The Dexter franchise is always good for peppering seasons with twisty reveals, and Resurrection certainly didn’t shy away from that in Season 1, from the Gemini Killer being twins to killing off David Zayas’ Angel and beyond. Season 2 is in production and putting its own twists on film, with Brian Cox portraying the New York Ripper, and we somehow already have a big twist to contend with in the form of returning cast member Krysten Ritter.
Ritter, who is also in the midst of reprising her MCU hero Jessica Jones in Daredevil: Born Again Season 3, was revealed by Deadline to be returning to Dexter Morgan’s world as a guest star in at least one episode destined for the 2026 TV schedule, if not more. (FWIW, she was credited as a “special guest star” for her three Season 1 episodes.) Most interestingly, the details behind her return are completely up in the air, to the point where it’s not even clear if she’ll be one of Dexter’s hallucinations or a completely different character.
The lack of clarification isn't such a bad thing in this case, at least from my perspective, as it means there's a chance one of my seemingly debunked theories about Ritter's serial killer Mia LaPierre could still turn out to be legitimate and applicable.
My Theory: Mia's Death In Season 1 Was Totally Faked
At no point after after the end of Episode 6, "Cats and Mouse," did I think that the Lady Vengeance killer actually died in her jail cell after Dexter's actions led to her arrest instead of her murder. Even when faced with what might otherwise be called irrefutable evidence, in regards to Detectives Claudette and Melvin being there in the cell when the guard indicated she was dead after a quick pulse check.
For one, despite Dexter's initial inability to go through with killing Mia, it's his name in the show title. So unless he's seen plunging a knife into a major character's chest, it's very hard for me to believe that Mia is dead. (I mean, if her decapitated head would have found in her disemboweled torso, that would have done it.)
Second, the way it all played out, there's a chance that Charlie paid off the guard only to make it look like Mia hung herself in her cell. The easiest way to take that phrasing is to think that the guard hung her himself, and then made it look like suicide. But in this case, it's possible that the guard gave Mia a heads up, and made it appear to be a self-inflicted death without anyone being dead at all.
This would certainly require some clever flashbacks to be filmed to show just how Mia worked with the guard and potentially Charlie to make her "death" look convincing enough to fool anyone who isn't a coroner. Which is exactly what I expect to see in Season 2, with Thurman already confirmed to be back.
Sure, other ways exist for Ritter to return in the flesh with Mia's death still being genuine, but none that wouldn't feel awkward. They couldn't possibly pull another twin reveal, right? Or a triplets one?
Stay tuned for more updates on Dexter: Resurrection Season 2, where we'll see more of Chase, since Desmond Harrington was promoted to series regular. We'll also get to meet Harrison's inevitably troublesome new love interest, the daughter of a Homicide Captain, and a new killer played by Dan Stevens. Stream the first season (and its series predecessors) in full via Paramount+ subscription.
