By Elaine Bergstrom
Are monsters born or are they created? This is a query, nature vs. nurture, and it’s time to ask the hard question: Would Dexter really have become a monster, or did Harry deliberately create one, a sort of dark avenger for his own frustrations — and perhaps urges.
I know, Dexter showed the symptoms of a serial killer but they were symptoms of a potential deadly disease, not the disease itself. He might have become a serial killer, or maybe not. Not everyone who kills animals or has a twisted memory from their childhood goes on to be a killer or our world would be teeming with them. But certainly with Harry playing Dr. Frankenstein with his own formable monster, it had to happen.
But Dexter has a free will. He is not Trinity — forced to play out his twisted urges over and over. And it seem that in recent episodes, particularly Sunday’s “Lost Boys” he is beginning to realize it and come to grips with his own humanity.
And with Debs investigating her father’s past, evidence of Harry’s sainthood is quickly being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of his transgressions. Once she shares this with her brother, will he find a way to put an end to the sins of his father? I see only two ways this series can resolve itself — with Dexter’s confession or his redemption.
Certainly, the rage Dexter felt when he saw Trinity choking his son, and even more so when Trinity abducted that child, was exactly the rage any parent would feel. And when he hit Trinity with the shovel then paused in his kill to rescue the boy, he was doing what any parent would do — actually, I would have hit Trinity until he was mostly dead.
But Dexter didn’t — he chose to save a life instead of vengeance and now Trinity is out there, hunting him. As the rushes for the final two episodes make clear, Trinity will figure out who Kyle is, and when he does, he’ll come after someone Dexter cares about. Will it be Debs? Rita? Dexter’s children?
This season has faced squarely the themes hinted at in the previous three. Bravo to the writers — and to Hall and Lithgow — for giving us this incredible viewing experience!
Photo courtesy of Showtime.
