This is technically the sixth iteration of Dexter. I know, you are looking at me like I’m crazy and saying “Fourth. You mean fourth.” But no, I mean sixth. Jeff Lindsay wrote the original novels that started it all with Darkly Dreaming Dexter and ending with Dexter is Dead. He wrote a total of 8 novels in the series. And essentially the only thing the tv shows have had in common is the characters as depicted in the first book. I admit I haven’t read them, but I very much want to add them to my TBR pile.

The other item you may not be thinking about is that Marvel did a comic series written by Jeff Lindsay as well. The comics are connected to the novels, not the tv show. Then we all know there was the Showtime series. Followed by the New Blood single season return of Dexter. But 2025 has been an amazing year with the Dexter Original Sin series giving us a 20 year old Dexter as he learns to cut his teeth on bad guys.

All this is a lead up to Resurrection episode one.

If you aren’t caught up with the other shows, spoiler alert, Dexter isn’t dead. He didn’t die in the hurricane. And he didn’t die in the forest after Harrison shot him. The primary explanation of why he survived is dealt with in Original Sin, but they revisit it within the first episode here.

An immediate thing I noticed is that there isn’t really a theme song or opening. At the end of an episode we get credits with music and a bit of a video collage. But a cool thing I liked was how the individual episode title A Beating Heart gets blown away in the wind. It reminds me of how Fringe did onscreen title cards. Which back then was new and innovative. That isn’t to say this is a tired rehash of that sort of thing. It still looks awesome. 

A good portion of this episode deals with Dexter recovering. After spending weeks in a coma, he is beginning the slow road to getting back to his old self. As he floats in and out of consciousness we are treated to a fantastic conga line of characters from the original series. We get a few moments with Trinity, and Miguel Prado, and Harry Morgan, and “surprise” James Doakes! All of these are internal voices in his head, and Harry is portrayed by James Remar rather than the Original Sin version played by Christian Slater. Noticeably absent in the premiere is a spectral version of Deb (she was present throughout the New Blood series.) Thinking about the potential inner voices, there are a couple I’d love to see cameos from. Rita and Hannah would be very cool to see visit him.

And with Harrison sharing the main stage with Dexter, it seems reasonable to get them at some point. The voices are always there to give some words of wisdom or guidance to Dexter, and as he is trying to find a way to be there for Harrison it would make a lot of sense for Rita to show up. That could be a really powerful and emotional moment. And even Hannah, as she was the one who raised Harrison. It would even be pretty wild to see some flashback moments of Harrison and Hannah!

But I’m spending time talking about a lot of things that aren’t in this episode, because even seeing Trinity talking to Dexter isn’t really “there.” Dexter is visited by a few actual people. Teddy Reed being one of them. He was a cop in Iron Lake (New Blood series) but there are things that make no sense in his appearance here. He explains to Dexter that Angela (Dex’s girlfriend from New Blood) left the area after making a detailed report about accidentally shooting Dex. He says this makes him the acting sheriff. His time on the job (based on time elapsed in the shows) is between 3-6 months. And he is sheriff? Seems like a crazy job upgrade for someone who isn’t very good at his job. But it is a super small town, so I guess it could make sense. 

The Harrison story is playing out alongside Dex in physical rehab, and that is where we get a kill. He helps a girl avoid being date raped and ends up killing the perpetrator. Dex had taught him some basics, and Harrison uses them in order to cover up the kill. Part of which involved putting the dismembered body into bags for the city trash pickup. Which led to a moment I wasn’t understanding at all. Sanitation workers park the trash truck and then manually pull the bags out to “sort” trash. Is this a thing? It gave us the plot point of the body being found, but felt very forced to me. I can’t imagine that is how it is done. Harrison was fun to watch through this though, as he channeled Dexter in so many ways. I skipped over the in depth of his story here, but I can tell it is going to be a fun ride with him. And also a conflicted one, as he hasn’t had the guidance of Harry the way Dex did.

Dexter gets a big surprise though as Angel shows up at the hospital. With a sandwich and questions. Dexter explains away things really well. Which was awesome. And seeing Angel was nice. Feels like he is potentially going to be a regular, or at least a recurring character. Just hope he doesn’t wind up following in the footsteps of LaGuerta. 

When Dex sees news about a murder in NY, he is certain it was Harrison who did it. Survival tag teams with his paternal instincts and he flees. Running away from Angel and toward Harrison. Running is a strong word though, because he is in really rough shape. 

Seeing Harry as the inner voice of Dexter again is great. That voice should be ever present. Harry is the voice of reason that helps him get by day to day. Deb as that voice in New Blood was very different. She wasn’t reason, she was guilt personified. Which was fine for that show, but it isn’t what he needs. 

As a return, I feel this is a better start than New Blood was. In New Blood, he was Jim Lindsey and it didn’t quite feel like he was Dexter. This is Dexter. And he is back, or at least taking slow steps towards being back. He’s old and lost a step to a degree. Although as he was “born” in the same year as me, I like to think being shot is the main reason for his slow down and it isn’t age related!

This is Dexter. Is there any question about how high I am going to rate it? Of course not. Because even with my little nitpicks above, I really loved this opening to the new series. So yeah, 10 stars from me!