Liam Hoofe reviews the fourth episode of Dexter: New Blood…
The opening three episodes of Dexter: New Blood took their time setting up the new world that Dexter inhabits and introduces us to his character. The latest episode, ‘H is for Hero’, is when the show finally puts its foot on the pedal and turned things up to 100 with some great twists and turns.
Harrison was once again the focus of this episode, and we started things with him supposedly saving his school from a potential shooter. Dexter turns up at the school to find that Harrison has been stabbed and that he has managed to hospitalise the student who did it by slicing his leg.
Except, Dexter’s killer senses kick in and he begins to suspect Harrison is lying. We then get to see Dexter don his blood-splatter analyst cap one more time to realise that Harrison was never attacked and that he had, in fact, attacked the student and then set it all up. This is a really nice development that shows Harrison has his father’s tendencies and that he has the same perverted sense of justice.
What unravels throughout the episode though, is even more interesting. We see Harrison listening to a podcast about the Trinity Killer and the death of his mother, and at the end of the episode, Dexter finds a razor that Harrison had used for the attack. It’s a fantastic reference and one that has huge implications going forward.
The ending of Dexter season 4 is easily the show’s most iconic moment and the original run totally failed to build on it. The idea of Harrison being born in blood like his father was totally brushed past and we never really got any sort of development. The time jump has given the show a chance to explore this in an entirely new way and it looks to be a real turning point in the season.
A wilder theory is that Harrison has done before himself and that he is already much further down the path than we suspect. It would be an interesting twist if he has actually picked up the MO of the man who killed his mother and has become a serial killer. Could John Lithgow’s rumoured cameo be as Harrison’s dark passenger? Now we think about it – we only have his word that Hannah McKay died of cancer…
Harrison’s dark side was not the only one we were introduced to in this episode either. We saw Kurt Caldwell luring a girl to the same house that the laser/sniper killer was in during the previous episode and it looks as though the missing girl storyline is about to kick in. Clancy Brown has been a great presence so far in the series and his interaction with Dexter in this episode was great.
Of course, we also have our weekly praise for Deb. Her performance alongside Dexter is great and it provides plenty of humour and insight into Dexter’s mindset. Her realisation that Harrison is like his father was great to watch and it will be interesting to see what role she plays in Dexter’s decisions over the next few episodes.
Another interesting development this week was the increased involvement of the true-crime podcaster, Molly Park. While the character may be a little annoying, there is a strong chance she could be involved in Dexter’s downfall. Having her be the one to uncover Dex would be frustrating, but having her perhaps recognise him as the husband of Rita, or for one of her followers to make some sort of connection would be a logical start to a chain of events that leads to his discovery.
In last week’s review, I said that I felt the show needed to up its ante if it wanted to reach a satisfying climax in the remaining episodes and ‘H is for Hero’ did exactly that. The episode did a fantastic job of introducing us to Harrison’s dark passenger while also brilliantly linking it to both his and Dexter’s past. The final moments also give us a glimpse into Kurt Caldwell’s more sinister side, which should set up some tense moments in the coming weeks. This was hands down the best episode of Dexter: New Blood yet.
Liam Hoofe
