Here’s What Happens to Doakes in ‘Dexter’

Give it to me straight, doc. Does Doakes croak? Done in with a rope? Pushed out of a boat and into a moat? Does he get choked? With a knife is he poked? Or is it just a hoax? If you’re a fan of Dexter, you’re in for a surprise, mother****er.

Spolier alert:

Doakes dies.

But how could this happen?

WITH FIRE. But seriously. It was glorious; allow me to explain.

Doakes had suspected that something was off about series protagonist Dexter for quite some time—just a vibe. And a trail of bodies in the area. Doakes begins to suspect that Dex is none other than the Bay Harbor Butcher, who has been merking people left and right of late. Doakes decides to put a tracking device on old Dexter’s boat, which leads him back to a certain cabin in the Everglades where Dexter … disposes of his kills.

Doakes spots Dexter carrying dismembered body parts around the house, confirming his suspicion. He sneaks up on Dexter using the element of surprise mother****er, but Dexter quickly gets the upper hand in the ensuing hand-to-hand combat sequence. Doakes is captured by Dexter and placed in a cage in the cabin, then the killer jets off to Miami. Meanwhile, the police begin to search for Doakes.

After spending some quality time with Dexter in his murder cabin, Doakes reasons that Dexter operates according to a moral code, killing only those who deserve it. He tries to plead with Dexter to turn himself in to the police, but Dexter isn’t having it. There’s still like five more seasons to shoot! Then Doakes and Dexter end up having to team up to take down some drug runners. It’s a long story. They are victorious in the fight, but Dexter locks up Doakes once more.

Eventually, the firebug Lila West discovers the location of the cabin and finds Doakes inside. She puts it together that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, and rather than free Doakes, she decides to “help” Dexter out by tying up a loose end. She floods the house with flammable chemicals and leaves the stove burning. Doakes ends up escaping and rushing towards the burner, but the house ignites in a fiery explosion moments before he is able to get there. Doakes is killed in the blast, and his body is so badly disfigured that he could only be identified by his teeth.

It was a shocking twist, but that’s just the way Doakes would have wanted it. After all, he loved surprising mother****ers, and his death sure surprised the mother****er in all of us.