This week’s episode of Dexter: Resurrection, “The Kill Room Where It Happens,” feels like a warning to Dexter if he’s not careful with mixing work with home.
The episode begins with Batista recording his investigation of Dexter. The trail of his AirPods leads him to a wig store. Unbeknownst to Batista, it’s the place of Dexter’s next potential kill.
While we thought the Gemini Killer was going to be the big bad of the season, that theory was quickly killed off. In last week’s episode, Dexter staged a fight between him and Gareth, which resulted in Dexter killing the other twin.
This leaves (almost) one killer left of the group — Al A.K.A. Rapunzel. Dexter’s itching to get Al on his table, but Al and his suspiciously happy-go-lucky demeanor aren’t that easy for Dexter to catch. While we are used to Dexter always being two steps ahead, Al is challenging in that regard.
In the midst of Dexter’s hunt for Al, Harrison reaches out to him and asks if he can meet for advice. Dexter mixes work with home when he specifically requests to meet in the theater district since he knows Al will be in the area.
Thinking he can catch Al this way, he’s proven wrong when Al reveals he’s already on his way back to Wisconsin. Al seemingly anticipates Dexter’s moves, which makes him a surprisingly interesting foe. He’s already too far gone for Dexter to hunt, and, as Dexter says, he still needs to satisfy his “hunger.”
His next best option is to hunt for Vinny, Elsa’s unruly landlord. Dexter’s loyalty to Harry’s code is put to the test when he deals with Vinny for the first time. With his plan for Al falling through, Vinny is next on Dexter’s radar.
This episode did a great job of showing us how Dexter should practice what he preaches, or perhaps do as he should to others as he would want done to himself. Among all the Al and Vinny chaos, Dexter reveals a secret of Blessing’s to his daughter.
When Blessing finds out Dexter spilled his secret, he calls it a betrayal. He’s worried his daughter will see him differently now, knowing he’s killed before. This isn’t new to Dexter, but he can’t expect everyone to react the same way as he did when Harrison found out his secret.
Blessing says he wanted to keep his past outside of his home, which feels like a deeper secret to Dexter without Blessing realizing. By Dexter lying to Harrison about how he handled Vinny and bringing him into close quarters of what he thought would be his next kill (Al), Dexter is treading the line of mixing his personal life with his secret life.
This is a constant theme in Dexter’s life — we saw it in the original series, and we see it now. The episode serves a purpose in a way that it highlights this is Dexter’s ultimate struggle: does he want to try to live a normal life, or is his dark passenger too much in control?
Even Harry, in his subconscious, casually throws the idea of Dexter stopping killing. Dexter scoffs at it and quickly moves on. It’s not an option for him.
Batista’s already on Dexter’s trail. It may seem unlucky that he almost walked in on Dexter killing Vinny, but I find it lucky that he did. Imagine if he did end up killing Vinny. Batista would be able to put the pieces together that Vinny is Elsa’s landlord, and Elsa is Harrison’s friend.
Nevertheless, in true Dexter fashion, he gets away in the nick of time, and things naturally fall into place for Dexter.
With Batista’s frantic call and over-explaining of the scene to Detective Claudette and Detective Oliva, he puts himself at a disadvantage by looking slightly obsessed, with no proof that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher.
Where this episode really nails it in the coffin that it serves as a warning for Dexter to not mix his personal life with his secret life is when Dexter and Harrison are having dinner at the end of the episode.
This time, Dexter doesn’t have Harrison in close quarters to any kill, but someone else is on his tail, and it’s not Batista. Right before Prater makes his appearance, Dexter says to Harrison, “Your actions have consequences for the people around you.”
Indeed, they do, and with only two episodes left, there’s potential that Dexter may eat his words.
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Samantha Barker
Samantha Barker is a writer and fangirl from New Jersey. When she's not rewatching Daredevil or listening to the Beatles, she's cosplaying and attending comic-cons with her friends. Sam also co-hosts a podcast called Fangirl Confessions and writes for her Substack, Samantha, etc. Connect with her on X: @0nyourleftsam and IG: @onyourleftsam.