Dec 13, 2010 09:02 GMT  ·  By
Season 5 of “Dexter” ends on a sour note, but with important lessons learned
   Season 5 of “Dexter” ends on a sour note, but with important lessons learned

After Rita’s death at the end of season 4, many fans simply couldn’t see where “Dexter” would go next. Season 5 has ended just hours ago with as big a bang as promised – and producer Sara Colleton is here to answer all your questions.

As we also noted on a previous occasion, the writers, producers and everybody involved in the making of Showtime’s killer series knew the kind of pressure they were under to deliver a finale that would not disappoint, without pushing the boundaries of the believable.

Last night, with “The Big One” episode, they managed to do just that. Colleton explains the end for EW’s InsideTV and hints at what’s next for season 6.

*Fans who have not seen the season finale yet are encouraged not to read any further than this – plenty of major spoilers ahead.* One of the two big things – and possible future story arcs – planted in the final episode is Lumen’s departure. After transforming from victim to avenging angel and Dexter’s soulmate, Lumen has learned her dark passenger has left.

In what is one of the most emotional – and definitely the most romantic – moment in the entire series, Dexter realizes he has to let her go, telling her “Don’t be sorry your darkness is gone. I’ll carry it for you, always. I’ll keep it with mine.”

Colleton says this is yet another step in Dexter’s coming to terms with his nature. But Lumen being a part of his life also has a deeper, more important meaning for our favorite (anti-)hero.

“He has let Lumen go out into the world. But she has left behind two very real gifts, two pieces of knowledge that leave Dexter in a place he’s never been before, which is the knowledge that he can be seen and that he can be loved,” Colleton explains.

“The other gift is that Harrison does not have to be doomed to a life of darkness, even though Dexter reproduces his own making, if you will, by being responsible for his son witnessing his mother’s bloody death. By witnessing what Lumen went through, Dexter realizes that you can vanquish darkness and go on to a normal life,” the producer goes on to say.

The other essential idea planted in the season 5 finale is that Deb may be not be as shocked as one would expect when she finds out that her brother is a serial killer, the seeds having been sown. And it will happen, Colleton assures fans – very soon.

“Part of becoming a detective and pursuing the dark side is an awareness that anyone who takes a walk on the wild side never comes back all the way. What may have started out as a rigid sense of what’s right and wrong – what’s good and evil – starts to turn into a bit of gray,” Colleton says of Deb.

“It’s wonderful,” the producer says of Deb choosing not to remove the curtain in the final episode, thus allowing Dexter and Lumen to escape. “And it also opens the door because eventually, some season is going to have to deal with Deb finding out about Dexter,” Colleton says.

In other words, even if this season’s finale was not as heart-gripping as the previous one, leaving fans breathing into a bag, it does plant the seeds of what’s to come in the next seasons.

As for what one might expect from those, Colleton only says, “Deb will learn Spanish, I think Harrison will be seeing his second birthday, and Dexter will still be enjoying the Slice of Life.”

For more spoilers and explanations on the season 5 finale, please refer here and here.