Another milestone for the sequel series as the year comes to a close.
2025 has been an exceptionally strong and meaningful year for television. As always, when the year draws to a close, media outlets rush to publish their best and worst TV show lists. Still, there’s one ranking that arguably matters more than any other, because it doesn’t rely on critics or industry hype. It shows, very clearly, which movies and TV shows actually captured the audience’s attention throughout the year. That ranking comes from IMDb.
IMDb’s Best of 2025 list is now out, and this year Dexter has a very strong presence. More specifically, the recently revealed list of the 10 most popular TV shows of 2025 includes Dexter: Resurrection, which landed an impressive sixth place overall. That alone is a major achievement, especially considering the level of competition this year.
The top spot was claimed by HBO’s The White Lotus, with The Last of Us season 2 coming in at number two. Severance ranked third, followed by Wednesday at number four and Squid Game at number five. Right after Dexter: Resurrection at number six, the list continues with Netflix’s Monster at number seven, Dept. Q at number eight, Andor at number nine, and Black Mirror closing out the top ten.
Some of you might wonder how certain shows, particularly The Last of Us, managed to rank so high despite mixed (at best) reactions this year. The answer actually lies in how IMDb builds its annual popularity list. These rankings are not based on critics’ reviews, or editorial opinions. Instead, they are driven entirely by actual user engagement on IMDb’s platform, tracking how often shows are searched, viewed, and interacted with by visitors over time.
In simple terms, every series that made IMDb’s top ten consistently generated massive interest from tens of millions of users worldwide throughout 2025. That level of attention is hard to fake, and it’s exactly what makes Dexter: Resurrection’s placement so significant.
What truly highlights how powerful Dexter Morgan’s comeback has been, though, is something even more impressive. Among all the shows in IMDb’s top ten, Dexter: Resurrection currently holds the highest rating of them all. The sequel series sits at an outstanding 9.0 out of 10, based on more than 121,000 user ratings, with eight out of its ten episodes rated 9 or higher. That kind of consistency is extremely rare and actually speaks volumes about how well the season was received by fans.
By any reasonable measure, this makes the first season of Dexter: Resurrection maybe the most beloved and best-performing TV shows of the year. For us longtime fans of the franchise, it’s clear proof that hte series returned in top form.
That said, there is one disappointing aspect worth mentioning. Despite its popularity and stellar ratings, Dexter: Resurrection has been completely absent from many major “best TV shows of 2025” lists. Large media outlets like Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, IGN, and TVLine all failed to acknowledge the series when ranking the year’s best television, effectively...ignoring its impact.
Fortunately, that kind of snub doesn’t really matter in the bigger picture. What actually matters is that Dexter: Resurrection made 2025 unforgettable for a huge portion of the audience. It was a genuine surprise, a return to form, and a triumphant moment for a franchise that is soon turning years old.
When numbers and ratings from a platform like IMDb tell this story so clearly, they ultimately say more than any editorial list ever could!