‘Dexter: New Blood’: Michael C. Hall Opened Up About How ‘Difficult’ It Was ‘Saying Goodbye to Dexter’
Michael C. Hall had a role to die for in the Showtime series Dexter. He portrayed the titular character, Dexter Morgan — a police department employee moonlighting as a serial killer. His reign of terror came to an end in the revival series Dexter: New Blood, when he was shot and killed, bringing an end to the character Hall spent more than a decade playing.
Michael C. Hall opened up about the difficulties in ‘saying goodbye’ to Dexter Morgan
Hall spoke about the experience of filming Dexter’s death during a panel discussion ahead of the Emmys. He recalled how “heavy” it was on him emotionally, but at the same time, it was weird because it was one of the first scenes they shot.
“It was cathartic,” he said of filming the scene, in a video reposted by the fan page Dexter Daily. “It was strange because we block shot it. We had to do all of the exterior stuff first before the snow melted, so we shot this relatively early. Day 13. So we finished and I thought, Ah, I did it. And then it was like, ‘No, we got about 100 more days.'”
“But it was heavy,” he continued. “It was wild, it was difficult to put into words, um, saying goodbye to him even though I was at the front end of shooting it. You know, he’s a guy I’ve been preoccupied with and carrying around for a long time, so it was heavy.”
What happened to Dexter exactly in ‘Dexter: New Blood’
Dexter: New Blood ultimately ended with Dexter being shot and killed by his son, Harrison Morgan, after Harrison discovered the truth about his father. He then escaped town with the help of Dexter’s police chief girlfriend Angela Bishop, who ultimately staged the incident as an officer-involved shooting.
Although the ending concludes Dexter’s story, some have wondered about a possible show continuation built around Harrison. So far, Showtime has not announced an official decision, but many cast and crew members have shared their interest in the idea — including the man who plays Harrison.
“Yeah, [I would]!” Jack Alcott told Gold Derby, when asked whether he’d do a Harrison spinoff. “Oh my gosh, I mean, that would be… I’ve never gotten to live in a character this complex for this long. To kind of live in a character for six months — and not only live in a character for six months but to be discovering new pieces about him every day and do something you’ve never done before and getting further and further mapped out — [I think that’d be great].”
“I love Harrison,” he continued. “Like, he’s such an interesting character, and there’s things I love about him and things that I’m like, Wow, that’s just like me. And there’s so many things that I’m like, This could not be farther from myself. And I also want to explore that. So yeah, to get the chance to further map this interesting, complex human being out and be on TV, yeah! Oh my God, Showtime, I’m definitely down for that.”
Would Michael C. Hall come back for it?
Some hoped to see Hall back as Harrison’s conscience, just like Harry was to Dexter. Unfortunately, that possibility has since been ruled out.
“That won’t happen. I can put that to bed right now,” Dexter: New Blood director Marcos Siega previously told the BingetownTV podcast.
“I just wanna say … nobody wants Dexter to die, I didn’t want Dexter to die. I think the only person who wanted to put Dexter down was Michael. And he had lived these 10 years since the finale with this thing where, it doesn’t feel resolved, I’m not happy,” Siega continued, pointing out that Hall finally feels satisfied after Dexter: New Blood.
“[After agreeing to the show] Michael called me and I could hear in his voice, it was like he needed it,” he added. “It was like he finally got the story delivered to him that he felt comfortable with.”
Representatives for Hall did not return past requests for comment, but Hall has said that he is indeed satisfied with the way Dexter: New Blood ended.
“The way the season concludes is one that resonates with me,” he once told The Los Angeles Times. “It feels justifiable. As upsetting as it may be, I hope audiences will appreciate the resonance of Dexter dying this way at the hands of his son.”
“People moaned about an ending that was admittedly open-ended and without any sense of closure. I guess you have to be careful what you wish for,” he added, smiling.
It’s equally hard for some Dexter fans to say goodbye to the character, but at least, they had so many good years together.
