"You're looking at the guy where secrets go to die."
It's ten years later, and Dexter Morgan has a clean, snow-covered life. Except that he's marking off days on a calendar. You don't do that when you're happy.
Outwardly, Dexter has become the person he always pretended to be. He lives in the opposite of Miami – a picture-postcard small town in New York where everyone knows and likes him because he brings them donuts. He exercises by running through the woods with a rifle where he always spots and doesn't kill a gorgeous white buck. He keeps a variety of farm animals at his remote cabin that literally eat out of his hand.
And he works at Fred's Fish and Game, the local sporting goods store. For me, that said it all. Dexter the serial killer works all day with guns and knives, much like an alcoholic who gives up the booze but continues to work as a bartender. Dexter hasn't recovered or changed. He's just fighting his need to kill.
Dexter's choice of girlfriend is interesting. Angela Bishop is the local sheriff, not that surprising since Dexter is comfortable with cops and has never lacked for nerve. But Angela isn't a blonde victim like Rita, Lumen, Laura Moser. She's very like Deb – a sassy cop with long, dark hair who actively helps others. I was somewhat surprised that Angela didn't have an epic foul mouth to go with it, but that would have been too on the nose.
Speaking of Deb, isn't there something super creepy about her? The ghost of Harry was Dexter's conscience, a clever plot device that allowed Dexter to work out his internal issues in dialogue with another excellent actor. But the ghost of Deb is the personification of Dexter's guilt; she is literally nightmare-inducing. I've always loved Deb. I'm not sure how I feel about her now.
And so far, Harrison is a complete mystery. How did he find Dexter hiding in Iron Lake? What was Harrison's childhood in Argentina like? Did Hannah raise him, and what happened to her? I hope that Harrison isn't a killer, but I suspect he is, because this is a series about a serial killer and plotting is like that. Jack Alcott looks nothing like the previous small Harrisons, but he does look like Michael C. Hall. Points for that.
We all knew Dexter would lose his cool, so to speak, and kill someone, just like we knew that gorgeous white deer would die bloody. Matt Caldwell had "Dexter victim" written all over him, especially after the revelation that he killed five people in a rager boat crash. He was such a jerk, too, throwing his weight around in Fred's Fish and Game by insisting on buying the biggest, most expensive weapon in the store, scaring his buddy Bill with a knife, calling Dexter a saint and an Eagle Scout. As always with this show, it's fun to be in on the joke about the quiet and courteous clerk at the counter.
The voiceover returned as soon as Dexter killed Matt, along with "Tonight's the night," the first line in the series. But things have changed. No slides, no trophies, no convenient ocean dumping ground. And Dexter left bloodstains on the clean white snow.
After a ten year hiatus, has Dexter lost his edge, pun intended? I guess I could ask the same about Dexter the show. I hope he hasn't. The cop shop is dealing with lost sheep and stolen pecan pies, so someone has to solve the case of all those missing women.
Bits:
— Unsurprisingly, Michael C. Hall fell back into the part as if he never left. Yes, he looks a little older, but don't we all? His James Lindsay driver's license gave his year of birth as 1974.
— The calendar Dexter marked gave the date as December 8, 2021. Did they maybe move up the premiere?
— It's "rich asshole season." I grew up in a tourist town and can relate.
— Speaking of which, no Clancy Brown yet. His character's name is Kurt Caldwell, which means that he's Matt Caldwell's father. Of course.
— The old Dexter didn't do Christmas often. Well, maybe once. There were many tasteful Christmas trappings in Iron Lake: evergreens, white lights.
— Loved the line dancing. Particularly that it included Esther from the cop shop (Katy Sullivan), a double amputee, with no mention. Doctor Who did the same thing last week. Are we finally getting to a better place with this stuff?
— Title musings: "Cold Snap" is wonderful pun. It was cold, and Dexter snapped.
— FYI, if you weren't following Doux Reviews years ago, I reviewed every episode of the original Dexter when it aired. I just rewatched the entire series, so hopefully I won't miss all the easter eggs.
Quotes:
Logan: "Keeping Iron Lake safe, one pie at a time."
Harrison: "If you don't want me, fucking say it."
Deb: "Doakes. LaGuerta. Rita. (Pulls a bullet out of her own abdomen.) Me. Everyone."
Dexter: (to Matt) "You're blaming this on bad parenting?"
Not mentioned but we all remember how Dexter lost his mother.
I was worried this reboot wouldn't be good, but it is undeniably Dexter and I enjoyed it. There was a ton of intriguing set-up. I don't know where they're going, but I'm happy to go along for the ride.
Three out of four donuts,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Happy to have Dexter back, and your reviews along with it Billie! I was also nervous about the show returning (especially after the lackluster season 8), but so far so good. They manage to suck me back in.
ReplyDeleteI liked it enough and it's cool to have something currently airing that I'm actually watching myself to read reviews about for once.
ReplyDeleteIt helps that I'm getting a kick out of the locale change, because I really really miss the internal monologuing :( Part of what made the shitty seasons bearable is the idle ruminating... how come more shows don't use narrators? I wish it wasn't considered a lazy storytelling device, even if it surely is for a visual medium. It's cozy.
I miss the original soundtrack a little too... a lot of musical montages in this premiere though. They're good enough songs and I didn't rewatch the show before catching this outside of the first season so I can't remember if this already became a regular thing sometime during the original run. There's a certain dryness to the feeling of the premiere which might be intentional.
I can't believe there's been 8 whole seasons before this!
I was iffy about seeing Deb again, she was easily one of the best actresses of the show and I wasn't sure I wanted to revisit that particular heart-breaker again... but it's good to see Jenn Carpenter. And it wasn't just all guilt-tripping, I liked the weird companion-y moments she had with him too. It's really sad.
So curious about wtf they're going to do with Harrison. I mean the whole killer protege thing has been revisited in all the imaginable ways already. What can they do with him? Something that's actually touching and not purely tragic/inevitable? Is that really even Harrison btw? Dexter didn't doubt him, and I'd like it if Word of God put to rest any speculation about him being some other victim of Dexter's child who may've killed Harrison and has some roleplaying kink he wants to play out. I wanna know it's really Harrison.
Premieres don't always have the new opening credits so I'm hoping they still have something in store for this season.
On a final superficial note I'm glad Mikey C. Hall still looks good.
Miguel, thanks. :)
ReplyDeleteOnigirli, I always thought the narration was necessary for this show specifically because if we didn't have it, or the conversations with "Harry," we wouldn't know what Dexter was thinking. I loved the narration. It was always clever and occasionally humorous.
Too right you are. I hope it's not completely gone
ReplyDeleteDo you need to have watched the original series to understand/enjoy this one? Obviously, you're missing context for relationships. But if you know the general idea and plot of the show, is that enough?
ReplyDeleteFangirl, knowing the general idea and plot is likely enough to follow what's going on. If you do give it a shot, I'll be very interested in your opinion.
ReplyDeleteGood to know! I watched the first handful of episode from Season One, and I know some of the big twists thanks to just cultural osmosis and countless "Most Heartbreaking Character Death" lists. I'll check it out.
ReplyDeletefun fact dextar was the first ever doux series I read of you the 2nd was true blood its good to see dexter back HOPE WE GET CLOSURE
ReplyDeleteLooks like the only way to watch it is on Showtime, which I don't have. I'll probably wait for it to be binge-able within a free trial period! ;)
ReplyDeleteMatthew, I'm glad you found us and I also hope we get closure. :)
ReplyDeleteFangirl, I get it. Too many services! While Dexter was running, I would subscribe to Showtime specifically so I could watch and review it. And the day the finale aired, I would cancel my subscription. Probably not what Showtime hoped for, but hey.
Given how much of a trainwreck late series Dexter was, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this episode. Probably because they brought back the team that worked on the first four seasons.
ReplyDeleteMade me feel nostalgic for my college years when I would watch each new episode of the show religiously and talk to my friends about it. The moment when that new version of the "blood theme" music started playing again after Dexter finally kills the guy also reminded me how fantastic the original soundtrack of the show used to be. I will definetely keep watching this show, I hope the series gets a proper ending this time around.