‘Dexter: New Blood’ Reveals Dexter’s New Romance in Episode 1

Dexter: New Blood made its anticipated premiere Sunday night on Showtime and just minutes into the revival’s premiere episode — following a frosty title card and no opening sequence outlining his beloved “Morning Routine”— audiences got a glimpse of their favorite serial killer engaging in a little role play with a cop after getting pulled over. Cue the raised eyebrow because the moment led to the pair getting it on in the back of her car as audiences soon learn the steamy moment between the pair is more than just a one-time thing for Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall). 

For the past decade since leaving Miami, Dexter has been living a quiet, isolated life in the sleepy town of Iron Lake, New York, far from his temptations of the past. He’s also managed a relationship with the community’s Chief of Police, Angela Bishop (played by actress Julia Jones).

Headstrong and passionate about her role in the community and making their quiet, sleepy town a safe place, Angela pulls over Dexter as part of the couple’s foreplay antics with the intention of sneaking in some sexy time between her shift. But their moment in the episode “Cold Snap” is cut short by a call in from dispatch about pies being stolen from the local church. With the town knowing the two are an item, Dexter has nothing to hide here and living his best self as Jim Lindsay. It also appears like Angela is his first major relationship since Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) and of course, Rita Bennett (Julie Benz), his first wife. But while it’s unclear at this point how serious he and Angela are, they have been dating for some time as their conversations would allude to and the police chief is a single mom raising a daughter named Audrey, played by Johnny Sequoyah. Not to mention, Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) seemingly approves of the relationship as part of her brother embracing more normalcy — in Dexter’s head, of course.

While Jones is new to the Dexter universe, she is best known for roles in Westworld, Twilight and most recently The Mandalorian. When asked about her role in the Showtime series earlier this year, the part Choctaw-Chickasaw and African-American actress told Gio Journal she had never seen the show prior to getting the role. “I had heard wonderful things about the show but had never seen it.  I actually decided not to watch it before we started filming but as soon as we wrapped, I binged all eight seasons,” she said, adding how she didn’t have to read for the character either. “They sent me a number of scripts, which were page-turners — very smart and dark and fun.  There was talk of doing a chemistry test with Michael, but ultimately they just wound up offering it to me.”

Because of the way the season was shot, Jones tells the publication that with the 10 episodes and approximately 600 pages of material, the production was shot as if it were a 10-hour movie. “We also shot all of the exteriors first because it was winter and we needed the snow. This meant that within the first few weeks of shooting we were filming scenes that happened at the very end of the last episode,” she said of the behind-the-scenes process. “The majority of my preparation for Dexter was just reading the scripts over and over and over again. Getting it in you and trusting that it would come together and that you would be prepared.”

To see more of Dexter’s dynamic with Angela in the next nine episodes, tune into Dexter: New Blood every Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime. Those hoping to watch can get a free trial offer by clicking here for all the details!