DEXTER: NEW BLOOD Full Season Review; "Delivers The Perfect, Bloody Conclusion To This Story"

DEXTER: NEW BLOOD Full Season Review; "Delivers The Perfect, Bloody Conclusion To This Story"

Dexter: New Blood was billed as a series that would make up for Dexter's underwhelming original finale, but does it succeed? Despite a few bumps in the road, the show delivers a perfect bloody ending.

Review Opinion
By JoshWilding - Jan 09, 2022 01:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Showtime

WARNING: SPOILERS for the entire season of Dexter: New Blood follow!

Ask any fan of Dexter when the show started declining in quality, and they’ll likely agree it was after that stellar fourth season. Some might argue that it was always going to be difficult to top the quality of the titular serial killer’s battle with the Trinity Killer, but a change in showrunner did the Showtime series no favours. There was still a lot to love about the show, but the story started running out of steam and the eighth and final season has earned the dubious honour of frequently being mentioned on lists of the all-time worst TV show finales. It was bad, so the news that Dexter’s story would continue in Dexter: New Blood was welcomed by fans, albeit with a hefty dose of scepticism. In this series, we find Dexter living a new life in the snowy Iron Lake, New York as "Jim Lindsay." He’s managed to repress his old ways until a chance meeting with an intolerable local named Matt Caldwell pushes him back over the edge. Events spiral from there in typical Dexter fashion, with Dex soon realising that Matt’s father is also a serial killer. Further complicating matters is the arrival of his son, Harrison, and much of what follows from this point on is classic Dexter...for better or worse. 

There’s no denying that over the course of this ten episode revival, a lot of the show's biggest mistakes are repeated. Characters still don’t talk to each other when a simple exchange could resolve so much (an infuriating trait of this series from the start), coincidences abound, and subplots often underwhelm. A lot of time is also wasted early on between Dexter and Harrison, though the show ultimately handles the reveal of who his father really is in a way that works well; it just should have come an episode or two earlier as it’s when Dexter: New Blood reaches this point that it becomes most interesting. Dexter has finally found someone he believes shares his Dark Passenger, echoing his disastrous relationships of the past with characters like Lile, Miguel, and Hannah. His son was also "born in blood" and clearly has an inner darkness, but the penultimate episode drives home perfectly just how twisted Dexter’s actions are. It’s so easy to root for this character that we tend to forget what he is, and it's understandable that Harrison sees his father as a Batman-like vigilante who saves countless lives by removing evil people from the world. However, the truth is that Dexter only kills people like that because it’s part of "The Code" he was taught by Harry, the father who was so horrified by his son’s actions that he took his own life after walking in on him dismembering the body of someone he’d just murdered.
 


Dexter: New Blood emphasises the horror of what Harry once witnessed as we watch on alongside Harrison as Dexter kills his latest victim. Arguably the best moment in this series, Harrison's reaction to seeing his father’s pleasure at delivering the killing blow to Kurt Caldwell (the aforementioned local serial killer) and then the horror of watching him cut the body apart as blood pools around his feet drives home just how f***ed up - as Deb would say - him doing this in front of the son he’s known for weeks really is. Dexter removed himself from Harrison’s life to protect him, but at his first opportunity, he relishes the prospect of making his son just like him because he's always selfishly wanted to find that connection, no matter the cost. It’s wrong on so many levels, and by stripping away the glamour of the kills we've so often witnessed in the series, the stage is perfectly set for the finale. 

So, does the series deliver the satisfying ending we were robbed of so many years ago? Some fans won’t be happy, but that’s likely inevitable after 8 years of speculation about how the show should have ended has led to them hoping for some sort of "perfect" conclusion where Dexter is marched through Miami P.D. with all those characters from the past finally learning who he truly is. Oh, and the last scene would, of course, feature him winking at the camera as he receives the lethal injection in a world divided over whether he’s a hero or villain. Simply put, though, that wouldn't be the right or best ending. 

In the finale, a series of coincidences and right things happening at the right time mean Dexter is firmly in Angela’s crosshairs as both Matt’s killer and the Bay Harbour Butcher. We’re not convinced he’d actually be convicted of either crime, and that is where the show strains credibility to some degree. In fairness, this is acknowledged to some extent, and there’s certainly enough circumstantial evidence to make it so that he’d eventually go down for something. A cornered animal, it’s at this point he again reveals his true colours, murdering local cop Logan so he can escape and continue killing; it’s an addiction, and one he hopes to pull his son into. Their confrontation couldn’t be more perfect; it turns out that Harrison doesn’t have that same darkness within. Yes, he’s a messed up kid who’s clearly got the potential to be violent, and maybe he could have been the next "Dexter" with his dad’s training. However, he doesn’t want that, and making his father realise exactly how much damage his actions have caused (it’s easy to forget how many innocents were caught up in his kills over the years) leads to the pitch perfect conclusion for this character.

With that, a series that looked like it might be setting the stage for the adventures of Dexter and son becomes a story about the horror of finding your father and learning that he’s a mass murderer. His last thoughts are that he finally knows how it feels to love someone, but is that only because guiding Harrison to kill someone who deserves to die - Dexter himself, in this case - will set him down a murderous path as well and continue Dex's work? Possibly, but whatever you take from this, it’s handled perfectly, and this is the right place to end the story (we don’t need a Harrison spinoff, no matter how tempting it probably sounds to Showtime). Some will feel disappointed that the fallout from Dexter’s demise isn’t shown, but common sense says that Angela’s evidence combined with Logan’s murder would be enough for the world to finally learn the truth about Dexter Morgan.
 


Michael C. Hall is utterly superb from start to finish here, and whether it’s his botched attempts to be a father to Harrison or the emergence of the monster beneath the surface we see later in the season, he never fails to impress. The actor clearly relished this opportunity to reprise his most famous role and end the story right, and pitting him against the brilliant Jennifer Carpenter as Deb makes for intense, exciting viewing. As the new imaginary presence he speaks to instead of Harry, Deb is a very different beast, and provides a fascinating insight into what’s going on in his mind as he attempts to quell his dark urges before eventually giving in to them (she appears less frequently later, an indication that his Dark Passenger has won the fight). Relative newcomer Jack Alcott is excellent as Harrison, and his journey proves itself every bit as compelling and surprising as Dexter’s. By the time the finale wraps up, it feels like he’s found the closure he needs to live a normal life...hence why we’d rather not see a "Dexter Jr." spinoff! Elsewhere, Julia Jones is terrific as Angela, while Clancy Brown proves himself a formidable, often terrifying villain (we just wish so much time hadn’t been wasted with the predictable reveal). The entire cast delivers strong performances, though, with Alano Miller and Johnny Sequoyah also impressing. 

Not everything works about Dexter: New Blood, and on repeat viewing, it might be harder to forgive how much time is wasted in these ten episodes on trivial matters and hit-and-miss subplots. We’d have appreciated an even more in-depth exploration of Dexter and Harrison’s relationship after the truth about the former Miami P.D. blood spatter analyst is revealed, as far too much time is wasted on them butting heads. As noted, the series does earn that eventual reveal, but it comes a tad too late, and whether we needed a classic Dexter big bad is debatable. Some might argue that returning to Miami for a true "season 9" would have been better, with Dex pulled back there to protect his son and crossing paths with familiar faces and ultimately being exposed by them. Again, it feels like we’re heading into fan-fiction territory there, and if you loved this show during its first four seasons or from start to finish, there’s plenty to enjoy and appreciate here. A new setting and cinematic approach in Clyde Phillips's revival makes this a stellar season of television in its own right. However, it stills feels like classic Dexter in a lot of ways (warts and all), and by the time all is said and done, we do get the ending to this story that we were robbed of by that eighth season. It’s a mostly satisfying, thrilling conclusion to this serial killer’s story, and one that’s likely to send you away happy in the knowledge that he's not just out there somewhere still working as a Lumberjack.

Dexter: New Blood repeats the odd past mistake here and there, but ultimately gives fans the perfect, bloody conclusion to this story that the original finale failed to deliver. Michael C. Hall, meanwhile, cements himself as one of the greatest actors working today.
 

IF
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CAPTAINPINKEYE
CAPTAINPINKEYE - 1/9/2022, 1:04 PM
I like the show so don’t get me wrong but why is there an article about Dexter and never any articles about Star Trek discovery on the site?
THEDARKKNIGHT1939
THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - 1/9/2022, 1:08 PM
Always wanted Michael C. Hall as Daredevil but I'm grateful for Charlie Cox.
TheLobster
TheLobster - 1/9/2022, 1:44 PM
@THEDARKKNIGHT1939 - if he was 20+ years younger - absolutely would loved this!
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 1/9/2022, 1:14 PM
This is the finales we should've gotten almost a decade ago.

Well, better late than never, I guess!
GhostDog
GhostDog - 1/9/2022, 1:18 PM
I loved it! I binged the last 4 episodes in a night. C. Hall was phenomenal.

Thank god the OG creator came back
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 1/9/2022, 1:23 PM
This season was amazing. Made up for the terrible last 2 seasons.


Glad the ratings for this season are huge too. It deseves it😎
TheLobster
TheLobster - 1/9/2022, 1:44 PM
@AmazingFILMporg - season 7 was actually halfway decent and ended on a great cliff hanger… only for season 8 to completely [frick] it up.

Seasons 5, 6, and 8 were pure trash. They should have ended with the Trinity Killer tbh
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 1/9/2022, 4:07 PM
@TheLobster - Season 7 had Ray Stevenson, by far the best thing in the last four seasons, but other than that...I think we should pretend New Blood is season 5.
TheLobster
TheLobster - 1/9/2022, 1:41 PM
There’s so many idiots on Twitter bitching about the finale and I ask myself - what did they think was going to happen?? Dexter gets away with it for a ninth season??? Sadly, yes. A lot of them expected just that. Many are saying this is even worse than the original finale LOL Fanbases can be so painfully dumb.

This is as good as it gets and we have closure now. This season wasn’t perfect but it was pretty damn good!

The writer Scott Reynolds teased that there’s going to be an announcement tomorrow about the future of this series and my guess is that we’re getting a spin off with Harrison which I honestly don’t mind. At first, I wasn’t big on the character, but by the finale I liked him a lot. I’m sure Dexter will pop up to chime in like Deb did this season so everyone can have their cake and eat it too.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 1/9/2022, 1:46 PM
@TheLobster - THIS. Thank you.
TheLobster
TheLobster - 1/9/2022, 1:58 PM
@BlackBeltJones - I made the grave mistake of trying to talk sense to some of these folks when they were hardcore bitching on the official Dexter Twitter account and Reynold’s Twitter and it was a waste of time. People told me that Harrison was FORCED to shoot Dex, that this was all out of character for him and he should have ran away (obviously missing the entire [frick]ing point), and that there’s no way Dex would have killed Coach Logan.. except he did that in the first episode of season 5 but what do I know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 1/9/2022, 4:10 PM
@TheLobster - People just want stuff to be dragged forever, and then complain about that.

About a spin-off...I dont mind, as much as I dont care, although I would preffer a Trinity Killer spin-off if they want to keep exploiting the IP...
I'm just glad we got an actual decent ending for Dexter, and that it was in one small, centered, focused season.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 1/9/2022, 4:22 PM
@TheLobster - It absolutely is a beautiful, poetic ending. It was excellent. This ending will outlive the internet mob and will be remembered as a fitting end. I NEVER say this but they’re just mad he’s gone.

But I also heard there is a new announcement coming tomorrow regarding the show
RageDriver2401
RageDriver2401 - 1/9/2022, 2:17 PM
E1-9 were great, finale was sorta underwhelming. Better than the original finale tho.
regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 1/9/2022, 2:32 PM
Been enjoying it. Hasn’t reached the highs of 1-4 but it also hasn’t hit the lows of the later seasons.
ElricReturns
ElricReturns - 1/9/2022, 3:31 PM
I absolutely loved this show, but hated the final 20 mins or so. Pretty much the moment Dexter killed Coach... I know all the reasons why people will justify Dexter breaking the code, he's done it before, but I just didn't like it because i knew immediately they were gonna pit Harrison against Dexter and potentially kill Dexter, but I was trying to stay open minded to how they would go about it. But I hated what they did.

I hated what they did because a season 2 with Dexter on the run as a fugitive with Harrison, from Angela and Angel, would have been dope! All of the potential season 2 ideas with Dexter alive seemed really cool.

If they were gonna end this entire franchise, i wanted something for than this.

The 1 and only thing I like is that ultimately Dexter was punished. Every choice he made was wrong, he ruined so many lives, despite some of the good his murdering did, he still needs to be punished, and he was.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 1/9/2022, 4:12 PM
@ElricReturns - Dexter cant keep getting away.

I personally think Debra should've killed him in at the end of season 7, but well, we cant go back in time, this is the next best thing.
X75
X75 - 1/9/2022, 4:12 PM
Great season. The second half of the finale felt a bit rushed. Maybe they should have made the episode 30 minutes longer or added one more episode. I’d love to have seen a confrontation between Dexter and Batista.
TheLobster
TheLobster - 1/9/2022, 5:21 PM
@X75 - yup and yup
ElricReturns
ElricReturns - 1/9/2022, 8:44 PM
@X75 - I was hoping for a season where Dexter is on the run from Angela and Angel, Prison Break status.
AaronianKenrod
AaronianKenrod - 1/10/2022, 3:07 AM
@X75 - I would’ve liked to have seen a reunion too, but thematically New Blood was about Dexter and Harrison and anything outside of that for the last few moments would’ve felt more like the original series rather than this sequel one.
CAPTAINPINKEYE
CAPTAINPINKEYE - 1/9/2022, 5:36 PM
Lol!
Lokiwasright
Lokiwasright - 1/9/2022, 8:00 PM
I did not like the original. I thought it would be cool because I heard so much things about it.
Mercwitham0uth
Mercwitham0uth - 1/9/2022, 10:58 PM
This mini-series more than made up for the terrible final 2 seasons of Dexter. Scott Buck is a hack.
solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 1/9/2022, 11:18 PM
Micheal c hall is my another choice as REVERSE FLASH!
Armageddon26
Armageddon26 - 1/10/2022, 1:45 AM
@solskulldeath - That would be cool, he’s been my personal fan cast for Mr sinister
Tufasrox
Tufasrox - 1/19/2022, 2:40 PM
Anyone annoyed that the entire subplot about the bad oil guy just went nowhere? Like what good did that do the show at all?
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