, kissing another man's wife). And since Trinity isn't the first and only killer to fake a bathtub suicide, he wouldn't need to know anything about Trinity to do it.

Oh, and how is leaving Harrison in the pool of blood the work of a serial killer only? Couldn't it also be the work of a first time rage-murderer who was so eager to flee the scene he didn't care about the collateral damage?

 

The neighbor did not murder Rita. Period. I'm calling it. I'd bet anything on it.

I can't even tangibly connect a sharp, recognizable face to the neighbor, which means the actor isn't that memorable or good and thus the role is not important enough to cast an up-and-coming promising young actor in.

Not to mention, it makes no sense from a writing perspective. It just wouldn't feel right if the neighbor popped up next season, became the next big baddie, and said, "Surprise, I'm the newest evil-schmeevil serial killer in a show where the serial killers have gotten bigger and badder (oops- I kind of stop that pattern!) and the names attached to them even bigger (again, oops, I'm not freakin' Gary Oldman or something)."

 

This is different. What baffled me in that case was mostly that everyone automatically said "well it's not Trinity" as soon as it happened. And that baffled me, because the writers didn't actually drop any hints that it wasn't Trinity until much later. So yes, in this case the writers succeeded in roping me in and good on them. Because in this case there was a whole rest of the season left and time to do something with this plot. It could have logically gone either way, though. But the point is, it was good writing and directing. I never felt it couldn't logically have been someone besides Trinity. I just felt that the show hadn't given us reasons to think otherwise yet and didn't get why everyone assumed that.

But this is the end of the season. And obviously they like very much to wrap up their season arcs at the end of each season, to the point where they wouldn't even let Trinity get away. And in this case, if they were to have some other serial killer already after Dexter before Trinity was even dead? That would feel extremely forced and would be pretty poor writing, frankly.

And if it were the neighbor? Even worse. For all the reasons Cor mentioned and more. That guy's an extremely secondary character who was there simply to serve a purpose. He was just there to let us, Dexter, and Rita see how much Dexter truly cared about Rita even if he wasn't otherwise able to show it. Yeah, the show always plants things for upcoming seasons, but they have to be thematic. Like "will Dexter lose it?" or "will Deb find out more?". Things that contribute to character development. But what exactly would "OMG it wasn't Trinity in a wonderfully poetic manner, it was some random dude out of rage for no reason and it just happened to accidentally look like the work of a guy Dexter was in a battle for his life with!" ... that serves no thematic or character purpose. None. And it's not going to happen.

In fact, if that happened against all odds, it would be so contrived and pointless I would lose pretty much all faith in the show's writers. That's CSI-level bull crap writing. It would just be a twist and shock for absolutely no reason whatsoever. And I have much more faith in this show than that.


-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Maybe I missed something but where was it made evident that Rita had her throat cut?? I just watched the scene again and I couldn't see a mark on her neck (especially in the mirror shot that shows her whole neck) let alone one distinctive enough to suggest it was a throat slashing. We also can't see her thigh, so we don't know the cut wasn't made there.

I had dismissed Trinity as the killer because it seemed much to obvious that he would be the primary suspect. On a show that continually pulls the rug out from under you they wouldn't make it so simple, there would be a twist. And indeed there was. Right motivation, wrong suspect.

 

EW Recap

 

Why does everyone assume that if it was Elliot, it's because he's next season's big-baddie? I never said he was a serial killer or that I thought he was going to be more important than the guy who murdered Rita in a fit of narcissistic rage.

You all are probably right. It probably was Trinity, but that doesn't change the fact that killing Rita doesn't make any sense or fit with the other things he's done this season.

What exactly does it accomplish? Trinity was leaving town, not starting a new cycle and Rita was not a threat to him. Dexter was the threat, and I doubt that Trinity was dumb enough to think killing Rita would scare Dexter off.

 

But he had already started a new cycle by trying to kidnap and murder the child.

 

C'mon, he wasn't able to kill that child so it can't possibly fulfill the first part of the cycle. Also, Rita is a blonde with three kids, not a brunette with two kids. That's not part of the cycle either.

 

Regardless of semantics, clearly the writers had him setting off on another kill cycle, but thanks to Dexter the circumstances and specifics changed.

 

Yeah, he just had a specific target this time. And cycle or no, you really don't think a serial killer would be capable of killing someone outside his pattern? Turn this around. If someone were on to Dexter and threatening to expose him, and they were also clearly dangerous, do you think he'd be capable of killing them? Because that was a question brought up with Doakes. And while Dexter didn't follow through, he could have.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

Of course he could have done it. I'm saying it doesn't fit with any of his actions for the rest of the series. It doesn't accomplish anything actually pertinent to Trinity's goals. Rita was not a threat to him, and it wouldn't scare Dexter off.

That leaves us with simple, narcissistic, revenge. That kind of putative revenge doesn't mesh with someone who didn't like killing, searched his soul for a reason why he killed, and finally accepted that God led him to Dexter as a means to stop the killing. That's what he said on Dexter's table, and it was way more straightforward than the "clues" everyone claims he left about killing Rita.

That leaves two possibilities: Trinity didn't do it, or the writers withheld key details to maximize the shock value, and violated the Law of Conservation of Detail in the process.

 

Well, all I know if John Lithgow already stated it was his understanding when they filmed the kill scene that Trinity had killed Rita and knew it. That's what they told him and there's no reason to think otherwise as it wouldn't really be helpful to a future season. And because they said they don't even start writing it until February, so it's not like they planned some elaborate hoax.

I guess we'll just have to disagree about Trinity's motives. Personally, I don't care whether it fits with his normal pattern. Anyone would be pissed off at someone they felt was threatening their very livelihood. Totally normal people have been angry enough to go after and kill such people. But we're supposed to believe Trinity has more restraint than that just because he's a serial killer? I don't think so. I don't really think Dexter has more restraint than that. I think his own killing of Trinity wound up being as much a personal vendetta to save his family as any kind of serial killer impulse. And for that matter, so was his killing of Lila. And Miguel. And Brian. When it comes down to it, Dexter often kills his arch nemesis for very human reasons, not the reasons he is compelled to kill other people. Why should Trinity be any different?

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

'Cept Trinity was incredibly narcissistic, and I don't see why revenge would have been beyond him, especially with how close Dexter had gotten to him.

 

I can agree with that; however, that raises another objection in my mind: I feel like someone that narcissistic would have to hold it over Dexter's head, yet Trinity said nothing about it (I don't buy for a second that he was hinting at it - there's no reason to be so cryptic).

On Dexter's table, he has no reason to be coy or cryptic and by telling him, Trinity can recapture the upper hand even in death.

 

I get the feeling he would have held it over Dexter's head had the situation been different. But once on Dexter's table, Trinity knows that by telling him it completely ruins the horrific surprise for both Dexter and the audience. I would think it would be much more satisfying letting Dexter think he has won only to return home to find his wife slain. However even in that moment he can't help himself from trying to poke and prod at Dexter with subtle hints.

At least thats how I saw the scene.