It looks like Dexter Morgan is finally ready to fall in love again, but with the most unexpected woman imaginable.
Over the course of the franchise’s 20-year history, Dexter Morgan has been seriously involved with quite a few women on-screen. Whether it was Rita, the only woman he actually married, or Lila, Lumen, Hannah, Angela, and even Sofia in the prequel series Dexter: Original Sin, we can definitely say that Dexter has a strange way of attracting women into his life.
In Season 1 of Dexter: Resurrection, it briefly looked like Mia Lapierre could become Dexter’s next love interest since it was more than obvious that they both liked each other from the first time they met, but things never moved beyond some flirtation before her arrest changed everything.
Now, however, it seems the second season of the sequel series is taking things much further by giving Dexter Morgan an actual new romantic partner. And surprisingly, it really may be the last person fans expected!
This woman is non other than Charley Brown, played by Uma Thurman. After spending most of Season 1 in a tense and very complicated dynamic, before becoming outright enemies during the final two episodes, Dexter and Charley appear to be heading in a completely different direction this time around. In a crazy twist, Season 2 will actually show the two characters not just calling a truce or forming an alliance, but quite possibly becoming a couple.
While the set photos taken on May 18 were already interesting enough, new images from the New York City set on May 19 seem to confirm it even more. The photos show Dexter and Charley on what appears to be a relaxing and romantic nighttime date in the heart of Manhattan, sitting together and holding hands across the table.
Not only that, but during the filming of the scene, Michael C. Hall and Thurman were reportedly holding hands throughout multiple takes, actually sharing prolonged and flirtatious eye contact, something that is suggesting that Dexter and Charley will develop genuine feelings for each other in Season 2. See it for yourself in the images below, courtesy of Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin.
This could easily become another example of the classic “enemies to lovers” trope that was always popular in pop culture. This usually follows two characters who begin by disliking, or even hating each other, only to slowly fall in love through shared experiences and actually growing emotional connetcion. And from everything we have seen so far, that seems to be exactly where Dexter and Charley’s story is heading.
What makes this even more interesting is that Season 1 never really hinted that such a relationship could happen. However, the creative team behind Dexter: Resurrection clearly made adjustments to Charley’s character throughout that season, in order to make her feel more human. Despite her cold role as Leon Prater’s protector, the show also revealed a softer side of her through her relationship with her ill mother.
Interestingly, Showrunner Clyde Phillips revealed in an interview last year that these changes were made after Thurman expressed interest in staying beyond one season. She was so impressed with the scripts and the role that she actually wanted to stick around. It looked like a risk, but for now it appears to have paid off very well.
Another detail worth mentioning is Charley’s noticeably different appearance between Seasons 1 and 2, which could be another sign that the series is officially moving her character into a more emotional and humanized direction.
And while it’s no secret that Dexter Morgan has always had a thing for blonde women (Rita, Lumen, and Hannah all left a huge impact on his life) Charley now seems ready to join that list as well. The biggest difference, though, is that Dexter has never truly fallen for someone who started out as a deadly enemy with such strong mutual dislike. Hannah McKay actually came somewhat close back in Season 7, but this situation is very different.
So... five years after Angela Bishop, the former Iron Lake Chief of Police, it looks like Dexter Morgan may finally be finding love once again, this time with a blonde woman who is not only closer to his age, but also perhaps one of the most dangerous people he has ever become romantically involved with.