'Dexter: New Blood' Showrunner & Michael C. Hall Discuss Shocking Finale
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Dexter: New Blood is coming to an end, with the finale airing on Sunday (January 9) on Showtime, which previously aired on streaming.
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In the finale, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is killed by his own son, Harrison (Jack Alcott).
The showrunner Clyde Phillips opened up to Deadline about the ending.
“Dexter Morgan is dead,” he confirmed, saying that it was planned since the first discussions surrounding the reboot.
“We knew this had to happen, and I think it had to happen for the audience as much as for the character. To see him get caught time and time again and get out of it at a time and time again is a disservice to the audience. And I think there’s a certain truth in this storytelling, in authenticity in the storytelling,” he went on to explain.
“So early on when I went to go and speak with Michael, it was about two and a half years ago in early July 2019, I told him my ideas. We met after I received a call from Showtime president Gary Levine who told me they were interested in revisiting this. Michael gave me a big hug and told me, ‘I’m in.’ He knew how this would end,” he confirmed.
The showrunner also discussed getting a second opportunity to close out the series, following the original series finale.
“How often does a show get to do a second finale? I think the answer is never. With the bad taste that the original finale left in everybody’s mouth, we had this rare opportunity to redeem the show and to give the audience the respect it deserves, the authenticity it deserves, and the gratitude for sticking with us. The numbers have been exploding for Showtime, I think we’re their No. 1 asset. I’m so humbled by that,” he said.
“Some people will have predicted it, and some will be shocked by it. Some people will accept it, some people will reject it. I think it will be difficult for people to grapple with his fate given that he is someone that they have spent a lot of time with and have a lot of affection for — at least in some cases,” Michael C. Hall said to the LA Times.
The actor added that it “resonates with me. It feels justifiable. As upsetting as it may be, I hope audiences will appreciate the resonance of Dexter dying this way at the hands of his son.”
“People moaned about an ending that was admittedly open-ended and without any sense of closure…I guess you have to be careful what you wish for,” he said.
As for whether Harrison could be the focus of a new series, Clyde Phillips said: “It’s up to Showtime to make the call to me if they want more. If they ask me if I’d like to make a continuation of this, I would say yes. I have a lot of things going on but I would drop everything for this and say yes in one second.”
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