'Dexter' 10-episode revival: Release date, plot, cast, and all you need to know about the Showtime limited series
Remember simpler times when we all had a favorite serial killer who killed other killers? Showtime’s crime drama/thriller ‘Dexter’ was one of the more revolutionary shows on television before we entered what we now call “the Golden Age of Television”. Unfortunately for fans of Dexter Morgan, the killer who moonlighted as a bloodstain pattern analyst for the fictional Miami Metro Police Department, the show ended on such a terrible note that it only took the spectacularly terrible ‘Game of Thrones’ finale to dethrone ‘Dexter’ from the position of worst endings of all time.
But fans have reason to cheer now. ‘Dexter’ is being revived by Showtime for a limited series, indicating that the bad end is not the end we thought it was. It was just a bump in the road. Maybe finally, ‘Dexter’ fans can have the conclusion that they deserve.
Release date
While no release date has been announced yet, the 10-episode ‘Dexter’ limited series is expected to begin production next year and have a fall 2021 release. Watch this space for more information.
Plot
No plot for the 10-episode ‘Dexter’ limited series has been announced yet. But one can speculate what the story might lead towards. The original ‘Dexter’ finale left things to be taken forward for sure. In the final episode of season 8, titled ‘Remember the Monsters?’, we see three major things happen. One, we see Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski), Dexter’s (Michael C. Hall) romantic partner who is also a killer, escape to Argentina with Dexter’s son Harrison (Jadon Wells). It is only after they have reached there that Hannah reads about Dexter’s death in the news. Despite the heartbreak, she raises Harrison as her own.
Two, we see Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), Dexter’s step-sister on the deathbed after being shot by a serial killer called Oliver Saxon (Darri Ingolfsson). While Dexter avenges her by killing Saxon, he is unable to stop Debra’s condition from worsening. His final act of mercy is killing Debra, and then taking her body and dumping it in the ocean.
Three, Dexter then fakes his own death by taking his boat into the middle of a storm. While the boat’s wreckage is found and everyone assumes Dexter died, we see that he has turned into a hermit and is now a lumberjack in the middle of nowhere in Oregon. It is Dexter’s attempt to separate himself from the world so that his “dark passenger” no longer can take control of him.
So, one can assume that the new ‘Dexter’ will take off from there. Hopefully, we will see Dexter and Hannah and Harrison reunite, even if his return to Miami feels a little unlikely. Add to this, original showrunner Clyde Phillips, who left the show in 2009 but is back for this limited series, said shortly after the widely derided series finale that his vision for the series finale would have been something different altogether. It would have involved Dexter about to be executed for his crimes, and "in the gallery are all the people that Dexter killed". Maybe, this is the finale we’ll see this time.
Cast
So far, only Michael C. Hall’s involvement in the project has been announced. Here's hoping that the limited series also brings back Yvonne Strahovski as Hannah McKay, David Zayas as Angel Batista, and Desmond Harrington as Joey Quinn.
Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan
The 49-year-old American actor and producer is best known for his roles as Dexter Morgan in ‘Dexter’, and as David Fisher in the HBO drama series ‘Six Feet Under’. In 2017, Hall played John F. Kennedy in season 2 of the Netflix historical drama ‘The Crown’. A cancer survivor, Hall’s other works include shows like ‘Safe’, ‘Star vs. the Forces of Evil’, and films like ‘Game Night’, ‘The Report’, ‘ In the Shadow of the Moon’, and more.
Creators
Former series showrunner Clyde Phillips is all set to reprise the role. Phillips previously created the series ‘Suddenly Susan’, ‘Get Real’, and ‘Parker Lewis Can’t Lose’. He was also a writer and producer on the hit Showtime series ‘Nurse Jackie’. He and Hall, along with John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Bill Carraro, and Scott Reynolds will executive produce the show.
Showtime Entertainment president Gary Levine said of the revival, "Dexter is such a special series, both for its millions of fans and for Showtime, as this breakthrough show helped put our network on the map many years ago. We would only revisit this unique character if we could find a creative take that was truly worthy of the brilliant, original series. Well, I am happy to report that Clyde Phillips and Michael C. Hall have found it, and we can't wait to shoot it and show it to the world."
Trailer
No trailer for the ‘Dexter’ limited series has been released yet. Watch this space for more updates.
If you like ‘Dexter’, you will also like
‘Breaking Bad’, ‘The Sopranos’, ‘Six Feet Under’, ‘Castle’, and ‘Homeland’.