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Dexter: Resurrection has the opportunity to fix New Blood’s biggest plothole (and bring back two original series characters)

Dexter: Resurrection could finally answer questions viewers have about two missing characters

Features by Joshua Lapin-Bertone, Contributing writer

Published on Fri Jul 11 2025

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When Showtime brought Dexter Morgan back in 2021 for Dexter: New Blood, they made a major omission, creating a big plothole. Now that the character is returning for Dexter: Resurrection, there’s an opportunity to address this plot hole and bring back two major characters. The question is, will Paramount+ do it?

I’m talking about the absence of Dexter Morgan’s stepchildren, Cody and Astor.

If you need a refresher, Cody (Preston Bailey) and Astor (Christina Robinson) were the children of Dexter’s love interest, Rita Bennett. Dexter marries Rita in the third season of his original series, becoming Cody and Astor’s stepfather. Rita and Dexter have a child named Harrison, giving Cody and Astor a younger half-sibling. After Rita is murdered by the Trinity Killer (brilliantly played by John Lithgow), Dexter briefly attempts to raise all three kids on his own. Quickly realizing he’s out of his depth, he sends Cody and Astor to live with their paternal grandparents.

Cody and Astor are seen a few more times throughout the series, visiting Dexter and their younger brother during the holidays. When the writers needed to get rid of Harrison for a few episodes, the character would be sent to Orlando to visit Cody and Astor. In other words, the original series made it clear that Cody and Astor deeply cared about their younger brother.

This is why the events of Dexter: New Blood were so confusing. The 2021 sequel series reveals that Harrison spent years in foster care after Dexter faked his death, and his adopted mother Hannah died of cancer. The teenage Harrison speaks of being passed around different foster homes, and spending time on the streets. He then spent years searching for his father, hoping he could get some answers.

This raises many questions. Why didn’t Cody and Astor help their younger brother? By the time Hannah died, Cody and Astor would’ve reached adulthood. Even if they didn’t have the means to adopt Harrison, they never would’ve let their baby brother sleep on the streets or live in an abusive foster home. At the very least, they would’ve been in touch with him. According to Harrison, he spent his foster care years in Miami, which is only a few hours from Cody and Astor in Orlando.

It also stands to reason that Harrison’s search for answers on Dexter’s disappearance would’ve led him to Cody and Astor. Surely Harrison would’ve contacted the only blood relatives he has left. Some might argue that Harrison’s memories of Cody and Astor would be vague, as he was taken to Argentina when he was around 5-years-old. However, if Harrison was able to track Dexter down to a remote town in upstate New York, I have a hard time believing he wouldn’t be able to find his older siblings living a few hours away.

Instead of explaining these discrepancies, Dexter: New Blood opts to ignore Cody and Astor. However, their absence was really loud. Simply go to the Dexter subreddit, and you’ll find numerous posts from fans questioning why Cody and Astor didn’t help their younger brother when he was living on the streets.

Dexter: Resurrection has an opportunity to answer these questions. The series will pick up where Dexter: New Blood left off, placing Harrison in New York City, attempting to start a new life. Dexter, who was left for dead at the end of New Blood, will follow his son to the Big Apple.

Don’t forget, Dexter: New Blood ends with Angel Batista learning that Dexter faked his death back in 2013, and that he was likely the Bay Harbor Butcher. If those details are shared with the public, Cody and Astor’s response would be essential. Learning that their stepfather faked his death would be upsetting and finding out that he’s a serial killer would raise many questions, especially about the death of their mother. If Dexter’s past is exposed, and we don’t get Cody and Astor’s response, it would be television writing malpractice.

Even if Cody and Astor don’t appear, mentioning them would go a long way. Dexter’s failure to protect Rita is something he’s never stopped feeling guilty about, and Cody and Astor are living reminders of that failure. Plus, with Debra dead, Cody and Astor are Harrison and Dexter’s only living relatives.

The show is already bringing in many faces from Dexter’s past, including Angel Batista (David Zayas), James Doakes (Erik King), Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits), and Arthur Mitchell (John Lithgow). Many of these characters are dead, so they’ll be returning as manifestations of Dexter’s guilt. However, Cody and Astor are very much alive, and they’re two characters who Dexter has unfinished business with. If we’re bringing back old faces, why not them?

Dexter: Resurrection premieres on July 11.

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Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.