A Tale of Two (other) Finales

“We all make rules for ourselves. It’s these rules that help to find who we are so when we brake those rules we risk losing ourselves and become something unknown. Who is Deb now? Who am I? Is this a new beginning or the beginning of the end?” — Dexter Morgan, "Dexter"

So Sunday nights are going to be depressing for a while. After a fall that featured so much excellent, thought-provoking entertainment, it's going to be a hard adjustment. That, and football is coming to an end.

The best of those Sunday night thought pieces was the killer Showtime lineup of "Dexter" and "Homeland," both of which wrapped up on Sunday night. Oddly, though wildly different in plot and characters, both dealt with similar ideas in their finales.

I heard it said once that it's not until you get into a foxhole that you know who you really are and what you really believe. It's when the pressure is on that we reveal the real pull of our heart. That was what I thought about Sunday night as back-to-back finales took characters in surprising ways. That's also why I chose that quote from Dexter as the start of today's post.

Dexter:
All season this show has toyed with the idea of expanding the character of Dexter Morgan and trying to figure out who Debra Morgan really is. Both those things came to a head in the final minutes of Sunday's finale.

Dexter (Michael C. Hall) has finally abandoned the idea that he's somehow a righteous serial killer. He admitted that he always found reasons to pass off his darker nature as something he couldn't control, and something channeled to make the world a better place. He abandoned all those notions last night as he sought to kill Capt. LaGuerta to save himself and his sister. He has, through the season, come to grips with the reality that he is responsible for his own actions, and the type of people he chooses to kill doesn't make him noble.

The question is, now that the show is supposedly heading into its final season, whether that burns him as a protagonist. My feeling is that it does. This has always been a show that's been on the ragged edge — trying to create empathy and audience good will for a serial killer. Now that Dexter is coming to grips with who he really is, can the audience possibly be expected to wish for his happy ending? Can a show like this really end with a happy ending?

All that also becomes more challenging with the evolution of Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter), who went from an idealist in terms of her notion to justice to the same level as her brother in the span of 12 episodes. Again, it comes to a question of what you really believe when the pressure is on. It was easy for Debra to maintain her view of justice when the criminals were them, but when it came to her own brother, things were not so simple.

After Hannah called Debra a hypocrite — which she essentially is — that led to some serious thoughts. Last night, Debra stood at the brink. She could do the right thing, and take down her brother, or go down a different path. It sort of reminds me of the journey of Michael Corleone in "The Godfather." He wanted to do right, even in a family of wrong-doers, but when his family was threatened, it was his love for them that led him down a darker path.

The same is true for Debra. All season she's battled her stated notions and beliefs on justice with her love of her brother. Last night, that love of Dexter won out once and for all as he pulled the trigger and became a killer.

The question for the final season is whether Debra can stay on that path, and what happens now. She's not built like Dexter, even if her love for him pulled her down that path. It seems we're headed toward a dark finish. Perhaps that's as it should be for a show like this.

Homeland:
There has been plenty of criticism of the plot elements and the story structure of this show during its second season. But "Homeland" has always been the story of two broken people who have had to decide what they really believe. Last night's finale was a perfect wrap up for that kind of story, and one that's pushed the show in a fascinating direction.

From the pilot, Carrie Matheson (Claire Danes) has seemingly been driven to protect her country at all costs. The quote in the opening credits — shining a light on the guilt she feels over the tragic events of terrorist strikes and her dogged commitment to prevent them in the future — is her stated belief. Brody (Damien Lewis), too, seems committed to the idea of protecting what he believes America stands for. That's also part of his stated rationale for being willing to kill the Vice President, who threatened America's reputation through callous attacks that killed innocents.

So there they were last night, ready to leave everything behind for a possible happy future together. Brody, who claimed to care about his family, is ready to let them go. Brody, who claimed to care about bringing American villains to justice, no longer seemed to care.

Carrie, who was dedicated to stopping terrorism, was willing to leave it all behind for a terrorist. Saul (Mandy Patinkin) correctly pointed out that, no matter how she felt about him, Brody would always be the man who put on a suicide vest. How could she ever really trust him?

And so, when the bomb went off (a bomb in Brody's car no less), it was logical to believe he was finally fulfilling his role in the terrorist plot. Carrie had failed, again, to safeguard her nation — which was supposedly her sole mission in life. At the least, Brody would have to be held to questioning to determine how much he knew about what would happen, about the 250 lives that would be taken.

But for the second time on Sunday night, a protagonist went with her heart when pushed to choose. Carrie lowered her weapon and moved heaven and earth to get Brody a way to safety. She chose to believe he was innocent — likely because it was easier for her — and to help him escape.

Now the question is how she moves forward? Carrie seems bent on clearing Brody's name and getting to the bottom of the attack, but what will she find? And where does Carrie's loyalty really lie?

We all have things we claim to stand for and believe, but in that moment when the pressure is on, will we honor those stated beliefs? The answer in the finales on Showtime last night seemed to be that it depends on where our emotions lie. Two protagonists — Carrie Matheson and Debra Morgan — were presented with moments of truth. Both could do the right thing, the thing they said they stood for. But both would have had to sacrifice people they loved. Neither could. Now both will have to live with the consequences.