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Harrison spent 3 years in foster care before finding Dexter in New Blood – but why didn’t he just find his half-siblings Astor and Cody?
Dexter: New Blood has introduced a major Harrison plot hole — why didn’t he find Astor and Cody after being sent to Miami? Harrison arrives in New Blood episode 1 after finally tracking down Dexter, who abandoned him in the original series’ finale nearly a decade before. When Harrison explains to Dexter how he found him in Iron Lake, he says he was living with Hannah in Argentina for approximately five years before she died, after which he was shuffled through the foster system in Miami for three years. Considering Harrison has (presumably) living family members left in Florida, it’s curious why he didn’t seek them out instead of Dexter.
Before Dexter had his son with Rita in Dexter‘s original series, he was a fairly attentive step-father to her children, Astor and Cody. When attempting to find the perfect cover of a “normal” life, Dexter began dating Rita Bennett, a woman Deb introduced him to after having been a frequent survivor of domestic abuse. She had two children from her past marriage, who Dexter helped raise until Rita’s murder by The Trinity Killer in the season 4 finale. Feeling that he couldn’t properly raise Astor, Cody, and the infant Harrison after Rita’s death (while also being suspected of killing her), Astor and Cody were sent to live with their father Paul’s parents in Orlando, Florida, with Astor only making a few brief appearances during the remainder of the series.
Surprisingly, New Blood does not mention Astor or Cody at all, let alone include a legitimate conversation about Rita. If Harrison understands that his mother was murdered, he would know about Astor and Cody. While Harrison still would have been quite young when placed in Miami’s foster system, he clearly had a keen investigative eye to spend those three years searching for a nonexistent Jim Lindsay around the United States. Instead of going through the foster system, why wouldn’t he have tried to track down Astor and Cody? They would already be in their early 20s at this time, and likely wouldn’t be hard to track down – at least not as hard as Dexter in Iron Lake.
Why Astor And Cody Not Being In Dexter: New Blood Is Great – For Them
It’s been confirmed that Astor and Cody were off living their lives to the fullest during the events of Dexter: New Blood. While this may be disappointing for many, it actually works out better for the two. Astor and Cody added some snags to the previous series’ storyline, which provided some interesting plot devices for the show. However, including Dexter’s stepkids in New Blood would’ve lessened the impact of Harrison’s return. Not having Harrison search for the two does seem like a gaping plothole. However, it worked better for Harrison that the two weren’t around.
Another reason it’s for the best that Astor and Cody didn’t return is their relationship with their stepfather. Astor took Rita’s death the hardest and blamed Dexter for a long time. There wasn’t a heart-to-heart or an official reconciliation between her and Dexter, but rather, a half-hearted hug. While Cody’s relationship remained intact with his stepfather, Astor returning would’ve taken the focus away from Harrison’s own tension-filled New Blood arc. As much as people enjoyed the extra drama of their involvement, it simply would’ve overfilled an already stuffed sequel series.
If Harrison were really searching for his family and answers, Astor and Cody would be the logical place to establish a connection. For starters, Harrison probably has plenty of questions about Rita, which Hannah wouldn’t be able to answer because they never met. It’s also possible Astor and Cody would be active on social media too, so they would be much easier to find. Additionally, while Paul’s parents aren’t Harrison’s blood grandparents, they came to his birthday parties and treated him just as kindly as their grandchildren. Astor and Cody may not have had any idea what happened to Harrison before New Blood, but they would probably be the most receptive to reconnecting with him.
Although Christina Robinson (Astor) and Preston Bailey (Cody) were present at Dexter: New Blood’s world premiere in New York, they didn’t appear in the series. New Blood centered around the torn relationship between Dexter and Harrison, so the screenwriters didn’t have too much time to include his half-siblings within the show’s ten-episode run. Since Dexter: New Blood ends with Dexter’s death, Harrison may finally seek out his long-estranged siblings.
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