“If I were you I would give up vigilanteism — you’re not very good at it.”
I was glad to see that at least one of my possible scenarios I mentioned last week came to be, and Dexter didn’t let things lie with Arthur Mitchell, following him down to finally end things. There really wasn’t much opportunity for him to think about what to do with him standing there in the station. But as he said to head Harry, he wanted to see Mitchell done for by his own hands, not any other way.
Where I was wrong, though, was Dexter letting Mitchell go. If you think back to the first quarter of this season, I still think that was a reasonable theory. Things just seemed to change gears in there once we saw how Michell really treated his family.
Once Scott Smith gave the logo clue to Deb, things moved along really quickly … too quickly, if you ask me. It really felt like they crammed in what should have been a few more episodes into one. As soon the Four Walls logo was discovered, and the fact that Scott Smith could immediately ID Mitchell, I thought Dexter would be in deep shit. Will Angel ever remember that Mitchell was standing right inside Miami Metro, talking to Dexter just the day before (or was it longer)?
Something tells me Deb will be keeping a close eye on Dexter from here on out, and that’s going to mean Dexter’s going to have yet another thing making it more difficult for him to feed his Dark Passenger. She seems to have no idea how the same thing that happened to Brian Moser could happen to Dexter, but does it mean she’d be at all understanding if she did find out?
Out of all the mistakes and missteps Dexter’s made, a damaged car mirror throws a huge wrench in the works for what would have been a quick ending to Dexter’s headaches with Mitchell. The thing about Dexter and his Dark Passenger is that he said a few times in this episode that he doesn’t want to be the person he is anymore. I guess that’s what the inevitable fifth season will be all about, when he’s taking care of three kids by himself.
Rita’s death wasn’t very surprising, other than it happening so late in the episode and that Mitchell had time to do it. This event clearly sets up one hell of a fifth season, with Dexter taking a very forward-facing fatherly role, and I imagine Aunt Deb will have her hands full as well. I really believe Rita was purposely shown to us as annoying, just so her absence wouldn’t be as upsetting to some. If our commenters (and I) are any indication, she won’t be missed.
And, hey, if you’re upset that Julie Benz is out of work, just think: she’s now open to a less annoying role in something else!
Something that is still not resolved is Dexter’s rife with Quinn. I imagine that will come to the forefront next season, though I really hope they don’t pull another Doakes on us, since that’s been done already.
Another big question I have now is how will Dexter explain why Mitchell targeted his family? It’s obviously Mitchell’s M.O., though could it appear to be a suicide? Will the neighbor say she was unhappy and then, perhaps, suicide isn’t out of the question? And then there’s Michell’s family. There’s no doubt they will be questioned at length about what they know of their murderous father and husband. Won’t one of them mention this mysterious Kyle Butler and give a sketch? I imagine they’ll find it weird that he disappeared during the raid, so he’ll be a wanted individual.
What I don’t want to see is Harrison show serial-killer tendencies, just because he sat in a pool of blood. First of all, I don’t believe Mitchell would kill Rita in front of Harrison. Secondly, I don’t believe a less-than-one-year-old child could be affected by something like that. Then again, he does have Dexter’s genes on top of all of that. Maybe the series won’t get far enough for us to know what will happen to him. What do you think?
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Dec 13, 2009 @ 22:03 EST5EDT
I was blown away by the finale. Although I should have seen it coming, the way it went down really caught me off guard, and that is good writing. A good writer should have you thinking so much about the rest of the story that the obvious is hidden.
I was riveted to the screen in the last 10 minutes. When they showed the baby I covered my mouth in a gasp – it all came tumbling down.
As someone who had their world changed in a matter of hours, I think the pacing was realistic. Sometimes every piece falls together in such a way that you are left reeling.
It worked for me, to the extreme!
I was thinking that Dex has become so sloppy that the next season should just be him sitting in jail waiting for his trial.
Decent episode, though the baby sitting in blood was a little over the top for the reasons you mentioned.
Good episode but I wanted more, I figured Rita would die, I would have been more shocked if she hadn’t.
I’m hoping for 2 more seasons of the show, next season dealing with Dexter and only Dexter, no bad guys but himself and Deb putting the pieces together. Then season 6 as Dexter in jail, his past finally getting up to him and his dark passenger taking over.
I thought season 4 was best, then 1, then 2, and then very very last 3 because I couldn’t even watch most of that season, just very dull to me.
It was a little shocking to see Rita dead, as although she was annoying, she was someone who Dexter felt attached to and she was a good person after all.
I thought, however, that such an ending was there on purpose, the show has been out for a while and in all four seasons, no matter what Dexter does he gets away with it, even when he kills an innocent man. Rita’s death might be used to show that for someone like Dexter doing dark things, there should be a limit, as sooner or later his behavior starts to affect other people’s lives (Paul, Prado, Doakes, Lundi). Or it might be used to reinforce the role of law enforcement and the wrong side of being such a vigilante. Great show overall.
I really like Julie Benz as an actress (loved her as Darla) but I hated her as Rita & her death was bound to happen. Can’t say I was surprised. I just can’t wait to see how this will effect Dexter.
The writers can make Rita’s murder as suspicious as they want next season. If they just want to drop it, they can easily have the time of death occur when Dexter was at the Mitchell home along with 50 cops. Batista will remember seeing Trinity in Homicide that day and hearing Dexter give him directions. It will be assumed that Trinity went there to find one of his hunters to target and chose the first guy to whom he spoke. The Mitchell family or the Four Walls workers might mention Kyle Butler to the FBI, who investigate the Kyle Butler that was murdered, and assume him to be the same man. Since the Trinity case will be leaving Miami and going national, I can see the investigation being cursory.
Going to see Boondock Saints II this weekend, so looking forward to seeing Julie Benz being badass again.