Dexter: New Blood

The Six Feet Under and Safe star slips perfectly back into the role. ... Overall, it’s brilliant to see Dexter back on our screens again and New Blood holds plenty of promise for what’s ahead.

New Blood has plenty of direction. It promises to tell a self-contained story, stripped of the flabby camp that came to define it, and to tell it well. This is a leaner, hungrier Dexter than we are used to, and it’s a little bit thrilling to have him back. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but I’m all in.

This miniseries revives old themes but drops in enough new conflicts — internal and otherwise — to pull the narrative forward into fresh terrain.

By the end of the fourth episode, I found myself desperately eager to find out. Though I thought I’d moved on from this show and its terrible ending (or, at least, what was framed as an ending at the time), I’ve gone and gotten myself ensnared by it all over again.

Ultimately, though, the appeal of “New Blood” comes down to Hall and Carpenter, who chew, gnaw, and bite into their dialogue, and who thoughtfully find the layers of contrasting motivations and shared sympathies between their characters. ... “New Blood” comes to life in their hands.

It's thrilling to watch a series find its footing once again, one that is as chilling as ever, and come into present day grappling with today's complex ideologies of redemption and a potential myth of goodwill. It is as dark as it is thoughtful.

The best thing about Dexter: New Blood is that it is unapologetically fun. The episodes sent to critics are full of dark — borderline campy — humor and some truly compelling human drama.

A clever and suspensefully compelling resurrection of one of the great and grisliest antiheroes of all time. [25 Oct - 7 Nov 2021, p.9]

Given the Hollywood mindset that anything worth doing is eventually worth redoing, if Dexter had to come back, "New Blood" pretty quickly justifies the visit by getting back under your skin.

New Blood wants to be all the things. Focusing on Harrison and other teens allows it to broach not only the MMIW movement but other forms of activism and societaly talking points like climate change, bullying, and the opioid epidemic.

Based on the four episodes made available for review, the revival is a solid effort at creative redemption.

Despite some contrivances and overly familiar beats, there’s also enough suspense and substance to this follow-up, led by showrunner Clyde Phillips, who served as Dexter’s showrunner during its first four seasons, to make it worth your attention, at least for a few episodes.

Even with its plot holes (everyone seems to greet the abrupt arrival of Jim’s not-previously-mentioned son with a remarkable lack of curiosity), “Dexter: New Blood” is made with care. Solid performances from Hall, Alcott, Carpenter, Jones and Clancy Brown as a town businessman who’s clearly keeping some secrets, pump energy into the series.