Showtime |
Things are heating up in Iron Lake and the fourth episode of New Blood that graced our small screens on November 28th was the most intense so far. From a violent encounter between Harrison and fellow high schooler Ethan, some classic Dexter forensic work, and terrifying insight into Kurt Caldwell’s murderous activities, it was a 45-minute thrill-ride that hardly gave fans a chance to come up for air. Amid it all, there were some fantastic callbacks and easter eggs to the original series, and I’m once again here to break them down for you.
Detective Work
The first few minutes of ‘H is for Hero’ greeted viewers with a familiar site - Deb pouring over crime-related photos - in an attempt to unravel Kurt’s motivations for lying about his son being alive. When she was alive and working inside the vibrant walls of Miami Metro, detective Morgan would often layout photos of crime scenes as a methodic approach to piecing evidence together. The red marker Deb uses during her explanation is the same one Dexter marks the calendar in ‘Cold Snap’, and the red string she uses to connect the photos is a nod to Dexter’s old blood splatter career, as fans will remember seeing strings helping to recreate blood splatter patterns throughout various crime scenes in the original show.
Fuck Nuggets
As well as the nostalgia introduction seeing the siblings work to solve a crime together, the opening moments of H is for Hero are altogether pretty wholesome. Harrison wakes up and tells Dexter he’s made the wrestling team at school. During the exchange, he refers to the jocks as ‘Fuck Nuggets’ a phrase coined by Deb in the original series. Dexter is surprised by this and admits to Harrison that ‘Your aunt Deb used to say that.’ Harrison confesses that he doesn’t remember much about his aunt aside from her being fun and all the swearing. He asks his dad if he misses her and Dexter looks at his amalgamation of Deb before stating that ‘She’s always in my thoughts.’ The conversation ends with Dexter quipping his favourite of his sister’s colourful expressions, ‘I’d rather put out a campfire with my face.’
Trinity
Arthur Mitchell’s presence loomed heavily over this episode despite fans still patiently awaiting John Lithgow’s confirmed appearance. Harrison and Audrey continued to bond in the previous episode, ‘Smoke Signals’ briefly discussing a shared interest in true crime over dinner with Jim and Angela. Audrey mentioned she’d text Harrison her top five true crime podcasts, and it turns out her number one is Molly Park’s Merry F*cking Kill. Harrison is seen browsing the podcasts library at school when he stumbles across a Miami based episode about the harrowing crimes of The Trinity Killer.
Skipping towards the end of the episode, Harrison listens intently as Molly provides a vivid retelling of his mother’s cruel death, and at the revolution that an infant child witnessed the murder he’s visibly pained. The episode ends with the podcaster pondering aloud ‘How fucked up is that kid now?’ - in a very chilling moment.
Just The Blood Guy
In the aftermath of the school emergency Dexter was quick to establish that his son’s story didn’t quite add up and, in order to confirm his suspicions, he returns to the scene of the crime for some good old blood splatter analysis. With the help of a reluctant Deb, he meticulously re-enacts Harrison’s retelling of events to discover that the blood splatter doesn’t much and you know what they say: ‘blood never lies.’ This scene not only features fantastic performances from Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter but much like the episode's opening moments, is a delightful burst of nostalgia seeing Dex taping into his forensic brain to uncover the truth.
Always Wanted To Be A Hero
At the end of the original show’s first season, Dexter fantasizes about everyone knowing he was the one to rid the world of the monstrous Ice Truck Killer. He imagines a parade of law enforcement officers and civilians alike showering him with praise and gratitude, complete with all the cheers, confetti, and banners a hero could want. Before Dex starts his analysis of the high school attack, Deb accuses him of being jealous of his son, stating - ‘You can’t handle the fact Harrison’s a hero’ before Dexter pictures a crowd of Deb’s clutching signs and banners celebrating him - a nice funny nod to the first season that breaks the tension of the moment.
Born In Blood
‘H is for Hero’ delivered one the biggest endings of a New Blood episode so far when after discovering that Harrison was lying about and did instigate the attack on Ethan, Dexter deduces that he bought his own weapon to school, and searches his son’s room.
Showtime |
What he finds is not only the weapon but a chilling revolution. It turns out Harrison’s tool of choice is a straight razor - the very same thing that Trinity used to kill Rita. The credits roll with Dexter concluding that Harrison shares his Dark Passenger, and a devastated Deb reeling ’He was born in blood, just like you.’
Does anyone else have goosebumps?