‘Dexter’ Showrunner Previews Dexter’s Story in Revival Series
Dexter Morgan has done a complete 180: He went from a cold-blooded murderer who felt he needed to kill to survive to a man trying to be better, choosing to go into hiding to protect others from him. That’s the backdrop of Dexter: New Blood, the revival of Showtime‘s hit serial killer drama. But as showrunner Clyde Phillips has explained, it’s only a matter of time before Dexter falls into old habits.
Where the revival starts
In the Dexter series finale, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) faked his death and fled Florida. It wasn’t too far-fetched of an idea, as he’d floated the idea earlier in the show. But no one expected to see him move to Oregon of all places and become a lumberjack.
The negative reception to the finale apparently influenced the decision to bring back Dexter — but the revival won’t be erasing anything. Instead, it jumps forward 10 years to find Dexter in a small town in Northern New York, living under the alias Jim Lindsay.
Dexter has not killed
“When we meet him [in the revival], he is living a very calm and abstinent monastic life in upstate New York in a fictional town called Iron Lake,” Phillips explained to the website Drama Quarterly.
“He works at the fish and game store, surrounded by weapons of minor destruction and by the trophies of what other people have killed – deer heads and stuffed trout on the wall,” he added. “We also learn he’s got a new girlfriend who is the chief of police. He can use that accessibility to the police station to his advantage, because even though he’s had a monastic, abstinent life, this is Dexter and Dexter is going to kill people.”
Part of the reason Dexter moved to Iron Lake is because of its small population, which means there’s “less temptation,” Phillips said. “Dexter came from one of the largest cities in the world, Miami, Florida, to fictional Iron Lake, population 2,760, so there’s a lot less temptation there,” he noted. “But this is Dexter and people are going to tune in to watch him be his best self, and we deliver on that.”
The villain of Dexter: New Blood is Kurt Caldwell (Clancy Brown), a local truck stop owner. “Powerful, generous, loved by everyone — he’s a true man of the people,” his character description reads, per TVLine. “If he’s got your back, consider yourself blessed. But should you cross Kurt, or hurt anyone that he cares for, God help you.” But it’s unclear if Dexter is hunting him or if they become enemies some other way.
‘Dexter’ returns in November
Dexter: New Blood premieres on Showtime on Sunday, Nov. 7. It’s unclear if the show will continue past the 10 episodes that have been promised but, whatever happens, Phillips has said the revival will deliver a satisfying ending to fans of the show.
