Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Dexter: New Blood episode 7.
While Dexter abandoned Miami to avoid seeing more people he loves die, the serial killer is repeating his worst and most tragic mistake from the original series in New Blood episode 7. Dexter is back in a familiar situation with his serial killer foe in New Blood, as he now knows that Kurt Caldwell is the Runaway Killer. Calling back to the Trinity Killer and Oliver Saxon, New Blood’s villain also knows that Dexter himself is lying, leading to a repeated dilemma in which Dexter must protect his own identity and his loved ones before Kurt can get to them. While this same situation has led to some of Dexter’s most tragic personal losses, he’s sadly repeating this error in New Blood.
Every main serial killer foe in Dexter’s original series has ended up on his table, but a few have taken (or nearly taken) the lives of those Dexter loves the most on account of his own mistakes. First, Dexter had numerous chances to murder Arthur Mitchell before the season 4 finale, but by hesitating for so long, Arthur found out Dexter’s identity and murdered Rita before Dexter finally captured him. A similar incident occurred in Dexter season 8 as he captured Oliver Saxon, but, against his better judgment, let Deb and the police take him in rather than killing. This decision indirectly led to Saxon escaping and murdering Deb, thus proving that Dexter’s worst mistakes and most tragic losses occurred when he hesitated too long.
Dexter: New Blood actually addresses this pattern when Dexter considers killing Kurt in episode 7. Deb tells Dexter he should kill Kurt rather than leave it up to Angela and Iron Lake PD, reminding him that she was murdered the last time he chose this route. Dexter believes that killing Kurt before Harrison finds out what type of monster he is would send his son into deeper despair, so he lets Angela take over. But, New Blood's Runaway Killer is released on account of a lie about his father being the murderer and the DNA sample not being a conclusive enough match. Dexter decides he has to kill Kurt after all, but not before Kurt has already begun stalking Molly and hired a man to attack Dexter. While Dexter’s intentions were much more informed in New Blood, his hesitation still made it much more likely that one of his loved ones will become victim to Kurt before he can reach him.
New Blood episode 7 concluded with one of Kurt’s hired men attacking Dexter, seemingly choking and restraining him. Since the screen went black as the men could continue to be heard struggling, it’s unknown how Dexter will get out of the situation, and whether or not this scuffle will keep him from being able to get to Harrison, Angela, or true-crime podcaster Molly in time. Kurt clearly has a vendetta against Dexter, Molly, and Angela for trying to capture him, and he may take any one of Dexter’s loved ones to prove he can outsmart him. While Kurt and Harrison have established a new father-son relationship, Kurt is the type of man who would still take Harrison as a way to get revenge on Dexter, especially since Dexter killed Kurt's own son. The Trinity Killer also made a cameo in Dexter: New Blood episode 7, which may be hinting that season 1 will similarly end with either Harrison, Angela, or Dexter himself not surviving Kurt’s reign of terror.
While it’s unlikely that New Blood’s Runaway Killer won’t end up on Dexter’s table before the end of the season, history implies that Dexter’s hesitation means someone he loves will become a victim before Kurt is killed. Dexter’s last few hesitations led to Deb and Rita Morgan being murdered, and while Dexter tried to avoid repeating this situation again, New Blood is setting up history to repeat itself. Considering Harrison is the only character whose death would impact Dexter even more than Rita or Deb, Kurt is likely going to use him as bait before New Blood ends.