Whether you just watched Dexter for the first time or are rewatching it ahead of Dexter: Resurrection, you may be wondering how the heck he survived driving his boat straight into the eye of a hurricane. Dexter is a pretty resilient guy and nothing seems to stop him. He has been stabbed, left for dead, and even shot and presumed dead, but alas, he manages to get back up every time. Of course, he has some plot armor and the audience accepts it because they love the character so much. At the end of Dexter: New Blood, he was shot in the chest by his son, but it has since been confirmed he survived the gunshot wound.
It has been explained in various interviews that the cold weather slowed Dexter’s heart rate and blood loss, preventing him from bleeding out before doctors could tend to him in the hospital and keep him alive. However, that’s far from the first time Dexter has cheated death on-screen. In the infamous series finale of Dexter, the legendary serial killer takes his dead sister out to sea and drops her into the ocean, essentially claiming her as his last victim as he takes blame for death. He then drives his boat into Hurricane Laura, suggesting he has hurt too many people and needs to go away.
Initially, it’s thought that Dexter killed himself by crashing his boat into the hurricane, but that’s not the case. In what is perhaps one of the most hated endings of any TV show ever, we see Dexter is still kicking as a lumberjack somewhere likely in the pacific northwest. His inner monologue is gone and he has created a mental prison for himself, bound to never hurt anyone ever again… at least, that was the case back in 2013.
Dexter Intentionally Faked His Death in the Original Series Finale
How did Dexter survive the hurricane, though? Some have assumed that this is a Dexter plot hole, but there is an answer. In Season 8, Episode 11, Dexter is showing his boat to a potential buyer. He lists off all of the various features of the boat which notably includes an autopilot function and an emergency life raft. It’s likely that Dexter activated the autopilot and utilized the raft to make an escape from there. Previous seasons have shown that Dexter keeps cash and even potentially fake identities on hand in case he has to make a quick escape, so it likely wasn’t hard for him to set up shop for cheap elsewhere.
Of course, Dexter eventually goes on to live as Jim Lindsay in Dexter: New Blood, so he was able to establish a quiet new life for himself. In that show, he’s questioned by Angela Bishop about why he is living under an alias. He claims that he tried to kill himself in the hurricane, but miraculously washed ashore alive and used it as a new lease on life. This was likely a lie in order to make him seem less suspicious and like a poor soul rather than someone who intentionally faked their own death.
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