The final season of Dexter kicks off this Sunday night, and although the series has been frustrating, wildly uneven, and often disappointing, there’s a lot of interest in the highest rated show in the history of Showtime. We’ve got a serial killer who has been racked up countless bodies over seven seasons, an implicated sister who loves him and wants to f*** him, an estranged lover on the loose, and a murder investigation to deal with. Before Dexter even begins to wind down toward what will hopefully be a satisfying series finale, there’s still many unanswered questions remaining from last season.
Below, we take a look at 10 of those open questions we have heading into the final season of Dexter. Not included: WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO BABY HARRISON?
1. When Will Hannah McKay Return? — The biggest highlight of last season, besides Ray Stevenson’s Isaac Sirico, was Yvonne Strahovski and her character, Hannah McKay, a skilled, life-long serial killer in her own right. At the end of last season, after she conceded that she’d poisoned and attempted to kill Debra Morgan, Hannah was arrested and was facing conviction when she faked a seizure, escaped custody, and disappeared. We do know that she will return in some capacity this season, but we don’t know when or why.
2. Will Hannah and Dexter Reunite? — Which brings us to the next question: Hannah tried to kill Dexter’s sister at the end of last season. “I can never trust you, and you can never trust me. We both knew it would come to this, one of us dead or behind bars.” At the moment, neither one of them are dead or behind bars, although Hannah is wanted. Will the two get over their trust issues and act upon the fact that they are soul mates? Or will one or both end up dead or behind bars?
3. What was up the plant? After Hannah escaped, but before she left town, she left a plant on Dexter’s doorstep. What is the significance of that plant? Was it simply an expression of affection, or will it somehow prove that Hannah didn’t poison Debra (I had my own belief that Debra poisoned herself last season in order to turn Dexter against Debra)?
4. Will Quinn ever be held accountable for shooting George Novikov? At the end of last season, Joey Quinn’s plotline just kind of … fizzled. He got involved with a stripper and the mob, shot George Novikov (Jason Gederick), and then his stripper girlfriend dumped him and skipped town? There were no repercussions? Quinn shot a guy, framed it to look like self defense, and he … got away with it? Is that it? Or will an investigation into the murder of Novikov finally bring Quinn down? (Related: Will Quinn look more healthy this season, or will he continue to look like an emaciated drug addict?)
5. Will Debra be held accountable for shooting LaGuerta? — In the finale of the seventh season, LaGuerta had essentially discovered that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher, and she had evidence to link Debra to Dexter’s crimes. To prevent her from implicating Debra, Dexter lured her to her death, although the twist was that, in the end, it was Debra who shot LaGuerta. Debra and Dexter cleaned up the scene, and made it look like Estrada killed LaGuerta in a shoot-out, but there’s no escaping the evidence: It was Debra’s gun. It was too sloppy. Surely, LaGuerta’s murder will eventually tie back to Debra.
6. What will become of Debra and Dexter’s relationship? — Previews (and the first few minutes of next season, which have already been posted) suggests a rocky, estranged relationship between Debra and Dexter in the final season. Debra apparently resorts to booze and random hook-ups to cope with the guilt, and one preview even hinted that Debra will turn Dexter in. Will it go that far? Will Debra turn Dexter in? Will Debra put a bullet in Dexter to keep him from killing? Or will her love — both brotherly and sexual — keep Debra from acting on his crimes? I understand, too, that Debra actually quits the force early on, so what will come of her now that she’s no longer doing her dream job?
7. Will Angel remain retired? — At the end of last season, Angel not only didn’t push Quinn on his self-defense claim in the murder of George Novikov, but he also retired to open up a restaurant. Will he return to the force to investigate the murder of LaGuerta? Or will he even return to the force to replace LaGuerta?
8. What’s Up with the New Shrink? — This year, Dexter will attend therapy with psychiatrist Dr. Evelyn Vogel (Charlotte Ramping), who actually already knows a lot about Dexter’s past, and in fact, may be the woman behind “The Code” formulated by Dexter’s father. She is also being pursued by a killer herself, which will bring Dexter and her closer together. Will she ultimately bring down Dexter, or become yet another one of his victims?
9. Will there be another big bad? — The best seasons of Dexter have been the ones with the best big bads: The Trinity Killer, The Ice Truck Killer, etc., and the worst have been the seasons with the terrible big bads (Travis Marshall, Miguel Prado), and then there were seasons like last, which were more focused on Dexter than the big bad he was pursuing. I do understand “scooped out” “pieces of brain” will show up this season, but will there be a season-long Big Bad behind them? Or will the season focus largely on Dexter, his relationship with Debra, their efforts to elude investigations, and Hannah McKay?
10. Will there be a Debra spin-off? — Dexter is the highest rated show in Showtime’s history, and with this being the final season, Showtime may not want to let go of that universe. There was some speculation that they wouldn’t, in fact, end Dexter, but that has been put to rest. However, Showtime has not ruled out a spin-off, specifically one centered around Debra. Will she become the next serial killer in the Morgan family?
