Dexter: Resurrection (2025)

When Dexter (the brilliant Michael C. Hall) awakes from a ten-week coma, he’s understandably disoriented. He’s also wondering how it is that he is not in a prison hospital, handcuffed to a bed. If you recall, at the end of Dexter: New Blood (2021-2022), he was shot by his son Harrison (Jack Alcott), to whom he’d given a crash course in serial killing 101 “by the code of Harry,” that is until Harrison declared that he was not like Dexter after all. But Dexter didn’t die on the snow-covered ground of Iron Lake, New York. Turns out the below freezing temperatures slowed his heart rate and blood loss just enough to preserve his life. But now as he comes into consciousness, the precariousness of his situation is also coming crashing back.

When we last saw a grown Dexter Morgan in Dexter: New Blood (as opposed to young man Dexter in Dexter: Original Sin [2024 -]) his astute girlfriend, Chief Angela Bishop (Julia Jones) had deduced that he was the infamous Miami serial killer, the Bay Harbor Butcher, and contacted Dexter’s long-time friend and work colleague Sgt. Angel Batista (David Zayas) to travel north to identify him. As a reminder, Dexter Morgan of the original Dexter (2006-2013) was indeed the notorious Bay Harbor Butcher who rid Miami of its most despicable serial killers all to a sultry Latin sound and sight scape set in the sun drenched (but gruesomely morbid) Florida city. He also worked with a code, taught to him by his deceased former Miami Metro detective father Harry, who reluctantly instructed him how to kill (only bad people mind you) and more importantly, how to clean up after himself in a way that left no evidence. It didn’t hurt too that Dexter was a Miami Metro blood spatter analyst. Talk about insider knowledge!

But before Dexter awakes from his coma, he’s treated to visitations from some of his old friends (think Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, but for serial killers). But the deceased visitors are not exactly friends. These men like Arthur Mitchell (played with creepy zeal by the chameleon John Lithgow) and Miguel Prado (played with dark magnetism by Jimmy Smits), may have started out as friends, but their uncontained lust for blood separated them from Dexter and his code, leading him to, well, eliminate them. Why are they back? They’ve come to shed light on Dexter’s life and to offer insights on the flaws in his code – mainly his unrealistic desire to combine a “normal life” with his “dark passenger”. While Arthur shows Dexter the literal blood bath where he killed his wife Rita (Julie Benz) in front of their young son Harrison, resulting in the toddler being “born in blood” like his father, Miguel brings Dexter to the cemetery to remind him of the innocent lives that have been lost because of him like wife Rita, boss María LaGuerta (Luna Lauren Velez), and sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter).

Dexter has another unearthly visitor too, one who was decidedly not a friend in life. Sgt. James Doakes (Erik King), Dexter’s stern and overly direct African American Miami Metro Detective colleague (the only person who ever had Dexter pegged from the beginning) is back with some choice words for Dexter. If you recall, Doakes – who never bought the unassuming-nice-guy-with-the-box-of-donuts routine from Dexter – had routinely stared him down levelling him with I-know-what-you-are glances and peppering him with insults on the job, usually creative and hilarious combinations that included the word creep. But after being imprisoned by Dexter, Doakes was blown up in a gas leak in a cabin in a swampy backwater of the Everglades by Dexter’s crazed paramour Lila Tournay (Jaime Murray). So, although Dexter did not kill Doakes, he was certainly responsible for his death. What does Doakes have to say? Surprisingly, besides reminding Dexter of his creepiness, he’s come to tell him that his son needs him.

When Dexter finally comes out of his coma he must reckon with the fact that his son is gone (to parts unknown) and with a real visitor, Angel. Although Angel is present in the guise of a friend, his questions demonstrate that the detective in him is still hard at work and that he’s not buying the complete 180 of Chief Bishop who has backtracked on her accusations against Dexter. (We never see Angela but are informed that she has left town with her daughter Audrey [Johnny Sequoyah].) Angel, it seems, has put together all the previous warnings about Dexter from colleagues like María and he has questions about things like why Dexter felt the need to flee Miami after Debra’s death, why he faked his death, and why he changed his name to Jim Lindsay.

But there’s more. Dexter soon learns of a recent murder in New York City, the details of which hit too close to home. You see, the techniques used to dispose of the body sound just like his own. The problem is, Dexter taught these techniques to his son before they fell out. This fact sends Dexter racing away from Angel and Iron Lake and towards the Big Apple fueled by the need to protect Harrison from himself.

But when Dexter and his side kick (you guessed it, his deceased father Harry) find that a serial killer – ironically dubbed the Dark Passenger (Dexter’s name for his unquenchable desire to kill) by the press – is targeting drivers who work for a tech-ride firm, he does the opposite of what most normal people would do. He inquires about how to become a driver, seeks out a survivor, and sets about tracking the killer.

But something is different about this Dexter. As we learned in the original series, Dexter is a complex man who defies expectations of what serial killers should or could be. From awkward, asexual nerd, to lusty boyfriend, to cheating partner, to devoted husband, brother, and father, to deeply in love and protective man, Dexter was always evolving beyond the emotional limits thought possible for a psychopath. So why should this phase of his life be any different? Indeed, Harry notes that Dexter puts “everything at risk to save” a male driver by thwarting the Dark Passenger’s plan to target him, whereas in the past, he would have prioritized the kill for himself. Harry’s question? “Since when do you care about other people?” To which Dexter replies “since now.”

We’ve been along for the ride with Dexter from the beginning and we’ve reviewed New Blood and Original Sin. So, you know we find it hard not to root for this awkward and somehow oddly loveable serial killer who systematically rids the world of the worst predators. This new spin on Dexter seems set to thrill, only this time we can expect uncanny flashbacks and perhaps even more ghostly visitations alongside Dexter the father finding his way while seeking to protect his flailing son and eliminate New York’s worst killers. Grab the popcorn!