I wasn’t planning on writing about Dexter twice in a row, but I just finished season 4 and it’s all that’s on my mind. Season 4 of the show deals with the main character Dexter Morgan, trying to balance his new responsibilities as a husband and a father, with his life as a vigilante serial killer, murdering other killers. In this season Dexter is forced to be much more introspective and reflective, as he struggles mightily with balancing his new responsibilities. He is also forced to confront the contradictions in his life, explored mainly through his relationship with the villain of the season, Arthur Mitchell, also known as “The Trinity Killer”
In his new marriage with Rita, Dexter is forced to sacrifice. He had to give up his apartment, which functioned as his base of operations, and was also where he kept all his murder weapons. He’s also not able to satisfy his thirst for killing nearly as much, because he has to be there for his new born child. By this point in the story, Dexter is much more in touch with his feelings, and he knows that he loves his family, so he doesn’t mind being there for them, but he begins to struggle with his lack of alone time.
This is when Dexter meets Arthur Mitchell, The Trinity Killer. Arthur Mitchell is a serial killer that had been killing for over 30 years, always killing in threes, with no one ever connecting the murders except for one Detective Frank Lundy, who passed away early in the season. Dexter uses Lundy’s findings to track down The Trinity Killer, and kill him. Dexter follows Arthur Mitchell’s van, expecting him to be a loner, but he is surprised when Arthur Mitchell arrives at home with his wife and two kids. He’s just like Dexter.
Throughout the season Dexter has been stressed about keeping his family together, while also satisfying his other persona. So when Dexter sees how long Arthur Mitchell has been able to hold his family together, he wants to learn from him. Dexter goes under the alias Kyle Butler, and befriends Arthur Mitchell, and he could kill him or turn him in at any time, but he doesn’t, because he feels he has things to learn. Dexter and Arthur have a fascinating relationship, because Dexter almost decides to kill him a number of times, but he either keeps him alive because he wants to learn more, or something gets in the way. Dexter sees Arthur sort of as a future version of himself, if he is able to balance his two lives, but he couldn’t be more wrong.
Slowly, Dexter learns that Arthur Mitchell’s family is not what they seem, and he has nothing to learn from him. Arthur Mitchell is terrible to his family, locking them in their rooms for days at a time, and abusing them. Dexter decides he needs to finally kill Arthur, but unfortunately he waited too long, and Arthur figures out who Dexter is, and where he lives.
MAJOR SPOILERS:
In the final episode of the season, Dexter realizes that his wife Rita, and their children are what is important to him. He doesn’t want his lives to intertwine, and he doesn’t want his family to end up like Arthur’s, so he decides to make Arthur Mitchell his last kill, and cut off one half of his dual persona. To be safe, he sends his children to Disney World with their grandparents, and has Rita leave for their honeymoon early. It takes a while for Dexter to track down Arthur, but he finally does, and he finally kills him. As he dumps his body in the ocean, Dexter says, “I wonder if Rita’s looking at the same moon at this same moment. I like that – connected by light. The dark passenger’s been fighting against it, trying to keep me all to himself. But it’s my turn now…to get what I want – to embrace my family. And maybe one day not so long from now…I’ll be rid of the dark passenger. It all begins with a getaway. Time away from the old me.”
When Dexter returns home to get ready to meet Rita, he calls her phone, and the ring comes from inside the house. Dexter follows the ring and finds Rita, dead, in the bathtub, with his 10 month-old son crying. Born in blood, just like Dexter, who also watched his mom die at a young age. Rita had forgotten her passport at home and had to drive back to get it, and the Trinity Killer was waiting for her. One of the most heartbreaking scenes I’ve ever seen.
Season 4 of Dexter was full of doubles. The main one being Dexter and Arthur, which I’ve already touched on, but the most interesting one in my opinion, being Dexter and his 10 month-old son Harrison. Dexter thought he was doing everything he could to protect his family. He was finally at a point where because of his love for his wife and kids, he was ready to let go of his dark passenger, but Dexter’s sins came back to bite him, and the most innocent character in the story paid the price.
