Review: “Dexter: Resurrection” Breathes New Life into an Old Favorite

A Change of Heart Led to Our Latest Chance to Watch America’s Favorite Serial Killer

*** Caution: Mild Spoilers ahead***

The original “Dexter” ran on Showtime between 2006-2013. It is easily one of the cable network’s most popular programs ever, though most viewers feel it may have run a season or two too long. The “Dexter” series finale was so unpopular with fans that it is still considered perhaps the worst series finale of any television show to date.

The stench from that ending left viewers so let down that the cable network decided to green-light “Dexter: New Blood,” which ran a single season in 2021 and saw Dexter Morgan’s now grown son, Harrison, seemingly kill him in the season finale.

With Dexter’s fate now wrapped up, and fans a bit more satisfied, the world seemed to be moving on. But in recent interviews to promote this now 4th version of Dexter (Last year, we were also treated to the prequel series, “Dexter: Original Sin”), star Michael C. Hall tells the story of a conversation he had with show creators where they asked themselves the question, “Ok, but what if he didn’t die?” And thus, “Dexter: Original Sin” began with a scene showing Dexter Morgan being whisked into the emergency room. He is saved, but rests in a coma for 10 weeks before waking up in the upstate Iron Lake hospital in “Dexter: Resurrection.” It’s a lot of Dexters to keep up with!  

I’ve watched the first two episodes of what will be a 10-episode Season One for this recap – just enough to be impressed and committed to watching it all (FYI, I probably would anyway. I was a huge fan of the original Series, which, if memory serves, is why I added Showtime to my cable lineup 19 years ago). I focus mainly here on the pilot episode.

Before he awakens, Dexter is visited by some familiar faces while in his coma, and it doubles as fantastic fan service. We see John Lithgow’s Trinity Killer, who murdered Dexter’s wife, Rita, in the Season Four finale. He tells Dexter that he’s at fault for Harrison’s murderous tendencies because he didn’t commit to being a good father, but tried to balance fatherhood with the continued killing of bad guys. We also see Jimmy Smits’ fallen D.A. character Miguel Prado, who shames Dexter for all the innocent lives lost through his double life, including his sister Deb, Rita, Sargent Doakes, and Lt. LaGuerta. Speaking of, Doakes shows up too. He tells Dexter that there is some good in him (kind of a surprise coming from Doakes), and he needs to embrace that if Harrison is going to have any chance at life.

Dexter’s new mission: find Harrison and guide his son’s Dark Passenger just as Dexter’s adoptive father, Harry, guided and continues to guide his own. Harry himself (played by the returning James Remar) warns Dexter that if he doesn’t make mentorship of Harrison his new mission, Harrison could end up like Dexter’s brother Brian, who famously turned into the Ice Truck Killer.

But before Dexter can track down Harrison, who left Iron Lake immediately after the shooting, he returns to his room from physical therapy to find his old colleague, Miami Detective Angel Batista (a returning David Zayas), waiting for him. Batista wastes no time asking Dexter why he stole Deb’s body from the hospital and faked his death 12 years ago. Dexter, surprisingly ready for the question, says that he drove his boat into a hurricane over his grief over losing Deb, and that led to him starting a new life as “Jim Lindsey” in Iron Lake.

But that’s not quite enough for Batista. He says he’s never gotten over the fact that LaGuerta insisted to him, just before she was killed, that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher, and not Doakes, as Dexter had manipulated everyone to believe. He informs Dexter that he had him “legally resurrected,” which Dexter doesn’t take as good news as he thinks Batista did this for purposes of perhaps prosecuting him. Batista tells (warns?) Dexter that he’ll be back the next day during visiting hours. Ok, time to get out of Iron Lake!

Meanwhile, in New York City, Harrison is working in a posh hotel. He seems to have a romantic spark with his colleague Elsa, but what happened is not lost on him. He still has flashbacks to shooting Dexter, but otherwise seems to be doing well.

One evening, Harrison catches a frequent hotel guest sexually assaulting a young woman and steps in. A fight breaks out, but the would-be rapist relents and lets the woman go. Job well done. But then he makes the mistake of saying to Harrison, “There’s plenty more where she came from.” This triggers Harrison to recall a vision of Kurt Caldwell’s victims (our serial killer from “New Blood,” played by Clancy Brown), and suddenly, he’s smashing the rapist with a toilet lid. As he calms down, bloodied, he realizes he needs to clean up the situation. Luckily, he’s been trained by the best. He chops up the body and cleans the scene. But that doesn’t stop a piece of leg parts from tumbling out of one of the bags Harrison uses, and the sanitation guys notice.

That brings detectives Claudette Wallace and Melvin Oliva (played by “Nurse Jackie’s” Dominic Fumusa) to the hotel to investigate.

In Iron Lake, Dexter overhears the physical therapists talking about the body they found chopped into nine pieces. He realizes that’s what he would do, so he does a little research. The victim’s name is known, and after researching the man’s history as a known sexual predator, he thinks it must have been Harrison’s work. This tips him off that he should be looking in NYC, which would have made immediate sense for Harrison after leaving upstate Iron Lake. He just beats Batista, who’s returned for visiting hours, out the door, steals a car, and heads to NYC.

E1 also gives us a quick glimpse at Charley, a character played by Uma Thurman. We see her breaking into an apartment, where she sifts her way around. Among other things, she finds a bunch of IDs with bloody “Xs” on them. Ok, so clearly a serial killer. But how did she know that? Instead of calling in law enforcement, she leaves behind an invitation… interesting.

E2 begins with a shady hooded guy attacking his immigrant driver, spewing racist language about losing everything because of “fucks” like him. His weapon of choice is barbed chain wire, which he used to decapitate drivers.

We then see the very no-nonsense detective Wallace says the rapist’s room is “too clean,” which means somebody who knows what they’re doing cleaned up the scene. They also discover that a new toilet tank cover has already replaced the old one, which they know must have been the weapon from porcelain dust discovered in the victim’s hair. They also deduce he was a rapist from the Rohypnol they find among his things.

Dexter also visits the crime scene, impressed with Harrison’s clean-up job. He knows his job right now is to protect Harrison, and he’ll have to be sharp because the show establishes that Wallace and Oliva are really good detectives. And Harrison is doing a pretty poor job of looking or remaining cool. And yet Dexter – despite Harry’s urging to get to Harrison ASAP – seems content for now to try and help from a distance.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Miami Metro Division is in Iron Lake meeting with the new Sheriff, and Batista is looking into Dexter’s auto records. Given that Harrison stole Dexter’s car when he skipped town, we’re pretty sure Batista will find his way to NYC.

When Dexter’s “new car” gets towed, Dexter takes an Uber-like service to the impound lot. His driver is a guy named Blessing Kamara (played by “The Chi’s” “Ronnie,” Ntare Mwine). He’s fairly chatty at first, but then shares some caution with Dexter because there is a serial killer on the loose, and he’s killing rideshare drivers. A friend of Blessing’s narrowly escaped the killer himself. The serial killer’s nickname? The Dark Passenger. This, of course, humorously infuriates Dexter, so don’t say Dexter as a series never had a sense of humor.

But, of course, Dexter wants to learn more about this serial killer, despite Harry once again encouraging him to focus on Harrison. So he accepts an invite to a party the next day at Blessing’s house in Queens, mostly so he can ask questions of the fellow rideshare driver friend of Blessing’s.

At more than 1,500 words, I’m going to leave it there. But let’s just say that I’m glad Dexter is back. And with Harrison to mold, we have a terrific new wrinkle in addition to whichever bad guys Dexter will kill.

I do know one more thing I’ll share… that invitation Uma Thurman’s character left for the serial killer? Apparently, it’s an invitation to a gathering of serial killers hosted by a character played by Peter Dinklage. Guest starring among them will be “Modern Family’s Eric Stonestreet and “Jessica Jones’s” Krysten Ritter. What Peter Dinklage is going to ask of them is anyone’s guess. So tune in to find out!

And that’s what Todd’s watching.