Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dexter: Resurrection season 1, episode 4.Dexter: Resurrectionepisode 4 just ruined one of Dexter’s (Michael C. Hall) most iconic lines and a staple of the entire franchise.Dexter: Resurrectionepisode 4had a whole slew of great moments in it. FromHarrison (Jack Alcott) and Dexter’s reunionto introducing Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage) and his cabal of serial killers to thecast ofResurrection, episode 4 was a great installment.
Resurrectionepisode 4 wasn’t perfect, however. One moment in the new episode actually ended up ruining one of Dexter’s most iconic lines and turning it from a symbol of the darkly fascinating Bay Harbor Butcher into a creepy catchphrase.
Lowell Makes Dexter’s Iconic “Tonight’s The Night” Line So Much Grosser In Dexter: Resurrection
Lowell Delivered The Line So Creepily & Is A Much Less Likable Character Than Dexter
In the pilot of the originalDexter,the first line Dexter says is “Tonight’s the night” while he’s stalking his first victim of the series. It’s become almost a catchphrase for him as the franchise has progressed. It’s a symbol ofDexter’s dark tone and subject matter and a microcosm of why he’s such a fascinating character: it’s utterly sinister but also incredibly endearing because of Michael C. Hall’s delivery.
Dexter: Resurrectionepisode 4, however, ruined it. One ofResurrection’s new serial killers, Lowell (Neil Patrick Harris), also known as the Tattoo Collector, says the same line as Dexter before he attempts to kill a victim.The way Lowell says “Tonight’s the night, baby,” coupled with the fact that he’s preying on an innocent woman when he says it, makes the whole line just come off as incredibly creepy.
Lowell’s delivery of “Tonight’s the night” completely stripped it of the weirdly endearing qualities Dexter is known for and ruined it in the process. When Dexter said it, “Tonight’s the night” was the catchphrase for an anti-hero who was killing people who arguably deserved it. Now, it’ll be hard to hear that line and not think of a creepy stalker killing and skinning innocent women.
Dexter Still Gets To Reclaim His “Tonight’s The Night” Line In Resurrection
Dexter Says “Tonight’s The Night” Before Killing Lowell In Resurrection Episode 4
Luckily, Lowell wasn’t the only one who got a chance to say Dexter’s iconic line inResurrectionepisode 4. Later on in the episode, Dexter stalked and captured Lowell and put him on his kill table. Once there,Dexter got a chance to tell Lowell “You were right about one thing. Tonight’s the night, baby” before killing him.
Even though Dexter was mocking Lowell, hearing him say “Tonight’s the night” again certainly helped take the sting out of Lowell’s earlier delivery. It also helped that Dexter killed Lowell immediately afterwards. Luckily,Dexter was able to effectively reclaim “Tonight’s the night,” even though Lowell’s creepy delivery of the line isn’t going to be so easy to forget.
Lowell can’t stop Dexter from being an engaging anti-hero in Dexter: Resurrection, and he can’t really ruin “Tonight’s the night” either.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter that Lowell said the line as well. “Tonight’s the night” is Dexter’s line, and he’s such a different character from Lowell that there’s basically no comparison.It’s essentially the same as Red using “The Dark Passenger” as his moniker: we’re not going to stop calling Dexter’s urge to kill that just because of a new character.
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The best part of “Tonight’s the night” also isn’t the line itself, it’s Michael C. Hall’s delivery of it. Somehow, when Dexter says it, it doesn’t come off as skin-crawling creepy, it comes off as sinister and intriguing. Lowell can’t stop Dexter from being an engaging anti-hero inDexter: Resurrection, and he can’t really ruin “Tonight’s the night” either.
Dexter: Resurrection
Cast
Dexter: Resurrection follows Dexter Morgan as he awakens from a coma to discover his son, Harrison, missing. His search leads him to New York City, where he confronts his past and the challenges posed by Miami Metro’s Angel Batista, as father and son face their shared darkness.
Dexter
Dexter is a television series following Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for Miami Metro Police who secretly leads a dual life as a vigilante serial killer. Released in 2006, the show focuses on Dexter’s internal conflict as he hunts down criminals who elude justice within the legal system.
