Remember the Monsters?: Difference between revisions

"Remember the Monsters?" is the series finale of the Showtime television series Dexter. It is the 12th episode of the eighth season, and the 96th episode of the series overall. The episode originally aired on September 22, 2013. It was written by Scott Buck and Manny Coto and directed by Steve Shill.

Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) arrives at the airport to leave with Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) for Argentina, who is hiding from Jacob Elway (Sean Patrick Flanery) in the women's bathroom. Dexter fills up a backpack full of items and places it under a seat, telling the flight booker that he saw a man (Elway) leave a suspicious backpack under a seat and walk away. Elway is detained by airport security, allowing enough time for Dexter, Harrison, and Hannah to make their flight. While getting ready to board the flight, Tom Matthews (Geoff Pierson) calls Dexter to inform him of Debra Morgan's (Jennifer Carpenter) shooting by the hands of Oliver Saxon (Darri Ingolfsson). Meanwhile, all flights are detained due to the oncoming Hurricane Laura, thus stranding Dexter, Hannah, and Harrison in Miami. Dexter explains the situation about Deb and leaves Hannah and Harrison at a hotel to see her. At the hospital, the doctor (Amy Pietz) informs Dexter that Deb's vital organs were not hit by the bullet, and she is optimistic Deb will recover.

Meanwhile, Saxon makes his way to the hospital that Debra is being held at. Dexter confronts him, but before anything can happen, Angel Batista (David Zayas) springs out of hiding, placing him under arrest. Dexter goes into Deb's room, finding it empty. A shaken Joey Quinn (Desmond Harrington) informs Dexter that Deb's condition has worsened. The doctor informs them that a blood clot during surgery caused Debra to suffer a stroke, leaving her in a lifelong vegetative state.

Hannah and Harrison, meanwhile, sit in a bus headed for Jacksonville, quietly speaking of Argentina. Suddenly, Elway seizes Hannah's arm, telling her that he will ride the bus with them to Jacksonville, where Hannah will be turned into the Marshall's office. Hannah manages to stab Elway in the thigh with one of Dexter's tranquilizers and escapes.

Dexter arrives at the jail and tells the desk clerk he's there to collect a GSR from Saxon. Dexter tells Saxon he's there to kill him with a pen he places on the table between them. Seizing the opportunity to kill Dexter, Saxon grabs the pen and slams it into Dexter's left shoulder. Dexter pulls the pen out and stabs it into Saxon's neck. Angel and Quinn later watch the security footage of Dexter killing Saxon. Quinn is immediately satisfied and quietly pushes self-defense. Angel, after seconds of deliberation, accepts that Dexter acted in self-defense and rules the killing as such.

Dexter drives his boat, the Slice of Life, to the hospital. Dexter believes that, to truly be a "good big brother", he cannot allow Debra Morgan to live the remainder of her life in a vegetative state; he thus disconnects her life support. Seconds before Debra dies, Dexter whispers "I love you" into her ear. He then places her body on a gurney and, in the melee of the evacuation, manages to slip unseen with the body onto his boat, docked in the rear of the hospital. Dexter calls Hannah, as she and Harrison board their flight. Hannah expresses optimism about their future together. She gives Harrison the phone and Dexter tells his son that he loves him. Dexter tosses his phone overboard and gingerly drops Debra's body into the ocean. The hurricane is less than a mile from Dexter and his boat; the skies about him are black; the wind howls. Dexter says that he blames himself for destroying everyone he loves. He continues to sail the boat into the coming storm.

After the storm, Angel receives a call from the coast guard, who tells him they have discovered shattered remnants of Dexter's boat in the ocean. The police and media conclude that Dexter died in the wreck. In Argentina, Hannah reads an internet article in regard to Dexter's death. Quietly fighting back tears she gently closes her iPad, grasps Harrison by the hand, and they leave a café to walk down a sunny Argentinian street for ice cream.

The final scene reveals that Dexter is still alive and living under an assumed identity, working for a lumber company. He makes his way to an empty shack, silently sits down and stares into the camera as the screen fades to black.

The critical response to the series finale was predictably mixed and deeply polarized.^[1]

Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times praised Carpenter's performance as worthy of an Emmy nomination and argued that "the parting scenes between Dexter and Deb, possibly the most powerful sibling bond television has ever seen, gave the show the send-off it deserved".^[2] Mike Hale of the New York Times called it one of the "saddest endings you'll ever see on a primetime tv show" stating he "bought the ending" and that fans "may or may not think that Dexter’s final resting place is the one he deserves. But it works".^[3] Entertainment Weekly championed the series finale as "the best Dexter episode in years. ... It was also one of the strangest episodes in the show's history ... It's like watching a different series, one that was more compelling than the show it served to close."^[4]

Other responses to the finale were more negative. Joshua Alston of the A.V. Club gave the episode an F and argued that the writer's botched "the landing" by choosing ambiguity to avoid the conflict of "whether or not [fans] wanted Dexter to get away with it".^[5] Frazier Moore of the Associated Press called the ending sappy, sloppy, and a "cop-out".^[6] Richard Lawson of the Atlantic Monthly described the finale as an "unbelievably unsatisfying end [which] ruins all that came before it", including Dexter's universally acclaimed seasons 1-4.^[7]

• "Remember the Monsters?" on Showtime
• "Remember the Monsters?" at IMDb