Warning: Contains spoilers for Dexter: New Blood episode 6.

When Angela calls Dexter in Dexter: New Blood episode 6, “Too Many Tuna Sandwiches,” it highlights how the Runaway Killer repeats a Dexter season 1 problem for Dexter’s skills. While the killer’s identity has been indisputably revealed for the audience, Dexter is still mostly in the dark. The killer’s motivations and the reasons behind his MO still have to be revealed, but Dexter will have a harder time with the Runaway Killer than many from his past, just as he did in the inaugural season.

Throughout Dexter: New Blood season 1, Angela Bishop (Julia Jones) has referenced the disappearance of her friend, Iris, when they were both in high school. The fact that the case was ignored as a runaway has driven much of her police career and her crusade on investigating missing persons. At the end of Dexter: New Blood episode 6, Angela finds Iris’ remains in a cave and the body appears to be dried out and is likely tied to the Runaway Killer. Angela and Dexter’s relationship is in question after she finds out he is Dexter Morgan and not Jim Lindsay, but when she finds Iris’ remains, she calls Dexter and says that she needs Dexter, not Jim, presumably for his expertise in forensics.

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Unfortunately for Angela, Dexter is a blood-spatter analyst. So far Kurt, as the Runaway Killer, appears to drain the blood of his victims and embalm them with formaldehyde, leaving little for Dexter to investigate. Iris might have been killed before the Runaway Killer started doing this, but the age of the body suggests there will still be little for Dexter to analyze. This repeats the issue that Dexter faced with the Ice Truck Killer in Dexter season 1. Brian Moser drained the blood of his victims and left only the bloodless cut-up remains behind. Dexter was impressed by the work, but regularly used the fact that there was no blood there to excuse himself from the crime scenes.

Even if Iris’ body was drained of blood before being laid to rest, Dexter may still have some things to work with. The age of the remains and the unique grave suggest that Iris might have been the Runaway Killer’s first kill and he might not have had his full technique established. It is also possible that the kill was more emotionally oriented rather than the methodical and ritualistic killings seen in the present day of Dexter: New Blood. All of this suggests that Dexter could potentially find some traces of blood remaining with a black light, but there is no guarantee.

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One of Dexter’s strengths is that through his expertise as a medical student, blood spatter analyst, and serial killer, he is able to go beyond simply looking at the blood. Dexter: New Blood’s Runaway Killer will pose a challenge to him because of the lack of blood in any bodies found, but Dexter’s knowledge of blood spatter is not his only talent, merely his specialty. It might seem like an odd choice to bring Dexter back for a revival with a killer that so directly avoids the aspect that made the original character famous, but its echo of Dexter season 1’s Ice Truck Killer does demonstrate how it can still work and bring the Dexter full circle. Given that Dexter: New Blood has shown the blood being drained from victims, but not what has been done with the blood, it is possible that the killer will at some point reveal a use for it similar to Brian’s hotel room scene from Dexter season 1, but the motivation for such a move remains unclear.

Dexter: New Bloodreleases new episodes Sundays on Showtime.

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About The Author


Faefyx Collington
(489 Articles Published)

Faefyx Collington (They/Them) is a senior features writer for Screen Rant. They’re a British writer of both fiction and non-fiction, focussing on science fiction, fantasy, and mystery for the former and on culture, gender, and current affairs for the latter.
Never content to settle to one thing, Faefyx is also a co-host and producer of the podcast and video series “Unramblings,” and can occasionally be found making music around the internet as well.
Having acquired degrees on both sides of the Atlantic, Fyx has settled (for the moment) in the southern United States where they live with their spouse and an entirely appropriate number of cats.

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