Hurricane Laura



Hurricane Laura is a storm in Season Eight of the Showtime series DEXTER.

It became a major threat in the final episodes. Alluded to in "Monkey in a Box", it made landfall in Miami as a Category 3 hurricane in The Finale.

Summary
The hurricane approaches during a critical time in Dexter Morgan's life, as he's attempting to move to Argentina with his girlfriend, Hannah McKay, and his son, Harrison. Due to her status as a fugitive, Hannah is forced to flee the country with a fake passport. They first attempt to fly out of the Aero Sudamerica Airport but, due to Hannah being pursued by private investigator Jacob Elway, they are unable to board their flight. To distract Elway, Dexter sets him up as a terrorist in the airport, and he is taken away to be questioned. Unfortunately, this results in their flight being cancelled with no further planes scheduled to leave, due to the weather.

The two decide that a bus ride to a city farther away with available flights would better serve them. Only Hannah and Harrison proceed to Argentina, as Dexter has unfinished business. His sister, Debra Morgan, had been shot and severely wounded by Oliver Saxon, and Dexter stays behind to deal with him. As Saxon pulls a gun on Dexter in the hospital, he is arrested by Angel Batista. Meanwhile, Debra has stopped breathing and passed into a coma. The nurse said Debra had suffered a major stroke triggered by a blood clot that formed during surgery.

Dexter, filled with rage and grief, watches as Batista and Joey Quinn interrogate Saxon, only for Saxon to play coy to the situation. Dexter realizes that the two could build a case against Saxon, and send him to the electric chair. Even knowing this, he delays joining Hannah on the flight because he feels the need to kill Saxon himself. He goes to the jail under the guise of having to take a GSR (gunshot residue) test from Saxon. After laying a pen down in front of Saxon, Dexter informs him that he is going to kill him with that pen. Saxon looks at the pen, quickly grabs it, and attempts to kill Dexter with it. Dexter's martial arts training, along with his quick reflexes, allows him to divert the strike to his shoulder. He then disarms Saxon and stabs Saxon in his neck with the pen. As Saxon lies on the floor, bleeding out, Dexter pushes the alarm button and acts terrified when help arrives. The situation is recorded on camera, with Quinn and Batista accepting it as self-defense, with Quinn not caring.

With Saxon dead, Dexter takes his boat, Slice of Life, and docks outside of Miami Central Hospital, where various patients are being moved due to the oncoming hurricane. He approaches his comatose sister, and expresses his rarely seen emotions. He then shuts off her life-support, and wheels her out to his boat during the chaos of the evacuation. He drives the boat farther into Bay Harbor, where he gently drops her into the water, watching her disappear forever. He makes a call to Hannah, saying that he is still in Miami. She then puts Harrison on the phone and Dexter makes him promise to remember every day that he loves him, until they see each other again. After the call, Dexter throws his phone into the bay. Having had so many people die due to him, Dexter wants to avoid this fate for his girlfriend and son. As the horizon darkens, he drives his boat towards the hurricane, where it vanishes into the clouds.

After the storm dies out, wreckage of Slice of Life is found, but no apparent survivors. In reality, Dexter had used the boat's emergency life raft to escape. He later lives in isolation in the Pacific Northwest, working as a logger.

Trivia

 * The name of the storm has actually been used for at least three real-life storms in the last century. The first time was in 1971, the second in 2008, and the third in 2020.
 * The hurricane also shares its name with Dexter's biological mother, Laura Moser. This is symbolic as Laura originally gave birth to Dexter, while the hurricane allowed Dexter to fake his death, and give birth to a new life.

Related Pages

 * Miami
 * Slice of Life
 * Biscayne Bay
 * Miami Central Hospital