Dexter 5x12

This is the Big One in more than one way! Dexter desperately needs to save Lumen from the clutches of Jordan Chase. But his family surprises him by returning to Miami because they want to celebrate Harrison’s first birthday together. Astor and Cody also ask if they can stay with Dexter for the summer. He excuses himself saying he has pressing work at the office. The Miami Homicide gets called to a murder scene, that of Liddy. While Dexter has to investigate his own crime scene, Quinn becomes flustered and is caught with blood on his shoe. After killing Emily, Chase for his part is taking Lumen to the summer camp where it all began years ago. At a traffic light, a street vendor hears the noise of Lumen kicking in his trunk and informs the police. Meanwhile, Deb was looking into Chase’s real estate properties – even on his old name Eugene Greer. Dexter gets to the summer camp first, but in his anxiousness to safe Lumen gets into an accident toppling his car. Chase captures him, but Dex is soon able to nail him to the cabin floor with one of his knives.

Dex and Lumen prepare their kill room – and even on his deathbed Chase is unrelentingly evil. It’s a relief when Lumen finally strikes the blow. She’s at once excited and overwhelmed now that it is all over. Before they can remove Chase’s body, Deb has followed the few clues she has and arrives on the scene. She knows her vigilante is behind a matted plastic sheet, and notices a second person. Her theory was right. Vindicated in her instinct, she speaks to them through the sheet, while Dex and Lumen hold their breath petrified. Not knowing who they are, she congratulates them for ridding the world of the men who physically and sexually abused the Barrel Girls, then lets them go, before calling Miami Metro PD. As expected, though, now that her mission is completed, Lumen feels she can no longer stay with Dexter. She appreciates what he has been doing, but she can’t be his serial killing partner. So, alas, Lumen leaves him. The finale ends with Harrison’s first birthday party – Dexter blowing out the single candle while looking ominously at us. His Dark Passenger is still with him.

You may know I’m a stickler for details, with an obsession for chronology. So, pardon me for being a spoilsport. When Dexter married Rita (season 3 finale) it was December 1st, 2008, and she was supposedly about three months pregnant. Harrison must have been born according to human logic late in May or early in June (making him a Gemini – for you astrology fiends). Yet in the beginning of this season Harrison is said to be ten months old – even though the first couple of episodes take place in the few days after Rita was brutally murdered by the “Trinity Killer” on December 5th, 2009 (season 4 finale). Incidentally, it’s interesting that in neither finale we see any Christmas decorations! To make matters worse, eleven days after Rita’s death Masuka quips “It’s twenty-ten, who smokes?” In this finale it’s Harrison’s Big One, and we’re back in the (early) summer, 2010. It seems the writers can’t keep their timeframe straight!

There are a few other points of criticism. Can it really be that Deb didn’t notice Dexter’s car wreck near the camp – and that he was able to get it towed before the full police team arrived on the scene? It was a little convenient, too, that Dex let Quinn off the hook about Liddy’s blood on his shoe – especially since Quinn has been pursuing him for half a year for Rita’s death. The Machete Murders was a big case that somehow fizzled out. What happened to the other Fuentes brother who didn’t get shot? And what happened to Cira Manzon, the officer who teamed up with Debra in the case? She got promoted when Deb was suspended, and disappeared without a trace when Deb returned. Then there was the marital friction between Angel and LaGuerta, about which we heard next to nothing in the past few episode until they returned to it at Harrison’s party. I also expected a little more from the Irish nanny. If you have such a stellar actress as Maria Kennedy Doyle, why not take advantage? These are minor complaints, of course, that detract little from the fact that Dexter is one of the best shows on TV. Thanks to all who recommended the Cricket to watch it!