America’s favourite murderer, the fearsome Dexter Morgan played by Michael C. Hall, will be returning after a lengthy hiatus in the ninth season of Dexter.
Recently announced by Showtime, this season will include 10 episodes and a reimagined finale, seven years after the show first ended and left fans bitterly divided and utterly disappointed.
Dexter, most often defined as a crime drama, had a significant eight seasons airing from 2006 to 2013. Centred around the life of Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department by day and resident serial killer by night, the show questioned ideals of right and wrong and the definition of a monster.
Though Dexter liked to murder people, he lived with a code of honor and only satiated his urges by killing other serial killers or murderers. He was a psychopath vigilante, and the show was a breath of fresh air on television, being unlike other crime tv shows during its time.
The original pilot episode aired on the 1st October 2006 and to over half a million people in the United States. The final episode had 2.8 million viewers, which was unprecedented for the show and the network’s history.
However, the original finale wasn’t a massive favourite. Though some fans argue that it was the only way the show could have ended in order for it to come full circle, others contest this.
To say the least, Dexter left us in a tarnished state as the last two seasons were a clumsy attempt by the show’s creators to tie up any and all loose ends.
This affected the finale in a significant manner and perhaps was one of the reasons why Dexter did not end as leading producer Clyde Phillips originally wanted it to – as the entire show being a flashback and Dexter having been caught and sentenced to the death penalty.
Having a character that is morally questionable and yet beloved by the fandom means that the show’s producers will be walking on a tightrope with the new season, wary that they don’t want it to end up garnering a similar disapproving reaction as the original one did.
A show lacking in happy endings, whatever the finale ends up becoming, it is expected that Dexter will end up paying for his dubious deeds. The questions are what the fans’ reactions will be to this revival and whether or not the show will make up for its past indiscretions, putting to bed what could arguably be called one of the worst finales in television.
Image: Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons