One of the best things about Dexter is that it constantly keeps you on your feet. From one drama-filled episode to the next, you never know what’s going to happen. For that reason, we’ve written this guide about the most shocking moments on Dexter.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first seven seasons of Dexter! I’ve tried to keep the subheadings as spoiler-free as possible. You have been warned!
Sgt. Doakes’ Infinite Demise
Throughout the entire second season, Sgt. Doakes was hot on Dexter’s trail. Dexter had planned every move precisely. Doakes followed Dexter to a cabin that was rigged, where Doakes met his untimely demise. Dexter managed to fool everyone and frame Doakes to be the Bay Harbor Butcher.
Deb’s in Love
For those following the show or those catching up by watching Dexter on-demand via www.direct-ticket.net, the most shocking moment of season six came when Deb realized that she had feelings for Dexter, her brother. Well, not her actual brother, Dexter is Deb’s foster brother, but still. Gross.
Deb Finds Out
At the end of season six, after years of teasing, it finally happened. Dexter was caught in the act. It wasn’t just anyone who caught him, though: it was his sister! After taking serial killer Travis Marshall to an abandoned church, Dexter constructed his usual setup. As he thrusts the knife into Travis’s chest, he looks over and finds Deb watching, leading to the ultimate cliffhanger.
As season 7 begins, Deb advances on Dexter, gun drawn. Dexter claims that Travis came at him and Dexter killed in self defense. Later in the episode, Deb confronts Dexter afer she searches his apartment and finds his tools. She asks him if he killed all of those people and he answers that he did. She asks him if he’s a serial killer, and he confirms that he is.
Dexter Has a Brother
Throughout season one, Dexter is on the trail of the Ice Truck Killer. Meanwhile, Deb becomes engaged to Brian Moser. At the end of the season, it’s revealed that Brian Moser is actually the brother of Dexter Morgan, and not only that, but he’s the Ice Truck Killer! Deb is taken hostage and nearly killed by Moser. Dexter disposes of him in the way that only Dexter can.
Trinity
Season three of Dexter was pretty awful. There’s no getting around it. Season four, however, made up for all of season three’s mistakes, and the main bad guy, Trinity, was unlike any other. Perfectly played by John Lithgow, Trinity, or Arthur Mitchell, is a serial killer who kills his victims in the same way that members of his own family were killed. Dexter befriends Arthur Mitchell in order to get closer to him, but it backfires. Season four has yet to be topped, and for that reason, the entirety of the season is on this list.
Rita
Rita is Dexter’s love interest for the first four seasons. He manages to keep her out of the loop of his personal life while being the perfect father figure to her children from her previous marriage. In season three, she discovers that she’s pregnant with Dexter’s child, which leads to Dexter proposing to Rita. Rita accepts, and they wed.
In the finale of season four, Dexter is chasing after the Trinity Killer when he collides with another car. Dexter is arrested. Rita picks him up at the police station. Dexter, out of fear that Trinity will harm Rita and their child, wants to pursue Trinity alone while Rita leaves. She agrees.
Dexter eventually kills Trinity and gets a voicemail saying that she would take a later flight out because she forgot her ID at home. He calls her and is confused to discover her phone, and purse, behind him. He walks into the bathroom to discover Rita laying dead in their bathtub. Rita was the final victim of Trinity. His child, Harrison, was sitting in a pool of blood on the floor. Distraught, he carries Harrison out of the room and out of the house. Rita’s death was the first death of someone that Dexter truly loved.
Maria LaGuerta
In season seven, LaGuerta starts to get suspicious about Dexter. Never believing that Doakes was the Bay Harbor Butcher, she began to pursue Dexter. She followed a series of clues that ultimately led to his discovery. Deb wasn’t too far behind, and the three of them came face-to-face. Deb, gun drawn, was faced with two desicions: arrest Dexter, her brother, and leave him to rot in jail, or get rid of LaGuerta. Aiming the gun toward Dexter, she quickly aimed at LaGuerta, closed her eyes, and fired the bullet that killed LaGuerta. This varies differently from the novels, where LaGuerta was killed by Brian Moser, Dexter’s brother, very early in the story.
LaGuerta’s death has led up to season eight, which sees a very distraught Deb acting very out of character and Dexter becoming familiar with a psychologist.
The series is best watched in complete order, so head to Amazon and pick up Dexter: The First Season if you haven’t already. If you gave up on Dexter in the early seasons, give it another shot and catch up. This fantastic series is almost over!
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