One of the biggest surprises of 2024 came for fans of the hit showDexterwhen it was revealed that not only had the prequel seriesDexter: Original Sinbegan production of the show but that Michael C. Hall would be returning for both the prequel and anew sequel series,Dexter: Resurrection. The sequel would follow the events ofDexter: New Blood, a surprising move considering how the latest series ended. A few details are known about the direction in which the new series will take place. Still, longtime fans will understand that if any returning characters were to come back, there is one that would be the perfect “ghost” or “dark passenger” in the wake ofDexter: New Blood’sfinale: Arthur Mitchell, aka the Trinity Killer.
Considered one of Dexter’smost prolific and beloved antagonists, the Trinity Killerproved to be Dexter’s greatest conquest and gut-wrenching failure. The killer, played by the incredible John Lithgow, perfectly brought to life the chilling and brutal serial killer that would continue to influence the life and events of Dexter long after his final appearance. He represented both the best and the worst version of Dexter, and having him return, even for a limited time, to the world ofDexterwould be a significant character development to drive the character forward.
The Trinity Killer, EXPLAINED
The Trinity Killer emerged during the fourth season of the acclaimed show Dexter. Appearing when FBI agent Lundy returns to Miami Metro tohunt down the mysterious Trinity Killer, Dexter began his hunt for his new prized kill. The fact that Lundy was killed and Deb was shot when the pair were closing in on Trinity helped motivate him to hunt down the killer. The work Dexter did led to his suspect, Arthur Mitchell.
While Lundy suspected that Trinity was a loner,Dexter was shocked to discover Trinity was, in fact, a family man who worked with a Christian home-building organization. With a desire to know how a serial killer could maintain a happy family life outside of his kills, Dexter befriended Arthur using an alias and tried to understand Arthur’s psyche before he killed him. However, Dexter soon discovered that the happy, perfect family man with the ability to feel and connect with his emotions was not all that it appeared to be.
Arthur instead held a volatile home life, dominating his wife, beating his son, and keeping his daughter imprisoned inside her bedroom. That, combined with his equally volatile mood swings, created a chaotic home life Dexter witnessed after Thanksgiving dinner with Arthur’s family. When Artur’s son blows up at his dad and destroys his sister’s urn, Arthur nearly strangles his son,leading Dexter to interveneand almost end Arthur’s life before his family stepped in.
This confrontation led Arthur to hunt down Dexter and discover his identity inside Miami Metro. The final confrontation between them led to Dexter finally besting his foe. Still, the Trinity Killer would have the last laugh, as Dexter horrifyingly discovered his wife Rita had been killed by Trinity in the same manner as the killer’s pattern,with his son Harrisonleft in a pool of her blood much the same way Dexter was left as a child, an act that would haunt Dexter the rest of his life.
Trinity Becomes Dexter’s Dark Passenger
What made Trinity such a fascinating and chilling antagonist for Dexter was that he represented everything Dexter wanted, and then, subsequently,what Dexter feared he would becomethe more he invited family and friends into his life. While Dexter’s nighttime hobbies were haunting, the redeeming aspect of Dexter as a character was his evolution over the series as a person who struggled daily with emerging relationships and his rudimentary idea of what love and family were supposed to be. This struggle created enough turmoil in Dexter’s life that the second he discovered Arthur and his family life, he yearned to understand how this killer could make such a living situation work.
Now, all these years later, over a decade after he killed Trinity and in the face of the events ofDexter: New Blood, a new voice inside of Dexter’s head could add some new conflict and inner struggle to Dexter Morgan’s life. Trinity’s cruel, vicious nature and complex emotions tied to his twisted idea of the family could spur on Dexter’sstruggles with a now teenage Harrison, a relationship made more complicated in the fallout of the latest series.
Should Trinity become the next ghost that hauntsDexter Morgan in the upcoming seriesDexter: Resurrection? The struggle to control the darkness within him and the failure of his self-imposed exile from Miami could create enough of a mental breakdown that a dark voice such as Trinity could be the perfect foil to Dexter’s inner monologue, and seeing Lithgow’s haunting performance once more is a decision that would wow audiences who have waited for Trinity to reappear in one form or another.
