It only makes sense a show about a serial killer would feature an accomplice or two along the way. Considering Dexter ended up running for a total of eight seasons, it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise that the eponymous Dexter didn’t always operate alone while hunting down the scum of Miami on behalf of “Harry’s Code” – the serial killer guidebook that keeps Dexter sane & happy.
Every now and again, however, Dexter yearns for companionship, leading to him trying to find an accomplice in some of the show’s supporting characters. He manages to strike up a meaningful relationship with whoever’s helping him out, but things seldom end well for Dexter’s accomplices – and some of the later ones leave a lot to be desired.
Dr. Evelyn Vogel
Season 8 is so bad, and it only makes characters like Dr. Evelyn Vogel all the more disappointing. Introduced as a spiritual mother to Dexter, the true mind behind Harry’s Code, Dr. Vogel offers Dexter the chance to indulge in a true to life mother figure. It’s a move that makes sense narratively and thematically. In execution, however, Dr. Vogel exists at the expense of both Dexter and Harry.
As Dexter’s earliest rooted accomplice, Vogel invalidates a very important layer to Harry’s character – that he devised the code just as much as a means to help Dexter as to help him catch unprosecuted criminals. Vogel removes that greyness from Harry, making him a more passive character. For Dexter, her complete enabling of his behavior is uninteresting and uninspired.
Zach Hamilton
There is a good idea inside of Zach Hamilton’s character somewhere. Accomplices are an important aspect of Dexter as a story, so it makes sense Dexter would take on one last accomplice come the end of the series. It’s an opportunity for Dexter to, in a way, become Harry. But Zach dies and Dexter doesn’t pass on any particularly useful wisdom either.
It certainly doesn’t help that Michael C. Hall was ghosting through the final season by this point, but there’s no chemistry between Dexter and Zach– not as much as with other accomplices. Zach also contributes nothing to the final season. He’s simply a mid-season story arc that exists to pad for time.
Travis Marshall
Travis Marshall doesn’t end up being a particularly useful man in Dexter’s life. If anything, Dexter taking on Travis as an accomplice ever so briefly pretty much seals his fate for the rest of the series. Without Travis Marshall, Dexter Morgan does not get caught. Dexter, seeking to help Travis snuff out his Dark Passenger, ends up discovering that Travis was the only Doomsday Killer all along.
Travis was playing Dexter the entire time, and Dexter spends the rest of season 6 essentially at the mercy of the Doomsday Killings. He manages to gain an upper hand in the season finale, but only after Travis kidnaps Dexter’s son, Harrison. Worse yet, Deb walks in right as Dexter is killing Travis, setting the stage for a seventh season that tears the Morgan siblings apart.
Hannah McKay
Dexter’s last love interest in the series, Hannah’s a loaded character. Introduced in season 7, Hannah essentially exists as two separate beings: the season 7 Hannah who ends up representing how inherently difficult it is to trust someone who kills people, and season 8 Hannah who gets spotted with Harrison in the series finale, despite the fact she’s supposed to be keeping a low profile.
Hannah realistically gets Harrison put into a foster home for that reason alone. Season 7 Hannah isn’t a particularly good accomplice considering she tried to kill Deb, but here’s the thing: that Hannah is 100% loyal to Dexter in the way we understand Dexter is 100% loyal to Deb. That’s the reason she’s in the series, to showcase that even if you trust a killer, the only way to truly trust them is to literally be in their head the way the audience is with Dexter.
Lila West
Essentially the anti-Rita, Lila offers Dexter the opportunity to indulge in his nastier qualities. It’s through Lila that Dexter comes to face his “Dark Passenger” (although season 7 inexplicably retcons this into Dexter referencing a Dark Passenger since childhood.) Lila represents who Dexter is at his most primal, but that’s not a good thing.
With Lila around, Dexter finds his life considerably more complicated. Everything she offers him is surface level and shallow, as Lila herself can’t understand emotions any better than Dexter. To her credit, however, it’s Lila who ends up ridding Doakes from Dexter’s life, saving him the trouble of dealing with the fallout of the Bay Harbor Butcher investigation. That’s pretty useful, but Lila does then try to burn Dexter, Astor, & Cody alive. So…
Miguel Prado
Miguel wasn’t exactly a beneficial presence in Dexter’s life when all is said and done, but he’s one of the few characters not to leave a distinctly negative effect on Dexter’s life. His psyche, yes– Dexter mentions Miguel as a point of betrayal later on in the series in passing– but nothing Miguel does has lasting consequences past season 3.
For as much as Miguel ends up betraying Dexter, he did teach Dex a few things: how to train an apprentice, how to connect with another person as a sincere friend, and how to better communicate with Rita. Miguel sets a foundation for Dexter to build the rest of his character arc off of. That’s useful in its own respect.
Debra Morgan
Debra really didn’t want to be Dexter’s accomplice, but he pretty much forces it on her considering how season 6 ends. Dexter’s attempts at manipulating Deb come crashing down on their relationship, but not before Debra can help her brother disappear Travis Marshall’s body.
To her credit, Deb actually does try to meet Dexter halfway. By the end of season 7, she’s willing to work with her brother to an extent– but Dexter betrays all that trust when he refuses to kill Hannah McKay and Deb is then poisoned by her. Deb, in an act of selfless love, even kills Laguerta for Dexter following this. Unfortunately, it was an irrational move on Deb’s part spurred by the moment, and one that ruins her life.
Isaak Sirko
If there’s one thing Dexter learns from his time working with Isaak Sirko during the tail end of season 7, it’s that love defies reason. The audience sees this firsthand with Dexter’s blossoming feelings for Hannah, but it’s also on display in Deb’s arc with how she treats Dexter. Isaak Sirko is a killer and the former head of a criminal organization, but he understands love and approaches Dexter amicably.
What’s interesting about Isaak is that he and Dexter begin enemies. In fact, Isaak is actually the main antagonist of season 7 alongside Laguerta, but changings allegiances force him and Dexter into an uneasy alliance. They don’t have a friendly relationship, but they have clear chemistry with one another & Isaak even gets his hands dirty on Dexter’s behalf. Had Isaak lived, the two could’ve made quite a duo.
Lumen Pierce
Lumen is a bit sloppy early on as far as accomplices go, but she learns from Dexter rather quickly. Not just that, she isn’t overburdened by a Dark Passenger like Dexter is, making hers wash away with the death of Jordan Chase and the rest of the Barrel Girl Gang. Dexter and Lumen even get caught by Deb, but Lumen’s story is so sympathetic that Deb lets them go.
It’s worth noting that Lumen stands out as one of the few characters Dexter completely trusts. In that respect, she’s the real love of Dexter’s life. Lumen and Dexter shared something incredibly intimate that was wrapped in some sort of love. Lumen sets the stage for Dexter to be emotionally ready for someone like Hannah– although that ends up being a lesson in and of itself.
Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan is arguably the most important figure in Dexter. Dexter’s foster father, Harry sets the foundation for everything Dexter becomes. Harry’s Code warps Dexter and doesn’t truly help him. Time and time again, Dexter’s accomplices show him that Harry could have taught him something else.
But he didn’t, and what Harry did teach Dexter was pretty damn useful in the grand scheme of things. Harry’s Code quite literally allows Dexter to get through the entire series with a row of bodies in his wake relatively unscathed. Plus, Harry and “sins of the father” as a theme are integral to Dexter’s first seven seasons.
