“Dexter” Season 1 premiered on Oct. 1, 2006. The series stars Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood spatter analyst at the Miami-Metro Police Department—and a serial killer.
Dexter isn’t your typical serial killer; he follows a code his father created for him—to kill only other murderers.
The series asked viewers to root for a serial killer—and somehow made them want to keep doing it for several more years.
The character originates in Jeff Lindsay’s eight-book “Dexter” series. The first book, “Darkly Dreaming Dexter,” was published in 2004 and Season 1 of the series, which premiered on Showtime in 2006, closely followed the book’s story.
Afterward, the series took on a life of its own. “Dexter” ran for eight seasons and was one of Showtime’s biggest hits. The show attracted several guest stars for full-season story arcs, including Keith Carradine as Special Agent Frank Lundy in Seasons 2 and 4, Jimmy Smits as Miguel Prado in Season 3, John Lithgow as the Trinity Killer in Season 4, Julia Stiles as Lumen Ann Pierce in Season 5, Colin Hanks as Travis Marshall/The Doomsday Killer in Season 6 and Yvonne Strahovski as Hannah McKay in Seasons 7 and 8.
The original series finale, however, was widely criticized by fans (including me!) and critics. After Dexter’s sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) was shot and left brain-dead, Dexter took her off life support, carried her body out of the hospital and buried her at sea. He then left his son, Harrison, with Hannah (Strahovski), a convicted killer who was on the run, before faking his death during a hurricane and becoming a lumberjack in Oregon. This was not how “Dexter” fans thought our fave killer would go out.
‘New Blood,’ ‘Original Sin’ and ‘Resurrection’
Eight years after the series finale, in 2021, “Dexter: New Blood” premiered and centered on Dexter reuniting with his teen son (Jack Alcott) in upstate New York. It introduced a new creepy villain, a new love interest and the return of Deb, in ghost form. Julia Jones, Jamie Chung and Clancy Brown also starred. David Zayas, who played Angel Batista in the original series, also appeared.
The public’s bloodlust for more “Dexter” remained, with Showtime/Paramount+ releasing two additional “Dexter” series, including a prequel about teen Dexter (Patrick Gibson) in “Dexter: Original Sin” in 2024, followed by the first season of “Dexter: Resurrection” in 2025, in which Dexter moves to New York City. The series brought back Hall, Alcott and Zayas and added Peter Dinklage, Uma Thurman and Krysten Ritter.
Executive producer and showrunner Clyde Phillips ran the original series for its first four seasons and later returned to oversee the prequel, “Original Sin,” which had a stacked cast including Patrick Gibson, Christian Slater, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Christina Milian and Patrick Dempsey. It was picked up for a second season, but Paramount reversed the decision four months later amid a corporate restructuring and shift in focus toward “Dexter: Resurrection.”
‘Dexter: Resurrection’ Season 2
Several big stars are joining Season 2 of “Dexter: Resurrection.”
Brian Cox will star as the New York Ripper in “Dexter: Resurrection” Season 2. The Emmy-, Olivier- and Golden Globe-winner is best known as Logan Roy, the ruthless patriarch in “Succession.” Cox’s character is no longer actively killing, but continues to terrorize the survivors of his past murderous rampage.
Also going up against Dexter in New York City are Dan Stevens as the Five Borough Killer and Gabriel Luna as Ray Ballard, also known as the Sleepy-Eyed Stranger.
Not all new cast members star as serial killers—Bokeem Woodbine and Nona Parker Johnson are joining the show as father and daughter. Woodbine will play Capt. Mixon and Johnson will play Fiona, a training officer in the Homicide Unit and a new love interest for Harrison.
Returning cast members include Thurman, Ritter, Alcott, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Kadia Saraf, Dominic Fumusa, Desmond Harrington and James Remar.
Twenty years after Dexter Morgan first wrapped his victims in plastic, the serial killer is still going strong, much to the fans’ delight. With Hall continuing to lead the franchise and “Dexter: Resurrection” heading into a second season, it doesn’t look like Dexter is putting away his knives anytime soon.
“Dexter: Resurrection” Season 2 will premiere on Oct. 30 on Paramount+. All seasons are available to watch on Paramount+.
About the writer:
S.Lynn Bonanno loves “Dexter.” She doesn’t want to be basic, but Season 4 with the Trinity Killer is called the best for a reason. The finale of the original series scarred her for life for so many reasons. She now panics when a show she loves is coming to an end, worried about being disappointed (she’s talking to you, “Game of Thrones.”)
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