It was a challenge to make killing scenes on Dexter sell to the public, which is why these sequences carried extra meaning to make them engaging. To this end, the show had these moments be part of Dexter’s characterization.
We saw a number of variations over the course of the eight seasons Dexter was on as far as the kills were concerned, with these generating multiple emotions in the viewer due to the execution of the scenes. In this list, we’ve considered the impact and consequences behind the kills more than anything else to bring you the 10 best kills on Dexter.
Brian Moser
This was simultaneously one of the best kills and one of the saddest as well, as a heartbroken Dexter took the life of his own brother...to save his adoptive sister. It wasn’t because Brian was the Ice Truck Killer that Dexter put him down, but because he intended to make Dexter kill Debra.
Knowing he had no other choice of protecting his sister, Dexter lured his brother to his home and knocked him out long enough to strap him to a table, where he slashed Brian’s neck and tilted platform back in order to let Brian die quicker as he bled out.
Ken Olson
This guy thought himself out to be a vigilante cut from the same cloth as he argued he was killing for benevolent reasons. However, it’s hard to see him as a good guy when he killed his boss because the latter found out Ken was having an affair with his wife.
Dexter, seeing through Ken’s excuses, showed him how he conducted his activities, creating the inside of a plastic bag as part of their surroundings. When the cocky Ken though he was getting off the hook, Dexter instead planted a knife in the guy, ridding the world of another potential serial killer.
Zoey Kruger
Kruger framed a gang member for the killing of her family - when she herself had murdered them - and then threatened to make it appear as if Dexter was attempting to have his way with her when the latter found out her truth.
This is why it was satisfying to see Dexter capture Kruger and bring her to her deceased daughter’s room, where Zoey’s attempts to use her femininity were ignored as a cackling Dexter avenged the family’s death by showing their picture to Zoey as he drove the knife in her. There was something funny in Zoey's attempts to play the sympathy card yet again when she was facing certain death for her crimes.
Joe Walker
Speaking of funny deaths, Joe’s one ranks high because it turned out to be darkly hilarious. When Dexter had Joe on the table for killing his own wife, a bumbling Joe acted like he was in a sitcom, as he tried to come up with reasons why Dexter shouldn’t kill him, only for the latter to shoot them down all deadpan style.
Finally, Joe’s rant (which didn’t seem to have any end in sight) was smashed to a halt as Dexter literally smashed Joe’s head with a hammer. The funny thing was that Dexter was going to give him an easy death before Joe wouldn’t shut up.
Viktor Baskov
There was something admirable in the way Viktor went down, since he stopped attempting to talk Dexter out of killing him when he realized it was futile. Due to Viktor killing Mike Anderson, Dexter tracked him down and had a special kill in mind.
He would take out a plastic bag and wrap it around Mike’s head, before taking out an enormous fire extinguisher and using it to bash Mike to death. Needless to say, one should not mess with Dexter’s friend lest they want a fire extinguisher to the head.
Santos Jimenez
Messy, loud, but extremely cathartic, the killing of Jimenez was Dexter’s most personal one by that point as this man was responsible for taking the life of Dexter’s mother. So, Jimenez didn’t get some luxuries like a quick dagger to the heart or being able to have any last words.
Instead, Dexter taped Jimenez’s mouth as he watched in horror while Dexter took out a massive chainsaw. It might have too much to witness - a kind of brutality only few shows present onscreen - but this was a stone cold killer who was getting his just desserts. Still, a chainsaw to the neck isn’t a pretty way to die.
Oliver Saxon
Easily the smartest kill Dexter committed on the show, Saxon’s death would’ve ranked first had the lunatic not seemed like he enjoyed the way he died. Wanting to avenge Debra’s vegetative state that Saxon put her in, Dexter pretended that he was the one attacked by Saxon with a pen that Dexter kept on the table between them.
Swiftly moving aside at the precise time, Dexter took the pen he was stabbed with on the shoulder and pierced Saxon’s neck with it. This made it look like an act of self-defense for the camera behind them, although it was in fact absolute vengeance on Dexter’s part.
Lila West
Even though Lila was a headcase, and was out to kill children just to prove to Dexter how she loved him, Dexter had a soft spot for his one-time flame, as he ensured her death was painless.
Ambushing her all the way in Paris, Dexter injected her with spinal epidural so that she wouldn’t feel the knife he was about to stab her with. Making this one of the best kills is that Lila’s death at least brought some justice to James Doakes, who was killed by her in a twisted sense of romantic love for Dexter. Plus, how cool was it to see Dexter in France?
Clint McKay
This kill liberated Dexter from thinking he had no control of his Dark Passenger, as he took out Hannah’s father simply because he wanted to kill him, even though the old man didn’t fit his code.
We didn’t feel sorry for him, though, as the man made his daughter’s life hell by emotionally antagonizing her. This is why it was somewhat funny to see him reduced to a crying mess as he found himself wrapped in plastic on Dexter’s boat, who delightedly rammed the knife into Clint and dumped him in the river like yesterday’s trash.
Arthur Mitchell
We were waiting for this kill all season, and even the actual death scene turned out to be a game of wits as Trinity’s initial horror at realizing he was about to die turned into acceptance as he went out in control, knowing what awaited Dexter once he returned home.
It was satisfying both ways, as we saw Arthur get his comeuppance after decades as a killer, with Dexter setting up the room with Trinity’s countless victims and his childhood train set. Finally, irony took center stage when Dexter used a hammer to end Arthur’s life, a fitting end to an absolute monster; he still ended up having the last laugh, though.