Dexter: Resurrection Season 1 Episode 4 Review: A Dinner Party for Serial Killers

*Please note this review contains spoilers for Dexter: Resurrection Season 1 Episode 4.

A slew of well-known guest stars make up a dinner party for serial killers on Dexter: Resurrection Season 1 Episode 4, “Call Me Red,” and it’s an experience Dexter Morgan will never forget. 

After killing “The Dark Passenger,” an act that’s certainly metaphorical as much as practical for Dexter, he assumes the serial killer’s identity and attends the dinner party in his place. All the while, Harry is speaking to him, skeptical of his plans and worried that Dexter isn’t focused on Harrison instead. 

Uma Thurman’s Charley picks Dexter up and takes him to the exclusive gathering, which is hosted by Leon Prater, played by Peter Dinklage. Prater isn’t a killer, but instead an obsessive fan. 

He’s giddy at meeting who he thinks is the killer that New York has dubbed “The Dark Passenger,” and in some ways, it feels more sinister than the killers themselves. It’s also oddly endearing at the same time. 

Before the party begins, Prater shows Dexter his “collection,” a vaulted room full of serial killer memorabilia. It includes artifacts from notorious killers like John Wayne Gacy, as well as The Trinity Killer, The Ice-Truck Killer, and, in a gasp-worthy reveal, The Bay Harbor Butcher.

Dexter sees his blood slides and becomes sincerely emotional, reaching out to them without thinking. It’s a small, but important moment, and an excellent performance from Michael C. Hall. If you’re going to bring Dexter back from the dead, this is definitely the way to do it.

The whole thing is a fascinating way to remind Dexter, as well as the audience, of significant details from his past. We’re already seeing a new side of Dexter — the one who saved someone when he didn’t have to and the one who has a new excitement for life. Then the other guests arrive, and it’s almost therapeutic for him.

Krysten Ritter is Mia, a.k.a. “Lady Vengance,” and Neil Patrick Harris is Lowell, a.k.a. The Tattoo Collector. Eric Stonestreet and David Dastmalchian also round out the group.

In this space, they can all talk openly about their kills and their urges to do so, giving Dexter, even though he’s pretending to be someone else, a chance to be more honest than he’s ever been able to in the past. 

Not that he’s never shared those feelings or killed with other people — he’s done that plenty. But this is a group of serial killers who have the same “urges” that he does — the same Dark Passengers.

Even though it’s an opportunity to find people who most certainly meet the code for Dexter to kill, it’s also as though he’s found his people. He has found a community in a way he has never experienced before. 

It can’t last, and it won’t be safe, but it allows for all sorts of storytelling possibilities and character development. For one thing, he’s torn between wanting to have that community but also the need to take them all out. That starts with The Tattoo Collector, who announces plans for an upcoming kill during that dinner party.

Neil Patrick Harris, by the way, knows how to make an entrance when he first arrives at that party, and his character seems to have a few nods to his How I Met Your Mother character, Barney Stinson — just a little.

For instance, he arrives with a “What up?!” and then goes for a first bump with Mia when she refuses a hug. It’s fun to watch, and it’s honestly a shame that he doesn’t stick around longer.

Sure, for Dexter’s story, it makes sense he’d need to make that kill happen quickly, but only having one episode of this guy is a little bit of a letdown.

That said, the kill itself is highly satisfying, because Lowell learns just before he’s murdered that Dexter isn’t “The Dark Passenger” but is instead The Bay Harbor Butcher. He’s more terrified in that moment, yelling out “Fuuu….” just before Dexter stabs him. It’s perfect.

That kill will likely draw suspicion on him soon, since this group of serial killers follows a particular set of rules. 

Meanwhile, Dexter and Mia also have clear chemistry, and her way of killing isn’t so far off from his. She seems to have her own code, and Dexter likes the idea of killing alongside someone.

That’s also another distraction from Harrison, as Harry points out. And Harrison’s problems are about to get a whole lot worse.

Batista has tracked Harrison down and is putting together that Harrison could be following in his father’s footsteps. Batista knows something Harrison doesn’t here — that Dexter is alive. It’s tragic that he doesn’t reveal that to him, and it’s bad timing that Elsa thinks Batista is there about the recent murder.

It doesn’t take long for Batista to put those details together, and since discovering the truth about The Bay Harbor butcher is becoming his white whale, he’s clearly not going to let up any time soon.

It makes me nervous for Batista’s own fate, but let’s hope nothing bad happens to him. 

Having him on Dexter’s trail after all this time is the perfect way to keep this story going, and the good news for Harrison, and probably for Dexter too, is that Dexter finally reveals himself to his son. Them working together might just be what they need.

Other thoughts:

• You can’t help but feel bad for Dexter when he thinks he’s going to eat some enormous, fancy prime rib and is instead given a vegan meal. 
• I’m glad we get to hear what happened to Jamie, and even happier to hear that she’s doing well. 
• Harrison’s rejection by Elsa is another sad moment, and it makes me curious to know more about their backstory. 

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Dexter: Resurrection streams Fridays on Paramount+ with Showtime and airs Sundays at 8/7c on Showtime.

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