Showtime’s fan-favorite original series Dexter is set to make its grand return this fall after several years off the air. Can this relaunch of the show give fans the ending the series deserves?
In October of 2006, Showtime introduced us to a nerdy, charming, dorky Blood Splatter Analyst named Dexter Morgan who worked for the Miami Metro Police Department. Played brilliantly by Michael C. Hall, Dexter worked alongside his sister Debra, a police officer played by Jennifer Carpenter. But there was more than meets the eye with mild-mannered Dexter. He was harboring a “Dark Passenger.”
In his off-hours, he was a serial killer… with a twist. Dexter’s “victims” were only those lowlifes that had gone unpunished for committing heinous crimes against others. Dexter had a girlfriend named Rita (Julie Benz), who he would later marry. She had 2 young children from her previous marriage and would later have a son named Harrison with Dexter. Rita, unfortunately, met her demise at the hands of John Lithgow’s Trinity Killer in Season 4.
The series concluded with the death of Debra Morgan and saw Dexter setting sail amidst a hurricane, leaving behind Harrison with his new girlfriend Hannah McKay, played by Yvonne Strahovski.
The show, which ran for 8 seasons, was created by James Manos Jr. based on a series of books by Jeff Lindsay. The first four seasons saw Clyde Phillips at the helm as the series showrunner. The series had a fantastic list of guest cast members including Jimmy Smits, John Lithgow, and Keith Carradine under Phillips’ reign. We also saw stars like Julia Styles, Peter Weller, Edward James Olmos, and Colin Hanks among others under Chip Johannessen, the series’ second showrunner who would take the reigns for the latter half of the series.
Dexter ended its run in 2013 with an eighth and final season… or so we thought.
Both Michael C. Hall and former showrunner Clyde Phillips have been very vocal about their dislike of how the original Dexter series had ended. During this year’s TCA, Hall was quoted saying:
“I think the way the series proper ended [had] a great deal to do with why we’re revisiting the show and the character, I think a lot of what was mystifying or dissatisfying to people is a lot of what creates the appetite that we’re hopefully satisfying now. The show did not end in a way that was incentive for people or gave anybody a sense of conclusion.
We didn’t hear from Dexter, he didn’t say anything to us when the show ended and I think it left audiences in, if nothing else, a sense of suspended animation — and yeah, I think a big part of our motivation was to definitively answer the question of what happened to this guy.”
Clyde Phillips was sure to clarify that they don’t want to undo what had been done before on the show, just to give that story a better ending. As Phillips said (via Uproxx):
“We’re not going to betray the audience and say, ‘Whoops, that was all a dream. What happened in the first eight years happened in the first eight years. 10 years, or however many years, have passed by the time this will air, and the show will reflect that time passage. In so far as the ending of the show, this will have no resemblance to how the original finale was. It’s a great opportunity to write a second finale for our show, and Showtime was very gracious about that.”
There has always been a rumored talk about how Dexter will return for a 9th season. As the years went by, there hadn’t been any news about it. It wasn’t until early 2021 that the rumors we heard became reality and were teased on Twitter with a teaser trailer that followed in April. We learned that Clyde Phillips and Michael C. Hall had returned to the series to give the fans the proper send-off that the fans deserved.
Along with a teaser came a synopsis for the new season:
Set 10 years after Dexter went missing in the eye of Hurricane Laura, the series finds him living under the assumed name Jim Lindsay (perhaps a nod to the author of the book series?) in the small town of Iron Lake, New York. Dexter may be embracing his new life where he runs a sporting goods store, but in the wake of unexpected events in this close-knit community, his Dark Passenger beckons.
While there is no word on if Yvonne Strahovski will be reprising her role as Hannah McKay, this new season brings legendary actor Clancy Brown as the main antagonist, the return of Dexter’s sister (once again played by Jennifer Carpenter), and the Trinity Killer (played brilliantly by John Lithgow in Season 4). We will see the return of Harrison, who was only 5 years old when he believed his father died, and who is also struggling with his own personal “Dark Passenger.” As Phillips said, “You can’t do a show about Dexter … without bringing back his son.”
Dexter: New Blood premieres November 7, 2021, on Showtime.
