Were do you think the next season will go?

good ending, i thought it might happen (Rita being killed) but once he got to trinity i didnt think it would or did, good twist. probably just continue with Deb getting closer to Dexter and Dexter deciding what to do with three kids and a family to raise on his own.

to be honest i saw rita's death coming well rita's or codys, i have 1 thought i could be way off base here but will 1 spoiler for next season be we also find out that cody was a victim? trinity starts off his pattern child then bath, he didnt get to kill off the kid and after 30 years of his pattern he suddenly changes ? he couldve killed rita anyway strangulation? for 1 but bathtub is his pattern, so which 10 yr off did he kill? i think next season for the kids if (both survive) is they will follow the books and following theyre mothers death go down the line of "dark passenger" path

Wow looks like Julie Benz is out of a job. Although I think she'll become Harry like and guide Dexter in his daily life. My prediction for the start of season 5: Dexter will be sitting on his chair - the baby on the table - Dexter's hand on his face as he is kneeling over. Miami Metro is walking around his house - Masuka is taking pictures - Debra hugs Dexter and says we will find this son of a bitch... But who knows...nobody tells the story better than the Dexter writers

holy crap that twist was insane, and that broke my heart to see harrison there too, he's a broken child just like dexter, i can imagine dexter in the future teaching harrison the codes, next season should be quite interesting O_O

How is Dexter going to explain this away. Where he was, what he was doing when his wife was being killed and why Trinity would go after her. Then again Arthur was seen in the Police Department etc. I believe Rita's sister is going to take the two older children and Harrisson oh well Dexter may keep him a little closer. Then again who is to say that Arthur killed Rita. Maybe it was the neighbour she blew off????? Just a thought people do not go all crazy on me.

Yeah well if season 5 follows the path of "Dexter: blood-spatter analyst, serial killer and single dad" I will stop watching. I don't watch the show to see him look after a baby. This could have killed the show completely.

I think it was an excellent finale. All the way through you thought Rita was going to be killed, then she got in the cab and Dexter got to Trinity and all seemed safe. But as soon as he returned home I got a gut instinct that she was dead and there she was in the bathtub. So far Clyde Phillips has said that it was definately Trinity who killed Rita and she won't be returning as a ghost/guide for Dexter although he never says never.Is everyone overlooking the fact that the FBI have taken over the Trinity hunt now so that throws Dexter the single parent, blood spatter analyst serial killer right into their line of fire. They're gonna be thinking why Rita?I also can't wait for Deb to start putting more pieces of Dexters puzzle together. Phillips has said that they don't know whether they will return with a big bad guy next season or just small kills with a bigger story arc over the 12 episodes. In which case ending the season with Deb finally discovering Dex's secret would be good, but it's whether they can drag it out over 12 episodes.God I can't wait until september!!!

Who killed Rita - Trinity? the next door neighbor? maybe Trinity had another son? or how about Joey Quinn? I'll miss Rita, though.

Has anyone given any thought to how screwed up that kid is going to be in real life?, let alone how the character is going to evolve... Sad to see Rita go, but what a way to end the season... I have no idea where they're going to go with next season, but I can't wait to find out...

1. We know Trinity killed Rita. John Lithgow says so in the one-on-one interview with Michael C Hall. And one of the producers said it in an interview. I really thought that she might be a Trinity victim (but a jumper since she fits the MO), but once Dex sent her away and got a phone message, I thought the season would end there, with Dex reflecting on how good he's gotten at controlling his dark passenger... great ending though...did not see it coming... and even when the baby was crying I thought maybe Rita was sleeping with her neighbor and Dex would kill him (but that just shows how much I suck in comparison to the Dex writers). 2. I don't think Dexter needs to explain the death or whereabouts to anyone. He's going to say he was working/driving/on his boat even, and was going to join Rita the next day. He has the phone message from Rita and his return call to prove it. The Miami PD will assume Arthur Mitchell abducted some other kid and Rita was just a '30-something woman', part of his modus operandi. MAYBE: Arthur's the 10-year old boy that needed to be killed? He saw himself as the little boy when he abducted that other kid. I'm sure they'll find a jumper and bludgeoning... And clearly there are not going to be any Trinity killings, so the PD will assume Arthur's gone into hiding or completed his cycle for a while. 3. Deb's going to figure Dex out eventually. Maybe she'll find Dex throwing trash bags into the lake, or she'll realize he killed some guy in an old case the PD was working on. She's going to be suspicious especially after she had seen him at Arthur's house. 4. I think Astor will become dark and mysterious and Dex has to deal with that. They've hinted at her teenage angst-ridden ways through the season with no real end. But perhaps in the end Dex realizes that Cody's the one with serious issues--killing little animals et all (reference to the books). Dex discovers a little graveyard in Cody's closet? Spooky. 5. Female 'bad guy' next season? As in serial killer, not emotionally-insane-artist-arsonist like Lila. 6. Perhaps a time leap? Like 6 months later-- and the aftermath is shown as a flashback? Deb and Quinn in a sex-only relationship, Batista and LaGuerta bickering over her breakfast table, Dex and Astor fighting about what she's wearing to school... 7. Can't wait for Comic Con 2010 at least-- we'll get an idea about next season. This better win an Emmy or Golden Globe.

I think Rita dying is necessary for the story to progress for Dexter's development. I don't think it is the last time we will see Rita thou. I'm sure the show will bring Rita in just like Dexter's dad, kind of a 3rd opinion for Dexter that might counter his dad's. I do think what;s important to notice is Dexter's expression when he found Rita. He was rather calm, I think that shows the lack of feeling he has comparing to a regular person. Hopefully next season will show how Dexter is internally dealing with Rita's death. did anyone catch when Trinity said "It's already over" when Dexter said "I accept nothing, it's inevitable". I didn't really catch that until watching it the second time after finding out he killed Rita. He knows he have sent Dexter on the dark path he's meant to continue.

Maybe I don't recall but it's obvious Trinity killed Rita because when Dex catches him he says it's already over, not only that but didn't the police find a different 10 year old later on that episode so Rita's death was part of the cycle he didn't miss anything.

I don't think Dexter will end up being a single father of the three kids. He is feeling like he is the reason Rita was killed and he is the reason his whole family is not safe. I think I might take off...start over? Send the kids away? I cannot see Dexter being able to take care of his job, dark passenger, AND three kids. I guess we just have to wait and see.

Maybe it's all just a dream!?!?

I was praying that the ending was a dream.I hope Rita isnt dead, that would through this series for a def. spin.As I was watching it my stomach turned, Harrison cant turn out like Dexter, afterall thats one thing Dexter didnt want!KFReese I agreeThe sceene did look like one of his halucinations!But we wont know until next season.

Great ending I agree that Rita definitely needed to die, she was becoming too much of an all good constant in Dexter's life. I think that the next season is going to start pretty far into the future, when Harrison is slightly more grown up and Dexter has to start dealing with the problem of them being so similar, as for Astor and Cody, part of me things that Astor is going to end up leaving and living with the grand parents over the time between seasons 4 and 5, Cody will remain with Dexter but will return as an older character that has depression problems not dark passenger ones. Dexter will still be dealing with his dark passenger and Debra will have stopped looking into Dexter's past, however something will change that and by the end of season 5 she will figure out who dexter really is.

All so interesting - I did comment on the neighbor thing in another discussion thread here. I think we've all watched a little too much Dexter...*lol*One thing bothers me though - loose threads that did not get tied up. WTF - all this lead up to Rita's first husband - her secret - and then it just dies with her death? Why even bother to write that in as part of the season's story line if they knew they were going to kill Rita off? My prediction - we see something from husband #1 in the upcoming season.And as far as "daddy by day and serial killer by night".....hmmmm....will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will Dexter be able to keep Cody and Astor? Not if "the pitbull" grandmother has anything to say about it. There will be the drama of the custody battle, but Dex will lose. Baby Harrison will become a fixture for Dex and Deb. She will tread the edges of the "secret" ... peeling back layers but never getting to the core.Awesome series - if nothing but totally creepy in the way the writers are able to portray the inner dialogue and the crippling disconnect for Dexter.

Once again, I believe that Rita's death is necessary for the storyline. I believe that Dexter is still going to hold custody of all his children, yet they might become slightly darker as they cope with their mom's death. Also, this isn't going to stop Dexter from carrying out his own dark passenger as he goes out and kills other murderers. However, to take care of the kids it seems logical that he will hire a babysitter, and the most obvious one will be Deb. Deb will start wondering what Dexter is doing late at night, and his secret might finally be exposed to Deb. But thats just a guess. You can never guess what the Dexter writers are going to do next.