What I’m Watching: Dexter: New Blood

Dexter: New Blood: Season 9, Episode 2 “Storm of Fuck” (B+)

I’ve always appreciated the dark humor on this show, and this episode’s title was certainly indicative of that. On a more serious note, having Deb as Dexter’s externalized conscience is infinitely more intense than Harry, not solemnly judgmental but instead vicious and violent, warning him of the dangers of inviting anyone he cares about into his life. Finding out that Hannah died of pancreatic cancer was an unfortunate development, especially because it means that we won’t see Yvonne Strahovski in this revival, though it does mean that Harrison is almost definitely there to stay. He acted quickly to fit in, introducing himself to a startled Angela as Jim’s son, and he’s getting along well with Audrey, whose political protest shirts don’t seem to make her that many peer friends. He apparently idealizes Dexter since he thinks the only bad thing he ever did was leave him, and his presence was ultimately a positive catalyst for Angela to open up on a level she hasn’t previously with him about secrets from her past. There’s evidently someone present nearby who will soon be on Dexter’s radar, a fitting target for him given the sadistic message written on the camera declaring that the captive was already dead. I couldn’t be more excited about the casting of Clancy Brown, an excellent actor from “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Carnivale,” as Kurt Caldwell, a man who is so ingrained in the community that he can’t separate his influence from it, which surely isn’t entirely a good thing. Fredric Lehne’s Edward Olsen is also a more complicated magnate, one who understands what people think of him and doesn’t have much patience for those who can’t appreciate the necessity of what he does.