Dexter: New Blood TV Review

Plot: Approximately ten years after the original series finale, Dexter Morgan has moved to the fictional small town of Iron Lake, New York, hiding his identity under the name of Jim Lindsay, a local shopkeeper. He has developed a relationship with Angela Bishop, the town’s chief of police, and has suppressed his serial killing urges. A string of incidents around Iron Lake causes Dexter to fear that the “dark passenger” within him will reveal itself.

Review: Eight years ago, Showtime’s long-running serial-killer drama Dexter came to a controversial end. The series finale of the thriller transplanted Miami-based forensics blood splatter analyst to an isolated cabin in the woods where he supposedly would live out his days as a lumberjack. It was a divisive conclusion to a show that had been getting weaker by the year over the back half of its eight-season run. But, it was a concrete finale that left a lot of open-ended discussions, similar to HBO’s The Sopranos. But, while David Chase has adamantly stood by his series finale and ventured into prequel territory with The Many Saints of Newark, Dexter is back in the form of a sequel series subtitled New Blood. Designed as a way to rectify the fan reaction to the Dexter finale, New Blood is a decent outing that will likely please fans of the original show while it suffers from not justifying its existence.

Dexter: New Blood comes from showrunner Clyde Phillips who oversaw the first four seasons of Dexter‘s original run. It is worth noting that the seasons that Phillips oversaw remain the best of the show’s run including the acclaimed fourth season featuring John Lithgow as the Trinity Killer. The final four seasons declined in quality but New Blood benefits from feeling like a return to form. While the setting has shifted from sunny Miami to frigid upstate New York, the tone and format of the revival echo the early seasons of the series. Directed by Dexter veteran Marcos Siega, New Blood plays like a limited series rather than the start of a whole new show. That is a big benefit as well as a detriment to this series as it ends up feeling too indebted to the original show and doesn’t do much on its own.

Let’s be very clear: Dexter: New Blood is, for all intents and purposes, the ninth season of the series. It continues the narrative of the finale while enhancing the controversial ending by anchoring Dexter Morgan in a new life. Ten years “sober” from his murderous urges, the Dark Passenger narration has ceased. Like any drug addict, Dexter is frequently tempted to act on his sinister urges but suppresses them, even when the appearance of his sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) communicates with him in a similar way that his stepfather did on the show’s original run. While his new life as Jim Lindsay has brought his small-town bliss and a relationship with Sheriff Angela Bishop (Julia Jones), Dexter begins to see his new life pulling apart from two directions including the arrival of his son, Harrison (Jack Alcott).

Without divulging any plot details or twists about the four episodes made available for this review, I can say that the series does not bother reinventing the wheel. At first, I was pleasantly surprised at how the premiere episode played with whether Dexter would return to his old ways or not. It gave the story a fresh feel that distinguished it from the first run beyond the snowy setting. But, by the episode’s end, this was right back to being the same old Dexter. The biggest problem I had with the show is that the pacing slows down significantly with the murderous plot lines almost taking a back seat to the main narrative. Had the entire series shifted the focus like that, maybe I would have been more engaged, but as the episodes progress, it feels like more of the same.

There are opportunities for some familiar faces to return in new and creative ways, but most of this cast is all new. While the spectral appearances from Jennifer Carpenter offer a unique way for Debra to be involved with the tale, the new role for Harrison is by far the most intriguing. As the son of a serial killer, Harrison is presented as the potential new blood in the subtitle. The question as to whether he will become a monster like his dad is an intriguing premise that is not capitalized on nearly enough. The biggest upside to this season is that the setting allows for some truly creative uses of blood, one of this series’ trademark visuals. Other than that, this new run only works because there has been some time between the series finale and this new chapter.

I wanted to give Dexter: New Blood the benefit of the doubt but it just doesn’t do enough to warrant its existence. The original Dexter did offer a story unlike any other serial killer yarn to that point, but in the decade since it went off the air, we have seen shows like Hannibal offer truly distinct takes on the genre. After a ten-year hiatus, this revival doesn’t do anything but offer a belated follow-up to a show that went out with an unceremonious finale. By trying to revise that history, Dexter: New Blood manages to improve on where things left off, but not enough to redeem the entire series. If you are a dedicated fan of Dexter, this series will be a welcome return for the most likable killer in television history but it doesn’t come remotely close to meeting the heights of the series first or fourth seasons.

Dexter: New Blood premieres on November 7th on Showtime.

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AVERAGE

6