How Does Dexter See 'Dexter' Ultimately Ending?

(WARNING! The excerpts from this interview contain a MAJOR SPOILER concerning recent developments on new episodes of "Dexter." If you haven't seen the most recent new episode, IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED THAT YOU READ NO FURTHER.)

The people who give Showtime's "Dexter" life know at least a bare minimum how much longer the Emmy-worthy ride will last.

The Miami-based avenging-serial killer thriller is nearing the climax to its sixth season, but it's already been guaranteed a seventh and an eighth. That's ample job security for repeat Emmy nominee Michael C. Hall and company. But so many times, in television as in life, there can be a thin line between "perfectly healthy" and death's door. Like it or not, the end may not always be nigh, but it always looms.

Just ask "House" fans.

That being said, Hall has his ideas about how he sees Miami's avenging angel eventually calling it a long, bloody career and parting ways with his "dark passenger." The trick, as he told Parade recently, is sometimes saying enough while saying nearly nothing.

"I'm like 'Dexter's' press secretary, so I have to say something without saying anything," Hall joked. But all kidding aside, Dexter Morgan will end his journey as he's lived it: with loss.

"I think the question is what happens to him," Hall said. "Is he done in? Does he do himself in? Does he get away with it? But even if he gets away with it at this point, there have been a lot of ramifications for his behavior already. What the final verdict will be for him specifically, I can't say. As for a happy ending, I don't think we're in that territory."

Hall probably overstates the obvious a tad when he notes that Dexter has evolved immensely over six seasons. The once-disconnected killing machine has been plugged into humanity, and there's really no escaping it now, Hall feels.

"I think we're meant to be skeptical about Dexter's claims of inhumanity when we first meet him," Hall adds. "At this point, especially given Dexter's seemingly authentic connection to his role as a father and to his son. I think it's difficult to argue that he's without the capacity of human emotion. But his ability to compartmentalize has probably developed as much as anything." 

(LAST WARNING....SPOILER COMING!)

Dexter's love life has awkwardly sometimes mirrored Hall's. From 2008 until December 2010, Hall was married to co-star Jennifer Carpenter - who plays Dexter's adopted sister, Deborah. The most recent episode hints that Hall and Carpenter might soon be navigating playing out a love affair between Dexter and Deborah.

"I think from the beginning, storytelling-wise, Dexter and Deb had a relationship that is as central to the story of the show as any," Hall said.

"To the extent that they've been moving towards each other one way or another. That's been in the cards since the beginning. Obviously, we've been through things personally, but we remain dear friends and fiercely committed to our work as actors on the show."