HOLLYWOOD—Tonight’s episode of “Dexter” was titled “The Big One.” It surely was the big ending of the most exciting season so far of the hit blockbuster series for Showtime. Season five of “Dexter” has been exciting and well written since the initial first episode. Viewers were left hanging last week when Jordan Chase kidnapped Lumen, Dexter murdered Liddy, a blood droplet fell on Quinn’s boot, leaving blood evidence connecting him to the death of Liddy and Deb was handling the increasing evidence that she needed to prove Jordan Chase’s connection to the barrel girls murders. We wondered, how would the writers wrap up such an exciting season, and yet we were left shocked by the finale.

Dexter began his hunt for Jordan Chase, but the evil genius managed to stay one step ahead of him until the very end. Lumen is a changed woman, having survived gang rape and torture at the hands of Jordan’s childhood friends, who she and Dexter managed to hunt down and kill this season one by one. Deb, a seasoned investigator figured out that Lumen was the survivor and that she and a boyfriend were hunting down all of the men. When she walked in and found Lumen and Dexter hiding behind a plastic curtain, she then allowed them to leave on their own and get rid of Jordan Chase’s body. The scenes where Dexter feared his own sister Deb capturing him, only to decide to not look behind the curtain and to allow him and Lumen to get away with Jordan Chase’s murder was mesmerizing. Every second you felt as if Deb would order the two killers to show their faces, but viewers were stunned to see Deb make an unethical decision to allow them to go free. Still unaware of her brother’s part in Chase’s demise, and the others as well.

Quinn immediately came under suspicion when his superior on the Miami Police Department found blood on his shoe. He decided not to be interrogated and demanded his right to an attorney. The smart move paid off for Quinn, when in another shocking twist, Dexter decided to lie and state the blood on Quinn’s boot did not belong to Liddy, therefore clearing Quinn of the murder and allowing him to be with Deb. Dexter’s family arrived at his doorstep, with actress Kathleen Noone playing Rita’s mother. Astor and Cody asked Dexter if they could spend the summer with him, and he was ecstatic to agree to allow it, then had to go back on the hunt for Jordan Chase and Lumen, who had been kidnapped by Chase.

Dexter managed to find Lumen and Jordan at an old campground, where the women were brought to by Chase’s evil minions to be raped and tortured before being murdered. Dexter got the upper hand on Jordan and then Lumen with all of her furor and hatred stabbed Jordan Chase through the heart with a knife. With all of her tormentors now dead, Lumen decided her dark-side had come to an end, and then she broke Dexter’s heart when she told him that she was leaving Miami and moving back to Minnesota to be with her family.

Her acceptance of Dexter earlier in the season was making him more humane, but her rejection tonight may force the dark monster we have witnessed in Dexter return next season. Dexpert and Canyon News reader Bobby Head said, “The old saying all is well that ends well is certainly pertinent tonight. The writers took us right up to the brink of the cliff without allowing us to go over the edge. I can hardly wait for next season of ”˜Dexter.’ I hope this series never ends.” While Tammy Sims Evelsizer said, “I wasn’t too crazy about Deb, until this episode! Love her now!” Another show viewer empathized with Dexter being dumped. “Lumen reminds me of my ex. She also used me and then threw me to the curb too. Don’t feel bad Dexter, we have all been through it,” said Javier Gonzalez.

“Dexter” is a series that airs on Showtime.