‘Dexter: Resurrection’ Episode 9 Recap & Review: A Shocking Moment Propels Dexter Toward a Showdown

This article contains spoilers for Dexter: Resurrection Episode 9

One of the surprises about Dexter: Resurrection has been its willingness to take what looks like a fairly straightforward story arc and twist it around numerous times, with more than a few eyebrow-raising results. However, this does leave it open to trying to tie numerous things together, and to its credit, “Touched By an Angel” is a success, bringing some characters full circle and leaving us yet again, wondering what will happen next.

Dexter: Resurrection Episode 9 picks up right where Episode 8 left off, in a rather uncomfortable situation. Dexter (Michael C. Hall) and Harrison (Jack Alcott) are having a nice father-son meal together when who walks in, but Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage). After some not-so-innocent questions probing the until now unknown son of “Red,” Dexter gets Prater outside to confront him once and for all.

With Charley (Uma Thurman) watching from across the street, she being the one who discovered Harrison, Dexter lets it be known in no uncertain terms that his son is off-limits. Prater, who is in control of all situations in his life, agrees, but it’s clear he’s lying. A line has been crossed, triggering a rapid-fire chain of events.

Dexter quickly gives Harrison the rundown on how he met Prater, the serial killer group, and that he’s been trying to kill them all one at a time. Needless to say, Harrison is a little overwhelmed, but Dexter convinces him he’s got this. As they walk and talk, neither realizes they are being followed by Angel (David Zayas). Parting ways on the subway, Harrison needs to get to work, while Angel is too slow and stuck on the subway. Meanwhile, Dexter heads home. However, Angel snapped some pictures of Dexter and Prater’s chat outside the restaurant, which continues to move the ball forward, now quickly heading towards chaos. 

RELATED: ‘The Institute’ Stars Discuss the Pressures of Starring in a Stephen King TV Adaptation (Exclusive)

As it turns out, Charley is not finished with her investigation of Red; she turns her attention to Harrison. She requests his services personally at the hotel, and once she has him in the room as a guest, she begins the questions. The cat-and-mouse game begins. To his credit, Harrison does a great job bobbing and weaving around her questions, but gives up a few things. It pushes Dexter to do one of the things he does best: the serial killer counterpunch. He does his due diligence and finds out where Charley lives, breaks in, and does his own investigation. In the process, he finds a glass she took from the hotel with Harrison’s prints. But he also discovers her sick mom, and instantly knows what he needs to do next. 

Dexter confronts her in her car, from the backseat, with Red’s weapon of choice around her neck. He becomes the hunter instead of the hunted. This is the menacing and scary as hell Dexter. He shows her who is in control and that her mother is not safe from him should she continue to harass his son. It was a creepy and well-done scene, and Thurman truly gave the sense that she was genuinely scared for her life and her mother’s. However, she did make it clear yet again about the kind of power Prater wields, and Dexter knows he has to get rid of him, quickly.

It’s at this point that Angel really moves into the story. Det. Wallace (Kadia Saraf) and Det. Oliva call Angel in for a meeting, and there they confront him about the fact that he is no longer an actual police officer. The conversation goes back and forth, with Angel desperately trying to plead his case about how Dexter is manipulating everything, but to no avail. He is ordered to pack and head back to Miami tomorrow and turn over his badge. He leaves in humiliation and defeat, but not before seeing that Prater is at the police gala, giving him one more chance to do something before he goes. 

Before that happens, though, we get an excellent back-and-forth between Dinklage and Thurman, as Charley explains what Red did and said to her, and threatened to do to her. Dinklage gives us another peek under the curtain that is Prater as he shows he is more interested in seeing the wound than worrying about the fact that she could have been killed.

RELATED: Author Keith Rosson Talks ‘Coffin Moon’, Love for Horror, and Praise from Stephen King (Exclusive)

More than that, we understand how he sees things more clearly, that he’s no fool, but not seeing things clearly when it comes to Red/Dexter. That conversation is interrupted by none other than Dexter, who manages to get a sit-down time with Prater set, and the stage is ready for the final act.

A while after the call and before the meeting, though, Angel tries to force a meeting with Prater. However, Charley subdues him, taking him to Prater, who then learns everything Angel knows about Red, aka Dexter Morgan, aka The Bay Harbor Butcher. I’m not sure whose facial expressions I enjoyed more, Charley’s smirk of satisfaction knowing she was right about “Red” or Prater’s face, trying to suppress the combination of rage and surprise, with not much success. 

Dexter shows up to the meeting, oblivious to the trap he’s walking into, and is forced into Prater’s secret vault, where we find Angel tied down on a very familiar table. Prater has a proposition for Dexter, but not before he practically gushes at meeting a very alive Bay Harbor Butcher. Prater will become his benefactor, inviting more serial killers from around the world here so Dexter can kill them. All he has to do is kill Angel, and it’s a done deal.

However, Dexter has other plans, freeing Angel in the hope that they can be a team again. However, Angel takes him down and starts choking him. Alas, it wasn’t to be for poor Angel as he was shot by Prater, who was then quickly escorted out of the vault as the door closed. He leaves Dexter to try to comfort his friend, who is having none of it, cursing at him just before he dies. 

Dexter: Resurrection Episode 9 is wonderfully paced, moving quickly through plot lines and events, sometimes a bit too quickly, but overall, it is well done. The actors brought their A game for this one, showing great range and emotion from start to finish. With “Touched By an Angel” now over, we are left wondering how the finale is going to shape up. Who will live, who will die, who will escape to kill another day?

One thing is certain, the scream Dexter lets out to end the episode was many things, including anger, fear, and frustration. But more than anything, it was the sound of a trapped animal, and you know what they say about trapped animals.

Dexter: Resurrection Episode 9 is now available for streaming and on demand for Paramount+ subscribers with the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan. The remaining episodes will premiere weekly, every Friday.