How The Final Season of Dexter Should Have Ended

This isn't a parody or my original creations which I'm about to suggest: it's taking the ideas which were used in the show and showing how they could have been used to great effect than it was.
* WARNING: SPOILERS FROM THE FINAL SEASON AND SERIES FINAL FOLLOW *

Alright, let's get down to it, shall we? We don't have all day, after all. 

(NOTE: this is about how the final season could have played out, not other seasons. With exceptions...)

Here’s how I would have— given the opportunity— have the final season of DEXTER play out:

1) Have one Big Bad over 3 seasons

Remember Louis Greene, the creepy computer programmer from season six? The one who showed Dexter his latest game where the user played a serial killer, sent him the hand from The Ice Truck Killer case, seemed to know about Dexter... and then was unceremoniously killed by a bullet to the head?

 

That was one of the biggest wasted opportunities and a shameful one at that because it could have played out interestingly. In fact, he would have been the perfect foil to Dexter, as I will list out in Reason Two. A Big Bad who remained mysterious while operating from the background (think Thanos from The Avengers) before revealing himself in the final season would have been far more exciting than a poor copycat killer of the Ice Truck Killer, the forgettable The Brain Surgeon.

Wait, you still want to tie it into Vogel’s story? You could make Greene turn out to be Vogel's son- perhaps tracking down his mother since his escape, learning about Dexter and wishing to get rid of him as revenge. It’d still be more compelling than what was delivered. As for sounding too far-fetched, well… in this show, it’s a norm. 

There could still be a way to bring in Vogel without needing the Brain Surgeon. Even then, it wouldn't need to be too much bother because what they should have done next is... 

2) Have the Big Bad (in this case, Greene) blow Dexter's secret wide open and put him on the run

QUICK! Think- what was the most interesting season of Dexter, apart from season one and four?

Your answer was SEASON TWO, right? 

Why would that be? Well, apart from the fact that it was bloody brilliant, it was because it was NAIL-BITING and TENSE storytelling from start to finish. Dexter didn’t have to go up against a Big Bad- he had to fend off a cop doing his duty (Doakes), contend with a crazy lady (Lila) and struggle to keep everyone else from uncovering his secret. AND IT WAS ALL GOOD! 

See, Dexter has always been at his best when backed into a corner and forced to use his wits to escape. He never really needed a Big Bad to always go up against and besides— the two best villains could never be topped. The Ice Truck Killer is brilliant because of his connection to Dexter and the Trinity Killer gets the top spot because of John Lithgow's brilliant scenery-chewing performance. 

 

So instead of a Brain Surgeon messing Dexter’s life, it would have been more poetic for Dexter to be undone by something he deemed inconsequential and forgot about- a fatal mistake. Perhaps the Big Bad could have slowly started leaking information to the Miami Metro about how The Bay Harbor Butcher may be connected to the Ice Truck Killer, The Skinner, Trinity, Miguel Prado, the Barrel Girl Killers (you get the picture), prompting an investigation that ends with them realizing *gasp* it's been Dexter all along! 

In one move:

- LaGuerta's death becomes relevant;

- the characters stop acting stupidly;

- GOOD EXCITING TENSION-FILLED DRAMA! 

And another way to achieve the above (amongst other ways) would have been by...

3) Debra also being responsible for Dexter's downfall

The best thing about the last two seasons (and the only good thing about season eight) was the relationship between Dexter and Debra once the latter discovered her brother's secret. Jennifer Carpenter's performance is worthy of an Emmy and absolutely compelling to watch. Ultimately, it caused her to kill LaGuerta to protect Dexter, resign the force, turn to drinking and ended stuck in a downward spiral. To top it off, she seemed to really hate Dexter for what he'd done, even driving his car off the road to kill him before ending up saving him. It was some great stuff… until they patched it all up over the course of one episode.

What should have happened:

When Deb was at her lowest and if she hated Dexter so much, she ought to have started plotting to bring Dexter him down by dropping clues to Elway before eventually having a change of heart and tossing it all aside, like the Hannah McKay case. But like what happened in season eight, it would have set in motion an unstoppable chain of events which could have happened concurrently with the Hannah McKay storyline (see how much potential was missed out?!). All this could happen parallel to the Big Bad's schemes before it all explodes in one huge fireworks display.

Not to mention, it would have created an extremely sticky situation for Dexter. Once he was on the run, his first response would be to turn to the one person he could trust- Deb, only to find out that she was unintentionally involved as well. If this happened EVEN WITHOUT the Big Bad, it would have still worked out beautifully because Dexter wouldn’t just be treading water in a deep dark well— he'd be drowning in it.   

With the above three possibilities, now picture how the last couple of episodes could have played out: 

Elway is closing in on Dexter’s trail, maybe helped from the shadows by Louis Greene. Perhaps Miami Metro is also connecting the pieces. Hannah returns and Dex has to hide her (incorporating that storyline effectively without merely shoehorning it in like what happened). Deb and Dexter have just returned things to a more stable relationship. Then the Big Bad reveals himself to Dexter and promises to destroy Dexter for ruining his life (Greene was dedicated to destroy Dexter in Season 7- see, I'm not even making it up, just taking what they already did and modifying it). He disappears... and makes a sudden appearance one day on television to reveal the Bay Harbor Butcher's identity. BOOM! Miami Metro is shocked and forced to hunt down their colleague, Dexter finds out what Deb had done, Elway and the US Marshall are closing in on both Hannah (like what happened in season 8) and Dexter (which did not happen). Deb is forced to choose sides— to hunt Dexter or help him. And Dexter can't go after Greene now because it wouldn’t help.

Now isn’t THAT a final season you’d rather have watched?