If crucial consensus was sufficient to kill a TV present, the Showtime sequence Dexter would have died in 2011. That’s primarily based on the evaluations for the present’s sixth season, which noticed the tide flip for the serial killer drama that refuses to die, at the same time as its titular protagonist (performed by Michael C. Corridor) started to warp away from his innate anti-hero nature. “With stellar scores, and a renewal for 2 extra seasons, Dexter has me nervous,” Emily Nussbaum wrote then in The New Yorker. “The higher Dexter will get the more serious Dexter might develop into.”

Nussbaum’s phrases ended up being prophetic, as by the point Dexter ended (for the primary time) in 2013, critics had been screaming for aid. “The entire mess of the sequence’ ultimate 4 seasons,” Emily St. James wrote for The AV Club, was that the present refused “to view the character as something aside from a much-needed darkish avenger. The present can not have its title character portrayed in something aside from shades of sensible white. What was as soon as a horror program turned farce.”

It didn’t assist that when Dexter did lastly finish, the unique sequence finale made a number of wild decisions, starting with killing Dexter’s sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) with a blood clot, adopted by Dexter crusing his boat right into a storm, solely to outlive and switch up in Oregon, working as a lumberjack. “After which he turns into a lumberjack” instantly entered the TV critic lexicon for example of a horrible solution to finish a TV present, together with “They had been useless the entire time” and “Bran takes the Iron Throne.”

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Nonetheless, some mental property merely received’t die — particularly when the series finale sets ratings records for the network. Took perhaps a number of years longer than one may need guessed, however in 2021 Dexter: New Blood introduced Corridor again to Showtime for a brand new season, which Consequence’s Clint Worthington referred to as out for the model play it was, writing “At no level does Dexter: New Blood really feel like something however the newest instance of networks reviving their previous IPs for one final spherical at bat.”

New Blood turned an enormous scores success for the community, whereas theoretically providing a way more concrete ending for its titular character — Dexter was left bleeding out within the woods, having been shot by his long-lost son Harrison (Jack Alcott). Regardless of the scores, although, a second season of New Blood by no means occurred, with Showtime as an alternative prioritizing a Dexter prequel sequence — Authentic Sin finally premiered in December 2024, that includes Patrick Gibson as a younger Dexter simply beginning his new double vocation as crime scene analyst/serial killer killer.

By the point Authentic Sin premiered, although, Showtime had already introduced that Corridor could be returning as O.G. Dexter in one other new sequence. Authentic Sin, in reality, started with Dexter’s miraculous medical rescue (after which Corridor’s presence on that present was restricted to voice-over narration) — the rescue that units the stage for the all-too-aptly-titled third spinoff in 4 years, Dexter: Resurrection.

Regardless of all this lingering exhaustion over Dexter’s many lives, Resurrection truly proves to be fairly entertaining, including sufficient new life to the franchise to justify that exact subtitle. Is it actually simply New Blood Season 2? Properly, just a few characters have crossed over, and contract-wise the offers most likely look completely different, however in a religious sense — yeah, it’s. The spinoff arrives this week, and issues decide up the place New Blood (and the Authentic Sin prologue) left off: Dexter recovering from his gunshot wound, whereas Harrison flees to discover a contemporary begin.

In relation to all three of those spinoffs, using new areas has saved every of them from feeling too very similar to a retread of what got here earlier than, not less than on a superficial degree: The unique Miami location was a key a part of Dexter’s core aesthetic, with these brilliant pops of shade and sunshine, at the same time as questions is likely to be requested about what number of serial killers even a metropolis like Miami can conceal. New Blood, in contrast, came about in snowy upstate New York, whereas Authentic Sin stayed in Miami however switched issues up with its ’90s interval trappings.

And Resurrection brings us to the Huge Apple, a sufficiently big playground for Harrison to cover in plain sight and for a largely recovered Dexter to trace him down. Dexter’s solely gone to New York Metropolis to seek out Harrison, formally, however he rapidly will get drawn again into the enterprise of dispatching those that deserve dispatching. Embargo restrictions imply this assessment can’t say a lot in regards to the specifics of Dexter’s new life within the metropolis, however primarily based on the primary 4 episodes offered to critics, what’s maybe most promising about Resurrection is that it’d lastly tackle these earlier crucial considerations about Dexter’s non-heroic nature.

Take the truth that Resurrection finds Dexter decided to focus on a specific serial killer as a result of the killer goes by the moniker of “The Darkish Passenger” — and that’s Dexter’s identify, gosh darn it. (Properly, one among his names, anyway. At one level he additionally refers to himself as The Bay Harbor Butcher, triggering an actual wave of nostalgia.) The “Darkish Passenger” factor is a petty level of delight for him, and a strong indicator that as a lot as Dexter would possibly attempt to be on the aspect of the angels, the killer inside him has by no means retired — particularly as he will get drawn into a complete new neighborhood of murderers.

Dexter: Resurrection (Paramount+ With Showtime)

Maybe enabling this considerably darker Dexter is that the present turns into a two-hander, with Harrison’s storyline given virtually equal narrative weight. Whereas Harrison is likely to be his father’s son, he’s nonetheless younger sufficient that his path in life isn’t absolutely locked — there’s nonetheless hope for him in terms of preventing his worst urges, a hope that Dexter himself deserted way back. If the writers of Dexter are nonetheless looking for “shades of sensible white” of their characters, Harrison makes for a much more sympathetic choice.

Moreover, Resurrection brings again Angel Batista (David Zayas) from the unique sequence, who retires from Miami Metro earlier than heading north to tie up the one massive free finish of his profession — his suspicion that Dexter is the killer who’s evaded seize all these years. There have been loads of threats over time that Dexter would possibly, ultimately, face some penalties for his actions. However perhaps this time, it’ll occur for certain?

It feels very Charlie Brown-with-the-football to write down that, particularly contemplating what number of different instances it’s appeared like Dexter would truly come to an finish. But when Resurrection should exist, not less than it does so with a very spectacular solid of stars, together with Uma Thurman, Peter Dinklage, Krysten Ritter, Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Stonestreet, and David Dastmalchian. Most of them don’t seem till Episode 4, but it surely’s well worth the wait.

Will Resurrection be the present that lastly brings Dexter to an in depth? It feels unlikely. One of the best one would possibly hope for is that they’d greenlight a second season of Resurrection, relatively than create one other spinoff with a barely obscure subtitle for us to recollect. Dexter: Cruise Management. Dexter: The Quickening. Dexter: Electrical Boogaloo. It actually doesn’t matter, ultimately. No matter you name it, Dexter will likely be Dexter. All we are able to do is hope that the enhancements provided by Resurrection stick.

The primary two episodes of Dexter: Resurrection premiere Friday, July eleventh on Paramount+ with Showtime. Try the trailer under.