the Dexter finale: not so happy ending

The Dexter finale last night was INTENSE. And those last few minutes really blew me away (and everyone else apparently too- 15 hours later, and 'Dexter' is still a trend topic on Twitter). I was literally left speechless at the end of the episode, but let me try and gather my thoughts here....

WARNING: If you have yet to watch the finale, do not read this post. It is not really thoughts on the episode itself, but more like thoughts on what's to come in the future.

How will Dex handle being a single dad? As if just being a husband and father wasn't tough enough for him this season, now he has to take on Aster, Cody, and little Harrison all on his own. Some people think they will go live with Rita or Paul's parents, but that wouldn't be any fun now would it? And considering how Dexter found Harrison in the end, I don't think he will be letting that little baby out of his site any time soon.

How will he cope? Usually, Dexter deals with emotion by, well, killing someone. He likes to get revenge. But what about this time? Trinity is already dead, and the only person left to blame for Rita's murder is Dexter himself. I hate to say it, but if he had listened to Harry to begin with, if he had killed Trinity when he had the chance, if he hadn't made so many 'mistakes', if he didn't carry this 'dark passenger' to begin with, Rita would still be alive.

Does Dexter still think he can change? In last night's finale, Dex was struggling with the idea of change; trying to decide if he could abandon his dark passenger; if he could make a 'getaway' (the name of episode). In his conversation with Rita, she tells him that he can move past his darkness. She tells him she loves and believes in him, and all this gives Dexter hope. But now that Rita is gone, now that he doesn't have that support, will he be able to change? Or better question, will he even want to? Without Rita's support, will his dark passenger be stronger than ever?

What will Miami Metro (or now the FBI) think of all this? He obviously has to report this one to police. Will he change the crime scene so it doesn't look like Trinity's doing? (Rita doesn't fit the bill of young, single woman for the bathtub killing). If he leaves it the same they will obviously know it was Trinity, and be looking for the next step in the cycle. Will Dexter complete the cycle for Trinity? If the cycle just stops, they will know something happened to Trinity. Should Dexter start looking for criminals in Miami to kill using Trinity's method (while at the same time satisfying his 'code')?

And when Batista sees a picture of Arthur Mitchell, will he recognize him? Will he get suspicious? I think so. In that opening scene, they made it very clear that Batista noticed Trinity. The glance that Batista gave was even in slow motion. Batista is a freakishly smart detective and probably wouldn't forget that he saw the man in the station just days before.

Speaking of pictures, will Arthur's family try to identify their friend 'Kyle'? He played a huge role in the last days of their father, the Trinity Killer. I can't imagine that they wouldn't bring him up to police.

"Oh yeah, and there was this guy Kyle Butler who started volunteering with us... then sh*t hit the fan and he tried to kill our Dad. Oh, and he was at our house when your SWAT team busted in."

No doubt they will first link this Kyle Butler to the other one who was murdered, but eventually the Mitchell family will start describing him and come up with some sort of sketch right? I mean, people come up with sketches of attackers they saw for just brief moments; this guy spent a lot of time with them.

And what if they see Dexter? Yes, he is pretty sneaky and may be able to avoid them if they come in the station. And yes, the case was handed over to the FBI, putting it far from the Miami Metro offices. But what if Dexter is on TV or the newspaper or something following Rita's murder? Will someone make the connection?

Will Rita take over as Dexter's subconscious? Harry is getting hella annoying. But I can't see Rita taking over since she doesn't even know he is a seriel killer. Julie Benz is cool and all, but I think she is probably unemployed.

Does baby Harrison now carry a dark passenger? Or better yet, does Dexter think his son carries a similar darkness? They were both 'born in blood' after all. Dexter may assume Harrison inherited the same dark passenger he did after seeing his mother murdered and start schooling him in the ways of the 'code'. Will Dexter create a junior seriel killer out of his son Harrison?

Pretty much, all of this is Dexter's worst fears realized. He never wanted to hurt his family (check, done that). He never wanted his son to inherit his darkness (check, probably done that). Dexter finally started to think he could control his dark passenger, but now he believes it is all just 'fate' and he no longer has control over his actions, over his darkness. Basically, it sucks to be him right now.

And a few final thoughts. I vote Lithgow and Hall both get Emmy's for their work this season, plus Dexter should at least be recognized for Best Drama.

Oh, and when does Season 5 start again?