Caution: Spoilers ahead for Dexter: New Blood episode 7.
Dexter: New Blood reveals the origins of Kurt Caldwell’s Dark Passenger, and explains why he became the Runaway Killer. Dexter fought plenty of sadistic serial killers in SHOWTIME's original series, but none received their own flashback killer origin stories—aside from Dexter season 1's Ice Truck Killer, who received one by virtue of being Dexter’s biological brother. The Trinity Killer, Barrel Girl Gang, and Oliver Saxon had their first kills and underlying psychology for becoming a murderer explained, but Kurt Caldwell is the first villain in which Dexter actually showed the fatal moment he took his first victim.
The Runaway Killer in Dexter: New Blood is posed to be the most dangerous foe Dexter Morgan has yet faced, but his origin story for becoming a murderer is far different from the trauma that haunts the show's titular character. Kurt Caldwell is one of Iron Lake’s wealthiest and most powerful residents, who has largely been able to evade capture or suspicion due to his title as the town’s unofficial mayor. Underneath his popular facade, Kurt is a sadistic killer who has been hunting as New Blood's Runaway Killer for 25 years. He routinely takes young runaway girls captive before he sets them free at his remote cabin, kills them with his hunting rifle, and later embalms their bodies.
While Angela and Dexter have confirmed that Kurt is a killer, they also now have details on why he became one. Dexter: New Blood episode 7 sees Kurt telling stories about his father from his childhood, who he falsely blames for killing Iris. Kurt’s childhood flashbacks reveal that his mother abandoned him, leaving him with his father who would take him on his trucking routes. While Kurt was supposed to be asleep, his father would bring transient women and sex workers back to his truck for sex, during which time Kurt would listen to the song “Runaway” by Del Shannon. About a decade later, Kurt was given his own trucking routes, and one fateful night, he stopped to pick up Angela’s best friend Iris, who had been hitchhiking. While telling Iris that she should go home because she doesn’t know what it’s like for women on the road, Iris tries to escape, and as she runs, Kurt shoots her in the back with his hunting rifle.
Kurt’s origins for becoming a serial killer were far different from his original Dexter villain counterparts, wherein Kurt didn’t actually have any intention of killing before it happened. His urge began when he felt good after impulsively killing Iris, which is why he recreates the circumstances in which he kills her with other runaway women. New Blood’s true story-inspired Runaway Killer initially captures the women by inviting them to his cabin, just as he invited Iris into his truck. Then, he gives them the hotel room that they would have stayed in on their runaway route before realizing they’re captives and trying to escape. After finally letting the women go, he takes his hunting rifle to shoot them in their backs as they flee, just as he had to Iris 25 years ago. Kurt didn’t directly develop a Dark Passenger from his father’s abuse and overhearing his father’s nightly trysts, but rather from the powerful feeling and satisfaction he felt after impulsively killing Iris.
While the reason for Kurt becoming a killer and the victims he takes were revealed in New Blood episode 7, questions about his M.O. still remain. First and foremost, Kurt’s killing backstory doesn’t answer why Dexter's Runaway Killer embalms his victims’ bodies. Kurt pays special attention to cleaning the bodies, embalming them, grooming them, and dressing them, with no true explanation as to why this was done. Dexter discovers that Kurt embalmed Iris’ body, so it’s possible that he initially kept her body as a trophy before disposing of her in the caves. As Dexter and Angela team up to take down Dexter: New Blood’s Runaway Killer, the full extent of his crimes may finally be revealed.
New episodes of Dexter: New Blood arrive Sundays on SHOWTIME.