Review of 'Dexter: New Blood' 1.1

We last saw Dexter -- Dexter Morgan in the Showtime series with his first name -- in September 2013. He was working in the Northwest, as a lumberjack or something similar. In that series finale, this was some amount of time after he had left Miami, his life in a shambles, his beloved sister Debra killed by serial killer Arthur Miller, before Dexter killed him, his son Harrison taken to France by Hannah with Dexter's blessing to protect him, and nothing left for him in Miami except to flee. (See links to my reviews of all eight seasons of Dexter starting in 2006 in the podcast at the end of this review.)

Dexter: New Blood 1.1 finds him a fictional town in upstate New York that reminds me a little of Livingston Manor. Dexter has a girlfriend who's a cop, and the voice of Debra in his head. He's managed to stay clear of killing -- that is, being the killer -- but we know that it's just a matter of time before he can no longer resist his primal, vigilante, murderous instinct. Otherwise, why would this new sequel have been made.

[Spoilers ahead ...]

And it indeed happens by the end of this first episode. The specific occasion is the killing a buck that Dexter had an idealized beauty-of-nature relationship with. Dexter's victim not only killed the deer, but was responsible for the death of five people. And his father is rich and powerful. Dexter has made a dangerous, mortal enemy.

In addition to this excellent plot set-up, Dexter's son, now a teen, has managed to find Dexter, and shows up at his door. In even his worst days in Miami, Dexter was devoted to protecting Harrison. The other big significant development at the end of this first episode is Dexter admits to Harrison that he's Dexter Morgan, and takes him in. As it was in the original series, Harrison will be a continuingly humanizing experience for Dexter, even as he increases Dexter's vulnerabilities.

Michael C. Hall is as good as ever in this role. Smooth and charming on the surface, sarcastic self-commentary punctuating the action, literally lethal when that vigilante instinct is aroused. I expect it will be riveting, once again, to see how he plays all this out in the ice and snow of the north, rather than the warm salt waters of the south.

Watch here for my reviews of every episode.