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'Dexter' series finale recap, 'Remember the Monsters?'
With Dexter, Harrison and Hannah in the airport at last, it could have been the perfect start to the perfect permanent vacation — if not for the fact that Deb has been shot, Saxon is on the loose, a hurricane is approaching, and Hannah can’t leave the bathroom, never mind the United States, thanks to Elway who has stationed himself outside in the boarding area. But, oddly, we expected nothing less from the series finale of a show as great as this.
Dexter comes to Hannah’s rescue, putting together a quick backpack and pointing airport security in Elway’s direction. But his fast thinking doesn’t matter much, as the airport is evacuated due to safety reasons before they even set foot on a plane.
Deb is taken to the hospital, and Quinn rides along. She airs the fact that she’s conflicted about whether she’s a good person, but Quinn finally does something good and convinces her that she is.
Even though Deb asked everyone not to call Dexter, it’s really only a matter of time before he finds out. After all, it’s Dexter. Matthews gives her the courtesy of waiting until she goes into surgery before disregarding her request and making the call.
Dexter is torn between his desires to protect his two families: Hannah and Deb. Still determined to make his dream future a reality, he tells Hannah to take a flight from another city as soon as possible. Meanwhile, he heads to the hospital to check on Deb.
Deb wakes up and isn’t very surprised to see Dexter. Dexter’s always been there for her, why stop now? A little bit out of it, Deb focuses on quizzing Dexter about their youth – in particular, why they never went hiking. Dexter apologizes profusely (for her injury, not for never taking her hiking) and Deb for once doesn’t blame Dexter.
They discuss the future, and in typical Morgan fashion, neither can agree. Each is resolute in owning the blame for the chaotic mess they find themselves in. This time though, Dexter does seem to have the upper hand. After all, he’s not the one constrained to a bed by IV tubes.
Elway finally finds out that the Marshall is dead. Furious, Elway confronts Dexter at the hospital. He warns Dexter not to go down with Hannah.
Dexter has Matthews puts uniforms on Deb’s door just in case Saxon comes back for her, before heading after Saxon himself.
But, with his priorities conflicted, he checks in with Hannah first. Granted, she has his son, but really? How hard is it to make a plan and stick to it?
Hannah, great planner that she is, figures out how to use the evacuation chaos to use the buses to get out of the city. Dexter tells her to take Harrison and go without him. He needs to wait until Deb is in the clear. They have a heartfelt goodbye, where Harrison admits he loves Hannah. In the midst of all the madness, sometimes it’s nice to remember the important things.
Saxon steals a truck (after asking oh-so-politely by bashing the stranger’s head in) and breaks into a veterinarian’s office, forcing the man to stitch him up. He then forces the veterinarian to drive him to the hospital where he cuts his tongue out, using the chaos of the bleeding man to distract the doctors from him slipping by.
Dexter is hot on his trail though (finally) and catches up to him right outside Deb’s door. But Angel beats him to it and Saxon is formally (and legally) arrested.
Dexter rushes into Deb’s room, only to find that she isn’t there. There was a complication and she was moved to the ICU. The doctors have a bleak prognosis, saying she may never recover enough to even feed herself. At least she got in her last steak dinner with Dexter, though.
Dexter flashes back to when he and Deb first saw Harrison. Deb had gone on and on about how Dexter had always protected her and that due to that, she knows he’ll be a great father. In light of the current situation, it only hurts all the more.
Dexter watches in as Angel and Quinn interview Saxon. Quinn loses it, obviously distraught over Deb’s state.
Hannah is telling a story to Harrison on the bus when someone grabs her hand. Elway found them. Insert scary music. But never fear, Hannah is an independent woman. She doesn’t need Dexter to take care of her. She’s a serial killer in her own right, remember?
She distracts him and then stabs him with a horse tranquilizer, but wishes him a good night just before getting off the bus with Harrison.
Dexter goes to do a GSR test on Saxon, but he looks a little too nefarious for this to be his only aim. He confronts Saxon, telling him that he’s going to kill him. Saxon lunges first, getting in a good shot before Dexter plunges the pen into his neck.
Angel and Quinn review the tape and back up (although hesitantly) Dexter’s claim of self-defense. It’s a good thing those tapes don’t have audio.
Dexter goes back to his old apartment. Empty, just like his life now that Deb is gone. He takes his boat to the hospital to visit Deb. All he can say to her is how sorry he is for everything. And in a heart-wrenching moment, he turns off the ventilator. He unplugs all of the wires and disconnects the tube so he can just look at her as her heart slowly fails. A mercy-killing – the final sign that the Dark Passenger isn’t in charge, and that Dexter possesses compassion and a humanity to put us all to shame.
In the chaos of the hospital evacuating all of the patients, Dexter sneaks Deb out of the hospital and onto his boat. Yes, hurricanes are scary, but it is a little farfetched to believe no one noticed him carrying a dead body away.
He calls Hannah, catching them right as they are boarding the plane. But the call has a dark twist from Dexter’s end, as he is on his boat facing a hurricane.
He drops his phone into the water.
He gathers Deb into his arms, the white hospital sheet billowing in the wind, and drops her into the water.
In an unforgettable selfless act, Dexter decides to end the last monster – himself. His final act is to drive into the storm, to end the horror and damage that he inflicts on the lives of others.
After the storm has cleared, we see that Angel has received the news that Dexter’s boat sank. Hannah finds out through an Internet newsletter.
But the final moments reveal a solitary man, ending his day from working at a lumberyard. He walks into his home, sets down his keys and takes a seat.
Apparently, even Mother Nature can’t kill Dexter Morgan.
