Dexter: New Blood star Michael C. Hall explains that the impetus for returning for season 9 was the original show's divisive ending. Dexter, which began in 2006 and ran for eight seasons during its original run, was a crime drama about a blood-spatter analyst who leads a secret double life as a sociopathic serial killer hunting down people who escaped justice. The show also starred Jennifer Carpenter as Dexter's adopted sister Deb and John Lithgow as the notorious Trinity Killer, both of whom will be returning for the new season.
Season 8 ended with Dexter euthanizing his sister and skipping town, abandoning his young son in the process. Understandably, this development frustrated many viewers, and Dexter's ending became notorious as one of the most disappointing TV finales of the decade. Now, almost a decade later, fans are hoping this new season can right the ship. Fortunately, the creators of the show are aiming for that very thing.
Speaking during a panel at the Television Critics Association (per EW), Hall admitted that the divisive ending of the original series was one of the main reasons for creating this new season. He says the finale "didn't give anyone closure" and that they are hoping to satisfy viewers who didn't agree with the choices made in the end. He wants to pull audiences out of their state of "suspended animation" and finally clear up the ambiguity about Dexter's fate. Read the full quote here:
I think the way the series proper ended has a great deal to do with why we are revisiting this show. A lot of what was mystifying to people is… what creates the appetite that we hope to satisfy now. The show did not end in a way that was definitive for people and didn't give anyone closure. We didn't hear from Dexter. It left audiences… in a sense of suspended animation. A big part of our motivation is to definitively answer the question of what happened to this guy.
Dexter: New Blood might be forced to carry on from the continuity of that reviled ending, but they are handling that by turning inward and reexamining Dexter's family relationships. They will especially focus on his son Harrison, now 10 years older and played by Jack Alcott. Although Clancy Brown has been cast as the season's main villain, it is said there will be less focus on hunting down quite so many bad guys throughout the season as a whole.
Fans who are still nervous might be relieved to learn that Clyde Phillips, the showrunner for seasons 1 through 4, is returning to helm Dexter: New Blood. Plus, while the writers couldn't exactly resurrect Carpenter's character, they are still including her in the new season by having her appear as Dexter's new dark passenger, changing up the dynamic Dexter has with his own inner psyche. How they execute the show's new direction remains to be seen, but it seems that everyone involved is working as hard as they can to rectify the mistakes of the past while providing a season with an interesting texture and a reason to exist beyond just an apology.
Dexter: New Blood will debut on Showtime on Sunday, Nov. 7th at 9 p.m. ET.
Source: EW