Serial killers aren’t heroes, but you’d never know it given the number of true crime stories and dramatized murderers currently populating television. Our culture has become obsessed with those who take lives and Dexter Morgan is partially responsible. Now, his TV resurrection aims to question that obsession.
When “Dexter” debuted in 2006, the Michael C. Hall character was considered TV’s first leading serial killer. What made him palpable was who he extinguished: other killers whose victims were less “deserving.” In his own way Dex was making Miami a safer place, all while feeding his innate bloodthirst.
Nearly two decades later, the appetite for fictional — or fictionalized — serial killers has evolved, with romanticized takes in shows like “Monsters,” “Hannibal” and “You.” Add in the true crime obsession and a trend of forgetting the victims, and there have been endless dissertations and theories about why we continue to make and watch these series.
Four episodes in and “Dexter: Resurrection” is a response to that evolution. Showrunner Clyde Phillips, who oversaw the original first four seasons and all spinoffs since, uses the newest series to put Dexter in direct contact with quirky killers and explore the headlines that give them their fan bases.
It’s no spoiler to say that Dexter is alive after his son Harrison (Jack Alcott) shot him in the “New Blood” finale, despite Phillips insisting the character was dead. The trailer, meanwhile, confirmed a reunion between Dex and his former friend and co-worker Angel Batista (David Zayas), who has long suspected Dexter of being the Bay Harbor Butcher. The pair meet quickly in the first episode, driving Dexter to leave Iron Lake for New York City in search of his son.
It’s while living the big city life that the real action unfolds. Harrison is trying to forget his past while working at an established hotel, until a horrific accident sends him spiraling down the same path as his father. Dexter, meanwhile, becomes embroiled in the darkest of underbellies, details of which would be a spoiler to reveal. Especially since the heart of the story is a slow burn, with the first few episodes dedicated to establishing Dexter’s titular resurrection, hiding Easter eggs and building out Harrison’s new life.
Unlike “New Blood,” in which Dexter tried to live down-low and away from murders and controversy, the character is ready to re-embrace his Dark Passenger in New York City. That means his father Harry (James Remar) is back as his ghostly guide. But remember, this is an older Dexter who is coming back from death. And so, he is no longer capable of the same physical feats he once was. The scripts embrace that change for humor and frustration, reminding us that no one is actually immortal here.
Much like in “New Blood” and the original series, Dexter continues to strive toward moral resolution as the episodes unfold. His past trauma continues to haunt him (the only time he ever sought therapy was to entrap a homicidal therapist, after all), and some of the most interesting scenes are when he’s trying to balance his hubris with his sense of society.
Of course, Dexter is also there to protect and keep an eye on his son, having yo-yoed back to the decision that he is the only one who can truly understand Harrison. The series benefits by keeping the characters’ storylines separate for now, since viewers have never really had a chance to know Harrison outside of his father’s gaze. Harrison’s growth and development are only possible in his father’s absence, but having Dexter there, secretly watching him, is the link viewers need to invest in his storyline. There’s a reason a “son of Dexter” series sans Dexter never happened.
The duality leads to explorations of nature versus nurture, generational trauma and the examination of killer psychology and acceptance. There’s also plenty of physical action to keep up an ample pace in the first three episodes and hook you, not to mention a script that’s dark, comical and rarely stretches as far beyond reality as some of the original’s latter seasons did. (Dexter and his sister should have never been a thing, thank you very much.)
By the time the series gets to the fourth episode made available to critics, the real crux of where this season is going unravels. That’s when we learn more about the characters played by previously announced guest stars like Peter Dinklage, Eric Stonestreet, Uma Thurman and Neil Patrick Harris, who each bring a memorable take.
A particular dinner scene plays more like a gothic stage play, which is appropriate given the New York backdrop, and there are plenty of nods to notorious serial killers from real life, including John Wayne Gacy and Charles Manson. They’re thrown into the same world as the fictional serial killers. How Dexter relates to them, feels as though he differs from them and interacts with them is where things get really, really interesting.
This is all to say Dexter holds a mirror up to society’s current obsession with serial killers in an entertaining and somewhat cathartic way that makes the series relevant now. Dexter isn’t a hero, but he’s never pretended to be. Here, particularly, he seems to be toeing the line between finally fitting in or taking down the idea of serial killers as heroes.
Is rooting for one serial killer OK if it means the downfall of many? It’s a utilitarian take that would make the likes of John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham proud, and it’s what makes “Dexter: Resurrection” relevant to the world 19 years after the original series’ debut.
“Dexter: Resurrection” premieres Friday on Paramount+ With Showtime.
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