Dexter Morgan is coming to get you. Alright, maybe not you because you’re a good person (right), but he’s gonna get someone and maybe even a lot of someones when Showtime premieres the Dexter: New Blood revival. With that said, there’s been a ton of talk over the past several years about that ending, which has led to the fully aware star, Michael C. Hall, going deep on his previous statements of understanding on why fans felt furious about his character inexplicably dumping Debra’s dead body into the ocean, sailing into a hurricane, and somehow surviving to switch coasts for the lumberjack life.
Happily now, Dexter won’t be doing the lumberjack thing, but Showtime President Gary Levine is providing more assurances that fans shouldn’t be disappointed with how the morally conflicted antihero will fare from here on out. Also, possibly don’t think of this as a “limited series,” but don’t draw the wrong conclusion, either From Levine during a TCA panel and Hollywood Reporter:
“Call [the upcoming episodes] what you will,” he said. “Call it a ‘limited series,’ but the rules are it can’t be limited series if it’s coming from something that was on the air for a long time. We call it a ‘special event series.’ For me, it’s revisiting Dexter and giving a proper finale for a brilliant series.”
So, it’s still an ending with no real hope for a continuation after the batch of planned episodes continues, but yup, “limited series” seems like the wrong term to use as well, although god only knows how New Blood will be categorized at the Emmys. In addition, Levine offered another statement of regret, which makes him one of many people involved in the original show to do so:
“Dexter is a jewel in the crown of Showtime and we didn’t do it justice in the end and that has always been a burr under my saddle. We’ve always wanted to see if there was a way to do it right and it took a long time to figure out what that was and a long time for [star Michael C. Hall] to be willing to revisit the role.”
Let the Dark Passnger-ing begin. And I look forward to more Jennifer Carpenter and John Lithgow return as Debra Morgan and the Trinity Killer, respectively, although I wonder exactly what “justice” would mean for Dexter Morgan, other than him needing to die at some point. I suppose Levine wasn’t being literal with “justice,” though I’m curious to hear more.
Dexter: New Blood debuts (the first of 10 episodes) on November 7.