Lumen Pierce
Encyclopedia
Lumen Ann Pierce is a fictional character
portrayed by Julia Stiles
in the fifth season
of the Showtime television series Dexter
. Lumen is introduced in the third episode
of the fifth season
as a rape
victim of Boyd Fowler. The character remains for the rest of the season, and leaves following the season five finale, "The Big One
".
Lumen is first introduced in the third episode of the fifth season, "Practically Perfect
", in which it is revealed that she was beaten and gang raped by a group of men, including Boyd Fowler. She witnesses Dexter Morgan
kill Fowler, thus becoming a key player in Dexter's life. Dexter rescues her, but initially thinks he has no choice but to kill her in order to eliminate a witness. He eventually decides to spare her life, however. Lumen asks Dexter to help her seek revenge against her abusers, but he initially refuses. After Lumen continues on her own and targets the wrong suspect, Dexter teaches her the importance of knowing a person is guilty before killing him. He entreats her to leave Miami; she agrees at first, but decides to stay after a pat-down at the airport brings back memories of her abuse. She goes out on her own and shoots one of her attackers, but panics not knowing what to do with his body; she calls Dexter, who reluctantly helps her and cover up the murder. That night, she tells him that killing the man brought her a sense of peace that she knows will not last; she believes she will have to kill all of her attackers to get over her abuse for good. Dexter realizes that she harbors a "Dark Passenger" much like his and agrees to help, in part to find his own closure following the murder of his wife, Rita
. The two then systematically hunt down and kill her abusers, in the process becoming lovers. She leaves him in the season finale, however, after realizing that she no longer feels the need to kill.
Lumen is originally from Minnesota
. She is estranged from her family after leaving her fiancé Owen (David Paetkau
) at the altar.
Lumen exited the show following the events of "The Big One
".
for the fifth season of Dexter. Lumen is regularly portrayed by actress Julia Stiles
. She originally signed on to appear in ten episodes of the series. In casting the role, producers were looking for someone with a vulnerable side. It was confirmed shortly before production that Stiles was in the final stages of appearance negotiations for a major role in the fifth season of Dexter. Showtime confirmed on June 7, 2010 that Stiles would appear on the show. They originally gave this character description: "She'll play a "mysterious young woman who forms a unique relationship" with the titular character, played by Golden Globe and SAG-winning actor Michael C. Hall
."
The fifth season finale, "The Big One
", marked the conclusion of the season-long subplot of Lumen seeking revenge against Jordan Chase (Johnny Lee Miller) and his accomplices, and marked the last in a string of regular guest appearances by Stiles and Miller. Stiles said at the start of her time on the series, she believed Lumen would likely be killed by the end of the season because most characters who have learned the truth about Dexter's double life have ended up dead. The actress said she never predicted that Lumen would break up with Dexter, and she found that scene difficult to perform in, due to the level of intimacy the two characters had built up throughout the season. She prepared herself for the scene by focusing on the fact that Lumen was healed and that the reality of the murders she committed with Dexter had sunk in. Stiles said she found Lumen's repudiation of Dexter particularly sad because she knew more about his darker side than anyone else, which meant her breakup was a rejection of him as a person.
kill Boyd Fowler, a serial killer
who had been keeping her captive. While it is extremely inconvenient for Dexter to leave a witness alive, Lumen does not fit Dexter's "code", and so he is morally obligated to keep her alive; he keeps her locked up in a secluded area until he figures out what to do. At first, Lumen is terrified of Dexter, believing that he will kill her for being a witness to his crime. Despite Dexter's constant reassurance that he will not kill her, Lumen refuses to trust him. She tries to escape, but Dexter catches her and shows her the bodies of Boyd Fowler's previous victims. He assures her that had he not killed Boyd, she would also have been murdered. Lumen then confides in Dexter and tells him that Boyd was not the only one to hurt her. It is ultimately revealed that she had been held captive for around a month, during which she was repeatedly raped and torture
d by five men.
Obsessed with avenging herself, she attempts to enlist Dexter's help to hunt down the remaining perpetrators. He is unwilling to help her at first, and urges her to leave Miami and return home. Dexter goes to Lumen's motel room and finds out that she been tracking down her abusers. He tries to spare her the experience of killing by hunting down a registered sex offender
he believes to have been one of the perpetrators, but learns that the man is innocent; he then stops her from killing the man. Unable to bring herself to leave Miami, she finds and shoots one of her rapists. She calls Dexter, who reluctantly helps track down the wounded man, and cautions her about killing the wrong person. The victim pleads his innocence at first, but then calls his co-conspirators on Lumen's cell phone, confirming her suspicion and prompting Dexter to kill him. They later meet at Dexter's house, where Lumen reveals that the man's death brought her a sense of peace, and the only way to find that peace again is to kill her other tormentors. Dexter recognizes this as being her own "Dark Passenger", and finally agrees to help her.
Lumen turns up at the crime scene where Fowler's stocked and preserved victims are revealed from a traffic crash. There, she is spotted by Detective Joey Quinn
, who asks disgraced cop Stan Liddy to look into her and Dexter. She identifies Cole Harmon, self-help guru Jordan Chase's head of security, as one of her rapists, and saves Dexter from a surprise attack by Harmon. Setting up base at the hotel where Chase is giving his seminar, she assists Dexter setting up and prepares for the kill. Harmon spots her in the lobby and chases her; Dexter, barely manages to save her. Unable to extract any information, she watches while Dexter kills him. While they dump the body, Liddy photographs them going out on Dexter's boat.
After the police uncover DVD
s of the men torturing and raping their victims, Dexter switches Lumen's DVD with a scratched and empty one. He then brings it to Lumen, who is afraid and ashamed at the prospect that the police and Dexter watched it. Dexter assures her that no one has seen it. Lumen then acknowledges that she knows what a risk he is taking by being with her, before tearfully telling him that he has been her only way through this. She then forces herself to watch her own rape, as Dexter listens from another room, clearly disturbed by what he hears. Lumen proves instrumental in getting information from Emily Birch, the first victim of Chase's team and only other known survivor. This leads them to Alex Tilden, the first target. Tilden is also Lumen's first victim, as Dexter allows her to make the killing blow at her request. Afterward, they return to Dexter's apartment, where they sleep together. As they lay in each other's arms, Dexter reflects that she is the first person to truly see him for who he is and accept him for it.
As she and Dexter begin to plan how they will capture Chase, they realize that they are being watched. Once Dexter determines that they are under police surveillance, he attempts to convince Lumen to leave Miami for her own safety. However, Lumen refuses to abandon him, and Dexter ultimately admits that he wants her to stay. After receiving a distressed call from Emily, who says Chase contacted and threatened her, Lumen goes to her house to reassure her, after unsuccessfully attempting to contact Dexter. This turns out to be a trap meant for her and Dexter, however, and Chase kidnaps Lumen after murdering Emily. Dexter arrives later and is able to tell that she fought, albeit unsuccessfully, and swears that he will not lose her too. After Dexter shows up to rescue Lumen, she finally kills Chase. After she and Dexter dispose of Chase's body, she admits to Dexter that she did not think they would be able to pull it off, describing it as a miracle. The next day, she regretfully tells Dexter that she has to leave Miami; she reveals that her "Dark Passenger" has left her, and she no longer feels the need to kill. She tells Dexter that she does not want to leave, but has to, because his dark passenger has not left him. Dexter ultimately understands, and tells her that she should not be sorry that her darkness has left her, and promises her that he will carry her darkness as well as his.
The name Lumen Pierce is unusual and therefore fans have enjoyed guessing its meaning. There are several theories, however the most logical one would be that it relates to the lumens of arteries (the centre through which blood flows) and the action of piercing, given the nature of Dexter's hobby.
was not well received by television critics. Matt Fowler of IGN
said, "Having her leave was, unfortunately, inevitable and it meant that we had to sit through her explain the reason for her wanting to leave Dexter, which to us was a little plodding because we knew that it was all a way of getting her off the show when it felt so much more right, story-wise, for her character to want to stay. No, Dexter and Lumen's romance wasn't the true seller here, but it did fit within their vigilante partnership. And it seems like something that she wouldn't want to give up. I did appreciate Dexter's anger when he came to the sad realization that he was "forever broken, with an inner eternal dark flame." During an interview, Julia Stiles felt that she didn't like the way Lumen left the show. She even referenced Lumen being out there, in the world now, with a lot of new knowledge. (Pretty please!)", reviewer Matt Fowler concluded with "Now look, an 8 is still a damn good score, and an 8-point episode of Dexter is still better than a 20 point episode of most other shows, but I still felt like this episode could have handled the end of Lumen's story a bit better. And possibly given us a bit more to chew on as far as Deb knowing that Dexter was a part of something (more the barrel girls and less the Liddy murder, of course). I'm fine with a book-end, but I also need progress. And maybe a little more change to the show status-quo."
Julia Stiles was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her portrayal of Lumen.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
portrayed by Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
in the fifth season
Dexter (season 5)
The fifth season of Dexter premiered on September 26, 2010, and consisted of 12 episodes. The season focuses on how Dexter deals with his recent loss, coming to terms with the death of his wife.- Plot :...
of the Showtime television series Dexter
Dexter (TV series)
Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
. Lumen is introduced in the third episode
Dexter (season 5)
The fifth season of Dexter premiered on September 26, 2010, and consisted of 12 episodes. The season focuses on how Dexter deals with his recent loss, coming to terms with the death of his wife.- Plot :...
of the fifth season
Dexter (season 5)
The fifth season of Dexter premiered on September 26, 2010, and consisted of 12 episodes. The season focuses on how Dexter deals with his recent loss, coming to terms with the death of his wife.- Plot :...
as a rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
victim of Boyd Fowler. The character remains for the rest of the season, and leaves following the season five finale, "The Big One
The Big One (Dexter)
"The Big One" is the fifth season finale of the American television drama series Dexter, and the 60th overall episode of the show. It originally aired on Showtime on December 12, 2010. In the episode, Dexter attempts to save Lumen from Jordan Chase, as his sister, Debra, comes closer to uncovering...
".
Lumen is first introduced in the third episode of the fifth season, "Practically Perfect
Dexter (season 5)
The fifth season of Dexter premiered on September 26, 2010, and consisted of 12 episodes. The season focuses on how Dexter deals with his recent loss, coming to terms with the death of his wife.- Plot :...
", in which it is revealed that she was beaten and gang raped by a group of men, including Boyd Fowler. She witnesses Dexter Morgan
Dexter Morgan
Dexter Morgan is a fictional character in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay, including Darkly Dreaming Dexter , Dearly Devoted Dexter , Dexter in the Dark , Dexter by Design , Dexter is Delicious and Double Dexter...
kill Fowler, thus becoming a key player in Dexter's life. Dexter rescues her, but initially thinks he has no choice but to kill her in order to eliminate a witness. He eventually decides to spare her life, however. Lumen asks Dexter to help her seek revenge against her abusers, but he initially refuses. After Lumen continues on her own and targets the wrong suspect, Dexter teaches her the importance of knowing a person is guilty before killing him. He entreats her to leave Miami; she agrees at first, but decides to stay after a pat-down at the airport brings back memories of her abuse. She goes out on her own and shoots one of her attackers, but panics not knowing what to do with his body; she calls Dexter, who reluctantly helps her and cover up the murder. That night, she tells him that killing the man brought her a sense of peace that she knows will not last; she believes she will have to kill all of her attackers to get over her abuse for good. Dexter realizes that she harbors a "Dark Passenger" much like his and agrees to help, in part to find his own closure following the murder of his wife, Rita
Rita Bennett
Rita Bennett is a fictional character created by Jeff Lindsay for his book series about a vigilante serial killer named Dexter Morgan. She also appeared in the television series Dexter, based on Lindsay's books. She was the girlfriend and later, wife of Dexter in both media...
. The two then systematically hunt down and kill her abusers, in the process becoming lovers. She leaves him in the season finale, however, after realizing that she no longer feels the need to kill.
Lumen is originally from Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. She is estranged from her family after leaving her fiancé Owen (David Paetkau
David Paetkau
David E. Paetkau is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Evan Lewis in Final Destination 2 , Beck McKaye in Whistler , and Sam Braddock in the CTV television series Flashpoint ....
) at the altar.
Lumen exited the show following the events of "The Big One
The Big One (Dexter)
"The Big One" is the fifth season finale of the American television drama series Dexter, and the 60th overall episode of the show. It originally aired on Showtime on December 12, 2010. In the episode, Dexter attempts to save Lumen from Jordan Chase, as his sister, Debra, comes closer to uncovering...
".
Development
Lumen was created by executive producer Clyde PhillipsClyde Phillips
Clyde B. Phillips is a writer and producer for television and film. He has written for the shows Dexter, Shout About Movies, Suddenly Susan, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Midas Valley, and Trapper John, M.D....
for the fifth season of Dexter. Lumen is regularly portrayed by actress Julia Stiles
Julia Stiles
Julia O'Hara Stiles is an American actress.After beginning her career in small parts in a New York City theatre troupe, she has moved on to leading roles in plays by writers as diverse as William Shakespeare and David Mamet...
. She originally signed on to appear in ten episodes of the series. In casting the role, producers were looking for someone with a vulnerable side. It was confirmed shortly before production that Stiles was in the final stages of appearance negotiations for a major role in the fifth season of Dexter. Showtime confirmed on June 7, 2010 that Stiles would appear on the show. They originally gave this character description: "She'll play a "mysterious young woman who forms a unique relationship" with the titular character, played by Golden Globe and SAG-winning actor Michael C. Hall
Michael C. Hall
Michael Carlyle Hall is an American actor whose television roles include David Fisher on the HBO drama series Six Feet Under and Dexter Morgan on the Showtime series Dexter. In 2009, Hall won a Golden Globe award and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role in Dexter.-Early life:Hall was born in...
."
The fifth season finale, "The Big One
The Big One (Dexter)
"The Big One" is the fifth season finale of the American television drama series Dexter, and the 60th overall episode of the show. It originally aired on Showtime on December 12, 2010. In the episode, Dexter attempts to save Lumen from Jordan Chase, as his sister, Debra, comes closer to uncovering...
", marked the conclusion of the season-long subplot of Lumen seeking revenge against Jordan Chase (Johnny Lee Miller) and his accomplices, and marked the last in a string of regular guest appearances by Stiles and Miller. Stiles said at the start of her time on the series, she believed Lumen would likely be killed by the end of the season because most characters who have learned the truth about Dexter's double life have ended up dead. The actress said she never predicted that Lumen would break up with Dexter, and she found that scene difficult to perform in, due to the level of intimacy the two characters had built up throughout the season. She prepared herself for the scene by focusing on the fact that Lumen was healed and that the reality of the murders she committed with Dexter had sunk in. Stiles said she found Lumen's repudiation of Dexter particularly sad because she knew more about his darker side than anyone else, which meant her breakup was a rejection of him as a person.
Arc
Lumen is first seen in the series after witnessing DexterDexter Morgan
Dexter Morgan is a fictional character in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay, including Darkly Dreaming Dexter , Dearly Devoted Dexter , Dexter in the Dark , Dexter by Design , Dexter is Delicious and Double Dexter...
kill Boyd Fowler, a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who had been keeping her captive. While it is extremely inconvenient for Dexter to leave a witness alive, Lumen does not fit Dexter's "code", and so he is morally obligated to keep her alive; he keeps her locked up in a secluded area until he figures out what to do. At first, Lumen is terrified of Dexter, believing that he will kill her for being a witness to his crime. Despite Dexter's constant reassurance that he will not kill her, Lumen refuses to trust him. She tries to escape, but Dexter catches her and shows her the bodies of Boyd Fowler's previous victims. He assures her that had he not killed Boyd, she would also have been murdered. Lumen then confides in Dexter and tells him that Boyd was not the only one to hurt her. It is ultimately revealed that she had been held captive for around a month, during which she was repeatedly raped and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d by five men.
Obsessed with avenging herself, she attempts to enlist Dexter's help to hunt down the remaining perpetrators. He is unwilling to help her at first, and urges her to leave Miami and return home. Dexter goes to Lumen's motel room and finds out that she been tracking down her abusers. He tries to spare her the experience of killing by hunting down a registered sex offender
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
he believes to have been one of the perpetrators, but learns that the man is innocent; he then stops her from killing the man. Unable to bring herself to leave Miami, she finds and shoots one of her rapists. She calls Dexter, who reluctantly helps track down the wounded man, and cautions her about killing the wrong person. The victim pleads his innocence at first, but then calls his co-conspirators on Lumen's cell phone, confirming her suspicion and prompting Dexter to kill him. They later meet at Dexter's house, where Lumen reveals that the man's death brought her a sense of peace, and the only way to find that peace again is to kill her other tormentors. Dexter recognizes this as being her own "Dark Passenger", and finally agrees to help her.
Lumen turns up at the crime scene where Fowler's stocked and preserved victims are revealed from a traffic crash. There, she is spotted by Detective Joey Quinn
Joey Quinn
Joseph "Joey" Quinn is a fictional character in the Showtime television series Dexter, portrayed by Desmond Harrington. Quinn is a cop who transferred to the Homicide division after being in narcotics before season three.-Character history:...
, who asks disgraced cop Stan Liddy to look into her and Dexter. She identifies Cole Harmon, self-help guru Jordan Chase's head of security, as one of her rapists, and saves Dexter from a surprise attack by Harmon. Setting up base at the hotel where Chase is giving his seminar, she assists Dexter setting up and prepares for the kill. Harmon spots her in the lobby and chases her; Dexter, barely manages to save her. Unable to extract any information, she watches while Dexter kills him. While they dump the body, Liddy photographs them going out on Dexter's boat.
After the police uncover DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s of the men torturing and raping their victims, Dexter switches Lumen's DVD with a scratched and empty one. He then brings it to Lumen, who is afraid and ashamed at the prospect that the police and Dexter watched it. Dexter assures her that no one has seen it. Lumen then acknowledges that she knows what a risk he is taking by being with her, before tearfully telling him that he has been her only way through this. She then forces herself to watch her own rape, as Dexter listens from another room, clearly disturbed by what he hears. Lumen proves instrumental in getting information from Emily Birch, the first victim of Chase's team and only other known survivor. This leads them to Alex Tilden, the first target. Tilden is also Lumen's first victim, as Dexter allows her to make the killing blow at her request. Afterward, they return to Dexter's apartment, where they sleep together. As they lay in each other's arms, Dexter reflects that she is the first person to truly see him for who he is and accept him for it.
As she and Dexter begin to plan how they will capture Chase, they realize that they are being watched. Once Dexter determines that they are under police surveillance, he attempts to convince Lumen to leave Miami for her own safety. However, Lumen refuses to abandon him, and Dexter ultimately admits that he wants her to stay. After receiving a distressed call from Emily, who says Chase contacted and threatened her, Lumen goes to her house to reassure her, after unsuccessfully attempting to contact Dexter. This turns out to be a trap meant for her and Dexter, however, and Chase kidnaps Lumen after murdering Emily. Dexter arrives later and is able to tell that she fought, albeit unsuccessfully, and swears that he will not lose her too. After Dexter shows up to rescue Lumen, she finally kills Chase. After she and Dexter dispose of Chase's body, she admits to Dexter that she did not think they would be able to pull it off, describing it as a miracle. The next day, she regretfully tells Dexter that she has to leave Miami; she reveals that her "Dark Passenger" has left her, and she no longer feels the need to kill. She tells Dexter that she does not want to leave, but has to, because his dark passenger has not left him. Dexter ultimately understands, and tells her that she should not be sorry that her darkness has left her, and promises her that he will carry her darkness as well as his.
The name Lumen Pierce is unusual and therefore fans have enjoyed guessing its meaning. There are several theories, however the most logical one would be that it relates to the lumens of arteries (the centre through which blood flows) and the action of piercing, given the nature of Dexter's hobby.
Critical Reaction
The character of Lumen has been very well received by critics. Many critics have responded well to Stiles’ portrayal of the character. Her exit in The Big OneThe Big One (Dexter)
"The Big One" is the fifth season finale of the American television drama series Dexter, and the 60th overall episode of the show. It originally aired on Showtime on December 12, 2010. In the episode, Dexter attempts to save Lumen from Jordan Chase, as his sister, Debra, comes closer to uncovering...
was not well received by television critics. Matt Fowler of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said, "Having her leave was, unfortunately, inevitable and it meant that we had to sit through her explain the reason for her wanting to leave Dexter, which to us was a little plodding because we knew that it was all a way of getting her off the show when it felt so much more right, story-wise, for her character to want to stay. No, Dexter and Lumen's romance wasn't the true seller here, but it did fit within their vigilante partnership. And it seems like something that she wouldn't want to give up. I did appreciate Dexter's anger when he came to the sad realization that he was "forever broken, with an inner eternal dark flame." During an interview, Julia Stiles felt that she didn't like the way Lumen left the show. She even referenced Lumen being out there, in the world now, with a lot of new knowledge. (Pretty please!)", reviewer Matt Fowler concluded with "Now look, an 8 is still a damn good score, and an 8-point episode of Dexter is still better than a 20 point episode of most other shows, but I still felt like this episode could have handled the end of Lumen's story a bit better. And possibly given us a bit more to chew on as far as Deb knowing that Dexter was a part of something (more the barrel girls and less the Liddy murder, of course). I'm fine with a book-end, but I also need progress. And maybe a little more change to the show status-quo."
Julia Stiles was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy for her portrayal of Lumen.