Dexter: New Blood Review: H is for Hero (Season 1 Episode 4)
All of the pieces start coming together on Dexter: New Blood Season 1 Episode 4, “H is for Hero.”
And it’s horrifying.
After learning about a popular murder podcast when Molly Park shows up to help with the Matt Caldwell investigation, Harrison comes upon an episode where Park discusses none other than The Trinity Killer.
She summarizes what Dexter fans already remember — the way he killed his victims and how he murdered Rita, along with how baby Harrison was found in a pool of her blood.
Harrison listens to this retelling of his own history, and it certainly seems he has some of those memories buried inside.
Cut to Dexter getting a call from Angela about an incident that’s taken place at the school. Harrison has been stabbed, but Ethan’s been hurt much worse.
Because we don’t see it happen, it’s not hard to imagine that Harrison is lying about something. But Ethan’s drawings that were revealed on Dexter: New Blood Season 1 Episode 3 complicates matters.
That the story is about a potential school shooting hits a nerve that makes this whole thing difficult to watch. Ethan’s had his own dark thoughts, but Harrison’s reaction to them was perhaps even more telling.
Dexter is worried about his son, and those emotions really are genuine. But he’s equally suspicious, mostly because of his own past. Then when he sees Harrison’s wound up close, he knows something is off.
He goes through it in detail, along with his vision of Deb. Both actors give really powerful performances here, and it’s a creative way to have Dexter deal with the bloodspatter analysis. All while giving him a way to interact with Deb that’s emotionally charged.
Deb insists that Harrison is good and is telling the truth. It’s quite an internal struggle for Dexter, who wants to believe, on the one hand, that his son isn’t like him at all.
But on the other hand, if he is, they’d have a way to bond. What if Dexter could have someone to share this with who understands?
What Dexter realizes in playing out all of the possible scenarios is that Harrison did lie about the entire incident. He came at Ethan first, and then he stabbed himself to sell the story. Harrison certainly has done a good job at playing the victim.
It’s a complicated realization for Dexter, because again, as much as he’d hope his son would be a good person, there’s a chance for bonding now that wasn’t there before. It is perhaps why Harrison has shown up in the first place, after reading that Dexter wanted Hannah to reach out to him if Harrison showed any “dark tendencies.”
Or, maybe we needed to be worried about Dexter’s own well-being.
Considering who Harrison went after, Dexter notes that it seems Harrison is living by his own sort of code. If Ethan was really planning a school shooting, then that fits closely with Dexter’s own code.
The razor is the real kicker, too. For Harrison to have the same type of razor is Trinity tells Dexter everything he needs to know. And as his face goes from horror and concern to just the smallest smile, it’s clear things are about to get really interesting.
The way this is all playing out makes perfect sense, and again, makes it clear why this story was worth telling now — why it made sense to bring the series back altogether. What’s unfortunate, though, is that some of it feels too sudden, too forced, too convenient.
The complexity of Harrison and Dexter’s relationship isn’t given quite the focus we need, and it’s also a bit too easy that Harrison befriended a kid who’d been being bullied, and had those drawings, so soon after arriving to town. Storywise, it works, but it’s so quick that it’s not as believable as it could be.
Meanwhile, of course, there’s another mystery brewing. Kurt Caldwell is insisting his son is actually alive, telling everyone how they’d spoken. Dexter obviously knows better, so it’s worrisome to him that Kurt would tell such a lie — and he’s selling it well, despite Angela’s frustration that she can’t get more information, and no one else can reach Matt.
It does seem like more of a bold lie than some sort of delusion, and as we start to see more of Kurt’s day-to-day life, including how he’s been befriending a young girl and helping her out financially, it certainly seems he’s the reason for all of these missing girls.
That does feel a bit too easy and a bit too obvious, but the clues are there, including the place we see him take her to at the end.
Kurt also makes his presence known around Dexter and Harrison. He brings Harrison a drone as a gift for being such a “hero” and preventing a school shooting, and he talks with Dexter just enough to get Dexter to slip up a bit regarding what he knows about Matt.
Dexter remains a bit rusty, but that seems to be intentional. He’s lived an entirely different life for ten years, and now he’s covering his tracks for what he hopes will be the last time. It’s good character development, though at this point, I’m eager to see more.
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Dexter: New Blood streams Sundays and airs at 9/8c on Showtime.
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Ashley Bissette Sumerel
Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.