‘Dexter’ Final Season Spoilers: Deb and Dexter Romance Addressed, Plus Lumen’s Return?

Far away among all the murder, mayhem and Masuka that 'Dexter's most recent seasons have addressed, the most shocking of which has proven to be Debra's fleetingly incestuous feelings for her own adopted brother, compounded by the revelation of his true nature. With 'Dexter' season 8 set to premiere the final installments on June 30, will Showtime's serial killer serial return to the taboo relationship? And what other characters might resurface before the end?

We had thought that Deb's icky feelings for her adopted brother would have abated with the revelation of his serial killer tendencies but recent photos of series star Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C. Hall have given us plenty of reasons to suspect. Entertainment Weekly took the question to current series showrunner Scott Buck, who offered a less than conclusive answer:

“It will always color her feelings for Dexter," offered Buck.  "But after everything she’s been through with him it’s hard for her to entertain any serious thoughts of romance with him. Her feelings are so much more complicated for him now.” Speaking of Dexter's lovelife however, we know Yvonne Strahovski's Hannah McKay will resurface at some point, but what of Dexter's past love interests, or lingering characters for that matter?

Fan-reviled though she might have been, just whatever happened to Lumen (Julia Stiles), still out there with knowledge of Dexter's secret? “You don’t want to become too gimmicky and keep pulling characters out of the past," answered the showrunner. "I don’t think we’ll be seeing Lumen [Pierce].”

Understandable perhaps, but what would Buck offer of 'Dexter's ultimate end?

I think ideally it will make our audience sit back and see Dexter a little more clearly than before. People love him for what he does, there’s a lot of wish fulfillment, I think [the ending] will help you see him more of as an actual person. It feels like the exact ending we should be doing. It will be pretty clear and understandable and should absolutely make sense to everybody watching it.

Premiering June 30, ‘Dexter’ season 8 will feature appearances from Kenny Johnson (‘The Shield’), ‘24‘ villain Julian Sands as a wealthy international businessman, Bethany Joy (‘One Tree Hill’) Lenz as Dexter’s new neighbor Cassie and ‘Last Resort‘ star Darri Ingolfsson as her antique-dealing love interest,  Rhys (‘Entourage‘) Coiro as a bail jumper on Deb’s radar, ‘The Walking Dead‘ star Nick Gomez as a hitman that goes up against Deb, Charlotte Rampling as "Psychopath Whisperer" neuropsychiatrist Dr. Evelyn Vogel, and ‘The Boondock Saints’ star Sean Patrick Flanery as ex-cop-turned-private-eye Jacob Elway.

Well, what say you? Are you disappointed to learn 'Dexter' may not return to either of its two most controversial threads in the final season? What predictions to you have for the final run?