The 'Dexter: Resurrection' Finale Concludes Its Most Satisfying Season in 16 Years

There are spoilers for the Dexter: Resurrection season finale below. Stop reading if you haven’t seen the episode.

Dexter has been on the air, off and on, for 19 years, spanning eight original seasons, a sequel, a prequel, and now Resurrection. I’d call this latest run a brilliant season, the best since season four of the original and probably the third best overall (behind seasons one and four). It wrapped in a deeply satisfying way, written to serve as a potential series finale but left open enough for more stories (the show hasn’t been officially renewed, though a writers’ room is already at work on at least two more seasons).

I’m glad the Dexter universe has now coalesced into Resurrection, a fitting title for what the season became. Dexter moved to New York City, took down the Dark Passenger killer, reunited with his son, and met a handful of fellow murderers, several of whom he orchestrated the downfall of. Sadly, last week we lost Angel Batista, whose relentless pursuit brought him to Leon Prater’s mansion, where he revealed Dexter’s true identity.

Prater was thrilled by the idea of working with the Bay Harbor Butcher, but Dexter had no interest in joining his operation. During the chaos at the end of the penultimate episode, Prater killed Batista (whose last words were “f**k you, Dexter Morgan”) and locked Dexter in his vault.

That’s where the finale opened. Prater intended to leave Dexter in his vault until he died of thirst. What Prater didn’t account for was the phone Batista had in his pocket, which Dexter used to call the only person who could help him: his son, Harrison — who, inconveniently, was otherwise occupied with his girlfriend at the time. Harrison quickly set up a gig at Prater’s police gala that night to help his father.

Meanwhile, Dexter rifled through the vault, uncovering files on Prater’s serial-killer associates, including one on Charley—last name Brown (ha!). When Harrison tried to rescue Dexter, Charley confronted him. But after a call from Dexter revealing the file Prater kept on her, Charley let Harrison go. She then went to the gala herself, telling Prater she was quitting. She got the hell out of town and took her mother with her.

Harrison eventually helped open the vault (the code was the prison number of Prater’s idolized killer). Just as they were about to leave, Prater spotted Harrison and forced Dexter back into the wine room, gun to Harrison’s head. The tension was real—you never can tell on this show who will live and who will die (and that includes Dexter’s son). But Harrison disabled Prater, and Dexter did what he always does: locked Prater in his vault, stabbed him in the chest, and cut him into pieces for disposal.

Before leaving, Dexter triggered the vault alarm, ensuring the police discovered Batista’s body (with a gun carrying Prater’s prints), Prater’s macabre serial-killer memorabilia, and evidence on the identity of the New York Ripper case Detective Wallace had been investigating.

Dexter stole Prater’s yacht, dumped his body at sea, and reflected on balancing justice with his urge to kill. He also revealed he’d taken several files from Prater’s vault, setting up new targets for future seasons (including Al). Harrison, meanwhile, got his happy ending — at least for now — with Gina, who hasn’t been revealed as nefarious. Yet. I suspect she and Blessing will continue their roles next season, and I doubt we’ve seen the last of Detective Wallace either.

A good season bordering on great. Here’s hoping season two keeps the momentum, and that Michael C. Hall remains as committed as he was this time. Dexter doesn’t have the best track record with back-to-back strong seasons, but I’m oddly confident they’ll pull it off now.