Showtime's Dexter explores the titular character's struggle with moral ambiguity and a compulsion to murder, but the upcoming reboot's twist makes the beloved killer's biggest fear even more likely. The gory dramedy follows Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a blood splatter analyst for Miami Metro Police (how he channels his love for gore and camouflages his criminal ways) by day and takes out other serial killers in his free time. Like many popular TV and movie antiheroes, despite his brutal actions, Dexter is surprisingly likable. And a large part of that is due to his (pseudo) moral code–instilled in him by his father–who knew he had to find a way to at least harness his son's homicidal urges in a vigilante-style manner.
Though Dexter has a sort of internal killer's guide to right and wrong, which he adheres to, he wonders where his inner darkness, which makes him so inherently different from everyone else, will take him. This fear is only intensified when he ends up learning of his and his brother's deeply traumatic experience as children, where they lost their mother. The two young boys saw her killed with chainsaws, and they sat in a shipping container filled with her blood for days until finally being rescued. The brothers were baptized in blood; they both became serial killers, though Dexter, at least, has a code of sorts. And, after his own wife is the victim of another serial killer, and his son witnesses his mother's death, just as his father before him, Dexter fears that little Harrison is doomed to the same fate of compulsory killing as him.
After the original Dexter series finale, it seemed as though Hall's character had truly gotten away with his crimes and saved Harrison from his darkness, faking suicide and starting a new, seemingly quiet life as a lumberjack. But, now, the show's reboot, which is set to drop in the fall, is looking like it will put a twist on the way the widely criticized finale left things. The half-minute teaser trailer depicts Dexter gazing out a window at a snowy yard (possibly a home he's acquired during his new life). But, as the shot pulls back into the home, the window's reflection reveals a fearful, soon-to-be victim bound to a table with the killer's signature plastic wrap. In turn, this grisly revelation spells doom for Harrison's fate.
Though the Dexter return series is great for fans that hated season 8's ending (which was most of them) and is a chance to correct where the series left off, the trailer paints an eerie picture. It seems as though Dexter wasn't actually able to overcome his bloodthirsty nature, which he called "The Dark Passenger," after all. Evidently, he's right back to killing in a similarly ritualistic manner. And, of course, the way Dexter's season 9 is looking has tragic implications for Harrison. If his father, who he's genetically connected to, and who endured the same type of trauma at a tender age, can't overcome his darkness, that doesn't leave much hope for the boy.
Though he enjoys killing throughout the show, Dexter's titular character has always felt the need to protect those he cares about, often trying to shield them from the more sinister part of his true self. But, unfortunately, first impressions of the reboot indicate that he may not have been able to keep not only himself but also (one day) Harrison from succumbing to such demons.