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Showtime President Laments Dexter Finale: “We Didn’t Do it Justice”

Gary Levine commented on the show's controversial ending.

Showtime President Gary Levine spoke candidly about the upcoming “special event series” that will continue the story of Dexter after the show’s final season in 2013 left fans largely disappointed.

At the Television Critic’s Association press tour, Levine expressed regret over Dexter’s original ending.

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Dexter is a jewel in the crown of Showtime and we didn’t do it justice in the end and that has always been a burr under my saddle,” Levine said during the press tour. “We’ve always wanted to see if there was a way to do it right and it took a long time to figure out what that was and a long time for [star Michael C. Hall] to be willing to revisit the role.”

When reporters asked him whether Dexter: New Blood would truly be the end for the beloved serial killer, Levine left open the possibility that the special event series might be a starting point for more Dexter storylines in the future.

“I’ll refrain from answering too definitively. I do hope that watching the show is a satisfying experience for people who watched it originally and are curious about what happened to him,” Levine said. “I hope it does provide some definitive answers that aren’t primarily just mystifying to people.”

When Dexter originally ended in 2013, critics and fans agreed it was a low point for the show which left them dissatisfied after an eight-season run. In the finale, Dexter’s plan to leave for Argentina with his lover is thwarted by a private detective. At the same time, the serial killer Oliver Saxon shoots Dexter’s sister Debra, who subsequently suffers from a stroke. Dexter steals his sister away from the hospital and kills Saxon, escaping on a boat. When the boat’s wreckage is later discovered, Dexter is presumed dead, but it turns out he’s living in Oregon under a new identity.

The new run of episodes picks up ten years after the end of the original series and finds Dexter in hiding in a small town in New York when he is tempted back into his old murderous habits. The confirmed cast so far includes Michael C. Hall, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Carpenter, and Jamie Chung among others. Other cast members from the original series may also return but are not yet confirmed. The original Dexter showrunner, Clyde Phillips is also making his return.