Warning! SPOILERS for Dexter: New Blood's finale.
Dexter is known for having one of the most hated TV series finales of all time, but Dexter: New Blood’s ending is proving to be even more divisive than season 8's infamous ending. Loosely based on the novels of the same name by Jeff Lindsay, Dexter's deathly original series follows a blood-spatter analyst for Miami Metro PD who moonlights as a vigilante serial killer. Working under a code given by his deceased policeman father, Dexter Morgan tracks down murderers who have evaded the justice system and takes them out, thus using his Dark Passenger’s bloodthirst for good. All the while, Dexter must try to put on a "normal" act for his daily life, which includes maintaining a family, job, and friendships.
After eight seasons on the air, Dexter’s original series ended in 2013 with a conclusion that was found dissatisfying by many fans, series actors like Michael C. Hall, and the original showrunner Clyde Phillips. Dexter’s season 8 finale found him confronted with the tragedies that his own actions caused for so many innocent people, and the final straw came when Dexter's sister Deb died by his mistake. Instead of beginning a new life in Argentina with his girlfriend Hannah and son Harrison like he planned, Dexter Morgan drove straight into the eye of a hurricane. The series ended with Dexter faking his death, abandoning Harrison, and working as a non-murderous lumberjack in Oregon without ever being caught as Miami’s Bay Harbor Butcher.
After nearly a decade of criticisms about Dexter’s season 8 finale that left a bad taste in viewers’ mouths, Showtime announced in October 2020 that Dexter Morgan would be returning to the screen in a limited-series revival. Bringing back characters like Dexter, Deb (though deceased), and a teenage Harrison, Dexter: New Blood’s 2021 season followed the title serial killer as he’s finally confronted with his past. After returning to killing, tumultuously reuniting with his son, and tracking down a new killer, Dexter Morgan’s story came to a conclusion after 10 episodes. Dexter: New Blood’s twist ending saw Dexter discovered as the Bay Harbor Butcher and killed by Harrison upon realizing that his actions had ruined the lives of too many innocents, including his own. Jumping from an anticlimactically ambiguous lumberjack resolution in season 8 to Dexter Morgan’s conclusive death by his son, New Blood's finale is far more divisive than the original series’ ending.
Why Dexter's Season 8 Finale Was Hated
When considering TV finales that have a controversial reputation, Dexter season 8 sits at the top alongside the likes of Game of Thrones and Lost. Dexter’s original finale polarized viewers and critics alike upon its release, with many citing that it threw away years of character development, rushed to its conclusion, and left a “cop-out” ambiguous ending that avoided the series-long question of whether Dexter should get away with his crimes. Many felt it improbable that a serial killer like Dexter could easily rid himself of his secret Dark Passenger to become a lumberjack after decades of being partially controlled by his incessant urge to kill. There have also been criticisms about how the finale killing Deb betrayed her character, there was never any reveal about Dexter being the Bay Harbor Butcher, and that the final moments leading up to the lumberjack reveal felt too forced. While others have suggested that Dexter season 8’s finale makes sense as atonement for his crimes and were thankful that Dexter Morgan didn’t die, the general reaction of the ending is that the underwhelming ambiguity felt too inconclusive for Dexter’s story. This is largely why Dexter returning to the screen for New Blood was so exciting. Answers would be given and there would finally be an end to his story.
Dexter: New Blood's Controversial Ending Reception Explained
The finale of Dexter: New Blood set a TV show record for having two extremely controversial endings for the same series. While the first half of the finale wasn’t too contrived, viewers and critics are polarized by the last 20 minutes of New Blood’s ending. The majority of the criticisms have been aimed at Dexter: New Blood’s plot holes, convenient plot set-ups that feel forced, sloppy writing, rushing the series of events, and leaving too many storylines unfinished or ambiguous. For example, the evidence against Dexter as Matt’s killer and the Bay Harbor Butcher likely wouldn’t have held up in court. Since Dexter has been in worse situations and Harrison wasn’t in immediate danger, it seemed uncharacteristic of him to kill Logan (an innocent) to escape his holding cell. From the time Angela calls Angel Batista about Dexter possibly being the Bay Harbor Butcher to the moment that Angela lets Harrison go free after killing Dexter, audience responses to and interpretation of New Blood’s plot holes and ending differ widely.
Some believe that Dexter dying and being killed by his own son makes sense as a final conclusion to Dexter’s story; that Dexter’s addiction to killing has harmed too many innocent lives outside of his code. The only way that Dexter could completely rid himself of his Dark Passenger was to die, and some believe that since Dexter caused Harrison’s own Dark Passenger, his son had to be the one to break the wheel and stop suffering from the sins of his father. Dexter: New Blood’s finale was always going to be controversial with the inevitability of Dexter Morgan’s death, but the validity in how the series chose to get there is heavily disputed by audiences.
Why New Blood's Ending Is More Divisive Than Season 8
Up until Dexter: New Blood’s ending, season 8’s finale episode, “Remember the Monsters?” was the lowest-rated episode for the series on IMDb at only 4.6/10. Supporting the idea that viewers may be even more dissatisfied with New Blood’s conclusion, the series finale “Sins of the Father” stands at a 4.4/10 rating. What’s interesting about the polarizing nature of New Blood’s ending compared to season 8 is that New Blood’s overall season has been received fairly well until the last episode, whereas Dexter season 8 is widely regarded as the show's worst season. That said, the finale episode of Dexter: New Blood had much higher expectations than season 8. Considering how well-crafted the rest of Dexter: New Blood's worthy reboot was leading up to it, the showrunner’s statement that it would “blow up the internet,” the stipulation that it would redeem season 8’s failures, and the fact that it would truly be the final chapter in Dexter Morgan’s story, New Blood’s finale was bound to receive a more intense reaction than season 8, if it wasn’t universally accepted.
With Dexter: New Blood labeling itself as the conclusive end of Dexter Morgan, many viewers are upset that since killing him is so final, there’s no way to reverse the finale’s failures. Since Dexter season 8 was ambiguous, New Blood was able to bring back many of the characters without directly undoing the old finale, it would simply reroute after for a better conclusion. With Dexter Morgan dead and Harrison Morgan running free, Clyde Phillips' Dexter: New Blood ending feels final, which doesn’t bode well for viewers who were dissatisfied by the resolutions (or lack thereof). Some aren’t even angry that Dexter Morgan died in New Blood’s finale, but they are dissatisfied by the manner in which he died. While viewers can now argue about whether or not Dexter deserved to die for his crimes in New Blood, it’s no longer hypothetical like after season 8. With how heated the reactions have been to Dexter: New Blood’s ending of Harrison killing Dexter and only getting there because of convenient plot devices, some are even saying they prefer Dexter season 8’s vexed lumberjack finale instead.