Dexter Subtly Foreshadowed The Original Show's Controversial Ending In His Third On-Screen Kill
WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Dexter.
Summary
- Dexter’s early encounter with Matt Chambers foreshadowed his own eventual decision to change cities and identities at the end of the series.
- Dexter’s choice to lave his old life behind in the original finale echoed a pattern of behavior from a killer he encountered in season 1.
- The controversial lumberjack ending in the original series was seen as a forced way to keep Dexter’s character alive for the sequel series, lacking closure.
An early episode of Dexter subtly foreshadowed Dexter’s outcome in the original series finale. While the Dexter series finale remains one of the biggest points of controversy in the original series, which ran for eight seasons and 96 episodes between 2006 and 2013, Dexter remains one of the most celebrated thriller series ever made. The 2021 sequel series Dexter: New Blood saw Michael C. Hall reprise his role as the notorious titular protagonist nearly 10 years after the events of the original Dexter finale.
Dexter season 1 had one of the best Dexter villains in the entire series with the Ice Truck Killer. Before Dexter discovers the shocking true identity of the Ice Truck Killer, one of his earliest targets is Matt Chambers, a repeat drunk driver who caused multiple accidents and had a dark, murderous past. Upon looking into Chambers’ history, Dexter discovers that he had killed an off-duty firefighter in South Boston before moving to Miami and changing his name to avoid detection.
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Matt Chambers’ New City & Name M.O. Foreshadowed Dexter’s Original Ending Plan
Dexter was always destined to leave Miami behind
In Dexter season 1 episode 2 titled “Crocodile”, Dexter tracks Matt Chambers who states that “there’s nothing a new city can’t cure.” After getting off for killing multiple people in drunk driving incidents, Chambers would change his name and relocate to new cities, which would end up being Dexter’s plan in the season 8 finale. As Dexter: New Blood reveals, Dexter continued to change his name and change cities, much like Chambers had, after “retiring” as a serial killer.
Dexter would have essentially been assuming a new identity in Argentina if he had gone through with his original getaway plan with Hannah McKay in the season 8 finale as well. Even though nobody at Miami Metro ever discovered Dexter’s “dark passenger”, Dexter was always fated to leave the city since he could not have reasonably continued to satisfy his dark urges without eventually getting caught. This is exactly what happened to Dexter as he eventually left on his own terms and went into hiding as a lumberjack.
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Why Dexter’s Lumberjack Ending Is Still So Controversial After More Than A Decade
The scene was added mostly to keep Dexter’s character alive for a sequel series
In a final epilogue scene of the Dexter original series, Dexter is revealed to be alive and working as a loner lumberjack somewhere far from Miami, living under a new identity that is further explored in Dexter: New Blood. Dexter’s ending of driving into a hurricane on his Slice of Life boat would have been a logical resolution after taking his sister Debra off of life support. However, having him randomly appear as a lumberjack in the final scene ultimately felt forced just so they could bring the character back in the Dexter sequel. Debra certainly did not get the ending she deserved in Dexter, and the lumberjack ending lacked a sense of closure and ultimately felt undeveloped, even random.
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Dexter
Based on the character created by author Jeff Lindsay, Showtime’s Dexter follows Miami Metro Police Department’s most skilled blood spatter analyst, Dexter Morgan, as he attempts to satisfy his Dark Passenger’s need to kill by hunting down criminals who have escaped justice. However, using the rules his adoptive father taught him to remain undiscovered, Dexter must walk the fine line of seemingly blending into society while continuously feeding his dark urges. Dexter faces several serial killers as his facade slowly crumbles around him; with every problem solved by his Dark Passenger, another one arises for his suburban fatherly life. When Dexter takes things personally or feels that the law is failing, he takes matters into his own hands and even compromises the investigations of his co-workers. Dexter aired on Showtime for eight seasons before receiving a mini-sequel series called Dexter: New Blood, which picked up ten years after the show’s events. You can buy each season for just $9.99 for Prime Day.
- Cast
- David Zayas , Michael C. Hall , Lauren Velez , C. S. Lee , James Remar , Jennifer Carpenter , Desmond Harrington , Julie Benz
- Release Date
- October 31, 2010
- Seasons
- 8
- Writers
- Jeff Lindsay , Scott Buck , Scott Reynolds , Tim Schlattmann , Karen Campbell , Melissa Rosenberg , Kevin Maynard , Wendy West , Manny Coto , Daniel Cerone , Jace Richdale , Drew Z. Greenberg , Chip Johannessen , Adam Fierro , Jim Leonard
- Directors
- Clyde Phillips
- Showrunner
- Clyde Phillips
