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laurainlimbo at 10:10pm on 15/12/2009 under dexter
laurainlimbo at 10:10pm on 15/12/2009 under dexterI've been reading a lot today about Dexter because the season finale was so disturbing and upsetting. and it seems that some people have some very interesting theories. mind you these ideas are coming from fans, not the writers... but I found some terribly interesting possibilities today...
Is it possible that Trinity did not even kill Rita? There were just too many loopholes that make it seem like someone else could have done a copycat murder (perhaps the neighbor, perhaps Quinn...) Unless it could be proven that Trinity killed another 10-year old boy and also made another woman jump to her death, Rita's murder wouldn't even be a part of his cycle. And another question: did Trinity even know that Dexter had a family? I just realized today (I guess I wasn't really paying attention when I was watching the show) that Trinity didn't even visit Dexter and Rita's house - the address he found online was Dexter's old apartment. He visited Deb's apartment (formerly Dexter's), so he didn't even know where Dexter and Rita live. Also, even if Trinity did find Dexter's new residence, how could he have gotten past the security in the neighborhood to break into Dexter's house? And did he even have time to kill Rita during the small window of opportunity he would have had (since she was gone, and then came home briefly to get her ID)? How would Trinity have maneuvered that killing in the time that he would have had? Some people suggested also that Trinity didn't let on to Dexter that he had killed his wife. However, I do think that as convincing as these arguments are, Trinity definitely could have killed Rita (if you don't get too hung up on time and other little details). He didn't say directly to Dexter that he had killed his wife, but something that he said was much more subtle: There was this conversation between Trinity and Dexter while Trinity was on the table about to be killed by Dexter: Trinity said "This isn't your doing, this is God's plan. I accept that now, you have to do the same." Then Dexter says "I accept nothing. Nothing is inevitable." But then Trinity says something chilling: he says: "It's already over. It's already over." And if you look at Dexter's face, he looks puzzled. And now I think that Trinity was not necessarily referring to his own inevitable death at the hands of Dexter. Maybe he was referring to the inevitable death of Dexter's life as he knows it. Because at the end of the show, Dexter's last words are: "This is fate." Interesting ideas...
of course then we go back to the theory that Trinity didn't kill Rita. The most convincing theory is that the neighbor killed Rita because he was angry about Dexter hitting him and about Rita spurning him. But does that make sense? Some stupid people suggested that Rita killed herself after finding out about Dexter's secret life, but that isn't possible at all. Or was it just a dream? I don't think so...
someone suggested that there couldn't be another season without Rita, but I beg to differ. As important as Rita was in Dexter's life, her murder will add a whole new dynamic. Dexter will have so many things to worry about, and his dark passenger will be even stronger now. It's the direction the show had to go.
Dexter fans, what do you think?
Is it possible that Trinity did not even kill Rita? There were just too many loopholes that make it seem like someone else could have done a copycat murder (perhaps the neighbor, perhaps Quinn...) Unless it could be proven that Trinity killed another 10-year old boy and also made another woman jump to her death, Rita's murder wouldn't even be a part of his cycle. And another question: did Trinity even know that Dexter had a family? I just realized today (I guess I wasn't really paying attention when I was watching the show) that Trinity didn't even visit Dexter and Rita's house - the address he found online was Dexter's old apartment. He visited Deb's apartment (formerly Dexter's), so he didn't even know where Dexter and Rita live. Also, even if Trinity did find Dexter's new residence, how could he have gotten past the security in the neighborhood to break into Dexter's house? And did he even have time to kill Rita during the small window of opportunity he would have had (since she was gone, and then came home briefly to get her ID)? How would Trinity have maneuvered that killing in the time that he would have had? Some people suggested also that Trinity didn't let on to Dexter that he had killed his wife. However, I do think that as convincing as these arguments are, Trinity definitely could have killed Rita (if you don't get too hung up on time and other little details). He didn't say directly to Dexter that he had killed his wife, but something that he said was much more subtle: There was this conversation between Trinity and Dexter while Trinity was on the table about to be killed by Dexter: Trinity said "This isn't your doing, this is God's plan. I accept that now, you have to do the same." Then Dexter says "I accept nothing. Nothing is inevitable." But then Trinity says something chilling: he says: "It's already over. It's already over." And if you look at Dexter's face, he looks puzzled. And now I think that Trinity was not necessarily referring to his own inevitable death at the hands of Dexter. Maybe he was referring to the inevitable death of Dexter's life as he knows it. Because at the end of the show, Dexter's last words are: "This is fate." Interesting ideas...
of course then we go back to the theory that Trinity didn't kill Rita. The most convincing theory is that the neighbor killed Rita because he was angry about Dexter hitting him and about Rita spurning him. But does that make sense? Some stupid people suggested that Rita killed herself after finding out about Dexter's secret life, but that isn't possible at all. Or was it just a dream? I don't think so...
someone suggested that there couldn't be another season without Rita, but I beg to differ. As important as Rita was in Dexter's life, her murder will add a whole new dynamic. Dexter will have so many things to worry about, and his dark passenger will be even stronger now. It's the direction the show had to go.
Dexter fans, what do you think?
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I can't see that video for some reason - it's blocking it because of my current location... bummer!
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I expect he did it while Dex was looking for Trinity's nice car and finding a way to hide in it. I expect he followed Dex at some point -- I mean, that's what Dexter does a lot of the time, and Trinity and Dexter have so many similarities -- and just happened to luck out when Rita went back in. In the interview, John talks about how his character was completely thrown off track by Dexter (just like Dexter was thrown off by Trinity), and how that was exemplified by him skipping his usual set and just killing Rita right off the bat, sans ritual.
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L: The very ending -- Trinity's handiwork with Dexter's wife -- my first response was, "Oh my God, what an ending."
H: My first thought about the ending was about Julie and uh just wrapping my head around the idea of Dexter without her, um for me as an actor and also for Dexter as a character. I did think it was uh a really bold stroke in terms of re-setting the stage for what's to come, whatever that may be. Um, so from a storytelling standpoint, as far as the future goes, it's an exciting proposition, but uh, I think more than anything I was just...I was horrified and I felt for the audience. I mean I think that this is the kind of thing that's really gonna tie people in knots and uh this is the final episode so people are gonna, along with us, are gonna have to wait to find out what's in store.
L: Well, the interesting thing about this whole process -- and it's like nothing I've ever been involved in -- is this sort of culture of secrecy surrounding absolutely everything. Thank goodness Showtime and the producers and the writers, they wanted to withhold absolutely everything from everybody who might conceivably be watching Dexter.
H: Mmmhmm.
L: It's uh...they really love the idea of surprising people. So we did find out, I think two or three weeks prior to the ending of the show that...that Rita's character would die at the end, uh, but we didn't find out how.
H: There were no specific pages until maybe a couple of days before shot,
L: Yeah.
H: and those pages were made available just for I think the actors in the scene,
L: Yeah.
H: and maybe the people who were shooting it.
L: Yeah.
H: Um, but yeah it was very, very hush-hush. There was a false ending written...
L: Mmmhmm.
H: for the final episode. Um.
L: Yeah, I remember being at the table reading and getting to the end thinking, "Well, that's all they're gonna do?"
H: Yeah.
L: Rita's just gonna go away? To Orlando? And then you're the one who told me, "You know that's a false ending, don't you?"
H: Mmm.
L: And I though, "Oh! Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" I mean, if you're gonna lose a major character and a major actress from a series, don't let a crisis go to waste, you know?
H: Right.
L: Give her a fantastic exit and make a huge impact. It is a fantastic choice they made. For one thing, the ending of the story between Dexter and Trinity -- the killing scene -- it almost ends on a sympathetic note.
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(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Trinity: You can't control the demon inside of you any more than I can control mine.)
L: What appears to be a kindness on Trinity's part,
(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Dexter: So what's the alternative Arthur? Fake my own death and start over again? Trinity: You'll still be you.)
L: all this sage advice to an almost a child,
H: Mmmhmm.
L: that's such a misleading moment
(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Dexter: I have a family, too, Arthur.)
L: because a minute and a half later, you see what Trinity has done. I imagine people immediately cranking back and watching that scene again
H: Right.
L: because it's now fueled by so much other dark stuff.
H: Yeah. I mean I think it's uh, it's a question that Dexter will take to his own grave, um, what happened in that room (ed: the room where Dexter killed Trinity, not the room where Trinity killed Rita),
L: Mmmhmm.
H: what was being communicated when I thought something else was being communicated. You know, I don't know what kind of doors this is going to open, or shut, for Dexter, but this will result in some sort of I think fundamental change.
L: Yeah. I think it's been one of the great things about the whole season that you've seen Dexter more emotionally expressive than he's ever been
H: Mmmhmm
L: and that's all a result of the enormity of Trinity's evil.
H: Yeah
L: He's so much worse than Dexter,
H: Hm.
L: he even appalls another serial killer. My most appalling scene is the very first.
(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Trinity: Shhhh. It's already over.)
L: Shortly thereafter you see me walking a dog on the sidewalk, and hey, and it's like ewww!
H: Ewww!
(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Dexter: So Arthur, you and your family been doing this a long time? Trinity: Oh, for years. I took Sally on a build for our very first date.)
L: Trinity is a completely two-faced man. He appears to be so good, and so nice, and so kind, and yet, by the same extreme, he's completely despicable. I think that tension is what's so scary about him, and they found an actor who's known to be a kind of silly, nice guy. My most recent reputation has been completely dominated by Third Rock from the Sun. Uh, a goofball, you know, and a comic. To take an actor like that and just, just have his face fall and become evil, I mean, that, it...it just throw...knocks all your pins out.
(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Trinity: Don't! Touch! My sister! Dexter: I'm sorry! I didn't know.
L: I watch the show with..with my wife and my kids, and when every episode is over my wife turns from the screen and looks at me like, like "Who are you?" you know? But of course that's exactly what Trinity's all about.
H: Yeah. I think Dexter is simultaneously appalled by and fascinated by Trinity. Like so many things on the show, I experienced in playing the scenes with you a simultaneous reverence and disgust.
L: Pretty much describes our relationship.
H: Yeah! Yeah, I mean it wasn't a stretch. John Lithgow.
L: Irreverence and disgust. I want that on my tombstone.
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(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Trinity: Hello, Dexter Morgan.)
L: One of the great things about the whole season: that you've seen the story of these two serial killers colliding and throwing each other wildly off their game. Trinity's pattern is so rigid, and performed almost to perfection, and suddenly he's killing this guy named Kyle Butler? Just because he showed up? He's killing Rita, out of pure vengeance? Dexter has thrown him way off his game, and I think the same thing has happened to Dexter.
(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Dexter: I killed an innocent man.)
H: There's not a great deal of decisiveness for the first time. Um, you know, Dexter gives himself excuses about why he lets Trinity survive, but I think ultimately he really craves, covert though it may be, the sense of connection he has with this man.
L: Well, you're really seeking something from your victim as you never have before.
H: Right. In a way that I think in spite of himself um does need some sort of confirmation.
L: Yeah.
H: Some sort of confirmation that he's different from you.
L: Yeah. Mmmhmm.
H: Or that..that...that there's a possibility to take another step
L: Yep.
H: in terms of the way he can live his life. But he's, he's uh
L: Yeah.
H: he's in way over his head.
(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Dexter: I should have fucking killed you when I had the chance.)
L: One of the great moments of these twelve episodes, and one of the real turning points was when Dexter flings Trinity down on the floor of the kitchen and says, "I should have killed you when I had the chance." I always saw that as the scales falling from Trinity's eyes. He just looks into Dexter's eyes and he knows everything about him, and suddenly Trinity is terrified of Dexter. It's an extremely complex moment, and it was really frightening to play it because there was a Michael Hall that I had not seen before, too. Raaaah!
H: Yeah.
L: Just sort of roaring out of the box.
H: Worst Thanksgiving ever.
L: Yeah. Boy was that fun.
H: Yeah. We did a lot of this.
L: Yeah, we were laughing all day long. Can you believe that?
(DIALOGUE FROM SCENE: Dexter: It's my turn now, to embrace my family.)
H: On the surface of it, before that final scene, Dexter learns from Trinity that he has an aspiration to be better than the cover, that he can actually live in accordance to what he experiences to be a connection to people who care about him and need him. What he ultimately learns from Trinity, not "This is God's work," but "this is fate," and maybe he's prepared to, in some way, roll with that or embrace it or surrender to it.
L: You never see Trinity learn everything about Dexter
H: Right.
L: the way Dexter learns everything about Trinity. He never learns about Harry's code, but I do think he is weirdly intuitive. What he's done is he's left Dexter with exactly the scenario that began Dexter's life.
H: Undoubtedly Dexter is permanently changed going forward because of what Trinity has done, because of Rita's murder, and I think for the first time that Dexter will be saddled with this appetite for vengeance that can't be
L: Mmmhmm.
H: sated. Perhaps he'll slam shut every door he's opened in terms of his vulnerable, emotional, human self. Uh...maybe not. I...I...I...it's hard to say definitively exactly what will change and how it will change, but to step into something where so much change is afoot, when you've been doing it for four seasons, is a real gift.
L: What do we do next, Michael?
H: I don't know. I wish I knew the answer to that.
L: It's been fabulous. Fabulous working with you.
H: Likewise.
L: I'm certainly glad I'm not writing next season because it's an enormous challenge. All I know for sure is that I'll be watching.
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I agree it's dangerous killing off any big character, especially a lead female character, but it will actually be good for this show, I think.
oh yea, we used to call Marina Sirtis Counselor Cleavage! LOL!
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*hugs*
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*hugs*
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As far as I read the timeline of Rita's death, from the phone message she left she probably went back to the house mid to late morning, and Trinity surprised her there. Dexter had sent them to the airport first thing in the morning, before he went to work. Add an hour or two for transit, could have happened 9 or 10am? Trinity was obviously on the hunt for Dexter's address, and after his initial mistake with "D. Morgan" being Debra (Dexter's old place), I'm sure he could dig up some other leads. It seems like there is plenty of time between that and when Dexter gets into the trunk of the convertible.
Not sure what the problem would be with the cycle. The boy is the first victim, which Trinity had attempted but Dexter rescued him. The woman in the bathtub is the second victim. The jumper and the bludgeoning victims are 3rd and 4th, which Trinity could have planned on continuing with next. Unless you think he wouldn't leave town without completing the cycle?
Anyway, such a compelling season finale. I heard speculation that either Batista or LaGuerta would be killed off, and I consider Rita to be an easier loss than either of those.
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I totally agree with you that Rita was becoming a stick in the mud - I honestly never liked her, but she did add good tension to the show, and Dexter did love her. But her murder does add a great opening for the next season, and I imagine it will be really tense and very dark.
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here's the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_%28TV_series%29
it's a great show, but very dark.