Previously on ‘Dexter,’ LaGuerta actively sets up Dexter to kill the final of his mother’s killers. Dexter figures out it is a trap and gets away, but was he quick enough? Dexter is also faced with the tough choice when Hannah poisons Deb to keep her off her back. In the end, Dexter chooses Deb, sending Hannah to prison for life using Sal Price’s murder. We are now in the final episode of the seventh season with last night’s episode the only one left before we begin the eighth and final season of ‘Dexter’ next year.

If you haven’t seen the finale yet, this is a complete recap so there are spoilers ahead!

Dexter goes to visit Hannah in jail. Uncomfortably, they don’t say anything. As Hannah gets up to leave, he stops her. He tries to explain his actions, that he loves her but he could not trust her – not after what she did to Deb. They talk of what the future held, with one either dead or behind bars. Hannah tells him that she thought it would be him. Before she leaves, they kiss passionately, ending with her biting him so hard he bleeds. Hannah calls Arlene, telling her that she can’t stay in there and gives her instructions to help her.

Back at home, Dexter plays with Harrison while Jamie teases them about all of the toys on the ground. Jamie tells Dexter to go get ready for work but there is a knock at the door. LaGuerta stands there with 2 officers telling Dexter that he might want Harrison in another room. She tells Dexter he is under arrest for the murder of Hector Estrada and begins reading him his rights. Jamie takes Harrison into the other room where she calls Deb. Down at the station, the station buzzes with the gossip of Dexter being arrested as LaGuerta leads him through homicide. Angel stops them telling LaGuerta that she is reaching to prove Doakes innocence when there is nothing to prove. Deb steps out, but before much is said LaGuerta tells her that as Dexter’s sister and she has to step down. LaGuerta assertively goes after Dexter in questioning but Angel tries to step in, causing her to get even more agitated. Deb watches from behind the duel pane glass but interrupts the interrogation with Misuka before things get even worse. Misuka tells LaGuerta that the blood sample she found was from the 70’s when Estrada was arrested and that LaGuerta’s fingerprint was on Estrada’s wallet. LaGuerta knows she is being set up. She screams at Dexter further, but Angel pulls her off him. Dexter leaves, but before he gets very far, LaGuerta shares the elevator with him. She comments that she knows that he is the Bay Harbor Butcher and when she steps off she tells him that Doakes always knew there was something wrong with him.

We then flashed back to a time when Doakes was still around, chronicling how he came to think Dexter was strange. He comments that he is invisible and weird. These flashbacks occur throughout the show and it’s then that we realize that Doakes slowly built his resentment towards Dexter and his phony lifestyle.

Angel meets up with LaGuerta, telling her that everyone thinks she is crazy. He gives her advice telling her to back down, which she eventually agrees to. Back at home, Deb confronts Dexter about what happened. Deb begs Dexter for a heads up for when things are going to happen. She doesn’t agree that Dexter destroyed LaGuerta’s career, but he tells her that it was either her or him. They fight and Dexter tells Deb that it’s over. Deb brings up Hannah but Dexter assures her that she won’t be a problem because she’s in love with him. As Deb leaves, Dexter begins talking to Harry about how Estrada has disappeared since the original murder was botched. Dexter does some research as to where Estrada might possibly be and finds his wife’s address. The next day, he pretends to be Estrada’s parole officer and goes to the wife’s house. Finding out that Estrada has not been back since he was released, Dexter asks his wife why she is still married to him. She explains that it’s because she is Catholic. In his car, Dexter flashes back to another moment of Doakes figuring out that something seems to be off about him. He sees Estrada’s wife leave and follows her.

Back in her office, LaGuerta gets confronted by Tom, who has been reinstated to his position. He tells her that he isn’t going to back her up and that he is going to tell the truth that he told her to back down from Dexter. Tom continues saying they found the proof that Doakes was the butcher, but she argues with him that she needs his help. Sighing, Tom tells her he will see what he can do. At the courthouse, Deb has a tense conversation with Hannah. She is the arresting officer so she has to be present at her court appearance. Hannah tells Deb that she isn’t going to tell on Dexter, but as a lieutenant it must make her squirm knowing what Dexter is. She continues saying that Deb is a hypocrite. Hannah is then sentenced to life in prison. As she walks out of the courthouse, Arlene gives her a pill which she takes as she fakes tears.

Back in headquarters, Angel goes to see LaGuerta to see how she is doing. He tries to convince her to publicly apologize to Dexter at his retirement party. She is hesitant but agrees to go. In the truck to jail, Hannah goes into seizures and is taken to the hospital where she is stabilized. Meanwhile, Dexter watches as the wife of Hector Estrada meets up with Hector himself in a park. When she leaves, Hector looks like he is making himself comfortable. Not wanting to wait all day for him, Dexter pays two kids to chase him out. He then drugs him and puts him in the back of his car.

Since Angel left her office, LaGuerta calls Deb in, asking her about the night of Travis Marshall’s murder as there’s an inconsistency in her story. LaGuerta pulls out a DVD where Deb is seen filling the gas can 20 minutes before the fire at the church. Deb makes up a lie about forgetting that she had stopped there, but after she leaves the office, she immediately calls Dexter. Dexter, with Estrada in the back of his car, goes to meet her. He tells her that he will take care of it. He doesn’t have a plan but he will figure one out. As Estrada wakes up, Deb leaves in a huff. Hannah escapes from the hospital then leaves another orchid in front of Dexter’s door.

Dexter breaks into LaGuerta’s home with Harry chiding him along the way. He finds warrants for tracking of both his and Deb’s GPS and phone records the night of Travis Marshall’s murder. Dexter tells Harry that he has to kill LaGuerta, but Harry argues with him that she does not fit the code, not even a little. Harry tells Dexter that he needs to run – to take Deb and Harrison and go. Dexter argues that the phony life they created for him, all of the cover up and everything, became real, with real people, leaving them isn’t an option anymore. He doesn’t want to lose his fake life but Harry tells him he doesn’t see any other option. Harry asks how did they end up here which brings them to another flashback with Doakes. That night, LaGuerta gets a call from Estrada that he needs help. He tells her he is in the shipyard in the same container. Dexter tells him that he was very convincing that he was a kill he was looking forward to. They talk a bit about the survival of fittest, ending with Dexter stabbing him through the chest.

At Angel’s party, Deb asks Jamie where Dexter is. When Jamie tells her she doesn’t know, Deb calls dispatch asking for LaGuerta’s location. Finding out that she is on the way to the shipyard, Deb calls Dexter asking him to not do whatever he is planning to do. Deb double checks with Angel that neither Dexter nor LaGuerta isn’t there. Angel suggests that maybe they wanted to avoid each other, but Deb knows better. As LaGuerta approaches the shipping container Dexter drugs her and uses her gun to cover the stab wound on Estrada’s chest. Before he uses Estrada’s gun on her, Deb walks in pointing the gun at Dexter. LaGuerta wakes up, telling Deb to put Dexter down and that Deb is a good person and nothing like what Dexter is. Dexter agrees with her as he  drops the knife and puts his hands up in the air He tells Deb, “You do what you gotta do.” Crying, Deb shoots LaGuerta in the chest then runs over sobbing, holding LaGuerta’s body close.

The final scene is Deb holding Dexter’s arm walking through Angel’s party, both looking morose. “Is this a new beginning? Or the beginning of the end?”

I don’t feel this was Dexter’s strongest season, but true to standards of how Dexter’s seasons fluctuate, this season was going to be a less than a stellar season especially after last year’s very strong Travis Marshall case. With that thought though, next year should be the best season to come – which also is the show’s final season.

So now I open the forum to you, how did you feel about this season and what are your predictions next year?