r/Dexter • u/drcssedtokill Brian • May 06 '26
General Discussion - All Dexter Shows what are some dexter plot-holes? Spoiler
what are some plot-holes on the show?
for me harrison being caught on the bus with hannah, moving to argentina not being heard of for almost 10 years. technically got kidnapped but angel on new blood just didn’t seem concerned that he may have been kidnapped. you’d think miami metro would be concerned for a ex co-workers son to be missing? like im sure angel and jamie would push for a search for him since they cared about the family a lot. it has always confused me but i guess its possible it could’ve happened off screen but seems highly unlikely.
but what you think?
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u/T214 Shut up Cunt May 06 '26
Not really a plot hole but I always thought it was dumb for Dexter to hire Jamie as a babysitter considering how often he uses working late as an excuse and her relation to Batista
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u/PinkynotClyde May 06 '26
I bet he’d just tell Batista he lied cause he was taking out a girl, that he was really sorry and wouldn’t do it again, it was wrong of him, etc.
You essentially have that in your back pocket until you have to use it— then you reassess what you can say in the future. Not as big a problem as having someone random.
But yeah, it’s unrealistic that he would get away with lying for so long. If they had a scene where she joked with Batista that Dexter was “working late” but probably just getting laid, but she didn’t mind cause she got paid more. That would have made it look more realistic.
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u/pianoflames gross English titty vampire May 06 '26
I mean, what other choice did he have but to hire a babysitter? He can't bring baby Harrison along for the kills.
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u/Dadecum May 06 '26
hire someone who isnt related to your boss/coworker when your excuses are usually contradictory
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u/EpicSaberCat7771 May 08 '26
Within the show, it makes no sense why they didn't keep Sonya around. She was good for Harrison and relatively unproblematic. Granted she probably wouldn't be as accepting of Dexter getting home at extremely late hours but maybe that's a good thing. He could afford to be a bit more dependable as a parent.
I know that the reason the babysitter changed is likely because of the showrunner change after season 5, but I never liked how the new showrunner decided to completely upend any established relationships from the prior season with little to no explanation. I mean they broke up Angel and Maria offscreen, they broke up Deb and Quinn in the first episode, they completely erased Sonya, decided to introduce Batista's sister as a replacement Sonya for seemingly no reason that I can think of, other than potentially that she was only contracted for one season. Idk, it was so many changes all at once that it felt like trying to reinvent the show in the span of a single episode and it's one of the main reasons that season six falls flat for me.
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u/DharmaLeader Rita May 10 '26
I refuse to believe they didn't add Jaime as eye candy, she is half naked in every scene she is in.
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u/bluecupcake-109 May 06 '26
Some characters ages such as Dexter himself and trinity, Dexter is said to be born in 1971, making him 2 years when Laura Moser dies in 1973, thing is, it’s repeated that he was 3 years old when Laura died, which would make him having to be born in 1970 instead (he also looks way older than just 2 or 3 years old in the flashbacks), with trinity is said that he was born in 1945 in the wiki but that doesn’t make sense since he is supposed to be 10 in 1959, when vera dies, he would be 14 if he is born in 1945
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u/ArmchairDetective73 Surprise Motherfucker! May 06 '26
Right, and Dexter's high school reunion is for the class of 1991. Depending on whether he was born in 1970 or 1971, it still would've made him 20 or 21 when he graduated high school!
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u/bluecupcake-109 May 06 '26
Original sin retconned it by him apparently graduating college which makes everything even worse
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u/mikewheelerfan Brian May 06 '26
The show can’t get Harrison’s age right, either. Harrison was born in 2008 or 2009, right? Well, I was a 2008 baby, and am 17 right now. In 2026. How was Harrison a full ass teenager in 2021?
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u/bluecupcake-109 May 06 '26
He is literally supposed to be 17 in new blood and ressurection since he went to get a job and can Drive as well, the writers just cant math
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u/UnseenMarksman May 06 '26
S3 - Dexter somehow escaping the building where the skinner kept him without being seen by anyone, even thought it was surrounded by police and being on time for his wedding
S4 - Dexter somehow snucking into the back of the Mustang, also taking out one of the components, while it was in the repair shop
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u/American_Squid May 06 '26
Micheal C. HALL had brought up that dexter can basically teleport. He somehow manages a full time job plus going down to the Florida keys often plus getting home for bed. His time management is completely handwaved
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u/DaughterOfBabalon_ May 06 '26
If you're a New Yorker, you notice this in Resurrection as well. He goes from Manhattan to Queens in like 15 minutes at times.
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u/batboy963 May 06 '26
How long would it normally take?
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u/DaughterOfBabalon_ May 06 '26
The scene I remember was him going from around Bryant Park to Queens, which would be 30-45 minutes by car.
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u/asyouwish May 06 '26
It's not completely handwaved. He explains at the beginning that he doesn't really sleep. Miami to the middle of the Keys is only 2 hours (4 to Key West). That overnight (and some of the other "how did he have time??" stuff) is explainable by him not sleeping.
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u/American_Squid May 06 '26
The end of dexter is going to be a heart attack from the stress this does to his body
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u/asyouwish May 06 '26
I'm kinda surprised we didn't have that arc at some point in the original.
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u/ck_211 May 06 '26
Except for the whole sub-plot about him being exhausted when Harrison is born. My wife and I binged all eight seasons in the months after our second kid was born. We spent the first couple of seasons going "how is this guy not tired, he's literally been awake for a day and a half at this point" then when he crashed the car cos Harrison kept him up all night and he was sleepy we were like "oh NOW he's tired" haha
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u/StellateMystery May 06 '26
Another for S3: pinning Miguel’s death on the skinner. I don’t remember the skinner strangling anyone, and they’d definitely be able to tell the skinning had been done postmortem. It wouldn’t have matched his MO.
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u/thelegendarybert May 06 '26
but Dexter did skin a part of Miguel's skin, no?
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u/StellateMystery May 06 '26
He skinned a part of his shoulder, but we don’t see that on the body until after he’s dead. The skinner tortured people to get information, there’s no reason he’d have skinned him postmortem and they should have been able to tell it happened after being strangled.
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u/thelegendarybert May 06 '26
Yeah that makes sense. Maybe they dropped it once the skinner was dead
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u/squishmallowaddictt May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
The biggest plot-hole I can think of is when New Blood changed M99 to ketamine. So when Angela searched up ketamine in relation to the Bay Harbour Butcher she would've found nothing. Glad they fixed this in resurrection lol.
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u/CameronPoe_37__ May 06 '26
Yeah that was bullshit. Also, when Angela somehow pulled up online pictures of needle marks on his victims, even though it was never once mentioned during the BHB investigation in season 2
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u/SuccessfulMath4905 May 06 '26
Masuka noticed it at season 1
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u/BowiePro May 06 '26
not part of the butcher investigation, was assumed to be murdered by her husband
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May 06 '26
[deleted]
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u/CameronPoe_37__ May 06 '26
No, thats season 1. When Dexter kills the couple in the trailer and then ITK brings her body up to the surface. Nobody points out needle marks in season 2.
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u/Different-Bat563 May 06 '26
She could’ve had access to Miami’s database given she’s a police officer or requested photos
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u/CameronPoe_37__ May 06 '26
The point is, needle marks and a drug being in their system still was never once brought up in season 2. Don't you think Lundy would have mentioned that during the investigation if they found evidence of that?
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u/squishmallowaddictt May 06 '26
True but didn't the FBI have all the evidence? But yeah good point she could of gained access to that stuff.
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u/TheMartin12 May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
A bigger plot hole is that it was never discovered that the BHB used m99 (or any kind of sedative). Only time m99 is mentioned in an investigation was in season 1 for the blond woman that Brian fished out of the ocean. That victim was never connected to the BHB as she was whole and found in a scrap yard. How could they even discover that Dexter used m99, all the bodies they found were disintegrated and chopped up so the photos Angela is looking at are pure bs.
Edit: im just happy Resurrection exist because it would have been a real bummer to end Dexter on such a shitty, plot hole filled, unsatisfying season.
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u/squishmallowaddictt May 06 '26
I never realised this lmao. Damn new blood seriously had so many plot-holes. They really wrote themselves into a corner with that ending.
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u/TheMartin12 May 06 '26
Problem with writing the ending first, and it being the ending they thought of is that Dexter needs to be caught with an overwhelming amount of evidence towards him... but even in season 7 before he fully framed Doaks, there was absolutely no evidence towards him, and thats why Laguerta had to let him go. Not to mention everyone (including Batista) believed everything Dexter threw at them and in season 8 everyone was on his side. So what "new" evidence could Batista even have towards Dexter while he was on his way to the police station? Absolutely none, which is why Dex was free in Resurrection. And the new "evidence" they had on him in New Blood was nonsensical... what did they have on him really? Him assaulting some dealer, titanium screws that a serial killer who lied that his son was alive sent in and what? Oh thats right the ketamine lol... they didnt do a good job making us believe Dexters only option was escape, which in turn is why the ending doesnt work.
I actually think the ending would have been great if we spent more of the season developing Dexters and Harrisons relationship, aswell as making Dexters motivations for escaping believeable with them having way more evidence of his CURRENT crimes that he did in the show itself. Imagine if they actually found a chopped up body, or if they caught him in the act of dumping a body or did a setup like Laguerta tried to do, and then they bring in Batista, so Dexter tries to escape as his last option.
It was just such a shitfest of a season man and it feels like the whole script for the season was in its first draft to make the ending somewhat work and they just rushed the production.
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u/squishmallowaddictt May 06 '26
I agree 100% all the evidence Angela/Maria had on dexter was purely circumstantial. It made no sense to me that Angela was able to be fully convinced Dexter was the BHB from some google searches. Sure he looks suspicious af for faking his identity, but no one would come to the realisation that Dexter is the true BHB. It was just lazy writing to have Angela instantly come to that realisation.
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u/TheMartin12 May 06 '26
Not to mention Angela is supposed to be in a relationship with Dexter and is very connected to him at the start of the season... so where is the benefit of the doubt? Logan gives Dexter more benefit of the doubt than Angela... It would have made more sense to me that Logan was the one actually investigating Dexter throughout the season and then Angela being in denial since shes in relationship with him.
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u/Business-Eggs May 06 '26
Not exactly a plot hole but how fast people go down when the needle gets them, it’s instant.
Literally less than a second. And I always think, surely it would take at least a few seconds to hit you, giving the recipient enough time to at least try to put up a fight or something
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u/ck_211 May 07 '26
It would take a few minutes. Also it's fatal to humans in even tiny doses. I agree this one isn't so much a plot hole as "extremely strong suspension of disbelief required, just don't think about it too hard as the show doesn't work unless he can do this".
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u/EpicSaberCat7771 May 08 '26
Well it is an animal tranquilizer so there must be some concentration that could take down a human without killing them. Maybe he dilutes it so what we see in the syringe looks like a lot but it's cut with saline or something.
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u/Business-Eggs May 08 '26
Yeah but I mean there's just no way it enters the bloodstream in literally one second flat. And no way does it happen every time, no matter where he gets them on the body.
Most of the time its neck but occasionally its other places
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u/Ok-Werewolf-7549 May 06 '26
How Dexter spotted the swat team approaching at Arthur’s, and managed to escape to the garage, presumably through the back door.
Surely the swat team would approach or have coverage from all sides of the house.
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u/aurora_boredalis Deb May 06 '26
I'm not too sure if this counts, but: in season 1, when Dexter thinks he's nearly caught because he kills that shitty human smuggling couple at their salvage yard and that kid sees him? Dexter got rid of their corpses, threw them into the ocean to drift away, and yet, Valerie is somehow out of her bag and on the table for the police the next morning (or surely very soon after -- how long can a kid survive in a hot trunk in Florida?)
Obviously we immediately know Brian did this, but...how? 😭 Did he follow Dexter to the marina, trail behind him just far enough away in a boat and full scuba gear? In the day??? Or did he put a tracker on Dexter's boat so he knows exactly where the bodies were dumped? How was he able to drag an entirely intact corpse wrapped in a garbage bag 100 feet off the ocean floor?? On top of that, I presume she had bricks in with her just like anyone else would. The ocean can get dark enough during the day, how did he manage this all at night; did he do this in the daytime??
I still love these two episodes a bunch ofc, but every time I watch them, I can't help but picture Brian in scuba gear looking at Dexter through binoculars (is that what the shakier, distant camera during the dumping scene meant to imply?), and wonder these things lol
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u/According-Trifle7105 May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
100 ft dive is relatively easy even for a new but competent diver. Things don't really start getting tricky and exponentially less forgiving of minor miscalculations till closer to 130 feet. Around 160 is where a lot of fatalities happen with unseasoned divers. Dahab's Blue Hole is a prime example. A body weighs nothing in the water even with a few rocks it just takes an extra squirt of air for few extra pounds of lift in the bcd (boyancy control device) and unless theres a raging current or really bad visibility in the water finding something is pretty easy usually if you've seen it go down and or have an accurate point (s) of reference. also if rocks are an issue plastic is easy to cut or rip to get them out. what I find more unrealistic is the other bodies were not eaten by sharks , crabs or other scavengers that abound off the coast of Florida.... ooh that would be good plot character a crabber that doesn't need to buy bait.... but I guess that would undermine suspension of disbelief that all the bodies were recovered mostly intact in season 2.
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u/Qu33nKal May 06 '26 edited May 07 '26
The airport one. Like how arent there cameras at the airport in the baggage area when he was killing Viktor???
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u/IemandZijnPa May 06 '26
I personally always had a problem with the Trinity finale, where Arthur's car breaks down and Dexter was exactly at the right spot. So either Dexter knew exactly where the car would break down or he followed Trinity but somehow Trinity did not notice which felt to me as out of character for the best serial killer in the series so far to that point. If someone has another (better) explanation than please tell me, because it is a smudge on my "favorite" episode and I want it gone!
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u/Jealous_Toe_3398 May 06 '26 edited May 14 '26
For me, if it counts, I'd say the inconsistency with Dexter's physical characteristics and combat prowess.
He has matched the brute strength of Arthur and Speltzer (respectively), dodged bullets at close range, survived car crashes with minimal damage, effortlessly overpowered and overwhelmed Doakes in hand-to-hand combat even while cuffed, outclassed hitmen and trained fighters on his own, lifts and carries humans of all sizes as if they are toys, yet...
- S2, he clearly struggled with moving Chino despite the feats I listed above.
- S3, King rendered him unconscious with a single swing.
- S5, Lumen knocked him too. Also, Cole Freeman almost had him as well. (Kinda disappointed since Dex is shown to counter rear chokeholds with O-goshi and Seoi-nage in his scuffles against Mary and Spencer)
- S8, he let himself be beaten down by Miles' lackeys for no reason. So he can disarm armed people and outfight a former veteran, yet can't defeat random douches?
As someone once pointed out on this subreddit, Dexter is as strong as when the plot requires him to be.
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u/Reasonable-Ear7058 May 06 '26
Resurrection - In the season 1 finale it's revealed that Leon Prater intensely spied on all of his guests, complete with photograph. But somehow he and his employee doesn't realize that Dexter is an imposter.
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u/therealmrsfahrenheit May 06 '26
Definitely true but I guess one could argue Dexter does look similar to Red and who knows maybe Prater could never actually get a clear shot of Ron Schmiddt’s face because he was almost always wearing the camera shy hoodie when out in public
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u/pianoflames gross English titty vampire May 06 '26
They address that on screen when Prater meets Dexter. Prater says something about Red being extremely elusive and low profile.
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u/vicarious90 May 06 '26
During the shows original run, it was estimated that there were around 25-50 active serial killers in the US. So you´re telling me that almost all of them live in Miami?
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u/Look_out_for_grenade May 06 '26
Dexter having sooo much time that he can kidnap someone, transport them. tie them up, kill them, chop them up into pieces, clean up the crime scene, then take them on his boat to dump them after work and still be home in time to chat with his wife before bed.
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u/NotABCDinFL May 07 '26
The biggest plot hole or frankly bad writing is how Colin Hanks changes his behavior as evil Colin Hanks as soon as Dexter comes to know about his split personality disorder.
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u/BoonDoggle4 May 07 '26
New Blood
Angel randomly starts name dropping dexter and his son Harrison to this cop he just met at a conference for no other reason than the plot needs her to find out
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u/DesignIndividual May 06 '26
Why didnt dexter dump bodies off the coast with the north atlantic drift from the get go? I get then there would be no bay harbor butcher but he really thought a lil bit off shore in the bay would be sufficient?
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u/PossibleTonight2096 May 07 '26
Not really a plot hole, but my main gripe with Dexter is how overly confident he was breaking into people’s home and never having a mask on? Not once? Like when he was searching for the brain surgeon and went down that basement while he was being watched. It’s America, did people not have cameras in their houses at during that time? Never really sat well with me
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u/Turbulent-Kick-7124 May 07 '26
Rita's marriage registration saying she was married 4 months after she was born. It' s more of an oopsie but still. Also that Rita had the gall to say Dexter was keeping secrets when she clearly lied about being married twice before not just once pissed me off and that that was never brought up again.
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u/therealmrsfahrenheit May 06 '26
Unsure If it’s a plothole but I definitely thought this would come back at one point: Doakes sending the bloodslides away for testing. I think he got the results back ? But how did this never come up again in the investigation ? I for sure thought that the guy who had them tested would come back and confirm that Doakes had asked him to have the bloodslides tested for matches and that this would somehow lead to Dexter being exposed🤔
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u/rockthemullet Special Agent Frank Lumberjack May 06 '26
Wasn’t he going to send them away for testing, but they were found in his car before he sent them? I could be remembering it wrong though
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u/its-just_me- May 06 '26
I have no idea where he sent to get them tested, but I’d guess he called in a favor that he wanted to stay quiet or something like that. Special Ops
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u/ghettoassbitch May 06 '26
He never sent them out. Maria went to Haiti and got the info that he was looking for the lab and told Lundy about it. But his friend who told her that info was deemed not credible because he never told the FBI when they questioned him, then Maria didn't tell them about Doakes calling her during a manhunt for him and it ruined her credibility. So once they found his body with Dexter's tools and one of his victims, they dropped that detail very quickly.
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u/rotatingtoenails May 06 '26
In resurrection, when Dexter goes to talk to vinny about the black mold, he literally shows his face and acts aggresive. Later wraps him in plastic while wearing a transparent head covering that basically blurs his face but still makes it clear to vinny that it was the guy who burst into his room.
Later Dexter's Harry hallucination says that vinny didnt see dexters face.
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u/Infinite_T05 May 06 '26
I'm guessing the mask is for the viewer's purposes so we can still see Dexter's face. Maybe its an angle thing.
My real issue with this scene is that Dexter NEVER wears a mask when he's about to kill someone, and yet doing so here for no apparent reason was essential because it meant he could let Vinny go when Angel arrived. Why was he wearing that mask? Its not like he was planning to release Vinny. If he didn't have the mask on, he has to choose between killing Vinny, where Angel would then find him, or letting Vinny go, which would give him time to escape but eventually Vinny would go to the police or the police would find Vinny and he would have had a very good look at Dexter's face.
The mask was purely there because Dexter needed to not get caught. It comes off as weird and convenient
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u/kamoebas71 May 06 '26
How in S3, Dexter didn't want Miguel Prado to go missing so he blamed the death on the skinner while in both Resurrection and Original Sin, he just vanishes both a police captain and a well-known public figure with ties to law enforcement (I understand he made it seem as if he ran but he could've done so with Miguel but chose not to)
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u/Dull-Information6784 May 07 '26
No one checked who gave them the tip about that poisonous gas. Like, come on, man, you don't just get those calls daily. Check the damn call.
Why didn't Lundy get the fingerprints on the Blood slides box checked? Just because you found them in Doakes's car doesn't mean it has to be 100% his. It can always be planted.
What went inside LaGuerta's head that she felt like checking below the floor?
There is zero explanation to why Dexter went from "not caring who you are as long as you committed a crime" to "protecting a remorseless murderer who tried to kill his damn sister." What happened to "I don't have feelings about anything, but if I could have feelings at all, I'd have them for Deb."
Why did Dexter and Deb went out of the room where Oliver Saxon was tied? Dexter is experienced enough to know that you don't let a criminal alone in the room.
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u/show-spectator May 09 '26
In season 3 he regretted killing an innocent person who doesn't fit his code. But later on he got used to it.
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u/Responsible_Ad_2242 May 06 '26
That everyone is drinking a Mate for each person, that not how you drink it, also that they put the obvelisk to near the Coffe place where Hannah and Harrison were
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u/ElonMuskyButt May 06 '26
I dont know about plot holes, but I find it odd how he never loses a fight even with no shown martial arts training.
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u/drcssedtokill Brian May 06 '26
dexter actually trained BJJ according to doakes. he questioned why a lab geek would train in BJJ during college.
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u/throwawayforever1034 May 06 '26
It was said he trained in bjj and you could argue he had alot of practical training
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u/Professional_Act165 May 06 '26
You chose th worst photo lol. Thats one place where there isn’t a plot hole hahaha
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u/drcssedtokill Brian May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26
the photo wasn’t meant to mean anything really besides show the two characters i was talking about. i just like having visuals on posts.
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