Dexter: Resurrection Season 1 Recap Before Watching Season 2

The term “resurrection” means restoring life in something or bringing something or someone back to life. Considering how the original “Dexter” ended, and what followed after – yes, I’m referring to the dud that was “Dexter: New Blood,” the new Dexter show being titled “Resurrection” is fitting enough for both the character and the content. Even the staunchest of Dexter fans probably didn’t see something as satisfying as “Dexter : Resurrection” coming their way, but that was exactly what happened last year. And now the show is about to return for its sophomore season, this is a good time to run a recap, to help you jostle back your memories. Here we go.

Spoilers Ahead

Dexter Is Alive

The reason I’m asking this is because last time we saw him, he seemed pretty much dead, shot in the chest by his own son, Harrison. But since the name of the show is “Dexter: Resurrection,” it was inevitable for our man to come back to life. Before going there, let me add a little bit of context. A long time ago, Dexter Morgan was a forensic expert in the Miami Metro, who also used to moonlight as a serial killer. Apparently, he used to feel this uncontrollable urge – which he called “The Dark Passenger” – that led him to do the killing. But thanks to his adoptive father Harry Morgan, Dexter found a way to properly channel his murderous tendencies. He used to call it the code, as per which he only used to kill predators, i.e., people who actually deserved such punishment. Things, however, got messy, and Dexter ended up losing his wife, Rita, and his adoptive sister, Debra, in the process. The original show ended with Dexter riding his boat – the one he used to dump the bodies – into a threatening storm while his son, then a kid, found a new home in Argentina with his father’s girlfriend, Hannah. Then came “Dexter: New Blood,” which took off ten years after the mother series, with Dexter taking on this whole new identity, Jim Lindsay – fun fact, that’s the name of the author of the “Dexter” books – and living in Iron Lake, NY. Unfortunately, “New Blood” neither had the intensity nor the humor of the earlier show. Neither the frozen set-up nor the Dexter in hiding worked in its favor. And the disastrous ending, where Harrison shot his father, pretty much indicated the character is done for good. But then came “Resurrection.” Nobody saw it coming, but the makers brought it back anyway and made sure “Dexter” is good again. Let us now get into what we saw in “Dexter : Resurrection” season 1.

Harrison Kills Ryan Foster

Harrison may have shot his father, but he’s still Dexter Morgan’s son. Both Dexter and Harrison were born in blood – you do remember how Harry found Dexter for the first time, and also how Dexter found Harrison after the Trinity killer killed Rita Morgan right? So for Harrison, giving into the urge does make sense. In his defence, though, the man he murders, Ryan Foster, pretty much fit the “code,” considering he was about to rape and kill a woman. Despite trying his best to live a “normal” life, by working as a bellhop at the Empire Hotel in NYC, Harrison ultimately fails. Thanks to what he learned from his father, he does a pretty good clean-up job, chopping up the body in pieces and disposing of it through the garbage. But a little bit of sloppiness results in one of the pieces being found, and one very persistent detective Wallace gets very interested in finding the killer.

Meanwhile, at Iron Lake, Dexter wakes up from his coma and finds none other than his old friend Angel Batista there to welcome him to life. Thanks to plot armor, the slate of Dexter’s recent crimes have been wiped clean. But Batista is not just here to say “hello” to his former colleague. He is here to get to the bottom of the truth – by that, I mean Dexter Morgan being the real “Bay Harbor Butcher,” not Sergeant James Doakes (in case you feel a little lost here, I’m gonna suggest a little rehash of “Dexter” season 2). So Dexter has no choice but to dupe Angel and flee. And considering whatever is happening in NYC, he must save his son. So that’s where he goes, and we have a new setup for the show, Dexter Morgan in New York City. 

Killers Assemble 

Upon reaching NYC, Dexter wastes no time getting into business – I mean the crime scene, and clearing some very important blood splatter evidence that his son missed. Instead of disrupting his son’s new life, our man chooses to keep an eye on him. Now, being Dexter Morgan again, he joins a cab service as a rideshare driver but with a secret agenda – finding a killer who is killing rideshare drivers. And he doesn’t have to put in much effort to find the killer, Ronald “Red” Schmidt, and bring him to the table. In Red’s backpack, Dexter finds this strange invitation, from this secret killer society, being funded by the psychopathic half-man – the character is literally played by the magnanimous and brilliant Peter Dinklage – Leon Prater. The guy is a billionaire with this fascination for serial killers, so he gathers them all, and celebrates them. Prater happens to have a stellar collection of many trophies, including that of the Ice Truck Killer, aka Dexter’s brother, Brian Moser. Obviously Dexter has to see what Prater is cooking, so he poses as Red and joins his gang, consisting of the Tattoo Collector aka Lowell, Lady Vengeance aka Mia, the Ponytail Killer aka Al Walker, and the Gemini Killer(s), Gareth. Much later, it is revealed that Gareth has a twin, which makes his (read their) job much easier. There’s another person in the mix, Prater’s right hand and head of security, Charlie, a no-nonsense woman who is extremely loyal to her boss.

One interesting aspect of Dexter Morgan has always been his ability to easily blend with the “normal,” despite having the Dark Passenger living inside him forever. So he may have joined Prater’s gang of crazies, but Dexter also has no trouble forming a friendship with fellow rideshare driver Blessing, and getting close to his loving family. And it’s not that Dexter is pretending or anything, he genuinely seems to care for all these people. Speaking of the people Dexter cares about, Angel Batista has fully embraced his theory of the former Miami Metro forensic expert being the infamous BHB – he’s not wrong, of course – and arrived in New York. That’s really bad news for Dexter Morgan, who’s trying to establish a new life, and also win the heart of his son, Harrison. Yes, after shadowing Harrison for weeks, Dexter finally has no choice but to reveal himself to his son, who was just about to surrender himself out of guilt. Harrison might be Dexter’s son, but (fortunately) no Dark Passenger lives inside him. Naturally, after doing what he had to do, Harrison was constantly haunted by his conscience, like any normal person. While he is shocked and not so happy (that’s only fair) to see his father alive, eventually he warms up to Dexter, and you get to see some genuine father-son bonding in this otherwise murderous show.

And the Plot Thickens

While Prater’s gang allows Dexter to be himself, how can he not take care of its existing members by putting them on the table? There’s no doubt Al, Lowell, and Gareth deserve it, but that about Mia? Well, just when Dexter was anticipating a bit of romance with another fellow killer, he realizes Mia doesn’t really care about her “Lady Vengeance” code, where she is only supposed to kill predatory males who harm women. Instead, she kills for fun and she has no shame in that. That provides Dexter the perfect opportunity to serve up Ryan Foster’s killer to the police, and his son for good in the process. So he plants Foster’s expensive watch at Mia’s apartment, making sure she falls into the trap and gets caught. And that’s how Dexter ensures his son is safe. Harrison was having a really hard time, but now he can breathe at least. Angel is still on Dexter’s trail, and he even keeps pestering Harrison, but both the father and the son successfully evade that. 

Coming back to Prater’s group, Dexter manages to end Gareth before going to a killer’s retreat. Then he gets the shock of his life when Gareth boards the helicopter. Obviously it’s a twin situation, and Dexter Morgan the master manipulator gets into action; he deliberately lets Gareth know that his twin was killed, which agitates the Gemini Killer, who attacks our man. Since Dexter anticipated it, he wins the battle, stabs Gareth in the neck, and upon Prater arriving in the scene, he makes it look like Gareth attacked him. Lowell’s gone, Mia’s gone (to prison), and now Gemini’s gone too. All that’s left for Dexter is Al, but sadly, he misses the chance to put an end to him, as the guy leaves NYC to be with his family – yes, this is a full-on family man with a very regular “young girl with a ponytail” fetish. Dexter’s problem grows further out of hand when Prater finds his real identity, pays a visit to Harrison and Dexter, and practically threatens them. What Prater doesn’t know is that threatening Dexter Morgan is never really a good thing, but he finds out soon.

Prater Is Dead

You know it was always going to be Prater ending up on Dexter’s table. But with how crazy and calculative Prater is, getting him there was always going to be difficult for Dexter. Now, coming to Angel Batista, when the character was brought back at the start of the season, you felt in your gut that things were not gonna end well for the former Miami Metro police captain. The simple reason behind that is people usually don’t end up well when they’re about to expose Dexter Morgan’s real self to the world. Even Debra Morgan got sick of keeping her brother’s secret, and you know what happened to her by the end (although there wasn’t really much connection, but still). So, Angel was supposed to be sacrificed in the end. Sure, this is Dexter’s show, but you do feel bad for Angel, and I’m sure a part of you wanted him to win even. However, the moment he walks into Prater’s office and asks if the businessman knows someone called Dexter Morgan, who might be the real BHB, you know Angel is done for. Prater not only gets elated by the news, he also presents Angel Batista on a kill table to the BHB, i.e, Dexter Morgan. Unsurprisingly, Dexter refuses to kill Batista and cuts him free. Sadly, rage gets the best of Batista as he attacks Dexter. Prater fires his gun, and the bullet hits Batista, who bleeds to death. Realizing his friend is not going to make it, Dexter apologizes and finally admits he was indeed the Bay Harbor Butcher. In one of the saddest moments in all of “Dexter,” Angel dies while blaming Dexter for everything that’s gone bad – well, he’s not exactly wrong, is he?

Anyway, after killing Angel, Prater leaves the room and locks the door from outside, leaving Dexter stuck in the vault. In this dire time, Harrison sneaks into Prater’s fundraiser event and successfully frees his dad, only to get caught by Prater. But thanks to having a tranquilizer syringe, Harrison nabs Prater, and soon, he’s on Dexter’s kill table. Prater still seems very excited nonetheless, as getting to be killed by the BHB is a huge achievement for him. Dexter fulfills his dream, and once Prater is done for, Dexter finds his stash of files, documenting details about so many serial killers. Does that mean Dexter is now going to find and kill all these killers? We’ll find out soon in season 2. One name that sticks out is “the New York Ripper,” and if the trailers are anything to go by, that’s going to be a major character in this season. Also, Charlie only remained loyal to Prater because the psychopath had files that would put her in danger, and because she was also looking out for her sick mother. Now that Prater is gone, and Dexter has destroyed the file, the woman is free to do anything. After so much mayhem and bloodshed, “Dexter : Resurrection” ends on a rather calm  note, with Dexter on a boat, finally at peace. This could have been where things ended, but more of “Dexter” is on our way, and I see no reason to complain about that.

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