Much of that has to do with Michael C. Hall’s mastery of the title role, speaking volumes with strained expressions and lovingly tending to his knives. The show also has considerable fun with planting Dexter Morgan in an environment completely different from Miami, with the character having taken refuge in a small wilderness community where he works at the fish-and-game store and is dating the local sheriff (Julia Jones), which seems unnecessarily risky given the “Dark Passenger” within him.

After the terrible decision to kill his sister Debra, the producers have managed to incorporate Jennifer Carpenter by having her serve as Dexter’s unseen conscience, filling the role that his late adoptive father once did.

Of course, the idyllic nature of Dexter’s existence can’t stay that way for long (or there’d be no blood, new or otherwise), but the premiere takes its time building toward what might trigger its protagonist to fall off the wagon, while sweetening the mystery with a number of missing persons in the area. Assuming someone is responsible for that, well, that’s the sort of situation that Harry’s “code” — channeling his impulses into killing those that he deems deserve it — was designed to address.