Aahana Swrup
Season 2 of ‘Dexter: Resurrection’ introduces a brand-new villain to the story. Lucas Stark, aka the Five Borough Killer, seeks out fame for his criminal aspirations before ever committing his first kill. He floats on the NYPD’s radar after a direct call to the precinct in which he alerts the authorities that he’s planning on killing someone at an upcoming baseball game. The following night, he shoots down a woman in the parking lot outside of a canceled game. Later, he further encourages his own infamy by airdropping the footage of this crime, recorded through smart glasses, onto a random New Yorker’s mobile device. Naturally, it’s only a matter of time before Lucas gains a target on his back from both the police department and Dexter Morgan, a serial killer who is on the hunt for other killers. The Five Borough Killer brings a new, uniquely contemporary angle to the series and its fascinating exploration of serial killers.
The Fictitious Five Borough Killer Delves Into the Potential for Depravity in Smart Glasses
The ‘Dexter’ franchise, and ‘Dexter: Resurrection’ in particular, is well-known for introducing the characters of serial killers with different and distinct M.O.s. However, most of the time, these characters are confined within the fictional boundaries of the series and have no tangible basis in a real-life criminal. Lucas “the Five Borough Killer” Stark is one such example. At the time of writing, there have been no recent records of a serial killer active in New York who employs smart glasses as a means for violent criminality. However, even though Lucas’ storyline lacks a criminal connection to reality, it introduces a different layer of resonance into the series. In the show, Lucas is a tech-savvy killer who uses smart glasses to record his brutal killings for the footage to be later shared with the world.
As such, through the character, the show gets to explore the theme of voyeurism as another form of abuse against victims. In real life, smart glasses are already suspected of being misused for sexual harassment. The devices have been reported to be used for harassment of women and young girls through nonconsensual filming and distribution of the footage. Furthermore, smart glasses have also sparked debates and even legal complaints about violations of privacy laws. Thus, the technology itself remains a controversial topic in real life. By connecting Lucas’ character to the device, ‘Dexter: Resurrection’ explores the deep end of the pitfalls of smart glasses and their imagined potential for voyeuristic violation.
Interestingly enough, given the villainous depiction of these devices, many real-life smart glasses brands weren’t eager to work with the project and lend their products to the on-screen antagonist. In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Dan Stevens, who plays the role of Lucas, spoke about his character’s connection to the technology. He shared, “This (Lucas’ storyline) certainly stands out as being very 2026, and the (smart) glasses are almost like a villain in themselves. Whether people are murdering with them or not, I think everyone has their take on smart glasses. So to layer that on top of an already very twisted, f—ed up villain leans into the meta-humor that ‘Dexter’ likes to play with.” Ultimately, the employment of this contemporary technology adds a sense of modern realism to the other fictitious Five Borough Killer.
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