Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Dexter: Resurrection
Death is a huge part of theDexterworld. Every series in the franchise is about a serial killer who takes out other killers after all. Still, when Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall)takes out someone like the Trinity Killer (John Lithgow)or the other countless murderers who have been on his table, the audience feels a sense of relief or joy, not sadness. Butwith the bad things Dexter does, all the innocent people close to him are in trouble too, and many have died because of it.There’s no TV death more tragic than Rita’s (Julie Benz). And even Dexter’s own sister, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), couldn’t make it through the original series alive.
Then there are the good people in Miami Metro’s Homicide Division who get too close to finding out who Dexter truly is and meet their early demise because of it. Sgt. James Doakes (Erik King) always knew Dexter was a “muthafucka” from the beginning, andwhen he found out that Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher, he died, even if it wasn’t Dexter who did it. The same thing happened to Captain Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez). Find out Dexter’s secret identity, and sorry, but you’re a goner. Now, inDexter: Resurrection, a name from the past, Angel Batista (David Zayas), is on Dexter’s heels and determined to see him go down for his crimes. This could mean he’s not making it out alive.
James Doakes Was Killed and Took the Fall as the Bay Harbor Butcher
One of the most entertaining parts of Dexter is watching him attempt to hide his secret. The audience knows everything, from his bloody origin story to his deepest thoughts (which are shared in voiceover), but everyone around him,except for the ghostly presence of his father (James Remar), and now his son, is in the dark about the truth. They might think that Dexter is a little weird or aloof, but to his co-workers and family, he’s just that oddball who’sreallygood at his job as a blood splatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department.
Then there’s Sgt. James Doakes. He sees right through the bullshit and knows Dexter is up to something. He can sense that he’s hiding a dark secret and putting on a performance, although what it is, he’s not quite sure. Dexter can fool everyone, but he can never relax around the muscle-bound Doakes, who is always watching like the great detective he is.
In Season 2,Dexter begins seeing an obsessed serial killer named Lila (Jaime Murray). He falls head over heels for this psychopath, only to realize that she’s even more messed up than he is. That’s shown at the end of the season. Doakes, who is stalking Dexter to find out what he’s up to, finds his collection of blood slides and the body of a victim. He has finally figured it out:Dexter Morgan is the Bay Harbor Butcher.
He tries to arrest our anti-hero, only for Dexter to lock him up in a cage in a secluded cabin. What will Dexter do? Should he listen to Doakes and turn himself in? Is he capable of killing the man to keep his secret safe? The latter would have ended the series if he’d done that. Instead,the show finds a way out by having Lila show up and blow up the cabin with Doakes inside to keep Dexter protected. Sgt. Doakes is now dead, and better yet, for Dexter’s identity, everyone thinks the detective was the Bay Harbor Butcher, allowing Dex to continue his hobby without any suspicion around him.
Another member of Miami Metro also isn’t so lucky. One of Doakes’ best friends is Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez), a smart woman who quickly rises up to Captain and eventually marries Batista. She’s very intuitive, and although she doesn’t suspect Dexter of being the Bay Harbor Butcher at first, she’s certain that Doakes wasn’t him either, and fights to clear his name. This isn’t good for Dexter, as everyone else accepts the Doakes news, even if they’re shocked by it.
‘Dexter: Resurrection’ Just Proved After 16 Years, the Serial Killer Still Hasn’t Learned From This Fatal Mistake
He’s getting too close to the wrong people.
It takes until Season 7for LaGuerta to figure out Dexter’s dark identity. It starts by finding a blood slide left behind at a murder scene.Wait, if Doakes was the Bay Harbor Butcher, then how could this be? That must mean that the true killer is still out there.She starts to wonder if it could be Dexter and comes up with a plan to set him upby having a killer released from jail, and not just any killer, either, but the man who is responsible for the death of Dexter’s mother.
That’s like throwing chum at a shark. Dexter wises up to what’s going on and doesn’t take the bait. When LaGuerta starts questioning Debra, Dexter decides that she has finally gotten too close, and he’ll have to kill her, even though this breaks his code. Butin a shocking twist, it’s Deb with a gun, refusing to kill her brother, who shoots LaGuerta instead, taking her innocent life to save the killer she loves.
Angel Batista Was One of Dexter’s Best Friends
No one in Miami Metro is as lovable as Angel Batista. With his stylish shirts and hats, he oozes a carefree coolness. That doesn’t mean that he’s not a great detective, because he certainly is, but he’s also a good dude who wants to be friends with everyone. This includes Dexter Morgan. He does becomea more tragic character as the series goes on and everyone around him continues to die, but he makes it through the originalDexterintact.
Batista had a small part inDexter: New Blood. He is now the Captain in Miami, but when he’s at a conference in New York, he accidentally finds out that Dexter faked his death and is still very much alive. Like LaGuerta, he begins to wonder if Dexter is the true Bay Harbor Butcher, so he heads to small Iron Lake, New York, to see the man in the flesh.That’s whereDexter: Resurrectionbegins with Batista, as he visits Dexter in his hospital room after the killer was shot in the chest by his son at the end ofNew Blood.Someone else has taken the fall for Dexter’s latest crimes, but Batista can’t shake the idea that he is still the Bay Harbor Butcher.
Rather than let it go, he follows Dexter to New York and shows no qualms at all about approaching Harrison with his accusations, or even going to the detectives working the murder case that Harrison is a suspect in. He is certain that Dexter is the infamous serial killer, and he’s doing something about it. That is going to get him killed.
There is no way for Batista to escape the same fate that found Doakes and LaGuerta. It has already been announced thatResurrectionis going to continue for several more seasons, so there is no way that this season ends with Batista getting his man. Now, they could decide to have Batista continue to hunt down Dexter every season, but that would get old pretty quickly if there’s no resolution. No, the only way out is that curiosity will againkillthe cat.
This doesn’t mean that Dexter will be the one to kill him, but it’s easy to imagine that he’ll gettoo close to Leon Prater’s (Peter Dinklage) group of serial killers. Or, in the most tragic twist of all, what if Harrison were to kill Batista to protect his father? Either way, Angel is a goner, and it’s going to be a heartbreaker when it happens, because Batista is one of the best and most easy-to-love characters in series history.
Dexter: Resurrectionis available to stream on Paramount+ with Showtime in the U.S.
