Tamal Kundu
At first glance, Kurt Caldwell (Clancy Brown) appears to be a kind, considerate, and helpful community leader that everyone in the Iron Lake looks up to. He has personally helped almost every member of the community. So, when his son, Matt, goes missing (read gets killed by Dexter), the townsfolk readily answer Kurt’s call for help to find him. However, it quickly becomes apparent to the audience that everything is not as it seems with this jovial fatherly individual. In episode 4, it becomes demonstrably clear that Kurt is the reason why young women have been going missing in and around Iron Lake for over a decade.
On the day Dexter takes Matt’s remains to the local incinerator and burns them, Kurt starts claiming that his son is alive, confusing Dexter. The local police are also baffled about the development, especially after finding out that Kurt has gotten someone to live in a hotel and pretend to be Matt. Obviously, Kurt has a secret motive to do all this. If you are wondering whether it is related to Kurt finding out who the person he knows as Jim Lindsay truly is, here is what you need to know. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Does Kurt Know about Dexter in Dexter: New Blood?
While it seems increasingly possible that Kurt knows about Dexter’s deeds as the Bay Harbor Butcher, it seems highly unlikely. Only a handful of people beyond his victims ever found out about Dexter Morgan’s real identity, and not many of them are alive to tell the tale. However, it’s possible that Kurt has found out that Jim Lindsay used to be Miami Metro’s best CSI and suddenly decided to be careful.
In episode 6, titled ‘Too Many Tuna Sandwiches,’ Dexter learns that Kurt is the serial killer Angela has been investigating for years. He spots Kurt as the latter takes podcaster Molly Park to a remote cabin with the plans to murder her. It’s the same place where Lilly and Chloe died earlier. However, Dexter shows up and rescues Molly, all the while confirming that Kurt is indeed a killer. These two characters are heading toward an inevitable showdown, just like Dexter and the seasonal antagonists did in every season of the original ‘Dexter’ series, and it will be brutal and bloody as ever,
Kurt’s main reason for lying to the authorities about Matt’s whereabouts is probably his fear that if the police continue to investigate, they will sooner or later find the bodies. Ironically, that’s what ends up happening, as Angela visits New York and learns that an unknown man is using Matt’s credit card at a high-end hotel, she erroneously concludes that Kurt accidentally killed his son and hid his body in the caves. Angela and Teddy then visit the caves and find Iris’ body, which Kurt put there over a decade ago.
Even though Kurt doesn’t know about Dexter’s real identity, he is quite agitated with him after the latter prevents him from killing Molly. He already has his clutches sunk deep into Harrison. In episode 6, he encourages the boy to let out the inner evil, and Harrison promptly follows the advice, breaking his opponent’s arm during a wrestling match. It will be interesting to see what Kurt does when he learns the truth about Dexter. It just might trigger a flight-or-fight response in him.
