Will There Be More 'Dexter' After 'New Blood'? The Cast Says ...

'Dexter' originally ran from 2006 to 2013 and returned with a revival series, 'New Blood,' on Sunday, November 8 — read more

When Googling the best and worst finales of all time, it’s safe to say Dexter tops most of the worst lists. When the Michael C. Hall-led series came to an end in 2013 after eight seasons, the way it ended — killing Jennifer Carpenter‘s Debra and leading Dexter to live the life of a lumberjack — left many viewers unhappy.

Original creator and showrunner Clyde Phillips, who exited the series after season 4, later shared that he had another ending in mind.

“In the very last scene of the series, Dexter wakes up. And everybody is going to think, ‘Oh, it was a dream.’ And then the camera pulls back and back and back and then we realize, ‘No, it’s not a dream.’ Dexter’s opening his eyes and he’s on the execution table at the Florida Penitentiary. They’re just starting to administer the drugs and he looks out through the window to the observation gallery,” he told E! in 2013 after the series finale. “And in the gallery are all the people that Dexter killed — including the Trinity Killer and the Ice Truck Killer (his brother Rudy), LaGuerta who he was responsible killing, Doakes who he’s arguably responsible for, Rita, who he’s arguably responsible for, Lila. All the big deaths, and also whoever the weekly episodic kills were. They are all there. … Literally, his life flashed before his eyes as he was about to die. I think it would have been a great, epic, very satisfying conclusion.”

Now, with Phillips back at the helm of the revival series, Dexter: New Blood, 10 years has passed — and the creator doesn’t regret sharing that original ending with the world.

“That interview had nothing to do at all with how we approached this season and how I wanted this story to be told. That was an interview 10 years ago,” he said during the Friday, November 5, episode of the “TV’s Top 5” podcast. “It had no impact on us. We wanted to show that, indeed, 10 years had passed.”

As for what’s in store for the new season, fans should get excited — but the creator is remaining mum about what comes after New Blood wraps up.

“[Anton] Chekhov said that the ending should be surprising yet inevitable.’ Ours is surprising, inevitable and satisfying,” Phillips added. “The audience will be satisfied with the end while their own brains are exploding. … I’m not talking about the ending anymore.”

Showtime President of Entertainment Gary Levine also played coy about the future of the show when the series was announced in August. “We call it a limited series but the rules say it can’t be a limited series if it’s coming from something that was on the air for a long time,” Levine told press in August. “So we call it a special event here. For me, it’s a revisiting of Dexter and a proper finale for a brilliant season.” He added, “You’re way ahead of me,” when asked about a possible continuation of the story after New Blood wraps.

Ahead of the New Blood‘s November 7 premiere, the producer opened up to Us Weekly exclusively about why now was the right time to bring the series back.

“It wasn’t entirely my decision but 28 months ago today on July 1, 2019, Gary Levine, the President of Showtime, called me up and said, ‘Michael is ready. And we want you to do it.’ So I said, ‘Give me 10 days to think about it and come up with a way to get into this,'” Phillips told Us at the New York City premiere. “So I took those 10 days, worked it out. I was at Martha’s Vineyard. I flew here to meet with Michael in his apartment and pitch it to him and within half an hour, he stood up, gave me a hug, and said, ‘I love it. I’m in.'”

The writer added that while on the way to the airport, he called Levine. “I said, ‘Michael’s in. He loves it.’ And he said, ‘OK, go hire a writing room,'” Phillips recalled. “He didn’t say, ‘Go write a pilot.’ He didn’t say, ‘Show me an outline.’ He said, ‘Hire the writers,’ which meant we knew we were on the air.”

Scroll down for what the cast told Us about the future of Dexter: