Dexter: Resurrection review – Surprisingly gripping tale breathes new life into story that should be dead

But it seems the creative team was just not willing to let this character go. From there, we got the middling-at-best Original Sin, a prequel tale released only just last year, which showed Dexter’s younger years under the tutelage of adoptive father, Harry.

I’m sure I’m not the only one that let out an audible groan when Dexter: Resurrection was announced around the same time – despite showrunner Clyde Phillips previously promising that New Blood was the true end to the tale.

The character had "died" twice, what more of a story could there possibly be?

And yet, with Dexter: Resurrection, I’m relieved to say I found myself feeling a similar joy to when the show was at its height, and within the first 20 minutes of the first episode to boot.

It’s no spoiler to say that we pick up with Dexter (Michael C Hall) having miraculously survived a bullet to the chest, though let’s make no mistake: he only just made it.

Harrison (Jack Alcott), meanwhile, has managed to evade any charges and legged it out of Iron Lake in Upstate New York to the bright lights of Manhattan, trying to keep his own killer instincts at bay and his head down as a bellboy at a hotel.

That is as successful as you suspect it to be, especially with him only having a few lessons with his Dear Old Dad to form a code to work by.

When Dexter wakes up, Harrison is the person he wants to see. Instead, he gets Angel Batista (David Zayas) – his old detective pal from Miami Metro from the original series. And Angel has some serious questions. First off: How on earth is his long-presumed dead friend alive, and why is he living in a fishing village?

With that long-ticking (and correct) suspicion that Dexter was the Bay Harbour Butcher, Angel’s instincts start itching – and Dexter knows it. So he gives his buddy the slip, and makes his way to New York.

The city that never sleeps is actually quite the fit for Dexter, who soon takes up a job as a cab driver to make his way around unnoticed. Determined for a fresh start and new life, Dexter is a man on a mission to be reunited with his son and start again, kill-free and fancy-free, if possible.

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But life is never that easy for the self-aware killer – especially when a murderer dubbed the "Dark Passenger" starts offing cab drivers. Rather than feel an unease about that, he’s more annoyed he’s had the name for his inner voice stolen. Priorities.

But through his quest to find the Dark Passenger, Dexter becomes entangled with a billionaire philanthropist (Peter Dinklage) who likes to be a "collector" of all things macabre, and his right hand woman, Charley (Uma Thurman).

Dexter: Resurrection has succeeded to breathe a new life into a tired (and formerly dead) character, but it throws every fan service trick at the wall in order to do this: stunt casting, surprise cameos and throwbacks abound, edging but not quite crossing distraction.

Some tricks make more sense than others, and not all stick the landing, but they’re fun nonetheless. Neil Patrick Harris, Krysten Ritter, Eric Stonestreet and David Dastmalchian all become key players in Dex’s new life, but as friend or foe? You’ll have to watch to find out.

But none of this would even matter if it wasn’t for Michael C Hall carrying this show on his shoulders, continuing to chew every scene as this killer who is beginning to realise that what he does might actually have consequences outside of being a bad guy murderer.

With his moral code now shaken, it leaves him drifting between sticking to the long-established ethics established by dad Harry and going off book. He cares for people now, which is as shocking to him as it is to us.

Hall’s ability to bring humanity, self-awareness and humour to a character that could so easily be cold, heartless and insufferable continues to be the beating heart of this show, and without this, the house of cards on which this franchise is based would collapse.

But more praise needs to be given to Jack Alcott, who joined the world in New Blood as Harrison. Missing Dexter’s swagger and charm, Harrison doesn’t want his dad’s killer itch and certainly doesn’t thrive off it, but has an impulse he can’t control.

Alcott plays Harrison’s desperation to keep his impulses in check in a strikingly sympathetic way. This opposite side to the Dexter coin brings an interesting dynamic within the storytelling, and makes the character just as interesting as the long-standing lead.

Dexter: Resurrection is a story that doesn’t need to be told, but at least has the decency to be told relatively well.

In the four episodes available at the time of writing, it has made a strong start for what could be a great series – but if it doesn’t learn to rein itself in, I could see it hitting the slab just as quickly.

Dexter: Resurrection will premiere on Paramount+ on Friday 11th July 2025 - get a seven day free Paramount+ trial at Amazon Prime Video.

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