Dexter: Resurrection's Michael C. Hall On Dexter's 'Dangerous Risks' And 'Desire For Recognition' In Season 2 Premiere

Dexter Morgan just wants a little credit, OK?

In the Season 2 premiere of "Dexter: Resurrection" (now available to stream on Paramount+), our titular serial killer is feeling his age. Not only is his eyesight starting to fail him (getting old's the pits, man), but he's a bit outmatched by the prey he's hunting. And according to series lead Michael C. Hall, Dexter is taking stock of his life — past, present, future — and his legacy in Season 2.  

"I think he's at a point in his life that, two decades ago, he wouldn't have foreseen," Hall tells TVLine in the video above. "I think he would have imagined that he had either been done in or caught at this point. He finds himself at a juncture in his life where there's maybe more of it behind him there than there is ahead of him, and what does he have to show for it? He's in a basement apartment driving a share car and he's sort of an anonymous person."

While Dexter is able to track down an old foe in the premiere (more on that below), Hall says his character's season-long crisis revolves around desire, but not the kind one might expect from the aging antihero. 

"The symptom of his midlife crisis is a desire for recognition, a desire for appreciation, a desire to be celebrated for being a uniquely capable person," the actor says. "That's a dicey proposition for someone whose primary role is not to get caught, given what he does. It creates an inherent conflict and invites him into taking dangerous risks that he wouldn't otherwise take, which is always a part of the fun."

Ever since Prater's death, Al "Rapunzel" Walker (Eric Stonestreet) has been touring state parks in search of new victims. And Dexter's been tracking him. So when a news alert pops up about a new victim with a severed ponytail, Dexter springs into action, hopping in his car, hungry for the kill. When he finally finds Al, he's surprised to find that the guy is on a road trip with his family. It doesn't take Dex long to infiltrate the family's camper and find a drawer with a false bottom. Tucked inside: Rapunzel's collection of hair clumps. His trophies. 

Al is defensive to find "Red" this close to his family. Dexter tells him he wants to connect because ever since Prater disappeared, he's been looking for a familiar face who understands him. Who understands the urge. The two killers agree to meet that night at an old body shop so they can "catch up" — but really, Dexter wants to take him out once and for all. 

Dexter sets up a kill room with all of Al's trophies adorned on a wall. When Al shows, he's already on the defense, and not even a sixer of Narragansett's finest lager can quell the tension between them. Al knows Dexter took his ponytails, so the interaction quickly turns violent. Dexter's outweighed and almost outmatched, until he frees himself from plastic strangulation, and hangs Rapunzel with a chain hoist.  

One down, two to go. Because even though Dexter takes out one of his leftover Season 1 adversaries, New York City is being terrorized by some new villainous faces: the Five Borough Killer and The New York Ripper. And Detectives Wallace and Oliva — and soon to be Harrison and Dexter — are hot on the case. 

Thoughts on the "Dexter" premiere? We want to hear 'em! Grade the episode, then sound off in the comments below.