With Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) back on our screens with his newest sequel “Dexter: Resurrection,” we thought it’d be nice to review the book of rules Dexter’s father Harry Morgan laid out for him as well as the biggest moments when Dexter broke them.
First thing’s first: what are the rules? They’re actually pretty straightforward:
- No preemptive killing
- Killing must serve a purpose
- Targets must be killers
- Never kill an innocent person
- Never get caught
His father, a former cop at the Miami Police Department, didn’t just make up these rules so that Dexter could fulfill his thirst for blood. The rules also serve as instructions on how to keep his serial killer identity under wraps.
Check out the eight times Dexter went against his dad’s rules below.
Oscar Prado
Dexter broke his father’s code for the very first time in the first episode of Season 3. Unlike some of his other code-breaking moments, this was an instance of self-defense. Originally, Dexter actually had his sights set on a drug dealer named Freebo, who murdered two college girls. However, he just so happened to witness Oscar fighting Freebo and that’s when Oscar turned his attention to Dexter with a knife. After a scuffle over the weapon, Dexter ends up grabbing the blade and stabbing Oscar.
Rankin
The two people Dexter absolutely didn’t play about were his sister Debra and his late wife Rita. And that’s where Rankin, the rude customer from the first episode of Season 5, comes in.
After Rita’s death, Dexter’s ability to control his urges to murder weakened, as he struggled with grief. After a contentious interaction with Rankin, Dexter follows him into the bathroom, where he tells the man that his wife died and he’s having a “bad week.” In response, Rankin says, “I’m sorry for your loss, but your dead wife can suck my d—k.”
And well, that’s when Dexter beat him over the head repeatedly with a grappling hook.
Norm
While Dexter lives by a code, he is a killer, so don’t push him. That’s the word of advice Norm, the motel owner from Season 6, Episode 7, should’ve known before Dexter had to take him out.
Norm’s life came to an end after he tried to blackmail Dexter after he found his knives, stole them and tried to sell them back to Dexter for $10,000. Listening to the voice of his dead serial killer brother Brian, who is encouraging Dexter to kill Norm, he takes a pitchfork and drives it into Norm. Viewers first see the action happen from Brian but it quickly reveals Dexter as Norm’s murderer.
Sergeant Logan
Now this kill was a sad one because Sergeant Logan was just doing his job. But if Dexter didn’t kill him, we probably wouldn’t have “Dexter: Resurrection,” right?
Anyway, in the spinoff “Dexter: New Blood,” Dexter was arrested for killing Matt Caldwell amid suspicions that he was also the Bay Harbor Butcher. In a desperate effort to also not break his other rule, “Don’t get caught,” he asked Logan for a bottle of water, pulled him into the bars of his jail cell and snapped his neck.
Jonathan Farrow
Jonathan Farrow’s death in Season 4, Episode 7 was a huge no-no. Dexter literally killed someone he’d wrongly accused of murder. After speculations that Jonathan Farrow, a photographer, had abused models he’d worked with and was involved in the disappearance of missing girls, Dexter began his investigation into his next potential kill. During his probe, all signs pointed to Jonathan … but sadly, he wasn’t the guy.
The day after Dexter strapped Jonathan down to his and killed him, Jonathan’s assistant was being brought in for the murders of the women.
Clint McKay
Dexter took Clint McKay’s life in Season 7, Episode 10, in an effort to spare the well-being of Clint’s daughter, Hannah McKay. Clint was a greedy gambler who abused Hannah and convinced her to give him $20,000. Even Dexter acknowledged killing Clint was outside of the code, but he was more concerned with Hannah being freed from his toxicity, and went ahead and wrapped his behind up in plastic anyway.
Nathan Marten
OK, look, none of these folks on the list qualify as kill candidates for Dexter. But heck, some of them absolutely had it coming to them. That’s the case for Nathan Marten in Season 3, Episode 3. After sensing something strange about Nathan, particularly the way in which he’d interact with Rita’s daughter, he discovered that Nathan was a sexual predator who’d molested a young girl. After Nathan ignored Dexter’s warning, Dexter had to take matters into his own hands, literally. He strangled Nathan to death in his home.
Debra Morgan
What remains still as one of the most shocking and sad deaths in all of “Dexter” is the death of his sister, Debra. But this “kill” wasn’t part of his Dark Passenger’s desires. Dexter took Debra off life support in Season 8, Episode 12, after she went into a vegetative state after Oliver Saxton shot her during her attempt to arrest him. After suffering a stroke in the hospital that left her brain dead, Dexter decided to pull the plug.
