Blood slides play a major role in DexterBut the show does not directly explain why the serial killer takes them as trophies, even though they are against the Code of Harry. There are two new ones Dexter Points in development: The prequel series Dexter: Original Sin And the sequel Dexter: Resurrection. Because of them, the serial killer has regained some of the popularity he had in the best seasons of Dexter. The new shows will likely answer a lot of lingering questions from the original series and Dexter: New BloodBut there is already an answer to one big question: why does Dexter take blood slides as trophies?
The very practice of taking blood slides goes against the Code of Harry, the rules and guidelines Harry Morgan gave his adoptive son to keep him from getting caught. The blood slides are very concrete, biological evidence that Dexter killed people, and Harry would never have approved of having them. They even caused quite a few issues throughout the show: Doakes nearly caught Dexter because of his blood slides in Dexter Season 2, and they let Debra find out that he was a serial killer in Dexter Season 7. Dexter’s blood slides were a major problem, but they weren’t actually a plot hole.
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Dexter takes blood slides because he’s obsessed with blood (despite going against Harry’s code)
The show only offers two explanations for why Dexter collects blood slides as trophies. The more mundane of the two is that Dexter simply wanted something to remember his kills by. There are several moments throughout the show where he goes through his box, picking out single slides and reminiscing about whose blood he collected. This idea also fits with real life, as many known serial killers collect some sort of trophy. Even other serial killers in Dexter Taking trophies: Miguel Prado collected rings, while the runaway killer preserved the entire bodies of his victims.
In short, Dexter’s obsession with blood outweighed his reliance on the Code of Harry.
The more important explanation for Dexter’s blood slides is that he was obsessed with blood. Dexter was covered in his mother’s blood as a baby, and he was obsessed with it his whole life. Blood defined everything from his career to his trophies. It’s hard to say exactly what Dexter thought of blood, because he sometimes seemed to hate it, like when he first saw an Ice Truck Killer victim, and he sometimes seemed to love it, as evidenced by his work as a blood spatter analyst. in short, Dexter’s obsession with blood outweighed his reliance on the Code of Harry.
Dexter: Early Cuts explains where he originally got the idea to take trophies
A forgotten web series, Dexter: Early catExplains where Dexter got the idea to start taking trophies. One of Dexter’s earliest kills, an ex-U.S. it. Marine sniper named Alex Timmons, was also an avid hunter. Since most of his victims were innocent children in Iraq, Dexter used his taxidermy animal heads in place of photos of his victims. Then, while playing with Alex, Dexter cuts his cheek and is inspired to put a drop of blood on a slide he has in his bag. He tells Alex “A trophy. My first. My father would not agree, but what can I say? You inspired me.”
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What Dexter’s blood slides really mean
Dexter’s blood slides don’t just work as trophies, but they also hold a bit of symbolic weight and meaning. On a basic level, the blood slides represent how Dexter is obsessed with the past, like his mother’s murder and his relationship with Harry. Dexter clings to his memories constantly, and the blood slides are a way to show that he clings to those memories even when they threaten his future. There are several cases in Dexter Where his search for answers about his past has dire consequences, like how he spurred Trinity to learn about hiding his double life and how it led to Rita’s death.
The blood slides also do quite a bit of work in giving Dexter Its tension. For most of the show, they were hidden almost in plain sight, just behind the grating of his air conditioning unit. Because they are barely hidden, Dexter’s blood slides also represent just how close he was at all times to being exposed as a serial killer.. If anyone, including the few people who searched his apartment, found his box of slides, he would be arrested. Dexter lived a very uncertain life as a serial killer, and his blood slides are a very stark reminder of that.
His blood slides are a sign that Dexter is not as different from the people he kills as the Code of Harry makes him seem.
On a deeper level, Dexter’s blood slides reveal something important about his character. Taking trophies is something that regular serial killers do, and it’s said that Dexter is actually enjoying and reminiscing about his kills. His blood slides are a sign that Dexter is not as different from the people he kills as the Code of Harry makes him seem. For all his talk of “taking out society’s trash,” Dexter still kills people for his own amusement. Objectively, he is just as much a murderer as any of the victims he kills DexterAnd the blood slides are proof of that.