[FINALE SPOILERS] Now we know.
After eight seasons, now we know the fate ofDexterand Debra Morgan.
Neither outcome was predictable in Sunday night’s poignant and surprising finale “Remember the Monsters?”
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:This episode was really unlike any we’ve seen on the show before.
How much time and money was put into this hour compared to a typical week?
SCOTT BUCK: It was considerably more.
But it was our final episode andShowtimewas very accommodating.
Our normal eight days of production became 10 days.
What was the original concept?
BUCK: The kernel idea were the last few scenes.
They were what I pitched a few years ago.
The main idea was Dexter is forced to kill Debra.
And there are many ways that could happen.
But those final scenes were pretty much unchanged.
But in faking it, he’s a better brother, boyfriend, colleague than most real people.
People think of him as a monster, but he yearns to be human.
We’ve seen him go forward on this journey every year.
Now we found out what the final price was.
His punishment is banishment.
He sends himself into exile.
Killing himself is too easy.
When he turns and looks into the camera at the end he’s stripped everything away.
Were there any other versions of the ending that you rejected?
BUCK: The only real variation was what he would be doing.
I knew he would be in a self-imposed prison that would be as far from Miami as possible.
We would follow him home and he would have no human contact.
In a way that’s his new codeavoiding human contact.
For us, that’s the tragedy.
The one thing we felt Dexter wanted more than anything was human connections.
Even in the first season, we see him trying to get with Rudy.
COLLETON: He went into an absolute shutdown.
He no longer has even his voiceover.
Why was it important to end the show this way?
BUCK: It seemed like the ending that was most justified.
In season 1, you saw this guy who was so compartmentalized.
Still he was able to justify what he did.
We felt it took the death of the one person he cared most about to really look at himself.
[His fate] wasn’t something that happened to him but his decision.
He had to bear the burden of deciding his own fate.
BUCK: In some ways.
But I think we all feel the real moment is when Dexter hits that button.
We also did it that way because in some ways it’s a little more shocking.
COLLETON: In their goodbye, neither knows that they’re saying goodbye.
They just tossed it off in a wonderful way.
But she doesn’t die off-screen.
When he takes her off life support she’s very much a presence there.
I feel that’s what she wants.
In a way, Deb sort of gets what she’s wanted for most of the season.
BUCK: That’s true in a way.
There’s one point where she wanted exactly that.
But she makes a turn two-thirds through the season.
Things are looking up for her.
She was seeing a possibility for happiness.
The death she may have wanted at one point was the last thing she wants right now.
It’s also surprising that Miami Metro never realized Dexter’s secret.
Everybody expected them to figure things out in the final season.
BUCK:We toyed with that idea, but it felt off-point.
The story was ultimately about Dexter’s personal journey.
Watching the tape, Quinn has known all along that there was more there to Dexter.
Batista is seeing a hint of the darker Dexter.
There was a hint in that moment.
But we didn’t want to blow it all up and reveal he’s a serial killer.
BUCK:It felt like we had done that with LaGuerta last season and with Lundy in season 2.
I felt like it ran the risk of feeling repetitious and familiar.
COLLETON: Going that way felt pedestrian to me.
I don’t know how else to put it.
Years ago it was discussed and tabled as a very predictable non-interesting way to go.
Couldn’t Dex’s criticism of himselfabout being toxic to everybody around himbe said about Hannah too?
BUCK: I don’t think so.
We wanted to believe Harrison would be happy and safe and well taken care of.
Dexter judges people on a different level.
That Hannah is a killer, Dex understands that.
She’s a different kind of killer.
She kills for self-protection.
That protection now applies to Harrison.
Dexter believes she will lay her life on the line for Harrison.
BUCK: Hopefully it’s not a question that will be examined too closely.
The show has always been a half step away from reality; it’s a hyper-reality.
We established there is an emergency life raft with an outboard motor on the boat.
He could have gotten in the raft and made it safely to shore.
Was that a deliberate fake-out?
BUCK: It was mostly to establish that to the rest of the world everybody thinks Dex is dead.
We the audience are the only ones privy to the fact that he’s alive.
The episode felt more serious, focused, and emotional thanDexternormally is.
But it made me wonder why the show doesn’t normally have that grounded tone.
BUCK: That’s interesting.
I’m glad you liked it.
The show started out in such a different place.
The first season, the level of reality was more suspended.
We felt like we were gradually making it more real.
COLLETON: To me, it feels very much like aDexterepisode.
This season led up to this and I feel the last few episodes feel like parts of a whole.
Was that deliberate to ditch those devices?
Should you have done that sooner?
BUCK: I don’t know.
It’s a little late to ask.
It’s certainly a compelling question.
I didn’t want any voiceover to explain things.
I didn’t even want any music.
COLLETON: We have slowly this year, very consciously, stripped out a lot of voiceover.
Very much so compared to previous years.
At this point, the audience knows what he’s thinking.
What flipped the switch for Dexter in the penultimate episode in terms of no longer wanting to kill?
Is it simply because he loves Hannah?
BUCK: It’s really an accumulation of everything that he’s experienced over the years.
He finally has a woman who understands him and they’re incredibly physically attracted to each other.
And there’s Harrison.
The last episode couldn’t be just a series of goodbyes.
That moment is Harry realizing he’s no longer needed.
Some fans were disappointed by this season.
Were you happy with the episodes leading up to the finale?
BUCK: Even if I don’t write an episode, I’m still in charge.
I take full responsibility.
We all work cohesively as a team.
It’s a difficult question to answer.
COLLETON: I think some episodes worked better than others.
The scene where he comes to Dexter’s apartment is a wonderful scene.
I try not to read any of the blogs because then I become paralyzed.
BUCK: A little bit.
It certainly affected us in some ways.
We basically did two seasons back to back.
Normally what happens is you take a longer break and come in filled with ideas.
We did absolutely the best we could.
Ultimately it was my decision to do that, as well.
[Showtime entertainment president] David Nevins asked if we could do this and I said we could.
Hopefully, the season didn’t suffer for it.
COLLETON:I think we rose to the challenge.
Would we have liked to have more time?
We would have loved to had more time before we started shooting.
But once we did start shooting it was the same schedule.
One point of contention was some of the supporting storylines.
Like why spend time with Masuka and his daughter and Quinn taking the sergeants exam in the final season?
BUCK:We wanted to give some indication of where these characters were going.
We wanted to give them all a bit of resolution toward the end.
Masuka was a very small story, it took up a small amount of screen time.
BUCK: We played with the idea of dyeing her hair.
She’s not high priority.
We put her in sunglasses.
Otherwise, we didn’t want to call more attention to it.
So what is the spin-off concept that Nevins has been hinting about?
BUCK: No concept whatsoever.
BUCK: Absolutely not.
I’m going to sit down with Showtime and discuss the possibility.
But we haven’t said a single word about it.
The rumor for a while was the spin-off would star Deb.
Was that ever a possibility?
BUCK: Never any truth to that.
Would Michael C. Hall have any involvement in a spin-off?
BUCK: No idea.
Who knows what the future of Dexter is?
COLLETON: Right now there’s nothing planned.
It couldn’t happen without Michael C. Hall wanting to come back.
And I think he’s enjoying this new part of his life.
Scott, you referenced that we’ll never see Quinn again.
So is it safe to assume any spin-off would not use the current supporting cast?
BUCK: I believe that’s most likely.
We won’t see the current cast again.
What’s your plan for when the finale airs?
Are you going to read viewer reactions?
What would you like Dexter’s impact to be?
COLLETON: IfDexterhas made anybody really stop and think about their behavior, that would make me very happy.
