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Father and Son: Michael C. Hall and Jack Olcott |
DEXTER: NEW BLOOD (2021 Showtime mini-series).
Dexter ran for several seasons and was certainly an unusual series. The anti-Hero, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), was a serial killer who only murdered people who really deserved it, such as other serial killers, child molesters, or those who had gotten away with murder. His task was made easier because he worked for the Miami police department, and part of the "fun" of the show was watching him stay one step ahead of his colleagues, especially his detective sister. The show ended with Dexter presumed dead, but turning up far north in a small town in upstate New York.
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Olcott, Hall and Jones |
Dexter: New Blood takes up a decade later, when Dexter, under an assumed name, has become firmly established in the small town of Iron Lake. The utterly far-fetched premise has him becoming the boyfriend of -- get this -- the female
Chief of Police, Angela Bishop (Julia Jones)! You would think that our dear Dexter would want to stay as
far away from the police as possible, and if he
had this mini-series might have had a very different conclusion. Another complication is that Dexter's son, Harrison (Jack Olcott, a 21-year-old actor successfully playing about 16), finding out that his father is alive, comes looking for him. But does the boy carry his own "dark passenger," and exactly how much does Dexter want to share with his son? And considering the number of women who have disappeared from Iron Lake over the decades, could there be another serial killer at large, and will he or she wind up on Dexter's kill table?
Like the original show,
Dexter: New Blood is extremely entertaining, well-acted, and suspenseful. It also has a satisfying, dramatically-right conclusion, although it will undoubtedly disappoint those who were hoping to see another mini-series about Dexter. Michael C. Hall is superb as the conflicted, confused, morally ambiguous Dexter, and he is matched by Olcott as Harrison, who clearly has problems of his own. Jones, Jennifer Carpenter as Dexter's late sister (appearing in fantasies), Clancy Brown in a fine turn as respected townsperson Kurt Caldwell, Alano Miller as Coach Logan, among others, all help make the occasionally absurd proceedings more convincing. The series is also unpredictable, and may not go in the directions you think it will.
Dexter: New Blood can be gruesome at times, but nothing over the top, and there are no scenes of (practically) lip-smacking torture porn like you will find in
Criminal Minds: Evolution. Pat Irwin's theme music is a decided plus.
Verdict: Surprisingly moving wind-up to the strange Dexter saga. ***.
Can you believe I never watched a single episode of Dexter, although I was a huge Six Feet Under fan? Now that the pickings are slim, I may go back and look at this series.
ReplyDelete-Chris
I recommend it, Chris. It can be absurd at times, but once you accept the premise it's quite suspenseful and entertaining, with a protagonist who is certainly unique!
ReplyDelete