Resurrection’s Smart Pivot on Harrison Morgan’s Storyline Revived the Franchise
Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dexter: Resurrection season 1.Dexter: Resurrection completely backtracked on Harrison Morgan’s (Jack Alcott) story, and it was the best decision the franchise could have possibly made. When it was first announced, Dexter: Resurrection seemed extremely risky. The original Dexter‘s ending and the ending of New Blood had crushed the franchise’s popularity, and it didn’t seem like Dexter had much steam left.
Something clearly had to change to bring Dexter back from the dead. Dexter: Original Sin injected a lot of life into the franchise, but it wasn’t enough on its own. That’s evident from the fact that Original Sin was canceled partly due to low viewership. It wasn’t until Dexter: Resurrection that the franchise figured out how to save itself using Harrison Morgan.
Resurrection Backtracking On Turning Harrison Into The Next Dexter Was The Right Move
Dexter and Harrison stand in the snowy woods together in Dexter: New Blood
Since Dexter season 4, but much more so in Dexter: New Blood, the franchise has been setting Harrison up as the “next Dexter.” He had his own “born in blood” moment when the Trinity Killer murdered Rita, he attacked Ethan and tried to cover it up in New Blood, and Dexter actually started teaching him the Code of Harry and how to kill people and dispose of their bodies.
It even looked like Resurrection was going to keep with that storyline. The show began with Harrison killing a serial rapist and cutting up his body. For the longest time, it seemed like Harrison was going to become a serial killer just like his father. Resurrection, however, wasn’t so predictable, and the entire Dexter franchise is better for it.
In just a few episodes, Resurrection quickly dispelled any belief that Harrison had his own urge to kill by having him outright tell Dexter that he doesn’t really want to. He has too much guilt and too much of a conscience to kill people, even if it was someone like Ryan who was attacking an innocent person. He still has violent urges, but he’s much more dedicated to fighting them than Dexter ever was.
Not only is that a much more surprising and interesting path for Harrison to walk, it fixes a lot of the problems with Harrison’s characterization in New Blood. Harrison was simply annoying in New Blood. He hated Dexter but was exactly like him, and he didn’t have many personality traits of his own because he was just the “new Dexter.” Now, in Resurrection, Harrison is his own person.
Dexter Turning Harrison Into The Next Deb & Harry Is A Much Smarter Path
Jack Alcott as Harrison Morgan and Emily C. Kimball as Gigi Jones in Dexter: Resurrection, episode 8, season 1.Zach Dilgard/Paramount+
By taking away Harrison’s desire to kill that New Blood had set up, Resurrection also made him into a different kind of character. Harrison isn’t the new Dexter, he’s the new Debra and Harry Morgan. Throughout the Dexter shows, both Deb and Harry have acted as Dexter’s conscience and his tether to morality and family. Now, Harrison is taking on that role.
In just a few episodes, Resurrection established that Harrison has this strong sense of morality and justice, a desire to become a police officer, and the ability to actually influence Dexter and how much he listens to his dark passenger. Those are all key traits Harry and Deb had, and now that Harrison has taken their place, it’s clear how much Dexter needed that positive influence.
Harrison Morgan Actor
Seasons Of Dexter
Various Uncredited Infants
4
Evan George & Luke Andrew Kruntchev
5-7
Lucas Adams
7
Jadon Wells
8
Jack Alcott
New Blood
Even though Deb was acting as Dexter’s conscience in New Blood, it wasn’t exactly the same. She mostly just berated and demeaned him, and she wasn’t good at getting him to ignore his dark passenger. Part of the reason New Blood didn’t work is because Dexter didn’t have that positive influence creating tension between his urge to kill and his desire to do right by his family, but Harrison has fixed that.
Being the new Deb or Harry also gives Harrison so much more to do than being the new Dexter would have. It might have been fun to see Dexter and Harrison team up for a kill, but that would have gotten pretty old quickly. Instead, Resurrection can now show Harrison going to college, trying to reign in his dad, and trying to reconcile his killer father with his strong sense of justice.
There’s simply a lot more potential in a new Deb than there is in a new Dexter. The franchise finally has room to grow and room to make Harrison his own character instead of forcing him down the same steps as Dexter. Even though he is filling an old role, Harrison’s story will also feel distinct from Deb’s, as he already knows Dexter’s secret and is actively working with him.
Resurrection Learned New Blood’s Lesson That Dexter Morgan Can Never Be Replaced
Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan in Dexter Resurrection, episode 7, season 1.Zach Dilgard/Paramount+
Perhaps the biggest reason Harrison’s new role in Dexter works so well, however, is because Resurrection learned a lesson New Blood stumbled into the hard way: it’s impossible to replace Dexter Morgan as a character. He’s too good, too relatable, too interesting, and too well-acted. Dexter’s shoes are massive, and Harrison was never going to be able to fill them.
Because Resurrection finally realized that there was no point in trying to replace Dexter, it gave Harrison room to do his own thing. It also gave Resurrection the chance to lean back into the parts of Dexter that people liked the most and wanted to see out of New Blood. Dexter got to be himself again because he wasn’t training a replacement anymore.
The narration at the end of Resurrection season 1 really cements that idea. Dexter spends the entire final scene telling the audience that he’s back, he’s not denying his dark passenger anymore like he did in New Blood, and that he’s finally ready to fight for his family like Harrison always wanted him to. Like he said at the end of Dexter: Resurrection, he’s Dexter Morgan, exactly who he needs to be.
Alexandra Franklin, Jeff Lindsay, Marc Muszynski, Clyde Phillips, Kirsa Rein, Alexandra Salerno, Scott Reynolds, Veronica West, Tony Saltzman, David McMillan, Warren Hsu Leonard
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