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Warning: The following contains spoilers for the series finale of Dexter: New Blood.
In the series finale of Dexter: New Blood, Dexter Morgan was forced to face the truth.
Although he had successfully evaded his chief of police girlfriend, he couldn’t escape the fact that his code, the one he had followed by the book for years, was undoubtedly broken. As a result, a brokenhearted Harrison pointed his rifle at his own flesh and blood and pulled the trigger. One direct hit later, Miami Metro’s former blood spatter analyst — and the city’s evasive Bay Harbor Butcher — was finally dead. (Click here for a full recap.)
Below, showrunner and executive producer Clyde Phillips talks to TVLine about respecting the legacy of Dexter, the return of Angel Batista and why the murder of Sgt. Logan changed everything.
TVLINE | Did Michael C. Hall know up front that Dexter would be dying, and if so, what was his initial reaction?
CLYDE PHILLIPS | This all happened about two and a half years ago, so I’m not sure if it was the first or second meeting, but he knew early on that Dexter was going to die. He understood that that was the right decision. If Dexter keeps getting out of a jam every single time then we’re doing a superhero show. We wanted to bring as much humanity as we could to the ending of the show, and to say goodbye to the character with dignity and integrity.
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TVLINE | Were any other endings ever discussed or considered?
There were no other endings discussed. We always knew that it was always going to be Harrison taking out his father. How he got there was the product of 10 great writers in a writing room for a year and a half coming up with all the nuance and all the psychology of it. It’s a very brutal and intimate moment when this happens, but I think it ends the way it has to end.
There’s a certain inevitability to this. Harrison is very damaged. Living with a serial killer in Argentina. She dies. (There are actually people on the internet who think he killed Hannah. There are also people who think that Harrison isn’t Harrison. There’s all of this stuff out there, I’m sure you’ve seen it.) He broke that wrestler’s arm, he slashed the school shooter with a razor blade and lied about it. He was in the room watching his father kill Kurt. He saw all the death around him in Kurt’s tomb. He joined up with his father to incinerating Kurt. He’s not without his darkness.
TVLINE | Was there ever any pressure from [Showtime‘s President of Entertainment] Gary Levine or any other higher-ups to leave things open or to keep him alive?
No, actually. Gary and [Showtime Chairman and CEO] David Nevins and Michael C. Hall were all in agreement. And Michael is an executive producer on the show, and it’s not a vanity title. He’s very active. He’s in music and casting meetings, he’s seen all the cuts and gives notes on them. Saw all the outlines and scripts. We pretty much knew from the beginning where we were going with it, which you kind of do in each season, otherwise you don’t know how to write the intervening episodes. What’s the psychology and subtlety you want to add to it? What’s the easter egg you want to put in there? What’s the justification you want to put in there? In all the shows that I do and when I write my books, I know the ending. That doesn’t mean that if we’re driving across country, we can’t go to Canada or Louisiana, or wherever the characters take us, but we’re still going to get across the country, and get to that ending.
TVLINE | That final scene between Dexter and Harrison is dripping with emotion, and just so heavy. What was the vibe like on set that day?
I’ll tell you a couple behind the scenes things. First of all, the vibe writing it, I was a wreck. Marcos Siega, who’s a brilliant director and a great friend of Michael’s and mine, we were chasing the snow everywhere. If it snowed, we ran to that town and shot whatever scene needed snow. But we also knew we needed a very weighty, important scene between Michael and Jack [Alcott], between Dexter and Harrison, so on a very snowy day, we shot the therapy scene inside. We wanted to shoot a very heavy scene between the two of them so that Michael could test Jack, and Jack could go to a Michael C. Hall master class, and really get them going.
The following Saturday, we did a rehearsal at our studio in Massachusetts. Because of COVID, we couldn’t do it in my office, we had to do it in the bullpen, so we cleaned it out so people could be far enough apart from each other. I had a baseball bat, for some reason, in my office, and Harrison used that as a prop for the rifle. We rehearsed the scene several times. They had questions. Marcos did some staging, and I rewrote some things. They had some ideas, and we agreed on them.
On the day we were shooting the scene, we knew we were doing something important and we were very excited, but it very quickly became… not somber, but sacred. Everybody was very quiet, going about their business. The walkie-talkies were quiet, and then we just let the actors have it. Marcos would say, ‘OK, the cameras we’re using are here, here and here. Be aware of them. Play the scene.’
Another discussion we had was: How does Dexter fall when Harrison pulls the trigger? We didn’t want him falling Christ-like and sacrificial. We didn’t want him falling like an angel. Michael, because he’s such a great actor, just said, ‘My body is going to be disconnected from my brain and I’m not going to have control over how I fall, so let me just fall.’ He fell on his side a little bit, and one leg was over the other, and it felt like a natural death, a natural murder. He had to be in that position all day long because we had to shoot all of the Angela and Jack stuff while he’s lying there. It was a great decision on his part to do it like that.
The set was very respectful. And this was early in the shoot. This was the first month of a six-month shoot, because again, we needed the winter. It was doubly challenging for Jack who was still getting into his role. Thank God for Michael helping him. It took us all day long to shoot and we got it at the last moment of sunlight, and then we were done. Usually when you call it a wrap, everybody starts yelling, but everybody was still very quiet. They were still in the moment. That’s the somber part. We were all very moved by it.
TVLINE | It was great seeing David Zayas back this season as Angel Batista. What was David’s reaction upon finding out that you wanted him back, and what was it like to work with him again?
His reaction was pure excitement, he said yes in one second, as did Lithgow. But having him there, he’s a great guy. I just saw him at the premiere. I’ve stayed in contact with him through all the years. David plays such an important role in the finale, it’s a perfect circle, in a way. Also, it’s the perfect threat for Angela to say to Dexter. That Batista’s on his way up here and, ‘I may not be able to make this Matt thing stick, but you, Dexter Morgan, are the Bay Harbor Butcher.’ And he knows he’s f–ked.
TVLINE | Figuring out that Dexter killed Logan changed everything for Harrison. Can you speak a bit as to why Harrison chooses to take Dexter down versus escaping with the dad he finally connected with?
Dexter’s code is so irrevocably broken that it feels like bulls–t to Harrison. Harrison subconsciously realizes that Dexter is an addict. Dexter’s a murderer. When Harrison talks about killing, he’s thinking, ‘Look at all the lives we can save if we take out this serial killer.’ Dexter never thought like that. Harrison is thinking like Batman. Dexter’s thinking, ‘My code is I kill people who do bad things.’ Dexter says to Harrison, ‘I want to be a better man. I want to be a better father, and I can do that with your help,’ and Harrison says, ‘I’m not your goddamn caretaker.’ That’s what you say to an addict. It’s too late. You have broken the code, and your code isn’t like taking another drink or another drug, your code is murdering people.
Then he yells at him, which is an Easter egg from the pilot, he says, ‘Open your eyes and look at what you’ve done,’ and then we do the flashback to Logan, Lundy, Doakes, LaGuerta, Rita and Deb, and that’s when Dexter realizes he’s right. Then there’s this long, long pause, and Dexter says to Harrison, ‘You have to take the safety off, just like I showed you,’ giving him permission to do this. Urging him, almost, to do it. Harrison’s weeping, he does it, Dexter falls and says, ‘You did good.’ He’s absolving him.
And then there’s Deb, holding Dexter’s hand, that last piece of consciousness that Dexter has. The way I had written it was that Dexter pulls his hand out of Deb’s, but Jennifer Carpenter [who plays Debra] on the day said, ‘Can we try just one where I pull my hand away from him?’ showing that his consciousness is going away. She did it and it was great and we used it.
TVLINE | Harrison took down the Bay Harbor Butcher. Was there ever a chance that Angela could have protected him from the law, and that he could have possibly stayed in Iron Lake?
Imagine a 16-year-old kid whose mother was murdered and who’s just shot his own father. Where’s he going to live? That’s 100 years of counseling in a town of 2,700 people. He needed to leave, and Angela covered for him. Angela, who has worried about that murder board in her office for her entire career, (and then discovered them because Dexter sent her there), is so filled with death and sadness. She has an opportunity to do something humane and kind and graceful. She takes responsibility away from Harrison and puts it upon herself and sends him off. She’s a heroine at the end of the series.
The last ep hasn’t even aired yet, right? Isn’t it on Sunday night? Why is this article already posted?
the shows always go up early on the showtime app
It hasn’t aired on television, but like every other episode this season, and every episode of other Showtime shows for the last few years, it has been available to view on the app or on demand since midnight.
I agree……
Fixed the biggest flaw of the original series. I’m happy with it.
I would like to see what happens to Harrison where he goes and what his life is like since he killed his father
No chance in HELL I would watch a continuation
Not me. This show is DONE. I loved it but it’s time to move on.
There was a point during the finale where i suddenly knew instinctively that Harrison was going to kill Dexter… there was no other way. Those final scenes between Harrison and his dad were so moving, i admit i shed a few tears but it was the right way to go.
The ending sucked.
This is a tough one. I feel shorted after waiting all these years for a “continuation” of “Dexter” not an end to him. If this truly is the end of Dexter, I get it has to be wrapped up, but how can you short your loyal fans by killing him in such a strange and quick way? It was very rushed and took place in the span of 60 seconds. We deserved better. If you played out Angel making it up from Miami, finding out the truth about him killing Maria, then him killing Dexter because of that would have at least felt like a satisfying ending. It’s a premise/ending that would account for YEARS of the show. Harrison finding out that Dex killed his coach, and then killing Dex happened in the span of 60 seconds, it ties nothing of 9 seasons into the ending. Really lazy writing, and truly disappointing.
I hope and pray they consider another season and reveal it was just a dream, or he did not die from the gunshot. I feel like we got the same lame ending as the last season finally.
I just don’t understand the rushed nature of this ending. The whole point of this season was to give the fans the closure they never got. How is this closure??
My blood runs deep for Dexter, and always will, but this cuts a vein that shouldn’t have been opened, (see what I did there, hahaha).
Love you Dexter, I hope for nothing more, than more!!!
Ok, Harrison missing the shot and dexter surviving is much better than a dream sequence which is in my opinion the laziest writing plot possibility.
The thing is that Dex did something so out of character to quick.
Normally he would have had a way out and we was not really represented with him having a fighters spirit in the police holding cells.
I’m still hoping us not knowing for sure he is dead might mean some resurrection or coaching from prison or him being released blaming Curt that just disappeared for killing the officer at the police station and also his son.
If there is one thing, The vigilante serial killer deserves a second chance especially after taking our a serial killer of more that 30 missing woman remains beautifully in tacked.
I totally agree with everything you said !!!
Dexter didn’t kill Maria. His sister did it to protect Dexter.
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Ruined the one good thing from the original ending – saving Harrison. Now he’s a killer, whether he does it again or not. Deb was wasted; Angel was wasted; none of Angela’s “evidence” was worth a damn, which makes where we ended up completely moot. Terrible ending, waste of a revival.
the Evidence for Matt is all circumstantial…
the Bay Harbor Butcher stuff is a little stronger when you factor in his faked Death, and the Death of LaGuerta (sp?) who suspected him…
I hate that Dexter died! I need more Michael C Hall as Dexter! We need Harrison in his own series coping with his dark passenger with his father appearing to him as Deb did for Dexter! The writing and acting was superb. Bravo!! Fans need more!!!
I enjoyed the finale and knew that it was going to end this way or vice versa. I didn’t expect Angela to let Harrison off but after what she had just discovered it makes perfect sense. Watching Harrison driving with the words Dexter had written so many years ago was truly moving and very emotional.
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I must say I’m sorry to say goodbye to Dexter but I’m happy that he and Harrison were reunited even if it wasn’t for that long.
It’s my favorite show of all time but I dont even want to see the last show since Dexter dies.
I hope you don’t watch it. I wish I hadn’t. I didn’t know. I thought it was a seasonal break. I had NO idea it was “The End”.
Oh, c’mon! From the very first time when they announced this show, it was set up to be the END we didn’t get in the original series. I loved the show but now it’s DONE. No other way to end it.
Well done. It was plain where it had to go, and they got there in a good way.
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Dexter reminds me of the Sopranos. Both series started off emphasizing dark humor and interest in who was going to get whacked, but sooner or later that bubble had to burst. In the case of the Sopranos, Chase made it plain that Tony and the mob were parasites and monsters, and that the whole way of life was such a dead end that you didn’t even need to show in what particular way Tony was going to get killed.
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So how do you reveal Dexter for what he is? The show’s Miami always had a wry edge, so you put Dexter in a place that was small enough that everybody knew their neighbors ,and that didn’t have big city distractions, just a cold climate. Without the satire you start thinking of Dexter as a real human being, particularly as seen through Angela’s eyes.
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In that light, he’s not longer cute. He’s tried abstinence, but he’s ended up further gone than ever. Before he shied from killing innocent people to protect himself, but he’s stopped hesitating. When Angela confronts him in the kitchen he immediately looks at the knife rack. When he’s in jail, he kills Logan to get out, and it’s not an accident. Putting morality aside, that wasn’t even smart. There wasn’t that much of a case against him, and he was compulsively protecting his addiction.
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So good to end it this way. He sees clearly what’s wrong with him, and he redeems himself, somewhat, by having Harrison kill him. In doing so he’s giving Harrison the best chance he can, by having him decisively reject Dexter and his fraudulent Code, and, hopefully, his own dark impulses. (Whether that’s psychologically realistic is another question.) And it’s a good ending for Angela as well.
I thought about it and I’d be okay with season two but only if Hannah returned and killed Harrison. He’s boring and annoying. Imagine him being the main character 🤢
I agree. I don’t blame it on the young actor, he was directed to act like he did. But his character “Harrison” was so awfully … bloodless.
Yes! I don’t blame the actor for my disinterest in his character, I blame the writers.
This ending has been telegraphed since the day they released the title. Setting the original in all the sunshine Miami had to offer, allowed for an interesting juxtaposition that the new series never quite managed to pull off. The darkness of up state New York in the winter seemed to be the embodiment of the dark passenger and gave the series an entirely different feel. Unfortunately it wasn’t one that I necessarily enjoyed. I don’t know what I expected, but I do know that it failed as surely as the original for completely different reasons.
This was a horrible ending.
Don’t know if two extra episodes might’ve helped but this ending felt rushed and Harrison hasn’t earned that type of audience commitment to kill off Dexter.
What a shame because the season overall was going so well until the final episode.
Yes. Totally agree with all.
really? tell me more about how to screw up endings two times in a row!
The thing is that Dex did something so out of character to quick.
Normally he would have had a way out and we was not really represented with him having a fighters spirit in the police holding cells.
I’m still hoping us not knowing for sure he is dead might mean some resurrection or coaching from prison or him being released blaming Curt that just disappeared for killing the officer at the police station and also his son.
If there is one thing, The vigilante serial killer deserves a second chance especially after taking our a serial killer of more that 30 missing woman remains beautifully in tacked.
A true Dexter revival could have gone on and on and …
Some may say he deserved what he got. And that’s valid in a way. On the other hand, other “despicable” characters like Hannibal Lecter can survive – although they do not deserve it.
Us “audience” loves a great villain and Dexter was one of the best.
And please: if Dexter is really, truly dead, let him rest in peace. No “Harrison”, please. “Dexter” needs to be guy with the knife, not some ghost in somebody’s mind.
I think Angela gets rid of Harrison actually, to get him as far away as possible from her daughter. If he had stayed, in prison or not, he would be a danger to her.
Why don’t let Dexter and his son escape and move to LA and continue the show for few more seasons? It’s terrible the writers made Dexter break the code. Bad ending.
Wasn’t thrilled with that ending but that was part of what that ending was saying. Dexter had gone “off code” several times in the past outside of Logan. This wasn’t the first time.
because that’d be a terrible way to continue something that should end. pleasing the audience is the worst thing writers could do.
THIS.
I felt like Dexter should had more time to teach Harrison like Harry had with Dexter I felt his death was too soon maybe in season 2 dexter will be Harrison conscious teaching him what to do like Harry was with him
I feel cheated. The entire episode felt off. He speaks to us, the audience’ even if its just the thoughts in his head, but in this episode we were at a arms length, it felt like we were not with dexter but on the outside
I’m so mad that damn cop and troubled ass son. I LOVE Dexter and want him to live.. yea for the bad guy! Some people need to die and leave this earth Charles Bronson didn’t die and he was celebrated. How can Dexter come back and continue chasing bad guys, he cannot! At least not in a way that’s predictable and keeps him hiding away.. I hope that troubled son doesn’t think he even compares to Dex.. he’s a crazy with a chip on his shoulder .
” don’t forkin’ curse” How old are you people? You write like you are in Jr. High.
VERY disappointed in the finale. “He had to die” Really ? Harrison would have never done it. And Angela ? She’s a totally loose Cannonball. Like a disappointed,spurned Lover. But one bright light – we will never, EVER have to listen to Deb’s rantings again ! The reboot was nice, but SO sad when Deb showed back up – it was Like Go the HELL away !
“Don’t forking’ curse” is from “The Good Place.” It’s just a cutesy way of saying keep the conversation clean. Don’t get your panties in a wad.
I just finished streaming the episode. This is the ending that should have been from the very beginning. I think maybe the writers and producers knew years ago that there would be this continuation. The acting was wonderful!!!! Thank you everyone for tying up this series and making it would it always should have been.
Dexter was my guilty pleasure, but the ending shows we always pay the price for our crimes. He killed the bad guys but enjoyed it too much. I liked Harrison having a chance at some sort of life. This behavior couldn’t continue. It was a great show and I will miss it.”Dexter”showcased alot of very talented actors. My favorite was “Debra”. But you do feel empathy for “Dexter” at least I did. Good luck to everyone involved in the show!