*The following review contains spoilers for Dexter: New Blood entire season including finale.
Okay, let’s get the carnage started. It’s no secret that both my wife and I are huge Dexter fans and have been since the Showtime series began. In fact it was my wife who introduced me to the serial killer turned blood spatter expert and I fell in love immediately. Here was a character I could relate to on so many levels, an anti-hero on the scale of A Clockwork Orange’s Alexander DeLarge; a complex character, compelling and visceral with a wit as dark as a moonless night and as sharp as a Liston Knife. Dexter quickly became my show of choice and soon I found myself ravenously devouring the novels on which the series was based as well. The origial series began in 2006 and ran for 8 seasons, many fans will freely admit that the final episode of that original run left them cold, no pun intended. So when the New Blood season was announced Dexter fans around the world rejoiced, after all it isn’t very often a fanbase gets a second shot at sticking the landing, so to speak, of their favorite show. Think David Lynch’s legendary Twin Peaks, another series Showtime picked up to allow an addendum season as it were to expand an existing ending, albeit a far less divise one in the case of Twin Peaks.
Dexter: New Blood hit the ground running we had scarcely been reunited with Dexter, who is now going by the name Jim Lindsay and calling the small upstate New York town of Iron Lake home, before his Dark Passenger once again reveals its face and searches for release. What ensues is a taut, well written tale of a retired serial killer’s return to splendor, however now his estranged son, Harrison played by Jack Alcott, has tracked him down and wants nothing so much as to be a part of his long lost father’s life. The plot that unfolds over the episodes leading up to the finale are part teen drama, part police procedural and all engrossing character driven storytelling. Dexter’s love interest just happens to be Iron Lake’s troubled police chief, Angela Bishop, played by Julia Jones. Of course Angela knows her boyfriend as Jim Lindsay local hunting and camping supply store employee at this point, not Dexter Morgan the prolific and grizzly serial killer known as the Bay Harbor Butcher, but as they say all good things must come to an end. Dexter’s path crosses with local eccentric millionaire Kurt Caldwell played brilliantly by the accomplished character actor Clancy Brown, who also just happens to have some literal skeletons in his closet. As it turns out Kurt is also a rather prolific serial killer and has been active for over 25 years hunting runaways and other young women who for one reasonor another have found themselves residing in the shadows. Kurt Caldwell is obviously based on real life serial killer Robert Hansen, known as The Butcher Baker. He abducted and murdered at least 17 women, hunting them down in the snowy Alaskan wilderness, very similar to the setting of Iron Lake where Kurt would hunt down his female victims.
Although Kurt and Dexter were fated to face one another in a duel of serial killers, this rendezvous is hastened due to the fact that Dexter (Jim Lindsay) kills Matt Caldwell, you guessed it son of killer Kurt Caldwell. The events that lead to this involve the killing of a rare white deer, a drunken boating accident from years before and Dexter’s Dark Passenger, “saying ten years is enough buddy let’s get back to work.” The gauntlet has been thrown down for a showdown of the serial killer dads, suffice to say this literally puts Harrison in Kurt Caldwell’s crosshairs.
The relationship between Kurt and Harrison is a joy to watch develope over the ensuing episodes. Although Harrison’s goal is ultimately to have a relationship with his father who has been gone from his life for ten years, there is no shortage of father figures in the small snowy town of Iron Lake. Not only does Kurt take young Harrison under his wing, but local deputy/ high school wrestling coach Logan, played by Alano Miller, quickly becomes a viable surrogate father figure. As close as these guys get to Harrison, they are not his father and it isn’t long before we see that the apple hasn’t fallen very far from the tree in the Morgan family. Harrison befriends Ethan, the target of the school bullies when he protects him from a group of these bullies, however Harrison’s own Dark Passenger guides his hand and his knife, brutalizing his new friend. Instead of being seen as the school pyscho, Harrison manipulates the situation to cast himself in the role of school hero. He sets up Ethan as a wouldbe Eric Harris/Dylan Klebold by exposing a violent manifesto complete with graphic drawings and a kill list containing the names of many of the school’s popular kids. In one slash of Harrison’s blade he is not only restored to good standing with the school bullies whose names were prominently on Ethan’s alledged kill list, but also tightens his bond with Coach Logan.
The writing on the season is impressive throughout. The characterizations are detailed and authentic for the most part. Where the writing lacks a bit in my opinion is in developing the relationship between Dexter and Angela. Actually, that’s not exactly right. The relationship is developed well enough it’s the erosion of the relationship that lacks the detail characteristic of the overall writing. Once Angela picks up the scent of Dexter Morgan on her beloved Jim Lindsay she turns on him like Judas on Jesus. There is no hesitation in her, no conflict or inner turmoil. She goes from loving girlfriend to dogged police officer in no time flat. She never looks back for a second and that’s what makes it so hard to feel anything but dislike for her character once she shifts gears. The chemistry the pair shared as lovers doesn’t disapate it vanishes as though it never existed, Angela goes from a fully actualized love interest to a template cop more Olivia Benson than Angela Bishop. This happens to Logan as well, however at a much more believable pace. The deputy clearly finds his role as arresting officer of his friend and farher of one of his students difficult and he obviously has not written Dexter off as the “lying mother f*(ker” Angela now sees him as.
The final episode suffers from more than thin character work, the pace is entirely too brisk. The events that unfold at breakneck speed would have felt much more natural occuring over the course of at least two episodes. I would think that a series as popular as Dexter could have warranted a two hour finale, at least. While many of the twists and turns of the finale were telegraphed, the ultimate killing of the titular character felt crass and uncalled for. Granted I have rooted fro the bad guys most of my life, even as a boy I wanted Luke Skywalker to join his father and rule the galaxy and when he opted to drop down that chute on Bespin my little ten year old heart broke in that theater. I felt a very similar pang of melancholy when Harrison drew down on his father with the rifle he had only just given him on their first real Christmas together. Yes this is heartbreaking on a Shakespearean level. I found myself hoping for something anything the angel that stayed Abraham’s hand from killing his own son to come down and stop Harrison. Hey I’m Catholic! What can I say I get Biblical when my pop culture icons get offed, unnecessarily. I mean even though Angela had connected all the dots, exposed her now ex-boyfriend Jim Lindsay as Dexter Morgan, that wasn’t enough. She proposes a theory that he is also the infamous Bay Harbor Butcher! Of course we know she’s right on the money. Not only has she figured it out, she has called Dexter’s former co-worker from Miami, Angel Batista and tells him that she has Dexter Morgan in her jail right now, This message is accompanied by a photo of Angela and “Jim” in happier times. Now Angel is on his way to join the crucifixion of Dexter. The tension that is built feels artificial due to the ramped up pace. There is scarcely time for any of these developements to take effect before the next one is revealed. That kind of writing can work, however given the fact that the acceleration really only begins in earnest at the top of this final episode it feels out of step with what has come before.
Ultimately the final episode of Dexter: New Blood could have been a beautifully poetic treatise on the love between a father and son, no matter how twisted. I know I wasn’t the only one watching who was hoping for a father and son serial killer team and the writers did everything short of delivering that dream ending. Throughout the series Dexter debates his parenting decisions with his inner voice, portrayed by his deceased sister Deb, a role reprised by Jennifer Carpenter. This dialogue is quite a departure from the relationship the siblings had in Miami when Deb was alive. That is an element I found problematic throughout the series because it was so jarringly juxtaposed to what we have come to expect from Deb where Dexter is concerned. Granted we are seeing her in a completely new role, as Harrison’s deceased aunt. As much as I like Jennifer Carpenter’s work on Dexter as a complete series, I found her role in the finale annoying and unlikable. She made me miss James Remar as Dexter and Deb’s father Harry. He is only spoken of as a conduit to teach Harrison “the Code”. This brings me to another and perhaps the most glaringly out of character plot point in the finale, Dexter’s blatant and cavalier breaking of the code that has defined him his entire life. When Dexter is apprehended and jailed for the murder of Matt Caldwell he plays one of his only remaining aces. He tells Angela where to find Kurt’s killing room and the contents within. Kurt, like most real life serial killers, kept trophies. However, where most killers would keep jewelry or clothing or in extreme cases body parts; Kurt kept his victims entire and embalmed. Like a pharoah Kurt filled his “tomb” with everything he loved most, in his case that was his victims.
Once Angela leaves the stationhouse to follow up on the information she has just received from Dexter Logan is left in charge of the prisoner. The chemistry between Logan and the man he knew as Jim Lindsay is the pivotal element that allows this entire scene to transpire. Without it there is no reason for the compassionate deputy to even care that Dexter is thirsty when he asks him for a bottle of water. This seemingly simple request sets some many epic elements into motion, it essentially is the lynchpin that once removed brings everything crashing down. It is the ploy that puts Logan at Dexter’s mercy and as we see there is little there to call upon. This is where the code should have factored largely into the plot, but it doesn’t and that is where the episode completely jumps the tracks.
In the final scene between Dexter and Harrison there is admittedly ample tension to propel the plot in any direction. Unfortunately forces conspire to produce an ending that feels rushed instead of planned and convoluted instead of cohesive. The finale certainly didn’t lack confrontations, some resulting in characters paying the ultimate price. Harrison’s preconception with seeing his father as a vigilante on par with Batman is an element that has become of paramont importance. He repeatedly asks his father about the code and its purpose in saving innocent people. Dexter reassures him that his dark impulses serve a greater good and like Batman they have a line they must never cross. So when Dexter crosses that line Harrison is visibly crushed. His concept of being a part of a team that is going to make the world a safer place has died with his friend Coach Logan. While this is obviously a dramatic turn, it is so out of character with what we have come to know of Dexter that it effectively erases everything that has come before. Is it a better ending than the one we had? Not for me. I was much happier thinking of Dexter as a lumberjack with the potential of reuniting with his son, instead of dead with his son on the road to who knows where. Certainly there are several avenues open to continuing the Dexter narrative. The most obvious is that Dexter appear as Harrison’s inner voice as he comes to grips with his own Dark Passenger. I would watch that, however I have serious questions about Jack Alcott’s ability to carry a show with an existing fanbase the size of Dexter. Another possible narrative that could keep the series going is that Dexter survives his son’s attempt to kill him and he is extridited to Miami to stand trial as the Bay Harbor Butcher. In this scenario I could see Dexter as a sort of Hannibal Lecter, providing guidance to Harrison from a prison cell. This one is admitedly far more problematic as it leaves dangling plot threads all over the place.
Personally I believe sadly we have seen the last of Dexter Morgan. The final episode leaves very little doubt that Michael C. Hall will not be reprising the role he made so iconic at least not as a living character. Short of flashbacks or a role similar to the one Jennifer Carpenter played in New Blood I am fairly certain we reached the final act in the Dexter narrative. So as a complete season I would score New Blood 4/5, but the final episode on its own is far less satisfying 2.5/5.
Directors- Marcos Siega, Sanford Bookstaver
Writers- Clyde Phillips, Alexandra Franklin, Marc Muszynski
Based on the novels by Jeff Lindsay
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