Spoilers ahead for Dexter: Ressurection.
The Dexter franchise has been going strong for nearly two decades now, with the flagship series as one of the best Showtime shows of all time. It recently got two new spinoffs (available to stream with a premium Paramount+ subscription), the most recent being Resurrection. I really liked the show overall, but I wish that the finale was less of a cliffhanger to set up a potential Season 2.
Dexter: Resurrection’s Season 1 finale offered a thrilling conclusion to the story, picking up after the death of Angel Bautista. While we got to see the conflict with Peter Dinklage’s Leon Prater come to a head, there were unanswered questions and teases for a second season that made the final overall less impactful than it could have been. At least, in my opinion.
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After Prater shot and killed Bautista, it became clear who the true villain of Dexter: Resurrection was. The billionaire attempted to lock Michael C. Hall‘s antihero in his vault to die, but Dexter and Harrison eventually got the better of him. It was awesome seeing Dinklage’s villain on the kill table, as well as seeing the title character dump his remains in the Hudson with the Statue of Liberty in the background. Unfortunately, we got a bunch of unanswered questions, as well as a bunch of time teasing what might come if/when the show is renewed for Season 2.
There are some major loose ends to this story. I have to wonder if Bautista’s murder will trigger questions from Desmond Harrington’s Joey Quinn, who was one of many surprise cameos from the season. While he was worried about Angel’s behavior, the fact that he was mysteriously murdered after hunting down Dexter has to be a red flag, no?
Then there’s the ending for Uma Thurmans’ Charley. While she moved her mother out of New York, she’s a loose end connected to Dexter, Harrison and (of course) Prater. The vast majority of the cast of Resurrections was killed off throughout the first season, so the lack of closure for Charley is another question surrounding the finale.
(Image credit: Paramount+)
I also have lingering questions about Harrison and Dexter’s relationship. While they’ve obviously taken big steps forward after the finale of New Blood, I still don’t exactly know where they stand. Michael C. Hall’s character has admitted that his son helps give him some much-needed humanity.
Without a doubt the biggest cliffhanger in the Resurrection finale was Dexter leaving with Prater’s files about active serial killers. He’ll seemingly be going on the road to hunt more murderers if/when the spinoff returns to Showtime for a second season. This is an exciting concept, but I’d rather the show told a more contained story instead of setting up a second season that might not ever happen.
Perhaps I’m particularly sensitive, but Dexter’s original series finale is a super controversial one that fans are still sore over. And since the prequel Original Sin is cancelled, I’d hate for the final episode of the entire franchise to be a cliffhanger for stories we never see. Fingers crossed Resurrection gets renewed soon.
The entire Dexter franchise is streaming now with Paramount+ with Showtime. Original Sin and Resurrections arrived in quick succession, so we’ll have to see if we get more from everyone’s favorite serial killer.