The following article contains spoilers forDexter: New Blood.One of the biggest challenges in life is not being able to fully express every feeling or emotion for the sake of not hurting loved ones or trying to bury the past and every horrifying memory that comes along with it. In this week’s episode ofDexter: New Blood, Dex finds himself struggling to connect with the people he cares about because of his dark past and his inability to open up and share his most intimate thoughts. As Debra tells her brother during his therapy session with Harrison, “the problem is the only people you’re ever honest with, you end up killing.” This shows that Dexter and his son have a long way to go if they want to obtain any type of healthy father-son relationship.
Dexteralso has relationship issues with Angela once she learns about his real identity, and to top it off, Dex has major suspicions concerning Kurt Caldwell, not only that Kurt is a killer but that he is getting very close with Harrison, impacting Dexter’s relationship with his son. This episode is psychological and meditative because the majority of it resembles a series of therapy sessions, in which characters have intimate conversations with each other about personal problems and conflicts that are challenging to crack.
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Therapy And Personal Conversations Bring Out The Vulnerability In The Characters
Of course (as fans of the original series know), Dexter had a difficult time with therapy in the past, as well as sharing his feelings with others. This episode (and this limited series) continues to display Dexter’s conflict in opening up, and this time it’s even more challenging for him because Harrison shares how upset he is with his father for abandoning him and not telling him everything.
Unlike Dexter, Harrison is very open about his feelings during their therapy session, which shows that the young man intends to releasehis anger and emotional trauma, while his father keeps his internal emotions in check and only makes general statements without fully contributing to their conversation (due to his dark secrets). Even the therapist mentions to Dexter that he needs to dig deeper in order to make the sessions with Harrison work, signifying that Dex will have to work on sharing more with his son (what exactly Dexter will share, without spoiling secrets, remains to be seen).
Angela also has a pivotal one-on-one moment with Dexter over his true identity and is understandably frustrated with him because she now realizes that Dex is incapable of trusting those closest to him. Angela’s anger with Dexter resembles his late wife Rita because the police chief shows that she’s a woman who intends to be taken seriously, and interestingly doesn’t break up with Dexter (signaling thatshe may still be in love with him). Despite the dramatic tension between Dex and Angela in this episode, there is some subtle humor because everyone else in the police station tries to convince Dex that he can overcome and/or makeup with Angela by apologizing to her, or (as Sergeant Logan explains to Dex during their friendly conversation) by giving Angela some personal space. However, even during small talks with Logan and Molly Park, Dexter mostly keeps his personal feelings to himself (through his usual narration) and reluctantly tries to agree with them (by calmly nodding).
Harrison and Audrey finally have an intimate moment together (which has been well built updue to their friendly relationshipand because of their challenging family histories). Audrey says that they are both outsiders, meaning that they’ve each had struggles with their birth parents, and believe that they don’t fit in with one specific family or community. Their deep conversation makes sense because they are trying to fight their personal demons and anger issues, and intend on sharing their emotions together because they care about each other’s well-being. The question is how Harrison and Audrey’s evolving relationship will continue if Dexter and Angela are separated at the moment?
Kurt Caldwell Is Slowly Becoming One Of Dexter’s Most Personal Enemies
While Dexter is pretty much in therapeutic hell throughout the episode,he does manage to show off his investigative skillsby correctly theorizing that Kurt Caldwell is a serial killer who takes down women. Dexter not only follows Kurt, but he also (subtly) confronts him to figure out why he lied about seeing his son Matt alive. Through his narration, Dexter accurately points out that the “shelter,” along with the fancy room with a jacuzzi and video camera, is the perfect place for a serial killer to lure his victims. Dex is undoubtedly getting closer to uncovering Kurt’s dark secrets and cleverly saves Molly Park from potentially being Kurt’s next victim (since she’s suspicious of Kurt’s involvement with Matt’s disappearance).
Dexter and Kurt are similar in terms of internalizing their anger and keeping their emotions to themselves until they lose control. Their eerie confrontation in this episode is building up to becomea major battle between both killers, not only because Dex is figuring out that Kurt is obsessed with killing women, but that Kurt is also becoming very attached to Harrison. Dexter understandably doesn’t like Kurt’s influence on Harrison, which is evident during the wrestling match in which Harrison wins but also breaks his competitor’s arm after Kurt told him to unleash his anger. The idea that Kurt is becoming a role model for Harrison upsets Dexter (as shown when Dex pushes Kurt after the match) because he wants to be the one around to care for his son in the right way, without Harrison having to hurt other people.
This episode is the most psychological and therapeutic because Dexter has problems sharing his feelings and opening up about his past, while Harrison doesn’t understand how to maintain his anger. Harrison also has a difficult choice to make going forward: will he encounter trust with his father, or will he lean on Kurt more and head towards a darker path?
New episodes ofDexter: New Bloodair Sundays on Showtime.
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