Dexter Is Coming Back Because "It Deserved A Better Ending"

Everyone involved in the upcoming Dexter revival agrees with the fans--the original run didn't have a reasonably satisfying conclusion. In a Comic-Con 2021 panel panel dedicated to discussing the 10 new episodes that are currently in production and slated for a fall debut on Showtime, star Michael C. Hall and his assembled collaborators say they know the fans weren't pleased with where it all wound up--and neither were they, necessarily.

"It deserved a better ending," said Hall, clad in a tropical button-down shirt. "The ending was mystifying at best… confounding, exasperating, frustrating on down the line of negative adjectives."

Hall's fellow panelists, which included Clyde Phillips (showrunner, executive producer), Scott Reynolds (executive producer), Marcos Siega (executive producer, director), and Dexter newcomer Julia Jones all nodded in agreement. But rather than dwell on the previous run's letdowns, they all enthused over the opportunity that it set the stage for in these new episodes. However, comments about what's next were largely intentionally vague so as to preserve the surprises still in store.

One of the biggest details just nonchalantly shared was that Julia Jones' (The Mandalorian) character, Angela Bishop, will be romantically linked with Dexter. Her character is the first Native American chief of police in a town in upstate New York. When the new season begins, Angela and Dexter are already in a relationship and they "definitely have a journey," according to Jones--which Hall responded to with a mischievous grin.

They also let a few clips--most of which were previously or even just recently released--speak for themselves. While still understandably keeping the discussion cryptic, the main theme that emerged throughout the panel is everyone being in lockstep that the story and arc is correct--that there's a good reason to bring Dexter back, and that it's been long enough to take a "leap of faith" with it, as Hall described the whole enterprise.