'Dexter' Revival Will Act As A "Second Finale" To Right The Original Ending's Wrongs
Last week, Showtime dropped the bomb that Dexter would be returning as a limited series revival from original showrunner Clyde Phillips, with star Michael C. Hall set to don the splatter-proof vinyl apron again. It's been seven years since Dexter went off the air, and seven years since most fans had purged the show from their brains after a particularly divisive finale. Which raised the question: who actually wanted a Dexter finale? Phillips did, specifically to "make right" by the much-maligned original ending, the showrunner said.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter's TV's Top 5 Podcast, Phillips confirmed early reports that the Dexter revival will pick up right after the season 8 ending, which means that the limited series won't be rewriting the controversial finale, but act as a "second finale" that will supposedly "make [things] right" by the fans and star Michael C. Hall, who Phillips states wasn't "completely satisfied" with the ending. (Hall has been very vocal since the series went off the air about his dislike for the finale.)
"This isn't Dexter season nine... This was an opportunity to write a second finale for the show," Phillips said (via Uproxx). The showrunner added:
"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."
The original series followed Hall as Dexter Morgan, "a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer." Dexter learns to use his killer instincts for good by targeting killers, rapists, and other criminals, but struggles to maintain his double life. After several critically acclaimed seasons, Dexter began to take a nosedive about halfway through its run, ending with Dexter growing a beard and becoming a lumberjack in Oregon, or something. The 10-episode limited series revival will supposedly pick up after those events, and perhaps give Dexter more of a moral comeuppance.
The new limited series is set to begin production in early 2021, with a tentative premiere date set for the fall of 2021.