Dexter's Michael C. Hall: Will Hannah Turn Dexter In?

Dexter's world may come crashing down around him this Sunday.

On Dexter's Season 7 finale (9/8c, Showtime), the series' titular serial killer will have to face the possibility that Hannah (Yvonne Strahovski), whom Dexter (Michael C. Hall) turned in to the cops last week, may decide to retaliate and turn her former beloved in as well. But she could be the least of his worries now that Hector Estrada, the man who ordered the hit on his mother, was able to escape. Will Hector turn to La Guerta (Lauren Velez) lest Dexter find him first? TVGuide.com turned to Hall to find out what's in store for America's favorite serial killer:

Dexter's Michael C. Hall: Dexter will have to choose between Hannah and Deb!

Dexter had Hannah arrested, but she still know his secrets. Is he worried she'll turn against him? And how does he deal with losing who could have been the love of his life?
Michael C. Hall: There was a hard and fast rule that couldn't be denied. Dexter does maintain an allegiance to his sister (Jennifer Carpenter). But I think he was open to a sense of possibility and open to a sense of legitimate future in a way he never had been before, and that's not going to be an easy thing for him to dismiss. He believes that Hannah does love him and will keep his secret. He, if nothing else, believes she'll do it out of a sense of self-righteousness; that she was able to keep secrets in a way that he couldn't. He doesn't know for sure. It's a calculated risk as many things in Dexter's life. The tension that creates is part of what makes this show compelling.

Because when Hannah says, "You should've killed me," it seems like a threat rather than —
Hall: Exactly! I like that that line can be interpreted in both ways, especially in the way Yvonne played it. "You should've killed me because I'm going to do you in," or "You should've killed me because I'd rather be dead." He doesn't know for sure what she means.

I actually feel bad for Dexter that Hector Estrada was able to escape. Will Dexter be on the hunt to take him down lest Hector turn him in?
Hall: Exactly. I think both practically speaking and as a matter of vanquishing that final piece of the mom's murder puzzle, Dexter's definitely going to motivated to find him and finish that job.

Now La Guerta has even more reason to suspect Dexter as the Bay Harbor Butcher. How will he butt heads with her in the finale?
Hall: He only knows through Matthews (Geoffrey Pierson) that La Guerta is onto him. He obviously tried to get them off the scent with the evidence or have Deb help him plant, implicating Doakes (Erik King) in a definitive way, but it didn't do the trick. She's not going to go quietly and I don't think Dexter is either.

Is speed the new suspense on TV?

Will we get a face-to-face showdown between Dexter and La Guerta in the finale?
Hall: It seems a reasonable thing to look forward to, but I'm not going to say either way. [Laughs]

It seems Dexter's world is about to come crashing down in the finale. Should we be worried about him getting arrested?
Hall: I think a part of the show's appeal is that we're always struggling not to worry about him. He's never really been in bigger trouble than he is now and this season generally. If you're inclined to worry about Dexter, worry now.

What surprised you about this finale?
Hall: The level of and the different flavors of heartbreak that it deals.

Did you read the last page of the script and have a "holy sh--" moment?
Hall: Yeah, totally. I knew generally where things were headed, but when you see the meat put on the bones, it's always a revelatory experience. It was a real punch to the solar plexus as the show in its best moments so often is.

How do you think Dexter is a different killer now that he's taken responsibility and stopped blaming the Dark Passenger?
Hall: In some ways, it's just a different way to frame it all in his mind. He's a less compartmentalized individual. He doesn't compartmentalize his compulsion to kill. It's a part of a more integrated, full human being that he now understands himself to be. That, on the one hand, is attractive and suggests an evolution, but also is a dangerous proposition in terms of his ability to reckon with all that he's done and the ways in which who he is has implicated and affected those closest to him. He can take full responsibility for everything he's done, and on the other hand, he has to take full responsibility for everything he's done. It's attractive and daunting at the same time.

Dexter Scoop: How does Deb's admission change everything?

How have you felt about finally getting to play a more open Dexter, who has shared his life both with Deb and Hannah this season?
Hall: I think Dexter, from the moment his brother puts that dismembered Barbie doll in his freezer in the first season, an appetite for connection and acceptance and revelation is born in him and it's an appetite that is exploited by different characters in Dexter's world throughout the life of the show and maybe never more completely than with Hannah. He's open to some pretty shiny, happy visions of the future, something that didn't really seem to be available to him before. That's been, on the one hand, exciting, but it's also a dangerous proposition for him because he's not everybody. For him to fantasize such a future is really a matter of him hoping to have his cake and eat it too, and I don't know if that's going to be possible. We'll see.

Do you think Dexter can have his cake and eat it too? Or do expect to see him in handcuffs come Sunday? Hit the comments with your thoughts!

The Dexter season finale airs Sunday at 9/8c on Showtime.