Warning: Contains spoilers for Dexter: New Blood episode 4.
In Dexter: New Blood episode 4, the season’s serial killer appears to have been revealed and that revelation will likely spell doom for another character: oil billionaire Edward Olsen. The original Dexter tended to follow a single primary antagonist throughout each season, culminating in Dexter eventually killing them. Dexter: New Blood, however, is more focused on the characters of Dexter and Harrison and a single primary antagonist has not fully arisen.
In the first four episodes of Dexter: New Blood, it is established that a serial killer in the town has been killing young women, potentially for a very long time. There are a lot of pieces of evidence to the identity of the serial killer sprinkled throughout the episodes with the two most likely suspects being Kurt Caldwell (Clancy Brown) and Edward Olsen (Frederic Lehne), who both are the right age and build based on what is shown. At the end of Dexter: New Blood episode 4, Kurt Caldwell takes a young woman from his diner out to the cabin that was used for Lily’s murder in episode 3, heavily implying that he is the serial killer.
Dexter (Michael C. Hall) has already grown suspicious of Kurt Caldwell after he claimed that he had facetimed with his son Matt Caldwell and had the search called off, despite the fact that Dexter had just got done burning Matt’s body. This suggests that Dexter will take care of Kurt Caldwell himself. However, with Dexter learning that his son, Harrison (Jack Alcott), has his own violent desires and seeming to embrace that element of him, it is likely that Dexter will teach Harrison Harry’s Code and Harrison will begin looking for someone justifiable to kill. Because of his connection to Audrey (Johnny Sequoyah) and Audrey’s strong feelings about Olsen’s damage to the planet as a billionaire oil baron, it seems particularly likely that Edward Olsen will be Harrison’s kill after wounding Ethan.
Dexter: New Blood killing Edward Olsen also makes a lot of sense from a societal point of view for the narrative. In the years since Dexter, some perspectives have become more prevalent, and calls for change related to climate change and wealth inequality are now more widely supported. In looking for a villain for the season that can be killed by Harrison as a coming of age for the budding serial killer without losing the audience, Edward Olsen is a natural choice, as he represents unrepentant harm to the environment in pursuit of greater profits.
Of course, killing Edward Olsen will have dramatic consequences for both Harrison and Dexter Morgan. Iron Lake is a small town where everybody knows Dexter’s (fake) name and the disappearance of any key member of the society is not likely to go unnoticed. Given that Edward Olsen is a corporate billionaire, he is even more likely to be missed and his demise in Dexter: New Blood is likely to also spell doom for the Morgans in the long run.
Dexter: New Blood releases new episodes Sundays on Showtime.