Previously On… Dexter

Dexter premieres Sunday, September 26 at 9 p.m. on Showtime.

Photo: Sonja Flemming/Showtime

What You Should Know

Season four of Dexter – Showtime’s killer hit that has been nominated for an Emmy each of the last three years – may very well have been shows finest, and after the shocking ending, we’ve all been counting down the days until season five.

Get out your tools and organize your blood slides, the time has come.

Season four ended in such a shocking manner, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you. However, it’s worth discussing anyway. When we left Dexter Morgan, (three-time Emmy nominee Michael C. Hall, now cancer-free) he had spent all season learning about, studying, following and getting to know the Trinity Killer, Arthur Mitchell, played by John Lithgow who deservedly took home Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for the role. Trinity was my favorite big bad in the series for two reasons: the first is that his storyline – the facade of the church going, charity working family man with a truly evil man behind the curtain of that life – was the most intense and interesting, and also because Lithgow absolutely killed (pun intended) the part from week to week and scene to scene. In the end, Dexter was able to kill his fellow serial killer, but not before the unthinkable happened. He returned home after his kill to find one of the most shocking things I’ve even seen on a television show – little Harrison sitting in a pool of blood in front of the tub, where his wife Rita lay dead, murdered in the same fashion as one of the Trinity killings. I’ll never forget that oh-wow-they-really-went-there reaction to the gruesome final images of the season, and I bet you won’t either.

Photo: Sonja Flemming/Showtime

What to Look For

There are two big things to look for this season.

The first thing to look for is how Dexter deals with the tragic loss of his wife, and the complications that are sure to arise from her murder. In seasons past, he has had enough trouble dealing with work, his Dark Passenger and family life. How will being a single father effect this? There just aren’t enough hours in a day to take care of your kids, work eight hours and methodically hunt and kill those who deserve it. I don’t see how a show about a serial killer can remove the serial killing, so I imagine he will find a way to continue, but how will he do it? Dexter’s difficult secret life just became exponentially more difficult.

The second thing to look for will be how the people in Dexter’s life react to Rita’s murder. The husband who finds his wife dead is sure to immediately become a suspect, right? Everyone knows Dexter as an upstanding citizen and overall good man, but there are sure to be some dissenters after this event. We know Dexter didn’t do it but there has to be someone who wants to take a closer look into Dexter’s life. This can only mean even more trouble for him as he attempts to juggle everything.

Who to Look For

A new season means new cast members. Who will be seeing on our screens this year? Julia Stiles will guest star in ten episodes as ‘a mysterious young woman who forms a unique relationship with Dexter in the wake of the death of his wife.’Shawn Hatosy will be featured in a multi-episode arc as a ‘bad guy.’Peter Weller joins the cast as ‘a Miami Dade Police officer caught up in an internal affairs investigation’for eight episodes.

Also look for Maria Doyle Kennedy as a nanny, April Lee Hernandez as a police officer and Jonny Lee Miller as ‘a mysterious man who is ‘intricately involved’ in a storyline with Julia Stiles.’

Want to check out some more promo photos? Look no further.

Our own Jon Lachonis had this to say: “We’ve seen the first three episodes of Dexter and they are absolutely fantastic, on par with anything you have seen as of yet and as suspenseful as the Dexter brand can be.”