The original post: /r/television by /u/longjohnsus on 2026-04-15 23:17:21+00:00.
As a fan of the og Dexter series, I recall there being a very clear message from the show runners that having a dark passenger leads to nothing but pain and tragedy. I think we see this very clearly from all of the innocent people that died as a result of Dexters actions - Rita, Deb, LaGuerta, Doakes, brother Sam, Zach Hamilton. There are other examples too - the breakdown of Deb’s and dexters relationship, innocent people dying directly at the hands of Dexter like Rankin, and people like Miguel, Lila and Deb becoming killers due to dexters influence. Given all of this and the fact that the finale has Dexter leaving Miami behind for a different kind of life, it seemed that the growth of Dexter as a character came from him leaving his dark passenger behind.
I guess my question would be, doesn’t him continuing to kill in subsequent spinoffs fly in the face of everything that was intended to sort of be meaningful in the original Dexter series? What we as the viewers come to understand about dark passengers, and the growth Dexter himself had by leaving it behind?