Now that we know how it ends, the question on every “Dexter: New Blood” viewer’s mind is: “Will this be the real series finale of “Dexter?”
[Spoilers ahead]
Surely to God it will be since the idea of doing this a third time may be too much even for the hardest core “Dexter” fan…of which there might be even fewer after tonight’s final episode. That’s probably true even though many viewers (correctly) predicted Dexter Morgan was going to die, and it would be his son Harrison who killed him. [Frankly, after they’d already killed Kurt (Clancey Brown) off and Angela (Julia Jones) had pretty much discovered the truth about Dexter Morgan, there weren’t many other places for the finale to go. Especially since the series hadn’t followed up on the shady oil tycoon they introduced in the first few episodes, but never mentioned again after episode 3.]
Although it’s not a great sign of finality that executive producer and show runner Clyde Phillips is already floating the idea of doing yet another season where Harrison continues with Dexter’s work (which would make no sense at all given his final scene and ultimate decision regarding his father). To me, the prospect of seeing a Harrison-spinoff is about as appealing as watching Hunter Biden fill in for the rest of Joe’s presidency. Harrison is a character we tolerated merely for his close proximity to Dexter, and it soon became a bit of a drag that the bulk of this season was spent on their complicated father/son dynamic and legacy. Maybe I’m alone, but in the first episode, I was practically screaming for Dexter to send his son on his way, enjoy his new life with Angela (and not murdering people), and not admit the truth to Harrison (for both their sakes), even if I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Harrison occupied a weird space where he tracked his father down multiple times from across the country (or across international borders), but was still passive-aggressive towards him throughout the season. “Hey thanks for being an absentee dad my whole life, and I don’t need you now–” “So why’d you track me down from Argentina to Oregon and then to upstate New York?” “Shut up dad.” “Okay.” “Why won’t you talk to me?!” “We can connect now.” “Great, I’ll just live with you and force you to explain my absence to all these people who know you by a different name.” “Okay–” “Whoops, I just told your girlfriend the police chief’s daughter that you’re a total fake; do you mind if I blow up your new life? I hope it was implied I would do that when I showed up uninvited and unannounced.” “It’s not ideal Harrison, but I forgive you. Still, could you not to cozy up to the local serial killer who’s not me?” “You don’t even know Kurt! He understands my need to put myself into as much danger and drama as possible!”
It’s all just a little strange that the entire reason for “Dexter: New Blood”‘s existence is that the eighth (and at the time final) season of “Dexter” was such a disappointment…yet the ultimate fate of Dexter Morgan isn’t any more satisfying in “New Blood.” The eighth season did suck, but it was at least unexpected that none of Morgan’s co-workers found out the truth about him, and he let a serial killer raise his son (Hannah) while he faked his death in a hurricane disposing his dead sister’s body. I can’t say this series ender is nearly as unpredictable, and I actually preferred the idea of Dexter in exile as a Oregon lumberjack than shot dead by his son in a season that’s entire purpose seemed to be convincing everyone what an asshole Dexter truly is.
The anti-climax of “The Matrix Revolutions” didn’t satisfy a lot of audiences (although I think it worked), so the follow up was…the even more unsatisfying and unnecessary “Matrix Resurrections?” Likewise, “The Sopranos” had a polarizing series finale (that I actually loved), so David Chase gave us a prequel film…that almost nobody actually cared about, and that also ended with major threads hanging? So I guess “Dexter” is only part of a pattern of long retired franchises coming back from the dead to disappoint us one last time.
Still, the news isn’t all bad. What I liked about the reboot: I loved the new setting of “New Blood,” as the atmospheric snow makes it feel more like a dread-soaked mystery novel than the candy-coated, steamy, 80’s-erotic thriller setting of Miami from the original. I enjoyed most of the new cast–even the performance of the actor who played Harrison, his character be damned–but especially the garrulously menacing Brown and sleek toughness of Jones (still a badass from her “Banshee” days). Deborah (Jennifer Carpenter) is certainly an upgrade over the monotone moroseness of Harry (James Remar) as Dexter’s original imaginary consigliere. And yes, we still feel something for Dexter Morgan; “Dex” still manages to be a compelling, fascinating character all these years later.
What I wasn’t so crazy about: how overwhelmed the series became with the Harrison/Dexter dynamic in a way that was appropriately inevitable, but still always made it clear we were headed for a definitive ending rather than something where anything could happen; the needless addition of Angel, a character who was better served being left in Miami; and the introduction of the previously-mentioned shady oil tycoon who was introduced as a major threat for the season, but dropped off the face of the Earth after episode three just feels like poor planning (this also emphasizes how little “New Blood” ventured out beyond its core quintet of characters, and let quite a few early scene stealers largely disappear midway through the season). And I also want to emphasize there should be NO Harrison-spin-off since that would completely undercut the decision both he and Dexter made in their final scene.
Grade for Final Season as a whole: B+ …Grade for Series Finale Episode: C