‘Dexter: Resurrection’s Michael C. Hall Teases a Dark New Twist to Dexter’s Formula

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Dexter has spent a majority of his years alone, but the second episode of Season 2 finds him reconsidering a strange business proposition from Thurman’s Charley, who returns with an offer to help him track down serial killers alongside the perk of a luxury apartment. His first target? Ray Ballard (Gabriel Luna), better known as the Sleepy-Eyed Killer, who creeps into unsuspecting homes and rearranges their belongings as a form of psychological torment until he finally kills them. Naturally, Dexter has conditions of his own, but according to Hall, there’s something about Charley’s offer he finds particularly hard to resist.

“I think it’s practical, logistical reasons. She gives him access that he wouldn’t otherwise have. And on a level that maybe he can’t fully appreciate or cop to, she sees him for who he is, and as much as she can admires him for it, and he craves that,” he says. But Dexter isn’t exactly taking advice from anyone these days, including Harry. When his father questions his decisions, Dexter pushes back, even asking why he can’t just “be happy for once.” Hall admits there’s a rebellious streak emerging in his character as he gets older, describing it as “a sort of free-floating defiance that he puts on his son, on his internalized father.”

That attitude makes Dexter’s encounter with Don Framt all the more interesting. After following him to a strip club, Dexter approaches the suspected New York Ripper pretending to be an admirer. But unlike Dexter, Don doesn’t seem particularly worried about being associated with his crimes. In fact, Cox explains that the killer’s confidence comes from his impulsive nature. “The thing about it is that he’s very ignorant, also, about certain things, and he doesn’t realize that he is walking on a tightrope sometimes,” he says. “He just gets on that tightrope, and he walks it. And I think that that’s to do with the sort of spontaneous nature of who he is.”

Cox also has a rather colorful description of Don’s appetite for attention: “It’s like he’s a bit of a — excuse my bad language — self-fame fucker, if you can imagine that,” he laughs. “That’s really what he is.”

Interestingly, Cox sees a clear parallel between the two killers, especially when it comes to how long they’ve evaded consequences. “Because of the length of the show, which is interesting, the 20-year length of the show, there is that same kind of lens in the relationship of Framt getting away with it, and it’s so many, many years later. So there’s that parallel, that’s very clear in the story.”

Dexter’s Midlife Crisis Could Put His Closest Relationships at Risk

“It’s the beginning of a thorny relationship.”

As Dexter is busy making deals with Charley, his relationship with son Harrison (Jack Alcott) is no doubt entering some rather strange territory. Now working homicide alongside Detective Wallace (Kadia Saraf), Harrison wants his father to leave the New York Ripper alone. Of course, Dexter agrees — on the surface. In his own mind? Not so much. According to Hall, there’s a reason Dexter is having such a hard time taking orders from his own kid.

“He wants it to have been his decision and his gift that he’s given Harrison, not his command that he’s following, which I think is something — it’s obviously a unique situation, but in a father-son dynamic, something that would happen. ‘I don’t want to believe I’m following your orders, but that I’m granting you a wish you might have,'” Hall says, further warning that their unusual arrangement might not last much longer. “It’s the beginning of a thorny relationship where they’re sort of negotiating who gets to have who and who gets to kill who. I think we’d be reasonable to suspect that that’s not a sustainable dynamic.”

For Remar, who plays Dexter’s late father Harry and his conscience, his character has become an important source of support as Dexter tries to navigate fatherhood alongside his increasingly complicated personal crisis. “I serve as his anchor, and I serve as his safe harbor, because I’m the one person that knows everything about him. Even though I’m not there anymore, so to speak, I am the one person who knows everything about him.”

Meanwhile, Mwine, who plays Dexter’s neighbor Blessing, teased that their friendship could also take an unexpected turn. “Blessing brings blessings to Dexter. He also becomes a friend, and sometimes a friend needs to tell you harsh truths about yourself, challenge you to get out of your comfort zone, open new doors, be a sounding board,” he says. “These and some other dark things might unfold this season for Blessing and Dexter.”

And then there’s Harrington’s Joey Quinn, who’s back in New York looking for answers about Batista’s death. The actor, who appeared in Seasons 3 to 8 of Dexter, admits Quinn might be another obstacle the show’s titular character has to worry about, joking, “It could be that I’m in his way, or pain, or whatever.”

With so many people pulling Dexter in different directions, Hall offered one final warning about what’s coming: “More and more plates will continue to spin, and eventually all come crashing down.”

Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 streams every Friday on Paramount+ in the U.S.