Few series endings come to mind as controversial and hated as ‘Dexter’. Not even that of ‘Game of Thrones’, which was not a saint of devotion for many, left a worse taste in the mouth than that of the series starring Michael C. Hall. That is why the promise of Clyde Phillips to make a new ending for the character in a new series, was very taken into account.
Still suspicious at first, ‘Dexter: New Blood’ has been in crescendo in its emission (on Showtime in the USA, Movistar + in Spain) until signing an ending, obviously better, and that gave the final goodbye to the adventures of the serial killer. By the way, from here spoilers.
Clyde Phillips, the showrunner of this new series, has assured to be satisfied with the ending they have given to the character created by Jeff Lindsay. Specifically, it says that after so much time of comings and goings, there was no choice but to kill Dexter.
Kill dexter
An objective that marked the roadmap it’s from the season. Speaking to Deadline:
“We knew it had to happen and I think it had to happen for both the audience and the character. Seeing him trapped again and again and escaping again and again is a disservice to the audience. And I think there is a certain truth in this narrative, in the authenticity of the narrative.
So on the days when I went to speak with Michael, about two and a half years ago, in early July 2019, I shared my ideas with him. (…) Michael gave me a big hug and said “I’m signing up.” I knew how it was going to end.
With this roadmap, Phillips hired the writers room and set one goal: to remove the aftertaste of the “first ending”:
“In what we talked to Michael and Showtime and once I hired the writing room, I introduced this to them and asked them the best way to do it. We owed it to the audience. After the bad taste in their mouths that many people had at the end of Season 8 – what we call “the first ending” – we knew that having Dexter run away and keep doing this would kill the series. The narrative of that is out of print. The legitimacy, honesty, dignity and integrity of Dexter’s character that we have painstakingly constructed over nearly a decade almost demanded that we end the series this way. We hoped that viewers would be saddened by the loss and feel satisfied and understand that this had to happen; that this was inevitable. I hope you are satisfied with the narration. In the end, I remember Michael calling me from more than ten meters away: “Thanks for the words, Clyde”, what better feeling can a screenwriter have than that? “
On who would kill Dexter, the showrunner was clear:
It had to be Harrison. It’s complicated, disorganized, makes sense, and gave us little room for maneuver. It was the best idea. We talked about other things but we kept coming back to the same place and you write it for it. The ending was one of the most satisfying weeks I’ve had writing ‘Dexter’. “
By the way, that the screenwriter does not rule out the possibility of embracing the new generation with a spin-off / continuation starring the character of Jack Alcott. But at the moment everything is in the air.
Finally, Phillips advises that it is an ending made, also for consistency with the character thinking at all times as a way to thank everyone Those of us who have invested valuable hours of our lives watching the series:
«How many times does a series manage to make a second ending? I think the answer is never. With the bad taste that the original ending left on everyone’s lips, we had this rare opportunity to redeem the series and give the audience the respect it deserves, the authenticity it deserves, and the thanks for being with us. “
And you, did you like the end of the series?