This November, Dexter returns to our screens for the first time in eight years for a limited series revival of the smash-hit serial killer drama. As every TV fan knows, the original series finale was universally panned so Dexter: New Blood offers Showtime a chance to fix their past mistakes. Having said that, the revival won’t outright retcon season 8 and will have address the aftermath of how the show ended.
For one, Dexter killed his sister Deb, and yet Jennifer Carpenter is back on board for New Blood. This has led fans to confidently assume that she’s taking the place of James Remar’s Harry as the voice of Dexter’s conscience. But when Entertainment Weekly described the character’s return this way in an interview, Carpenter denied that that was an accurate description, saying Deb’s role isn’t “as simple” as fans may expect.
“I don’t think it’s as simple as that,” Carpenter said. “That’s part of what those conversations were about. What purpose would I serve coming back? I thought the only reason to bring the show back was so we could see what would become of an unmedicated, unchecked, unpunished, decoded, serial killer. What would the dark passion passenger look like if it had an all-access pass to this man? I wanted to come back and haunt him, comfort him, console him, encourage him, love him, hate him, and ruin him.”
Carpenter’s comments are fascinating as they tease that Dexter’s psyche is going to be more fractured than ever in the revival. As we’ve seen from the trailers, New Blood picks up around a decade after season 8, with Dexter living a low-key, incognito life in the sleepy town of Iron Lake. However, his past comes back to haunt him when a spate of killings occur in the area and his long-lost son Harrison (Jack Alcott) tracks him down.
With Dexter’s mind so muddled, it’s possible this is how John Lithgow is also returning as Arthur Mitchell AKA the Trinity Killer. Lithgow won’t feature in as prominent role as Carpenter, however, and is only expected to pop up for a cameo. New additions to the cast include Julia Jones, Jamie Chung, Alano Miller and Clancy Brown as Iron Lake’s de facto mayor Kurt Caldwell, a man with some sinister secrets of his own.
Dexter: New Blood will premiere the first chapter of its 10-episode run this November 7th on Showtime
