Dexter was one of the most unique shows you could find. Featuring a serial killer who killed other serial killers, the show’s format generally followed a season-by-season template where a new opponent would antagonize Dexter. The formula ensured every season felt like something new was being offered, meaning fans wouldn’t get bored.
This also meant that plot threads unresolved from earlier seasons would carry on forward, with the hope they would be resolved in the series finale. It didn’t work out this way, though, as the finale was maligned by viewers to be unsatisfactory, leaving these 10 storylines still unresolved at present.
Correction (September 4th): An earlier version of this article incorrectly listed that Dexter incorrectly killed Lumen's Father in entry 3.
Debra Being In Love With Dexter
Despite being a show about a guy who killed people and chopped them up, the most uncomfortable part of Dexter was the storyline where his sister Debra fell in love with him. Even though they were adoptive siblings, they had acknowledged each other as siblings all through their lives, making this a very unsettling plot.
It seems as if the writers realized just how disturbing the fanbase found this angle, as it was done away with entirely. It had started out in Season 6, but after Debra kept quiet when she found out Dexter was a killer, the following seasons had nothing to do with her feelings for Dexter; even after they reconciled, Debra somehow went back to being his sister and not bringing up her former love.
Dexter's Stepchildren
Nobody missed of Aster, who was thoroughly unlikeable and a brat whom we had to put up with because she was Rita’s daughter. Cody was a much nicer character, and it was a shame we had to say goodbye to him.
This goodbye somehow turned into a permanent one, as Aster and Cody were only seen one more time. Dexter had confessed to himself he had loved those kids as his own, but they weren’t brought up at all when he went out in the ocean to kill himself. By the show’s end, we don’t know what happened to them or if they are aware Dexter is missing.
Dexter's Guilt At Killing Innocents
On more than a couple of occasions, Dexter was guilty of going against his code and killing those who weren’t killers themselves. The code of Harry was meant to keep Dexter as a “good guy,” but if Dexter broke it, that didn’t make him any different.
However, Dexter would always be shown to feel guilty when he realized what he’d done, but then overlook this very easily the next episode. In Season 5, he killed a guy called Rankin purely because he was upset at Rita’s death; bizarrely enough, the Rankin kill was never mentioned or touched upon ever again after that one moment.
The Evolution Of Dexter's Killing Methods
This might as well could be attributed to the trope called “Early Installment Weirdness”, where characters seem out of line with how they appear to be later in the series when characterization kicks in. Regardless, there’s no chronological explanation to why Dexter had this particular kill play out differently.
In the pilot episode, Dexter captured a killer, but pinned him to the wall and physically showed him his victims; later episodes (and chronologically earlier ones) had him strap his target to a table and show them their victims’ pictures. This then doesn’t explain why Dexter suddenly changed his style only to go back to his previous one.
Laguerta's Blatant Crush On Dexter
There was no explanation ever given to just how inappropriate Laguerta was in earlier episodes of Dexter, when she would throw herself at him. Laguerta’s crush on Dexter was so apparent, that scenes involving the two were uncomfortable to watch as she would brazenly flirt with him.
Starting from the latter half of the first season, this aspect of Laguerta’s personality was dropped altogether, and she only treated Dexter as a colleague. Season 7 would have Laguerta implicate Dexter as the Bay Harbor Butcher, and she seemed to have completely forgotten she once couldn’t contain herself around him.
Debra's Guilt
Debra spiraled into depression after taking Laguerta’s life to spare Dexter from being apprehended by the authorities. This led to her resigning from the force and becoming estranged from others.
Once Debra confronted Dexter over how she felt she had become a murderer because of him, this part of Debra’s story was dropped. In actuality, it shouldn’t matter if she and Dexter were on good terms or not, because the fact of the matter was that she still did kill an innocent person; however, Debra didn’t seem bothered by this by the second half of Season 8.
Lumen's Total Disappearance From Dexter's Life
Season 5 had focused on Dexter helping Lumen gain her revenge on the men who had tortured her. This then blossomed into love on Dexter’s part, who started seeing a future with her, one where he could be himself around her because she was aware of his Dark Passenger.
Unfortunately, Lumen decided she didn’t want to kill anymore and left him. This doesn’t explain as to how Dexter got over her so easily. He was clearly very much in love with her at the end of Season 5 but didn’t even think of her starting from Season 6 (except once). As far as the show is concerned, Lumen simply vanished like she never existed.
Dexter Letting Go Of His Dark Passenger
In Season 7, Dexter fell in love with Hannah, whose father came into town to abuse her into giving him her savings so he could mooch off her. Too bad the old man didn’t know Dexter was a killer, as he found himself murdered by his hand.
Dexter knew this went against his code, but had become enlightened that there was no actual Dark Passenger within him; he simply wanted to kill people. So, he killed Hannah's father and felt liberated. After this, though, Dexter went back to following his code and once more attributed to his uncontrollable need to kill rather than him just wanting to do it.
Hannah And Harrison
Dexter forewent his initial plan of joining Hannah and Harrison in Argentina and disappeared, leaving his son in Hannah’s care. However, that’s not how the system works, and Hannah isn’t Harrison’s legal guardian.
Last we saw of them, Hannah came to terms with being Harrison’s new mother, but that really can’t work because they had no life based in Argentina and Harrison would be considered as abducted by her in the US. Plus, we have no clue where Hannah took Harrison in the end, or if the kid knows his father is missing.
What Became Of Dexter
The series finale was largely negatively received because it opened more questions than it answered and defied logic at various places. The biggest criticism was the perpetual cliffhanger Dexter got, where it was left ambiguous what he was supposed to do now.
After becoming a lumberjack, Dexter was shown to be in isolation and filled with sadness. This doesn’t explain what he would do about his killing problem. He had confessed he didn’t want to kill anymore only because he had Hannah; now that he didn’t, shouldn’t he want to kill again? It’s too bad we have no idea what became of him.