Dexter: Resurrection: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Dexter: Resurrection: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 20, 2026

Dexter has been around for twenty years. Isn't that crazy? Not because the show is undeserving of such longevity, but because it's been two decades already. Time flies, and 2006 doesn't feel that far away yet, somehow, here we are. Dexter's 2006 debut season and the subsequent full series run delighted fans in the complex story of Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) who, in the aftermath of his witness of a brutal murder and the unquenchable thirst to kill that followed, was nurtured to become a methodical killer of those "deserving" of such punishment, using the cover of his work as a forensic technician at the Miami Metro Police Department as well as his own skills, inside access and information, and his own cunning and cleverness to cover his bloody tracks. The series' prominence and fandom prompted CBS to release the sequel series Dexter: New Blood and the prequel series Dexter: Original Sin, in 2021 and 2024, respectively. Now, CBS once again returns to the "Dexter-verse" (is that a thing?) for Dexter: Resurrection, a direct sequel to New Blood.

For anyone who has yet to watch 'Dexter: New Blood,' I would advise skipping this portion of the review. While I will not offer any overt spoilers, it's probably best to avoid any discussion of this show.

The show picks up a few weeks following the shocking finale of Dexter: New Blood. What happened then hasn't left the show's titular antihero where most fans expected him to be, and the season follows him traveling to New York in search of his son, Harrison (Jack Alcott). But as Dexter navigates a new environment, curious emotions, and an uncertain future, things grow more complicated as he finds himself the subject of an investigation by Miami-based detective Angel Batista (David Zayas) and entangled in the high stakes maneuverings of billionaire Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage) who harbors a secret as dark as Dexters...or maybe even darker.

It’s difficult to delve into Resurrection without speaking too broadly of what happened at the end of New Blood, but suffice it to say the show finds a way to move on as logically as possible and within the Dexter way of doing things, so it feels neat and tidy even if, in “reality,” it’s not really neat and tidy. And I think fans are going to embrace it as that. This is Dexter through and through, certainly directed by the influencing forces necessarily behind it, but all season long, and leading right up to one of the best season finales the series has seen in some time, it’s 100% Dexter.

The show flows easily and effortlessly. Even two decades of TV have not removed the quality of the script work or the quality of the performances. There’s a certain comfort level on display, but not “comfort” as in everyone is taking it easy, cutting corners, and the like. Quite the contrary, it’s a well oiled machine that keeps working as it was designed to work. Hall is every bit Dexter now as he was then, and the returning cast — no matter how big or small their parts here or how long they’ve been part of the universe — never miss a beat. Newcomers are enthusiastic and never feel out of place, particularly Peter Dinklage in what will go down as one of the series’ most compelling characters and whose relationship with Dexter culminates in one of the franchise's best final episodes.

Dexter: Resurrection: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Dexter: Resurrection's 1080p transfer delivers everything expected of it, and then some. The picture uses the 1080p format to its limits; I cannot fathom it looking any sharper, richer, or more colorfully bountiful than it does here on this format. The clarity is consistently at the top of the charts for the format, delivering effortless detail to complex facial features, clothes, and setting and environment details, whether in dense outdoor shots or inside Prater's luxurious mansion. This is Blu-ray detail at its best. Likewise, colors are perfect. There's plenty of pop to blood, which of course is plentiful in this show, and there's a very healthy brilliance to natural greens, loud clothing, and interesting objects. White balance is first rate, and the same can be said of black levels. Skin tones appear absolutely accurate. I didn't see any excessive (or even more than trace) noise, and I spotted no egregious compression issues. This one looks fantastic.

Dexter: Resurrection: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers as expected. I would have preferred an Atmos mix for a new show, but this is CBS/Paramount's standard TV show audio presentation, so I am also not surprised. But it's very good and very efficient in every way possible. Clarity to all elements -- music, ambience, action, and dialogue -- are super. There was never a moment when I struggled to hear something or felt anything was muddled or unclear. Balance is also excellent. Dialogue is firmly rooted in the center and music finds good side stretch and room-filling surround activity. Other details play through the rears as well, again at perfect volume and balance. The low end is a healthy support piece, and it never overwhelms the stage.

Dexter: Resurrection: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Dexter: Resurrection Season One contains a trio of extras, but do note that, even though the packaging and disc three claim they appear on disc three, they are in fact all on disc one. All begin playback with spoiler disclaimers. No DVD or digital copies are included. This release does ship with a slipcover.

• Dexter Reawakened (1080p, 21:12): Exploring how the this series works in light of how New Blood ended; returning character progressions, motivations, interactions; new characters and performances and how they fit into the season and series; production highlights; cast and crew camaraderie, and more.
• The Code Lives On (1080p, 5:00): A closer look at how Dexter is the same -- and different -- in this series.
• Father, Son, and the Dark Passenger (1080p, 8:38): A look at how the shocking conclusion to New Blood bleeds into...so to speak...the events in Resurrection.

Dexter: Resurrection: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans who may have been less than pleased with New Blood, or even some of the later seasons of the original show, should find in Dexter: Resurrection a return to roots but also an evolution, in most ways more subtle than not. It manages to stick to its guns while also introducing some glimpses and glimmers of something more that promise some interesting possibilities for the future. Paramount's three-disc set delivers the expected high end video and audio presentations. Supplements are a bit on the thin side, but serviceable enough. Recommended for fans, but newcomers obviously want to hit the rewind button and start from the very beginning, and not here.