2025 has been a year of surprises — and Dexter is good again. The original show premiered nearly two decades ago, but lost its steam somewhere after the fifth season. However, the audience’s fascination with the world’s first vigilante killer, who murdered other serial killers, remained alive, and the Dexter franchise finally has its best spin-off yet — Dexter: Resurrection.
This spin-off has managed to garner widespread acclaim before the entire season is even out, and that’s because it takes the best of classic Dexter and adds a refreshing twist to it. Out of sunny Miami, Dexter has now come to New York City in the hopes of building a meaningful relationship with his son, who seems to possess some of his darkness. Dexter: Resurrection has some fantastic Easter eggs, too, that take fans right back to the original series in the best way possible.
New York City Had Its Own Dark Passenger
Dexter’s advent in New York City was not without surprises, and he got sucked into the grimy underbelly of the Big Apple in no time. To his chagrin, a new serial killer was haunting the streets of the city, and his name was none other than the Dark Passenger. Longtime Dexter fans would know that this is the moniker Dexter has given to his own inner serial killer. This was the part of himself that he hides from the world, but the one that controlled him since the time he saw his mother being dismembered by Hector Estrada in a shipping container. However, while this new Dark Passenger shared a name with Dexter, he did not share his moral code. New York’s Dark Passenger had targeted innocent ride-share drivers because of a personal vendetta.
His real name was Ronald Schmidt, a middle-aged tech professional who liked to keep a low profile and had no online presence. Ronald’s father had spent all of his life’s savings on obtaining a taxi medallion, but when ride-share companies like Dexter’s UrCar came into existence, he lost his source of income. People now choose to order their cabs on their phones, which left Ronald’s father with crippling debt and fewer passengers than ever. Unable to cope with this loss, he jumped into the East River and took his own life. The dredger that found Ron’s father sliced his head off, and this trauma had a lasting impact on Ron.
Instead of blaming companies and capitalism for the tragic loss of his father, Ron placed the blame on ride-share drivers. So, in a misguided attempt to avenge his father, Ron would prey on innocent drivers who would ask him if he was the passenger who had ordered their car. He would pretend to be that person and slip into the cab. Ron would then slip into the seat directly behind the driver and pull a fiber wire around their throat while directing them where to go. Along the way, Ron, also known as Red, would observe the photos of family and friends in the car, interrogating who would miss the driver when they were gone. All of his victims thought that hearing about their families would make Red spare them, but it was the complete opposite.
Red derived pleasure from the tragedy of someone losing their loved one, and once he had gotten the driver to an isolated spot, he would decapitate them with his wire. He kept recreating the traumatic demise of his father, over and over, unable to stop himself. He had killed more than twelve people on his sick mission, and missed one (Blessing’s friend) who escaped with a snipped ear, but his head intact. Ronald Schmidt became the ideal victim for Dexter as he fit Harry’s Code perfectly, and Dexter took his identity for Prater’s murder club. However, Dexter had more in common with the Dark Passenger than just his name. Resurrection’s new serial killer rewinded back to the pilot episode of Dexter, the original, with the way he killed.
The Dark Passenger Had a Similarity With Dexter In the Pilot
While Dexter had killed many, many times by the time he was introduced in the pilot episode of Dexter, the very first murder that viewers got to see on screen was unforgettable. This was the first time that anyone was seeing the vigilante in action, and his first victim (not chronologically) was a clergyman and choirmaster of a church named Mike Donovan. Dexter had researched him thoroughly, learning that Mike had a disturbing penchant for the young boys in his choir. He would sexually assault them and then murder them, presumably to keep his secret hidden. When Mike got into his station wagon in the pilot episode, Dexter was waiting for him in the backseat, much like the Dark Passenger in Dexter: Resurrection.
Dexter then proceeded to loop a wire around Mike’s neck, telling him that he was his now and would only do as he said. He told Mike to drive to an abandoned pump house, where he had laid out the decomposed bodies of three of Mike’s victims for him to see. Predictably, Mike could not even look at the damage he had done, but Dexter forced him to see his darkness before he sawed his head off. The similarities between Dexter’s first on-screen kill and the Dark Passenger’s modus operandi are undeniable, and a nice little callback to the beginnings of the series.
“Soon you’ll be wrapped into a few… neatly wrapped Hefties and my own small corner of the world will be a neater, happier place… a better place.”
Dexter called Ronald Schmidt “The Impostor” as he truly felt like the killer had stolen his name, which was a vital part of Dexter’s weird and wonderful lore. Apart from the fact that Ron fit the Code, Dexter also wanted to kill him because he said that there was room for only one Dark Passenger in New York City. Śo, he set Ron up, posing as a UrCar driver, and making sure that he got into his backseat. Dexter wore a metal band around his neck, so that when Roninevitably pulled the wire around him, he wasn’t hurt. Dexter lost his etorphine syringe, so it took him a while to subdue Ron, but he ultimately managed to do so.
Dexter set up a kill room in Red’s apartment, but chose not to show him the devastating effects of his murders, because that seemed to satisfy Red, rather than make him feel ashamed. He dismembered him and found his trophies, which were the licenses of his victims with bloody crosses on them. When Dexter went to burn his body in a furnace, he made sure to retrieve his arm, because he needed Red’s fingerprint to get into Prater’s inner circle.
Dexter: Resurrection Keeps Its Connection Alive With Previous Series
One of the biggest appeals of Dexter: Resurrection is exactly this — it does not forget its roots in the newness of its setting. Dexter and Harrison may be in a new big city, but their characters are grounded in their past, and a number of callbacks and Easter eggs keep this connection alive. Whether it is a nostalgic reminder of Ḍexter’s old adversaries in Prater’s murder museum, or flashbacks from Dexter Original Sin, the show keeps referencing, rather cleverly, some of Dexter’s older escapades and lore.
Some of these are very obvious, like the names of serial killers or the return of old characters like Angel, while others would be recognized only by seasoned fans. This was the first kill by Dexter, and its methodology was hidden in plain sight — Ron and Dexter had nothing in common morally, but they definitely had a penchant for similar names and kill methods. Dexter pretty much predicted his future encounters with Ronald Schmidt in the very first episode of Dexter, when he subdued Mike Donovan with a wire in his car, and then cut his head off.
These Easter eggs are vital in keeping the audience connected to the vast history of Dexter, and Dexter: New Blood fell short over here. Fans love seeing the vigilante and his son in a brand new setting, with all new adversaries like Prater and his crazed dinner club to deal with, but they want a taste of classic Dexter, too. Spotting this rather clever Easter egg was an absolute delight for a longtime Dexter fan.
Dexter: Resurrection
- Release Date
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July 13, 2025
- Network
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Paramount+ with Showtime
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Michael C. Hall
Dexter Morgan
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