Just when I thought I was done blogging about Dexter… they released another new show. Yes, another one! I couldn’t quite believe it myself when I saw Dexter: Resurrection popping up a couple of months ago. Skeptical, I read a few opinions about it, and people say it’s actually really good? Well, guess I’ll have to watch it then.

The first episode definitely required a bit of suspension of disbelief if you know what happened at the end of New Blood, but they tried their best to make it believable. Regardless of that, the show pulls you right in with a perfect balance of fan service and multiple plot lines establishing a new mystery (for the police, not so much for the audience). It is very much a direct continuation of New Blood, and aside from the crimes, the show goes deep into exploring the relationship between Dexter and his son.

At the same time, there is a new city (New York!), new friends, and a new victim for Dexter who somehow gives him access to a smörgåsbord of potential victims, in such a brilliant manner that’s just astonishingly twisted. Leon Prater and his little club are just utterly fun to watch. The 10 episodes of Dexter: Resurrection were a wild roller-coaster ride, and thinking back on it, it’s crazy to think how much happened in this season, but it all perfectly flowed into each other.

While watching Resurrection, I kinda was hit with the sudden desire to rewatch the original Dexter. Resurrection references a lot of events of the original show, my memory of which was very hazy. I hadn’t actually watched the original show since it was first released, and I only ever watched it whenever a new season was released. So for one, it has been 19 to 12 years since I last watched the original run, and in addition to that, I never actually saw the show as a whole without one-year breaks in between seasons.

So somewhere in the middle of Resurrection‘s run, I started with S01E01 of Dexter, and the 19 years difference really shows. Season 1 of Dexter was always the one I liked best in hindsight. It had a perfect antagonist, with multiple plot twists that back then, really blew my mind, especially the reveal that the Ice Truck Killer was actually Dexter’s brother. It was such an emotional reveal, but knowing how much of a psychopath he was, it was so delightfully twisted. Having watched it again now knowing the ending, it was fun to look for the little hints at the plot twists before they happened.

Season 2 was a worthy continuation, albeit I remembered that Lilah quickly became annoying, and that was my experience again this time around. Okay season, not great, not terrible. Mostly fun to watch because we get to see Dexter confronted with the Bay Harbor Butcher, and Doakes circling in on him. Lundy was great too, though I’m not a fan of Debra’s relationship with him.

Season 3 is Miguel season, and while altogether, the season is quite ok, it’s one of the weaker ones. I never liked Miguel or his friendship with Dexter, I feel like it drags on a lot, especially in the early and middle part of the season. The conclusion when they bust each other is quite fun though. Dexter has quite a lot of development in his relationship with Rita during this season, which I suppose is built-up for Season 4. That’s all I have to say about Season 3.

Then we get to Season 4, which is universally lauded as the best season of Dexter ever – and here’s my unpopular opinion, I’m not sure I agree. Yes, Trinity is a great villain, but he’s so terrifying that sometimes I really didn’t enjoy watching him, he made me that uncomfortable. Perhaps that’s why people like him so much. This season had quite a few twists and turns as well, I for example didn’t remember at all that he had another daughter, who used Quinn to get what she wanted. And even killed Lundy. Altogether a great season, but IMHO my favorite is still Season 1 from the original run. What I didn’t like was the relationship between Batista and LaGuerta, it felt really forced, and I would have much rather seen more of Batista and Gianna, they were much more fun together.

So, a lot of people are of the opinion that you should stop watching Dexter after Season 4. But why would you want to? It ends on a cliffhanger of Dexter finding Rita dead in the bathtub. I suppose an open end could be a good end point in a story, but personally I think Season 5 is a natural conclusion to the show. It does a great job at showing us how Dexter is dealing with the aftermath and working through his grief, all while connecting to Lumen (who’s been through a whole different type of trauma). I liked how their relationship developed, however, I would have preferred if it would have stayed platonic for longer, or forever. And I was sad to see her leave. I think it would have been interesting to explore that dynamic more, kinda how he eventually did with Hannah I suppose (which I barely remember though).

I did however, stop rewatching after Season 5. From the little bits I remember about Season 6, 7 and 8, they were an absolute dumpster fire – excruciating, boring and/or extremely cringe, and I prefer not to waste my time with that. I’d much rather go and rewatch New Blood and Resurrection now, since both were IMHO quite enjoyable with great mysteries.

New Blood is so great on a rewatch, much better than its reputation (but I never complained, I already liked it the first time around). The contrast from hot Miami to snowy upstate New York is brilliant and really shows us the development that Dexter went through in these 10 years. Deb as his conscience is abso-fucking-lutely brilliant. Harrison is sulky, yes, but I feel it’s somewhat deserved, and knowing what’s coming in Resurrection makes it easier. Then when we finally move on to Resurrection, we get another extreme contrast, this time from tight-knit, small town community, to, well, one of the biggest cities in the world.

One has to wonder, why is Dexter so popular again? And why was he in the first place? This is a show about a serial killer, killing bad guys. He is portrayed as a psychopath, trying his best to fit into society. He’s always wearing a mask, which only comes off when he has someone on his table. We watch him navigating his complicated life, being the only ones who know his secret, and I think that’s one of the reasons why it’s so fun to watch. Always knowing the truth, and always being on the edge about whether or not he will get caught.

That’s perhaps where the show conceptually failed with its two previous endings. The audience expected a reckoning at the end of Season 8, and instead got the most anti-climatic finale ever in the history of television. Then New Blood gave us a kind of reckoning – but it was also not really the one people craved, and pretty anti-climatic? Resurrection finally seems to have got one thing right: maybe we don’t want a reckoning after all. Maybe we just want to continue watch Dexter take out the scum of the earth, the actual psychopaths who kill without conscience, and the true villains of our world: billionaires.