The show went from being an almost American Psycho stylized novel adaption about a self righteous serial killer with questionable morality and methods to an absurd caper about a superhuman vigilante that can survive death and walk around without a disguise in New York City while law enforcement is actively searching for him. Resurrection is one of those so bad its good shows for me, but I'll always lament what it could've been if they had better writers that actually progressed the story to a logical, final conclusion.
See, I don't understand the negative reaction to New Blood's ending because it
was a logical (the logic of the characterization), final (...) conclusion to the story so far.
New Blood wisely does not tell us how to feel about Dexter's actions. (The original show, for its flaws, also rarely did that. Showing all of Dexter's killings and his cleanup procedures in a detached, matter-of-fact way was smart.) So, by the end of the show, as the audience is seeing things through Harrison's eyes and witnessing morally troubling murders like Logan's, it becomes undeniable just how insane and immoral the entire situation is. And a prolific serial killer like Dexter, regardless of who was he killing, could not reasonably ask for a better ending than accepting death at the hands of a son who was being released from Dexter's own fate by killing his father. In dying, Dexter is also finally released from the grip of his own "dark passenger," and Harrison, left with his father's written words of love and longing, has the closest thing he will ever have to a normal connection (at a distance) with the man. Some people are made better by memory than they were in life.
But no, everyone was mad. Why? Dexter is our main character, but do we
really want him to get away with it? Any story where a murderous vigilante gets away with the killing has to ask bigger questions about morality and the society they want to live in unless the story ends right there. And this was always the central tension of the series: we want Dex to get away with it because he's our guy, but Pinocchio also can't keep living unless he becomes "a real boy." We want that for him. We can perhaps overlook the "righteous" killings if he can do that. But he can't. He's limited by his nature... right?
I'm enjoying Resurrection, and have enjoyed all of it all along, because of the character study of Dexter himself. That's where it shines. Maybe people hated New Blood because it deviated from its focus on Dexter himself, but characters need to grow and change, and dealing with his son is a logical way to do that. (And I don't want to hear that Harrison is an annoying character or has an annoying actor. That kid is great in the role.)
