Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Dexter: New Blood episode 10.
Although Angel Batista’s cameo in Dexter: New Blood episode 5 was enough to send viewers jumping up and down, his return in the finale was a wasted opportunity, and thus one of the biggest let-downs of the show’s last moments. After suggesting that episode 5 would have been Batista's final Dexter appearance, Angela calls him before Dexter is killed in New Blood’s finale episode, sending him a picture of Dexter Morgan and suggesting he could be the Bay Harbor Butcher. Angel pulls out a file on Maria LaGuerta, implying he now believes Dexter was involved in her death, and reveals he’s heading up to Iron Lake. Angel’s phone call with Angela is the last time he is seen on Dexter: New Blood, with no further explanation of his discoveries unless it's a season 2 set-up.
Perhaps one of the most controversial aspects of New Blood’s road to capturing Dexter Morgan, Angel Batista (David Zayas) first reappeared in episode 5, “Runaway,” as a guest speaker at a police conference in New York City that Angela coincidentally attends. While the chances of this actually happening are small, more improbable events have occurred in Dexter’s history. Nonetheless, Angel Batista’s cameo was instrumental in jumpstarting Dexter being revealed as the Bay Harbor Butcher. Angela discovers that Miami Metro still believed the killer to be James Doakes, while Angel miraculously mentions Dexter Morgan in a conversation and remembers Harrison’s name at the last second. While Angel Batista’s return in New Blood was criticized for being too convenient, it still allowed the first major connection between Dexter’s past and present outside of Harrison.
Angel Batista’s cameo worked for his New Blood episode 5 appearance, but his return in Dexter: New Blood’s finale was a wasted chance for proper closure. By saying that Angel was on his way to Iron Lake, Dexter: New Blood’s ending was teasing a final confrontation between the two men, which would have been a satisfying way to bring the entire series full circle. Discovering that Dexter not only faked his death but could have truly been the Bay Harbor Butcher, a notion Batista denied in the original series, would be an enormous betrayal of their long friendship and work relationship. Batista’s younger sister Jamie was even Harrison’s nanny for the last few seasons of Dexter. While Harrison and Dexter’s last stand was far more important for New Blood’s story to end, Angel Batista’s cameo was a complete let-down after the series openly teased a heated reunion between the Miami Metro captain and Dexter's real Bay Harbor Butcher.
The set-up for Angel to arrive in Iron Lake and confront Dexter was an exciting notion, but nonetheless, his cameo did suggest that Miami Metro will finally get closure on their most personal serial killer case. Dexter: New Blood’s ending had a lot of loose ends to tie up in just one episode, so at least Batista and the idea that Miami Metro’s case will be closed (again) was included. The “happily married” Batista may be heartbroken and angry that one of his closest friends was a serial killer hiding in plain sight, but his return was still necessary to connect back to where it all started. At the very least, Angel Batista’s finale return featured the incredible Easter egg of his emails, which revealed that Dexter's Vince Masuka was throwing a bachelor party with invites for Batista and Quinn.
While many thought that Angel frequently calling Dexter “socio” in the original series was an overt connection to him being a sociopath, it was simply a colloquial Cuban word meaning “good friend” or “partner.” Part of why Dexter was able to escape capture in the original series was the ineptitude of Miami Metro’s homicide department — Angel Batista frequently rejected the notion that Dexter could have been a Bay Harbor Butcher suspect — and that Dexter was Angel's self-professed best friend. The heartbreaking, heatedly emotional confrontation from Angel of Dexter's betrayal that was teased in Dexter: New Blood’s ending robbed a much more holistically satisfying conclusion. So, unless Dexter: New Blood season 2 happens, Angel Batista's return feels unfinished.