Dexter Finale Recap: Did Angela Peg Dexter as the Bay Harbor Butcher? And Did This Ending Satisfy You? (Grade It!)
Warning: The following contains spoilers for the series finale of Dexter: New Blood.
Dexter‘s last hour is finally upon us.
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Heading into the series finale, Harrison and Dexter are closer than ever before… almost as close as Angela is to tying our boy Dex to Matt Caldwell’s murder. With Kurt officially out of the way, it all comes down to Iron Lake’s chief of police. Did Dexter go down for offing Matt? Did Angela actually capture the elusive Bay Harbor Butcher? Let’s dive right into this explosive, emotional and jam-packed finale to find out.
Angela listens to Molly’s notes on Iron Lake. “Dark secrets lurk behind Iron Lake,” the podcaster says in the recording, “and the more I do the deep dive, the more I come up with.” (And she doesn’t even know the half of it.) The Chief of Police puts out an official APB for the missing Molly, as Dexter walks around the remains of his torched home. He comments on how many “good folks” there are in the town, all of whom are helping “Mr. Serial Killer and son.” But he knows if he’s going to teach Harrison the code, it can’t be there.
Dexter tells Harrison they’ll likely be moving, but the kid is skeptical of leaving his friends so soon. They decide to head somewhere warmer, perhaps Los Angeles, since a big city will give them plenty of fodder to appease their dark passengers. As they drive away from their former home, Angela finds Matt Caldwell’s titanium screw in the rubble.
—
Before dinner, Angela sends the kids out for groceries. When Dexter goes in for a hug, she pulls a gun on him. The jig is finally up, as Logan storms in and cuffs him. Dexter is officially under arrest for Matt’s murder… but not Kurt’s.
Angela begins her questioning, and when he’s asked to state his name, he says “Jim Lindsay” before copping to being Dexter Morgan. She tells him they never identified the second person in the woods with Matt, then pulls out the screw she found, which was used to repair the fracture Matt suffered after his boating accident. She also reveals the note she received that points to Dexter as the murderer.
She admits it’s possible it could’ve been done in self-defense, but she knows Dexter burned the body. Titanium doesn’t melt, after all. Dexter tells her Kurt lied about Matt being in New York, then stripped the cabin apartment the day after Dexter and Molly were there. Maybe Kurt killed Matt and is framing Dexter for the job as revenge for getting Kurt arrested, he offers.
Logan tells Angela that Dexter’s story seems plausible, which means it could seem plausible to a jury. He senses she’s not telling him everything, but she says she can’t say a thing until she’s positive.
When Harrison finally gets to see Dexter, Dad tells him it has nothing to do with Kurt and that Harrison is safe. He’s sure he can get out of it, and they’ll be on the road in just a couple days. “We’ll get through this,” Dexter tells him. “The world needs us.”
Angela dials Angel Batista, and tells him they’ve had some deaths that resemble the victims of the Bay Harbor Butcher. She asks him about Sgt. Doakes. Batista tells her that his ex-wife (the dearly departed Maria LaGuerta) had a theory that it was Dexter Morgan. But according to him, Dexter’s long gone. She forwards him a photo of Dex and Angela in happier times. Ang asks if Batista ever caught Maria’s murderer, but of course he didn’t. With that, Batista says he’s heading her way and bringing all of his files with him.
Angela questions Dexter again. She says he might get away with Matt’s murder, but she’ll stake her career and family on the fact that he’s a murderer. She’s got one word for him: ketamine. She shows him a photo of Jasper, and says the guy had the drug in his system. Then, she shows him photos of the Bay Harbor Butcher’s victims who shared the same wheel marks and ketamine in their systems. She tells him she knows he’s the Butcher. The next day, he’ll be arraigned for Matt’s murder, which may or may not stick. Then, he’ll be reunited with his old pal Batista. He’ll be extradited back to Florida where he’ll stand on trial for the Butcher killings. And Florida’s a state with the death penalty.
Dexter asks her to turn off the camera. She obliges. “You were right about Kurt Caldwell,” he says. “I can prove it.” He reveals that Kurt had been active for 25 years, and gives her the exact location of Kurt’s hatch. Inside is the proof she’s always been searching for.
In his jail cell, Dexter is haunted by Debra, who says Angela’s never going to let go of this. Dexter asks Logan for some water, and when the guy brings it, Dex grabs him and smashes his head against the cell bars. He demands the keys, but when Logan tries to pull out his gun, Dexter snaps his neck. He calls Harrison and tells his son to meet him where they found the white deer. It’s time to go. NOW.
Angela arrives to the cabin, and traipses through Kurt’s corridor where all of his trophies are kept. She finds EVERYONE she spent her entire career searching for. She crawls up the hatch to radio Logan, only Dexter has Logan’s walkie and car. She then radios Teddy and tells him to get her all of the backup in the goddamn world. When Teddy says he hasn’t heard from Logan in a while, Angela KNOWS. She races to the station and finds the poor guy’s dead body outside the now-empty jail cell.
When Dexter meets Harrison in the woods, the boy questions whose blood is all over him. Harrison realizes Dex called from Logan’s phone and puts two and two together. “There was no other way,” Dexter assures him, but Harrison doesn’t take kindly to the news. “It was the only way I could get back to you,” Dad says. Harrison, however, is pissed. His feelings of abandonment rush back to the surface. “I want,” Dexter pauses. “I need to be with you.” Harrison says Dexter needs to turn himself in, but Dexter replies that he’ll get the death penalty. “Maybe you deserve it,” the boy responds.
Dexter tells Harrison that he doesn’t have to come, but Dexter’s gotta go. As he walks away, Harrison pulls out his rifle and aims it directly at his father. He blames Dexter for what happened to his mom and his Aunt Deb. “You’re right,” Dex tells the teen. He apologizes for everything he’s done to him. “You deserve better. A better life. A better father.” Then, Dexter reminds his son to take the safety off. With tears in his eyes, Dexter knows it’s the only way out. He coaches the boy through taking the shot and after a loud POP, Dexter collapses and dies in the snow. “You did good,” he mutters to the boy, as Deb massages his hand.
Angela shows up and screams at Harrison to drop the rifle. Harrison holds his hands out assuming she’s going to cuff him. Instead, she gives him cash and tells him to take the truck, head to the highway and never come back. She hugs him tightly and sends him on his way.
In the truck, Harrison finds a letter that Dexter wrote Hannah telling her that he was alive and that he’d give anything to see them again. The letter continues: He wanted his child to live a life without fear, so he could share his gifts with the world. But he knew with him around, a normal life for Harrison wouldn’t have been possible. “Unless Harrison shows any dark tendencies, I beg you. Let me die, so my son can live.”
As a string of police cars blaze toward Iron Lake, Harrison drives away.
Did Dexter stick the landing this time? Vote in our polls below, then fire away in the Comments!
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