Dexter: New Blood: Episode 8 review: The series continues to excel with yet another nail-biting episode

3.5/5

Story:
Dexter is on the run from Kurt’s henchman, while Kurt has something sinister planned for Harrison. Elsewhere, Angela digs deeper into Dexter's past, afraid of what she might find.
Review:

The series’ progression so far is likely to compel fans on social media to demand a new season through various hashtag campaigns as Dexter: New Blood heads towards its finale. The latest episode is yet another engrossing watch that continues to maintain its lofty standards. If ever there was a slight dip into storytelling quality, it was episode seven, but episode eight appears to have put the series back on track.

The narrative of this episode moves along at a faster pace than the others as the characters have a lot at stake. For Dexter, he must escape from the clutches of Kurt’s henchman to save his son, Harrison. For Kurt, he needs Harrison and Dexter at the right place at the right time to perform his ritual of hunting down his victims. His victim in this case being Harrison, a lot different from his regular victims of young women running away from home. For Kurt, it’s more personal this time around, as he wants revenge on Dexter for killing his son, Matt.

This isn’t the first time a Dexter storyline involves two serial killers going after each other in the name of family. The fourth season of the original series with Arthur Mitchell (John Lithgow) as the Trinity Killer depicted him going after Dexter’s family. In fact, it is the storyline that traumatises Harrison as a toddler, after he witnesses Mitchell killing his mother, Rita. But unlike Arthur Mitchell, Kurt Caldwell has a likeable on-screen presence. The small town of Iron Lake adores him and he isn’t a complete social deviant like Arthur. Of course, Arthur did keep up an image of a family man, but a closer look at his family will reveal his inner darkness. In hindsight, this makes Kurt more dangerous than Arthur. He has mastered the art of wearing the mask of the charitable old man to perfection.

One might argue that Kurt is an older version of Dexter, the only difference being that Kurt kills innocent young women and Dexter kills people like Kurt. In the scene where Kurt finally decides it’s time to kill Harrison, he’s almost apologetic to the boy. The scene indicates that he did genuinely bond with Harrison, but must go through with his ritual to avenge his son by punishing Dexter. While Kurt may not be as eerily disturbing as Arthur, Clancy Brown essays his role with great expertise and delivers an excellent performance. It is an intriguing prospect as to what the showrunners might have in store for the final two episodes.

Angela’s arc could prove to be crucial come the finale as she digs deeper into Dexter Morgan. The ending seems to suggest Angela could discover things about her boyfriend that she might not want to hear. But as Chief of Police, she is willing to go deeper to solve the case she is building.

Verdict:

The episode is the ideal foundation for the final episodes of the series. The potential for a riveting finale is almost inevitable at this point.