Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Dexter: New Blood episode 10, "Sins of the Father."
The Dexter: New Blood finale ended with the shocking death of its titular character — leaving many wondering why the revival series killed off Dexter Morgan? Some fans have speculated that the limited series might be the start of a whole new show and, given Dexter: New Blood’s success, that there might be subsequent seasons made with Dexter and Harrison killing together; however, Dexter’s death was really the only ending that could have avoided repeating Dexter's previous problems.
The original Dexter TV show ran for 8 seasons from 2006 to 2013, and the series finale was controversial among viewers. After Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) was killed in Dexter season 8, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) faked his death by driving his boat into a hurricane. He was then revealed to have survived and was living alone in Oregon. In Dexter: New Blood, the show picks up with Dexter living a similarly peaceful life but now in Iron Lake, NY, and he hasn’t killed in the almost ten years since the events of Dexter season 8.
If things had stayed the same, then Dexter might have been able to survive the revival series. However, because Dexter started killing again and tried to pass his code on to Harrison, Dexter’s death became inevitable. Here is why the story required Dexter: New Blood to kill off Dexter Morgan.
Why The New Blood Finale Had To Kill Off Dexter
In the Dexter: New Blood season finale, Dexter’s death comes at the hands of his son, Harrison (Jack Alcott), but at Dexter’s own request. After he is backed into a corner by law enforcement, he kills Logan (Alano Miller) to escape. When confronted by Harrison, he realizes what he has become and points to his heart to show Harrison where to shoot him, placing the wound in the same place that Dexter stabbed so many of his victims.
As soon as Dexter started killing again with Matt Caldwell, it became necessary for Dexter: New Blood to kill Dexter. The issue with the original series was that he would repeatedly find a way to outwit the police and avoid meaningful consequences, even when he broke the code. If he had been able to stop killing entirely, as it seemed he did for a long time, then there might have been a path for redemption. However, as he killed again, he needed to face some form of justice from a storytelling angle, and by the nature of the show, Dexter was always going to need to kill someone before the season was out. While it might have seemed possible for him to face consequences by going to prison or escaping, there are reasons why Dexter dying was the only logical conclusion for Dexter: New Blood.
Why Dexter Couldn’t Go To Prison
Theoretically, Dexter: New Blood could have ended with Dexter being sent to jail. However, there are major problems with this route. The entire conceit of the show was originally built on the idea that there are murderers who pass through the criminal justice system but escape because of technicalities and the inability to prove a solid case to a jury. This is highlighted in the Dexter: New Blood season finale as Dexter is able to convince Angela that the evidence that he killed Matt Caldwell is not enough to convince a jury, so the season could easily have ended with him still escaping consequences rather than ever seeing the inside of a prison.
Second, Dexter had previously mused on whether he would be able to survive life in prison. In Dexter season 7, he sees the killer Wayne Randall, who has been let out to help locate bodies, kill himself rather than returning to prison and Dexter wonders how the situation would affect him. Additionally, it is repeatedly mentioned that Florida has the death penalty, meaning that if he went to prison, the ultimate end of Dexter: New Blood might still be Dexter’s death. Finally, public sentiment has moved against both the death penalty and the prison industrial complex, and the idea that sending Dexter to prison would be true justice for his crimes might not sit well with the same fans who enjoy a TV show that has repeatedly criticized the failings of the police in Dexter.
Why Dexter Couldn’t Escape
Whether by going through the legal system and coming out the other side without a conviction, or by driving off into the sunset with Harrison, Dexter: New Blood could have seen Dexter escape from the law. In Dexter, the police repeatedly come extremely close to catching him, but he gets away with it: In season 2, sergeant James Doakes (Erik King) almost catches him; in season 5, Deb catches Dexter and Lumen (Julia Stiles) but lets them go without seeing their faces; in season 6, Deb discovers Dexter’s secret but keeps it for him; in season 7, Maria Laguerta (Lauren Vélez) catches Dexter but is killed by Deb; and finally in season 8, Dexter survives a hurricane after killing someone on camera in “self-defense” and flees. Dexter has slipped out of the police’s grasp so many times that to repeat that story beat again in Dexter: New Blood would have been a disservice to the audience and have raised the question of whether it was worth reviving the show. Dexter: New Blood killing Dexter was the only logical choice, even if Dexter’s death is an emotionally complicated moment.
Why Harrison Had To Kill Dexter
Throughout the original run of Dexter, Dexter is haunted by visions of his father, Harry. Harry taught him the code that he had put together with Vogel ostensibly because he thought it was the best thing for Dexter. However, as the show progressed, it is questioned whether Harry was right, and in Dexter: New Blood, the vision of Deb suggests that what Harry did was tantamount to child abuse. While Dexter has always cared deeply about Harrison and wanted to protect him, he has also been worried about what he might pass on to Harrison, intentionally or not, primarily in the form of his Dark Passenger.
When Dexter starts to embody the ideals of Harry more directly in Dexter: New Blood and works to teach Harrison the code, he betrays everything that he had previously wanted for Harrison: for him to be normal. While he believes that Harrison has his own Dark Passenger, Harrison claims that his anger is simply the result of having been abandoned for a decade by his father. As Harrison realizes that Dexter has abandoned the code, has killed for self-preservation, and truly takes pleasure in killing people and does not do it to save others, without his own Dark Passenger, he has to turn on Dexter. In having Dexter die at the hands of Harrison, Dexter: New Blood uses Dexter’s death to signal the end of a cycle that was started by Harry and could have been dangerously perpetuated throughout generations. While Harrison has new traumas to deal with, Dexter’s death is what gave him what Dexter really wanted for him: freedom from Dexter’s darkness.