Last year, fans of Showtime’s hit series Dexter were left in shock. After witnessing an entire season of truly wonderful performances and anxiety-filled storytelling, a sense of calmness set in as Dexter plunged his knife into the Trinity Killer (John Lithgow). But with Trinity’s dying breath and allusive rhetoric, the meaning of it’s already over had not yet been fully revealed.
With the revelation that Rita had been Trinity’s final victim, the world wondered what would come of everyone’s favorite blood-spatter analyst. As Dexter season 5 began, a dulcet tone appropriately accompanied the season premiere. From that, the given appearance of this season would be a sense of reflection for Dexter. Given what resulted from his brash temptation with fate, it appeared to be an earnest endeavor.
Of course, as this season continued, Dexter began to show signs of transitioning through the infamous 7 stages of grief, albeit with killing. Through this murderous reflection, Dexter stumbled across Lumen (Julia Stiles), a woman who presented the famed vigilante with an opportunity for redemption.
Now, with companion in tow, Dexter set out to exact revenge on Lumen’s would-be assailants. Unfortunately, with Dexter focused on things ahead, he unknowingly left himself open to attacks. With Quinn still questioning Dexter’s innocence in regards to Rita’s death, he hired the corrupt Stan Liddy to keep an eye on Dexter. Conversely, Deb has once again found herself unknowingly on the trail of her serial killer sibling, as the recent string of murders in relation to the “barrel girls” had raised suspicions about an experienced vigilante coupling.
Throughout this season, the theme of redemption was extremely apparent. If not with the numerous philosophical innuendos, than defiantly with the heavy-handed grandiose statements that were consistently uttered by many of the characters. It is with this same heavy-hand that the character of Lumen was developed, executed and concluded.
For all the many seasonal story-arcs that Lumen received, the character served no other purpose than to allow the character of Dexter to slightly evolve past his current state. Sure, the implications that Dexter now knows he can be seen and loved for the person he truly is and the notion that his dark passenger may not be permanent will have positive effects on subsequent seasons, the drawn-out nature by which those realizations were acquired made the season, on some level, feel empty.
Lumen, as a whole, slowed this season down. Including Lumen in Dexter’s killing process was an intriguing plot, but when executed, it was generally over-emphasized and drawn out. This seasonal flaw served to replace actual angst that the series is known for with artificial tension stemming from Lumen’s inability to emotionally progress at an acceptable rate, given her present surroundings.