WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dexter: New Blood Episode 6, "Too Many Tuna Sandwiches," which aired Sunday, Dec. 12, on Showtime.
For as idyllic as the upstate New York town of Iron Lake is, the primary setting of Dexter: New Blood harbors its fair share of bloody secrets, including not one but two serial killers living in their midst. And as the truth about Dexter Morgan's faked death and false identity come to light, Dexter discovers that the most powerful man in town is also a mass murderer, with Kurt Caldwell frustrated at every turn to claim a new victim before setting his sights on the thing that Dexter holds most dear: his teenage son Harrison.
In a way, a showdown between Dexter and Kurt was always in the cards, with Dexter emerging from ten-year hiatus on indulging his murderous urges by killing Kurt's devious son Matt after learning he was responsible for an accident that claimed the lives of five innocents. Meanwhile, Kurt preyed on young women traveling through the Iron Lakes area, taking them to a remote cabin under supervised confinement until he murdered them. Kurt's killing spree went unchecked for decades, dismissed as dozens of missing persons cases, but he's growing increasingly frustrated about being unable to satisfy his own lethal urges after losing Matt to Dexter. And with Matt off the table, Kurt has begun taking Dexter's son Harrison under his wing.
After tracking down his wayward father to Iron Lake, Harrison began to show clear signs that he had inherited Dexter's propensity towards murder, which Dexter refers to as his Dark Passenger. Boasting a genius-level intellect, his own moral code and willingness to employ lethal force, Harrison is already well on his way to succeeding Dexter as the franchise's latest serial killer with a heart of gold. And sensing Harrison's dark side, Kurt begins to mentor the high schooler and push him towards violence while Dexter continues to avoid telling his son the truth about the Dark Passenger that runs through the family.
And the growing rift between Harrison and Dexter takes a brutal turn at a high school wrestling match. Leading up to the match, Harrison and Dexter had a failed family therapy session and Harrison went behind Dexter's back to get a job for Kurt. Unsettled by Kurt and his interest in Harrison, Dexter discovered Kurt was planning to lure away a visiting true crime reporter named Molly Park and that Kurt had all the hallmarks of a serial killer. Rescuing Molly, Dexter's concerns about Kurt's connection to Harrison became were underscored immediately thereafter at the wrestling match where Kurt encouraged Harrison to savagely injure his opponent.
Kurt isn't the first serial killer to grow uncomfortably close to Dexter's family or target them outright, with Dexter and Harrison's mothers each murdered by a serial killer while they were young. This makes Dexter intensely protective of his son, ignoring words of caution from the Dark Passenger to murder the drug dealer that supplied the drugs that Harrison nearly overdosed on at a party. With Dexter learning more about Kurt and that he appears to be the one responsible for all the missing persons in the area, Dexter may go off the rails to protect his son from the serial killer. And given the influence Kurt wields over Iron Lake and his Harrison, this showdown may be Dexter's most harrowing yet.
Developed for television by Clyde Phillips, Dexter: New Blood airs Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on Showtime.