Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Dexter: Resurrection episode “Call Me Red,” so stream it with a Paramount+ subscription or read at your own risk!
Dexter: Resurrection just introduced one of my favorite storylines for the franchise ever, and finally revealed the storyline that brought such a stellar, all-star cast together to join Michael C. Hall. Peter Dinklage made his big debut as billionaire philanthropist Leon Prater, and revealed to “Red” that he secretly runs a society for serial killers to network and share their dark secrets.
Neil Patrick Harris, Krysten Ritter, Eric Stonestreet, and David Dastmalchian all made their way into the story as notorious serial killers, brought together by Prater for mysterious reasons we still don’t fully understand as an audience, at least beyond appeasing his bloodlust. One the one hand, I’m psyched because I can see this storyline going in a lot of fun and different directions, but on the other hand, I have concerns after one of those major guest stars has already been killed off.
the John Wick franchise’s future, all tied to this serial killer faction. We now have a stacked cast of personable and highly deadly murderers to mix it up with after Red’s demise, and while Dexter doesn’t necessarily jive with most criminals, it seems there might be at least one that follows a “code” that he can abide by.
Imagine if this season ends with Dexter enlisting or teaching other serial killers in this sordid circle about Harry’s “code,” leading to some twisted Dark Passenger-infused version of the Avengers? It’s a wild idea to consider, but also a possible one, given that it doesn’t seem as though Leon Prater himself is a serial killer. Would he be opposed to Dexter teaching the rest of this group how to adhere to his special brand of justice? (Or, perhaps, other groups of misguided killers.)
Truthfully, it seems likely that the bulk of Dex’s current colleagues have their own quirks that drive their urge to kill, and won’t need additional guidance. The titular character wants justice served, but others like Lowell simply want to retrieve others’ tattoos so that he can look at them. Mia Lapierre, on the other hand, might be easier to mold into something of an equal, assuming Dexter ever has the chance to reveal he’s actually the Bay Harbor Butcher to her.
I could also see a scenario where Dexter has to hunt these serial killers down, and this becomes a long arc that’s drawn out through several seasons of the series. He’s already taken down some awful folks in the past, so I’d love to see him spend a season pursuing and eliminating each person in Prater’s special club and still avoid detection from his benefactor.
Lowell’s Early Exit Has Me Concerned This Story Is Moving Way Too Fast
Unfortunately, I don’t think Dexter Resurrection plans on keeping this colorful cast of killers on the series for the long haul. Dexter killed off Neil Patrick Harris’ Lowell before the end of the episode, where this new storyline was introduced. It’s led me to believe other newcomer actors like Eric Stonestreet and Krysten Ritter (both of whom were blown away by the fans) won’t be on the series for long, either.
It’s a shame, because I would kill to see a season centered solely around Eric Stonestreet’s ponytail killer, and him having the thriving family life that Dexter always wanted with Rita. I’m also 100% all-in on whatever is going on with David Dastmalchian’s killer, who appears to be the most cryptic of the bunch.
I should state that we have no idea what the overall plan for Dexter: Resurrection is, and how this whole thing will shake out now that Dexter has already broken the rules of the serial killer club. It’s possible that was a one-and-done meeting, and it’ll be Prater vs. Dexter from here on out, and he’ll go after some of those other killers at a later date.
There’s also a part of me that wants Dexter to embrace the community of having other serial killers to talk to. I think that was a good way of further illustrating that he’s not a good person, which I’ve noted both New Blood and Resurrection have illustrated a bit so far.
Dexter: Resurrection streams new episodes on Paramount+ on Fridays, with Showtime broadcasting the episode on Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET. I’m ready to see where the rest of this season heads, and am holding out hope it’s the setup for a much longer story arc than I currently expect.