With only one episode left in this season of “Dexter,” things are starting to get out of our hero’s control. All of the sudden he’s gone from confident hunter to staring into the eyes of his enemy with panic and disbelief.

Sunday night’s "Hello, Dexter Morgan" began with the interrogation of Christine Hill. After it was revealed that she was related to the Trinity Killer, all that was left for Deb and the gang to do was to get her to confess to Lundy’s murder and reveal the identity of her father. Stubborn, she broke Quinn’s heart, but didn’t cave under interrogation.

Arthur, on the other hand, was getting a little suspicious of Dexter… finally. (Dexter’s only been stalking him for half a season.) He asked the question, "What kind of man witnesses a kidnapping and doesn’t call the police?" A fellow serial killer, that’s who. Then Arthur tried to piece together just who "Kyle Butler" (Dexter’s alias) is.

After killing one Kyle Butler, discovering Dexter’s fake address at a jet ski shop, and agreeing to pay Dexter the $50,000 to keep quiet about the boy’s abduction, Arthur got dangerously close.

Rita finally told Dexter about kissing Eliot. Dexter, true to form, was too busy to talk about it (not enough hours in a serial killer/blood analyst/husband/father’s day), much to Rita’s disappointment. She tried bringing it up with him twice, but Dexter shrugged it off easily. Rita’s confused, but this is Dex we’re talking about — when does he ever react normally to stressful emotional situations? Then one night after coming home, Dexter walked over to Eliot’s house and socks him in the face, telling him never to touch his wife again. Rita saw the whole thing from the window, and once again everything is right in the Morgan household.

Then Batista and La Guerta got hitched. They did it to avoid losing their jobs after their affair was discovered. However, their cocky announcement to the captain garnered little sympathy for their situation — neither from the captain, nor from this reporter. Where is this plot line going?

To buy time to kill Arthur, Dexter framed trucker Stan Beaudry for the Trinity murders. Then he conveniently disposed of Beaudry (a murderer in his own right) before planting evidence. The homicide team thinks they’ve solved the case, and all that’s left is for Christine to confess.

Once Arthur forcefully told Christine he wished she was never born, she realized the error of her ways. She called Deb over and confessed to shooting her and killing Lundy. But when Deb announced they had the name of her father as Stan Beaudry, Christine just laughed in surprise, rather than revealing the truth. After Deb refused to forgive Christine, Christine grabbed a gun and shot herself in the head. Quinn rushed into the room, only to see Christine’s dead body. Add that to Deb’s quota of people she’s seen killed before her eyes and just imagine how much therapy she’s going to be needing.

In the final twist of the episode, Arthur started tracking Dexter, instead of the other way around. After tricking him into coming to an arcade, Arthur followed him back to the police station. Through poking around, Arthur ended up in the homicide department with a visitor’s pass. The two ended up face to face as Arthur read Dexter’s badge: "Hello, Dexter Morgan." We’re left there, with Dex in a panic and Arthur having the upper hand.

In "Lost Boys," the ghost of Harry told Dexter his priorities have changed. Now those priorities include Rita and the kids. Now that Arthur knows who he is, Dexter’s family is in danger. This is the family that he’s worked so hard to build, to protect from his Dark Passenger, and who he’s developed very real feelings for.

On the whole, this season has been a vast improvement over season three. The plot had a more definite arc, things aren’t getting convoluted and rushed at the end, and they’ve managed to carry the important themes throughout. The writers of “Dexter” deserve a pat on the back.

All of the loose ends are neatly prepared for the final episode. All that’s left is for Dexter to kill Arthur. And he has to now that Arthur knows his identity, where he works, and what he’s up to. Dexter has no time to lose. But how can our favorite murderer kill someone who’s expecting it?

Dexter has to kill Trinity. He’s got too much at stake. But how, when he’s tried so many times already?

Check out this teaser clip from next week’s finale episode of “Dexter.”

Watch the final episode of “Dexter,” season four, Sunday night on Showtime.

Video: Courtesy MovieWeb

About The Author

Bombshell executive editor Jess d'Arbonne works in book publishing. In her non-existent spare time she writes about nerd culture, books, feminism, and zombies. She's a Libra, a Browncoat, a self-professed geek, and nobody's fool. You can follow her on Twitter @JessDarb

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