The original Dexter season 8 finale was divisive among viewers, but the Dexter: New Blood finale was able to be better in several ways. The original Dexter ending saw Michael C. Hall’s Dexter taking the body of his dead sister out to sea in his boat and sailing into a hurricane as he mourned her death and blamed himself. While it seemed that Dexter had died in the hurricane, he was then revealed to be living a new life in Alaska.

It took nearly a decade for the Dexter follow-up series Dexter: New Blood to appear. In that time, audiences had argued about the ending with many feeling the Dexter ending was bad, or that the series had gone off the rails years before, with suggestions that Dexter season 4 was the best season. This obviously left the new show with a big challenge when it came to how to end the story, and Dexter: New Blood’s finale pulled that off in just one season: here’s why the second finale is better than Dexter’s original ending.

Related: Everything That Happened Between Dexter & Dexter: New Blood

The Original Dexter Ended All The Wrong Stories

Dexter as the lumberjack in the finale of Dexter

When a long-running series comes to a close, it’s important that closure is provided for the major characters that viewers have come to know and love. Dexter season 8 failed on this account by focusing on ending the stories of more minor characters that had been introduced late in the game, and neglecting fan favorites. While Dr. Evelyn Vogel and Oliver Saxon’s arcs are wrapped up, long-term characters like Angel Batista and Joey Quinn are simply left mourning Deb and Dexter’s apparent deaths. Meanwhile, Deb’s death was unsatisfactory, and Dexter’s lack of consequences ultimately made for a weak end to the series.

Dexter’s Season 8 Ended Doubled Down On Deb Mistakes

Michael-C-Hall-as-Dexter-Morgan-and-Jennifer-Carpenter-as-Debra-Morgan-1

While Dexter had some stronger and weaker seasons during its run, a lot of the problems in the series came to a head when Debra Morgan found Dexter and LaGuerta in a standoff that could have led to Dexter facing the consequences of his killings, and Deb chose to kill LaGuerta. While it was propped up by the story surrounding Deb being in love with Dexter, the choice was out of character for her, and the following actions in Dexter season 8 continued to fail the character. Her death at the end of the show doubled down on all of these ideas but denied her a chance to redeem herself.

New Blood Gave Dexter A Real Ending

Dexter Morgan death in New Blood finale

While Dexter: New Blood was not without problems of its own, it did address some of the biggest issues that the Dexter season 8 finale had. The biggest of these was that season 8 made it clear that it wasn’t the true end to Dexter’s story. It seemed likely that Dexter would kill again in Alaska and elsewhere and it was unclear whether he might one day meet up with Hannah again, with the two working their deadly justice together. With Dexter’s death at the end of Dexter: New Blood and the reported death of Hannah, it was clear that the story around Michael C. Hall’s character was over, and it was thematically wrapped up neatly.

Dexter: New Blood Earned Its Character Deaths

Dexter talking to Dr. Evelyn Vogel.

Death was a fairly commonplace part of Dexter and not entirely rare in Dexter: New Blood, but when it came to major characters, only the latter series truly earned the deaths. In Dexter season 8’s finale, the deaths of Deb and Evelyn Vogel seem needless and purely convenient for trying to wrap up some stories. By strong contrast, the character deaths in Dexter: New Blood were established earlier on and vital for the story. Logan’s death is shocking, but it helps to highlight how far from even his own misguided moral code Dexter has gone. Dexter’s own death is clearly setup as inevitable, with his killing of Logan serving as a definite point of no return that allows the deaths to be meaningful and satisfying.

Related: Dexter: New Blood Could Have A Sequel If One Claim Was A Lie

New Blood Was Able To Give Deb Closure after Dexter

Dexter New Blood Debra Morgan Jennifer Carpenter Michael C Hall

The later seasons of Dexter failed Debra Morgan, with her death being the final nail in that coffin. It seemed unlikely that Jennifer Carpenter’s detective would return for Dexter: New Blood given her demise, but her appearance as a vision in Dexter’s head allowed for a perfect ending. Deb’s Dexter death left her in a coma at the end, meaning that she had no word or agency in her passing. However, in Dexter: New Blood she was able to provide a new angle on her urging for Dexter to make a different choice, and when she was present for her death the series was finally able to give Deb closure.

Harrison’s Ending Makes New Blood Even Better

Harrison close-up and Dexter in Dexter: New Blood

Dexter’s fear throughout his existence that he is continuing a pattern of violence that was present at his birth was worsened when he learned that Harry, his adoptive father, had his own moral failings as well. Leaving Hannah and Harrison in Dexter season 8 was his attempt to break the cycle and avoid Harrison becoming like him, but felt like and attempt to leave his problems rather than deal with them. By providing Harrison as teenage character in Dexter: New Blood, the series was able to give the character agency and have him be an active participant in his breaking the cycle. Importantly, Dexter: New Blood’s ending showed that Harrison could break the cycle, even though Dexter never could.

New Blood Doesn’t Feel Like It Needs A Spin-Off

Dexter with a cop in Dexter: New Blood

Perhaps the single biggest factor in why Dexter: New Blood’s ending was a better finale than the end of dexter season 8 is the fact that it actually felt like a finale. The Dexter season 8 ending always gave the impression that they were eager to continue the story of Dexter in his new land and that there was room for a spin-off set in Alaska, if not just a season 9. With Dexter: New Blood, the story is so conclusively ended that it’s clear that there could easily never be another installment in the Dexter franchise. While future series are possible, they’ll struggle with the existing lore around Dexter and the other characters, and it certainly doesn’t feel as though future Dexter content is a necessity.

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