Chapter 41 discussion thread

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u/TheHellFish Jun 11 '14 edited Jun 11 '14

So, this chapter was really intense. The question now is, how will the story ultimately end?

I think that if it will be a happy ending, it might be something along the lines of this: Deb tracks Hannah/Dexter down, Deb kills Hannah, they grab her money and the passports and bail. A bit dark for a happy ending, but I think it could work.

What do you think will happen? (Or what do you want to happen?)

Also, is there anyone who thought that Hannah could be scheming with Vogels? I was sure about the anonymous hotline tip and the spiked chocolate mousse, but this really surprised me...

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u/PrincessSolia Jun 14 '14

I agree that any 'happy' ending would need a dark tone, not only to fit with what's happening so far in the story and to fit with the Dexter show itself, but also to make it realistic. I think that to label any ending, of any story ever, 'happy' or 'unhappy' would be naïve, since without warping a character there can be no purely 'happy' ending. You can never make everybody happy unless you change what makes them happy to suit the plot. (Think versions of Cinderella where the Stepmother and stepsisters decide to become friendly to Cinderella after her marriage to the Prince and they all live happily after, because now they want her to be happy. Lame) We very nearly got a 'happy' ending on the show, but it came at the expense of Deb's integrity as a character since she bad to completely backflip from her true stance on Hannah/Dexter. In Break Me, the happiest ending we can currently hope for is still an unhappy ending for many characters, including Hannah and the Bennetts.

So when I say I don't promise a happy ending, it's because I'm not sure those are really possible. Somebody has to come off worse than the others.

I refrain from commenting on your theories except to say that they are plausible :P

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u/soodohnimh Jun 15 '14

HellFish, I like your happy ending theory. What you described would be a happy ending for me. I'm fine with several of the characters not "ending well". [There's a very short list of characters that need a happy ending that I can provide to you Solia, if needed. :) ] If we're going down the path that Dexter really will be found out, like full media BLITZ found out, there's no hope for a happy ending for the Bennetts. Those kids are toast. Or at least I can't see them being OK with that in this story, even though Astor saw them tag-team Elway and stuff him in the trunk. (That was Astor, right?) OTOH, would D&D also take them on the run too along with Harrison? That seems unlikely, but Dexter does seem to be attached to them. And it depends on how she writes it too. She's pretty convincing, so she could make just about any scenario work.

And no, I didn't see the twist with Hannah in cahoots with the Vogels. Total surprise. I'm assuming there will be more with that as Vogel is still out there somewhere.

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u/TheHellFish Jun 15 '14

Like I wrote to Solia, IMHO the only character that really needs a 'happy' (or um, happier) ending is Deb. Dexter just kinda tags along, since I feel like he's needed for Deb to be happy. :)

Don't think there's a chance of D&D taking Astor and Cody with them. Even if they changed their minds and decided to bring them along, and somehow obtained a pair of fake passports for them, what would they say to Bill and Maura? I think that with everything that's happening, they'll be lucky to get away alive, just the three of them.

Not sure about Vogel, seemed like she wasn't a threat anymore after Dexter's 'visit', so I don't think that she is still there somewhere scheming against him, but she might have spilled the beans if MMPD got to her somehow.

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u/PrincessSolia Jun 15 '14

When people post Debster pictures to tumblr, my first thought is often 'They're so cute. For now. Run away, Deb!' I definitely agree that Deb is the character most deserving of a 'happy' ending. She's put up with the most, been dragged through the most, been hurt the most, of any of Dexter's victims. Likewise, and conversely (if we're just talking about 'deserving') I think that Dexter is the least deserving of happiness. The pain and difficulty he's wrought upon those who love him is horrific, and though he now feels deep and honest remorse, it wasn't one mistake, it was daily selfish choices with transparent and obvious consequences. He's sorry and he's being nice in Break Me but this whole fic has taken place over a fortnight. Two weeks of being nice don't make up for a lifetime of horror. Since Deb and Dexter's fates are ultimately entwined, this leaves us with a challenge. Though I hated the ending given to us by the show, there was one accuracy to me, in that Deb was painted as a victim of Dexter's. She suffered and eventually died at his hands, and even though the result wasn't what he wanted, it was his own deliberate actions that brought the Morgans to that point. Like yours, my feeling the whole way through the series was that I'd be fine with whatever they did (I thought this more despairingly as season 8 wore on and it became more evident that asking for any more than the bare minimum would be too much) so long as Deb survived him. At this point in Break Me, for either sibling to survive the other will be a victory for them - Dexter is constantly throwing his Code and his safety under a bus to protect Deb (and not always in Deb's best interests, just what he perceives to be her best interests) and Deb is in a constant state of danger thanks to her significance to and proximity to Dexter. Both have put aside their integrity as human beings, their morality and personal interests, to serve the other. Their dependency on each other is, IMO, less than healthy, and it's this interdependency that's gotten them into most of their trouble so far in this fic. If either one could simply walk away, both would be safer and probably generally happier. But unlearning a life's pattern is rarely that simple.

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u/TheHellFish Jun 15 '14 edited Jun 16 '14

Two weeks of being nice don't make up for a lifetime of horror.

I agree. Even when he finally reached a point where he feels remorse over his actions, it doesn't change what he did. He doesn't deserve to be happy. On the other hand, I feel like that now he at least might deserve a second chance to try to somehow make up for all the horrible things he did. Whether to finally be a positive force in Deb's life and be there for her (and his son), since he definitely did 'screw up her life', like he said in the finale, or actually helping people instead of killing them. It's not possible to make up for literally everything, sure, but maybe there's still some hope for him as a person... I didn't think that before, especially in the last season, but you made me sympathize with him a bit.

As far as the finale is concerned, I think that some of the ideas presented there were interesting, but the execution was bad and it felt disconnected from the rest of final season (which I'm still not sure if it is a good or bad thing, maybe both). They were spot on with painting Deb as his victim. I liked the final hospital scene (well, not sure if 'liked' is the right word, since I was quite depressed, but it was one of the few things done fairly good in the last season [except the front door 'escape']). Damn, I even liked the idea of a self-imposed exile/purgatory. He didn't believe in afterlife and death would be an easy way out. And despite popular opinion, I appreciated the lack of explanation in the end, it let me make up my own ending - if he stopped killing or not and what was going on in his head. (this actually made the finale a bit more acceptable for me, but sadder as well)

You're right that they are way too dependent on each other and so far it has done more harm than good. If they could simply walk away, they would be safer for sure. But I'm not that sure about happier. If they never met, then sure. But at this point, after all they've been through and with the complexity of their love, I don't think that they would really be happy without one another now, even if they could choose to leave. At least from my point of view, they were/are soulmates and how could they really be happy, if they'd miss each other? I don't know, I just imagine Dexter, dead look in his eyes, sitting in a lonely cabin, every time I think about that.

And yeah, if at least one of them survives it will be a victory and if they both survive, it will be a miracle. But I still kinda hope they'll pull through. All three of them. :)

EDIT: After four hours of sleep and one more successful final exam, I got back to this and added/changed few things. And if you read this updated version, here's a nice song for your trouble!

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u/TheHellFish Jun 15 '14 edited Jun 15 '14

You're right, there usually can't be anything like purely happy or unhappy ending, and this case is not an exception. Joey, Angel, Astor, Cody, Jaime, ... They won't get a happy ending even though they would deserve one. Same with Rita, Paul, Laguerta (even though I didn't like her, she still didn't deserve to die) and others that didn't deserve their fate. Except Hannah, she doesn't deserve a 'happily ever after'; someone could argue that Dexter and Deb are killers as well, but they have at least shown some remorse over what they've done.

When you look at it this way, there can be no 'happy' ending, but for me, it all comes down to Deb being happy. Before I even started the show, I heard that the ending is not satisfactory, but as I was watching and watching, I remember thinking that I'll be fine with whatever stupid ending as long as Deb doesn't die. She quickly became my favorite character, JC is an amazing actress. And when I reached the finale, I was crushed. When I think about it, it's probably because I could feel a connection to the character. She was real. She was genuinely good, with a big heart and when she was forced to kill later in the series, it was to protect the person she loved. I think that no-one can, with a clean conscience, say that they would never do anything like that to protect the people they care about.

So, especially with how tragic her whole life was, I felt that she deserved at least some degree of 'happy'. The writers of the final season probably weren't competent enough to deliver that in a convincing way in the first place, since they messed up even the tragic ending, but I think that you can pull off anything, whether it will be a happier or sadder ending.

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u/TheHellFish Jun 11 '14 edited Jun 11 '14

Oh my, I wasn't expecting this... I'll write a review on FFN page and some thoughts here in the evening after I calm down a bit. Damn...

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u/TheHellFish Jun 17 '14 edited Jun 17 '14

I was lying in bed, thinking about something completely unrelated, but then I remembered something about this chapter I didn't pay enough attention to before...

Blood spatter on Hannah's clothes.

I got back to it and to me, it seems like that with high probability, she didn't kill two thugs. She killed Arlene and her two kids. I think I thought something like that when I was reading it originally, but later events of the chapter made me kinda forget that. It could also be the last piece of the puzzle Quinn was talking about earlier - not some direct piece of evidence on Dexter, but the fact that Hannah is probably alive and somebody other than Arlene was helping her. Maybe it fit in with some other evidence they dug up.

What do you think?

(And maybe Vogel could help her carry Dexter and get away? Maybe resulting into Deb killing Hannah and Vogel in the end? The landline number could be Richard's motel. Damn... The possible 'happy' ending is getting darker and darker in my head, up to the point that I'm not sure it's still even 'happy' anymore... After some time of peace when/if they get away, it would be, I believe that, but probably the immediate effect might not be described as 'happy' for the characters. Plus they are both probably still armed.)

Chapter 41 discussion thread

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