Did anyone else think it was a dream?

I think it was a dream and a lot of folks missed it. Earlier in the film, Dexter expresses regret and that he would have done things differently. Then in the end, he kind of shakes his head when he wakes up, as if he has been given a glimpse of what life COULD be like and he knows he has a chance to change it. He gets to see his errors and avoid them to clear the path for a great love.

A lot of comments and articles are noting that the end provides a flashback to the audience, to show they spent the day together. I didn't get that impression at all. It was very clear in the end scene that the spark between them was far more romantic, and urgent to be together, and not just a formation of a new friendship as in the opening of the film.

I think that final scene on the hill (him with Jasmine - him with Emma) is an overlap of the proverbial "fork in the road", as in it's all up to Dexter of what is to come in the future. We know Emma loves him either way, the film has established that. But he has the choice of living what he's glimpsed, or choosing his love for Emma. We see him choosing to start their life now from Day One.



I thought you came up here to have a nervous breakdown. ..I decided not to have one.

I don't think it's a dream- it's certainly not a dream in the book. Sadly.
I think the ending just gives us more insight into what actually happened that day?
Although it could be seen as a kind of circle... perhaps he gets to live it all again, making different choices?

Not at all. The ending showed us the rest of their first day and made it clear that they were both interested in a romantic connection from the beginning. For whatever reason, they didn't follow through on it at that time.

I blame it on the *beep* parents who showed up at just the wrong time.

Life has twists and turns.

The end sequence fits with all that we saw after he fell asleep the first night being a dream. When he awakes he knows he can't let this chance slip away. The other interpretation is that the end sequence is how he now wishes he had handled things. I tend to go for the dream as the events are too "over the top" to be convincing.