With Dexter: Resurrection returning for its second season, also comes the return of some of its detectives who are still on the case. Kadia Saraf and Dominic Fumusa, who play Detective Claudette Wallace and Melvin Oliva, discussed how their characters have evolved with the added time jump in Season 2 and what has helped the franchise stay around for 20 years in an interview with Nexus Point News.
A fan-favourite scene from last season was Claudette and Melvin dancing to “Staying Alive” at Prater’s mansion. Is there any other moment between the two of you that you were excited about filming or excited for the fans to see?
Dominic Fumusa: They share some personal moments. I think you’re just going to get to know these people even better than you did the first season. It just continues to grow.
Your story in Season 1 is all about investigating Harrison with the mystery around the New York Ripper dangling from above. Now that both those narratives have evolved, how have your characters evolved with it?
Kadia Saraf: There’s a time jump, not a time jump, but there are an extra few years added to their lives and their experience. It’s added to their understanding of the cases, it’s just added to their frustration and not being able to move it to where they want to move it to. You can really sense the high stakes, how it’s right there. You just mentioned dangling. It’s like the carrot dangling, right? It’s pretty much how it feels because it’s right there and we can’t grasp it.
Dominic Fumusa: I agree with everything Kadia said. There’s a saying in musical theatre that the character has to burst into song because there’s no other way to express his or her feelings in that moment. I would say for Kadia’s character, it seems like we had to address the New York Ripper this season because there was nothing else as pressing and as important as that moment, and I think the writers were so smart to sense that and go with that. It’s really exciting to have that urgency finally come to a head in Season 2.
What is it about Dexter as a franchise that you believe has allowed it to survive the last two decades, especially in a time where shows struggle making it past one season?
Kadia Saraf: I think there’s a few elements to this. I mean. This is just such a genius concoction of ingredients. Whether it’s the writing or Michael C. Hall himself leading this show. It’s the fact that it evolves with the time, so we have a much better understanding of each other, of what psychopathy and sociopathy mean. They’re not a group that is othered like we used to 20 years ago. They were othered and being perceived as mysterious and dangerous, and now we see that there’s nuance to that, and it’s curious to explore that. I think the element of forgiveness between father and son is something that started with Harry and Dexter and now with Dexter and Harrison, so that is kind of like the through line. The sense of humour of the show and us all kind of rooting for someone because we can relate to him in so many ways when we hear his inner voice, even if we don’t want to admit it, but I admit I relate to him.
Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 is now streaming on Paramount+
