The Trial of Dexter Morgan, and Other Hopes For Dexter: Resurrection Season 2

For a franchise once deemed dead and buried, with a protagonist literally dead and buried (in snow), Dexter: Resurrection was nothing short of miraculous. True to its title, the show revived the series and the character, and not just to an acceptable level of most revivals of old shows, but close to the standard of Dexter’s glory days. Despite some wobbles early in the season, and perhaps a too-clean ending, from the fourth episode on Dexter: Resurrection was largely great. Hallelujah. With news of the show’s renewal for a second season (the 12^th season of the franchise overall), instead of praying it’ll be good, I’m merely hoping for a continuation of the same quality, and wondering how the show will accomplish it.

What do we know about the second season? Very little. The one storyline that was teased throughout the first was the New York Ripper, a notorious killer who once prowled the city. It seemed like the show was setting up this character to be the villain of the second season, but then the finale made me question that. Detective Wallace, long pursuing the killer, found Prater’s file on the Ripper, revealing his name to be Don Framt. This information made me think maybe the file itself was supposed to be resolution to the storyline, that he’ll be arrested offscreen, because why reveal his identity before he even makes his first appearance? But perhaps he’ll be on the run, or using a false identity. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see if the show returns to having one main serial killer villain for a whole season after the first season spoiled us with a smorgasbord of killers.

The reveal of the Ripper being some guy named Don also dowsed many fan theories in cold water. I always thought it was probably going to be a new character, and that’s likely for the best, but the one idea I do like is that it’s the Trinity Killer’s son, Jonah Mitchell. It would fit with the themes of the show. While Dexter was able to prevent his son from going down a dark path, Arthur’s son became just like his father. Now what will Harrison do when faced with the son of his mother’s killer? I think there’s some juicy storytelling there. It might be a little silly, a little too convenient, but I do like the idea that Framt is a pseudonym for Jonah. This way Jonah could speak to a vision of his father like Dexter does, keeping John Lithgow around, if he’s not too busy Dumbledore-ing.

Dexter ended the first season with a bunch of files on serial killers all over the country. You know what that means: road trip! I’m expecting New York to remain the primary location (at least for one more season) but I could see Dexter on the road for the opening couple of episodes, taking down killers, including Rapunzel, in quick succession. Like the first season, that would allow whatever the main New York plot is to get moving without him. Harrison and Wallace could be the focus there when the Ripper reappears. I do like the show’s supporting cast but hope we get some more layers to Wallace. At the moment she fits far too comfortably into the tropey vaguely-autistic detective mold that Abed would lambast in Community.

Harrison is an improvement in Resurrection over how he was in New Blood. I still don’t love the actor, and the weird blinky right eye thing he does when he’s on the verge of tears (every other scene) but he’s written better here and I buy the relationship between father and son more. I do however dislike his new girlfriend Gigi and would like her to exit the story, violently or otherwise, early in the second season. She comes out of nowhere, completely replacing Elsa, and is representative of the weaker, more generic teenager side of Harrison’s character. And in a series of outlandish serial killers, somehow Gigi feels like the fakest, least believable character on the show.

Angel wanted to be a reckoning and instead became just another example of the cost of Dexter’s dark passenger. I’m very curious to see what legacy Angel and his actions will have. Purely a psychological wound on Dexter or will he play some part in his undoing from beyond the grave? What I don’t want to see happen is Quinn becoming the new Angel figure next season. It’d be too repetitive. One former friend/detective from Miami dies and another takes his place, investigating up in New York. Then what – Quinn dies at the end of season 2 and Masuka investigates in season 3? There needs to be a fresh take on the consequences of Angel’s death, more than Quinn replacing him and David Zayas being added to the cast of people who appear to represent Dexter’s psyche.

Before I get onto my hopes for Dexter Morgan himself, there are a few things about Resurrection I would like to see change. Firstly, I wish there were more music cues of the old themes from the original series rather than the constant needle drops. The amount of music on the show is insane, and while some make for a good scene, others are unnecessary and obtrusive. The show can’t have a character walk across a street without blasting five seconds of a rock song. I also don’t need shots of Dexter and Harrison eating in every other scene. I think the style in which Dexter eats became a meme and now the show is committed to it. It’s gone too far.

And while Resurrection was airing, we got news that the prequel series Original Sin, despite being renewed six months ago, has now been cancelled after just one season. I want justice for the cast of Original Sin and would love to see them return in Resurrection for a special episode. Maybe there could be flashbacks where a killer gets away from young Dexter and older Dexter finally catches up with them. Or an older Tanya could appear, a character severely underserved in Original Sin’s first season. Or perhaps we could finally see the biggest missing piece of the entire Dexter canon: Harry’s suicide. A defining moment that Original Sin was clearly building to that we now might never see.

So: Dexter. The lead character is different in Resurrection. After forcing Harrison to kill him as penance for his past foul deeds (I think that was what was supposed to be happening) Dexter is resurrected as a lighter figure. Sure, he’s still a serial killer, but he has a more positive outlook and fatherly disposition. He even changes his MO, targeting a malicious landlord who is not a murderer and only threatening him rather than killing. Is this the new journey for Dexter – able to control his dark passenger into pursuing acts of good (through violent means) by targeting a wider range of criminals rather than just killing killers? I’d certainly like to see it explored more.

While I like this new perspective, I want to see it put through the gauntlet. Challenged in every way. For a man who was dead at the start, Dexter had it surprisingly easy for most of the first season, luckily bumping into killers and dispatching them a little too cleanly and conveniently. It wasn’t until Angel got in the way when the difficulty rose. In the second season I want Dexter put through the ringer. He may want a new life for himself but the sins of the past can’t just be forgotten. Whether Wallace or Quinn or the Ripper, someone will need to make him look at what he’s done. Will he truly exorcise that darker past self or burn with it?

The showrunners have spoken of a three-season plan. In that case, I think the second season will end with Dexter returning to Miami, setting the stage for a final season on home ground. And how will the show end, for real this time? I think a trial. The trial of Dexter Morgan. He confesses and argues the point he’s been trying to make all this time, his life’s work. He’s been channelling his darkness for good. Acceptance of who he is, if not pride. He can apologise for past mistakes, seek some form of redemption from those he’s hurt, be satisfied that he’s saved Harrison from the same fate, and debate his outlook on life and the deaths that have defined it, bringing a huge cast of guest stars back from across the 13 seasons as witnesses. That’s the only ending left to tell, and I think the second season will continue putting the pieces in place to get us there.