Dexter Franchise Expands With Dexter: Resurrection
Dexter is coming back… for real this time. If you’ve never seen it, Dexter was a crime thriller series that ran on Showtime from 2006 to 2013. Based on a series of books by Jeff Lindsay (particularly the first, Darkly Dreaming Dexter), Dexter starred Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, a forensics scientist for the Miami Metro Police Department with a dark secret: he’s a serial killer. But because of a code of honor bestowed on him by his adopted father, Harry Morgan, Dexter only killed evil people, particularly the ones who evaded legal justice. The show was a fascinating descent into the dark soul of a man torn between being a monster and a hero, someone who fought for good to satisfy an evil urge he couldn’t shake. And it stayed fascinating for five seasons before diving off a cliff in season 6, a downward spiral that culminated in one of the worst series finales of all time. The show was revived in a 2021-2022 limited series called Dexter: New Blood, which was supposed to wrap up Dexter Morgan’s story, and was recently brought back in a prequel series called Dexter: Original Sin, about Dexter’s early years as a killer, neither of which I’ve seen.
But Showtime isn’t done with its disturbingly heroic serial killer yet. A new Dexter series called Dexter: Resurrection is on the way, which picks up Dexter’s story after the ending of Dexter: New Blood. Michael C. Hall is back as Dexter Morgan, with David Zayas also returning as Detective Angel Batista, a friend of Dexter’s, and James Remar as Harry Morgan, Dexter’s adopted father who often appears to Dexter as a manifestation of his subconscious, a sort of Jiminy Cricket who advises Dexter as he navigates the various problems he faces. Also returning is Jack Alcott as Harrison Morgan, Dexter’s son from Dexter: New Blood. They’ll be joined by Uma Thurman, who will appear as a former Special Forces operative who works as the head of security for a billionaire that I assume is the show’s main villain. Dexter: Resurrection is currently filming in New York (I may have to walk around Manhattan and see if I can spot anyone) and will air on Showtime and Paramount+ With Showtime during the summer.
I feel like I just got an info dump from people who’ve been in the know about something for a long time. The earliest article I can find about Dexter: Resurrection is from two weeks ago, but somehow, I missed this story. Part of it is because I haven’t watched either of the Dexter revivals. I was planning on watching Dexter: New Blood, but I ended up finding out about the ending before I could see it, and I was pissed off, so I just kind of… didn’t. And I had no interest in Dexter: Original Sin because the original show did an excellent job of showing us everything we needed to know about Dexter’s past; I didn’t need a whole season of it, along with someone other than Michael C. Hall playing Dexter, as well as Harry, Angel, and some of the other characters. (I was tempted because Sarah Michelle Gellar is in it, though.) However, I’m much more interested in catching up now because, apparently, it’s all leading to Dexter: Resurrection. For its first five seasons, I loved Dexter. He was an amazing character, played perfectly by Michael C. Hall, and the rest of the cast was excellent, too. However, after season 4, showrunner Clyde Phillips stepped aside and was replaced with Chip Johannessen in season 5 (who did a good job, as far as I’m concerned); Johannessen then left and was replaced with Scott Buck for the remainder of the series, and that’s when everything went to hell. Dexter felt like it was being written by people who’d never seen it before and didn’t understand the show or the characters. (When they tried to introduce a subplot where Dexter’s sister, Debra, was in love with him, I knew we were in bad hands.)
But the good news is that these new revival series – all three of them – have Clyde Phillips back as the showrunner, so there’s a good chance that they can recapture the magic of the first half of Dexter. And if that’s the case, I’ll be very happy; Dexter is, despite its darkness, moral conundrums, painful losses, and sense of dread, a lot of fun, with Dexter cracking very witty jokes as he analyzes his psyche and plots his murders. Michael C. Hall is a terrific actor who walks a very fine line with the role, and he pulls it off wonderfully. Whatever your moral reservations, you can’t help but love Dexter and root for him to somehow come to terms with the dueling natures of his soul. It helps that the people Dexter kills are monsters who deserve everything they get; he becomes almost like a superhero, something the show examines in its second season. I felt the writers of the later seasons lost sight of that, becoming too moralistic and myopic in their view of Dexter and the show’s ethos. I’m now eager to dive back into Dexter, which means I need to upgrade my Paramount+ subscription. (“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”) I really hope it’s good; I’ve seen enough bad Dexter for a lifetime.
Let us know what you think of Dexter: Resurrection in the comments!
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