‘Dexter’ Showrunner Insists Revival Will Make Things “Right” After Disastrous Finale

Warning: This article contains Dexter spoilers. 

Look, we all know that Dexter finale left plenty to be desired. To be blunt, it was bad. They killed off Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) and sent Dexter (Michael C. Hall) away to live life as a recluse, playing lumberjack in Oregon. Nobody was happy about it, not even Hall, but Showtime is giving the series a second life seven years after that disaster of an episode. Earlier this week, the network announced an upcoming Dexter revival limited series, bringing back Hall and the original showrunner.

Now, we’ve got ten whole episodes to right the mistakes of the finale, and if a recent interview on TV’s Top 5 podcast from The Hollywood Reporter is any indication, showrunner Clyde Phillips intends to do just that. Phillips, who left Dexter in 2009, is returning for the revival, and he told TV’s Top 5 that he’s got big plans in store, per TV Line.

Because the new Dexter series will be set in the current day and will pick up years after the events of the finale, Phillips has a pretty clean slate to work with. “We basically do get to start from scratch,” he explained. But, he insisted that the new episodes will not make up a “Dexter Season 9.”

“Ten years, or however many years, have passed by the time this will air, and the show will reflect that time passage,” Phillips explained. “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.” And if any show needed a second finale, it’s Dexter. 

“This is an opportunity to make that right,” Phillips added. But, he insists, “that’s not why we’re doing it,” adding, “We’re not undoing anything. 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.”

Dexter first premiered on Showtime in 2006, and the revival, which is set to begin production early next year, will likely air sometime in 2021. Gary Levine and Jana Winograde, Presidents of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc., broke the revival news on Oct. 14.

“Dexter is such a special series, both for its millions of fans and for SHOWTIME, as this breakthrough show helped put our network on the map many years ago,” Levine said. “We would only revisit this unique character if we could find a creative take that was truly worthy of the brilliant, original series.  Well, I am happy to report that Clyde Phillips and Michael C. Hall have found it, and we can’t wait to shoot it and show it to the world!”

Where to watch Dexter