[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for Dexter: Resurrection Episode 3, “Backseat Driver.”]
After debuting with a slew of familiar faces who joined Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) in his coma dreams in the premiere, Dexter: Resurrection continued to bring back even more Dexter favorites in Episode 3, “Backseat Driver.”
In the episode, Angel Batista (David Zayas) decides to give up his job back in Miami so that he can stay on Dexter’s trail — especially after finding out that he’s moved to New York City, thanks to a license plate hit. Batista heads back to the Magic City to make his retirement official, and he’s joined by two of Miami Metro P.D.’s finest: Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee) and Joey Quinn (Desmond Harrington), neither of whom have been seen in the Dexter-verse since the original series ended in 2013.
The all-too-brief reunion is marked with some winks that Dexter fans are sure to appreciate, including a reference to Angel’s last plan to retire and open a restaurant and Joey’s former relationship with an Eastern European stripper (“What a terrible f**king idea,” he jokes).
Of those unexpected role reprisals, David Zayas told TV Insider, “That was a lot of fun. These are characters that I spent many years with, and it was a joy to — you can do a show, and the one thing about doing a show like this, it becomes like a family… That doesn’t go away. You could not see somebody for two, three years, and then when you’re back with them, all that comes back. So that’s how I felt with Desmond and C.S. Lee, and doing and that scene, I really feel it’s back on the same [level].”
Elsewhere in the episode, Dexter takes on a new occupation just as he resorts to his old ways. While his ridesharing driving skills leave something to be desired, his serial killer stalking talents are still intact — albeit a little worse for the wear, thanks to his injuries. He infiltrates the Dark Passenger’s apartment, collects his “trophies,” lures him into his car, learns his motive (that his father’s taxi medallion was devalued by the rise of rideshares, with his financial ruination leading him to die by suicide), gets him on the table, and steals his invite to an exclusive dinner party for “like-minded individuals.”
Meanwhile, Det. Claudette Wallace (Kadia Saraf) continues to be completely spot on with her investigation of Harrison (Jack Alcott), hampered only by the lack of surveillance footage available to her. She rightly determines that Harrison chopped the body up in the kitchen and exited through the always-open side door. However, she’s stopped in her tracks when Harrison decides to make a confession that he lives in the hotel, which explains why he never left on the night of the murder. With a story corroboration from Elsa (Emilia Suarez), has he just gotten away with murder? Time will tell… tick tick tick.
Dexter: Resurrection, Fridays, Paramount+