Question: (Spoiler Alert!) I’m upset with the ending of the Dexter: New Blood reboot. Why bring this beloved character back only to kill him off? And at the hands of his son, no less. Don’t they know Dexter fans watch the show to root for Dexter? Does Showtime really think we want to watch a show built around Harrison? No thanks. —Ethan
Matt Roush: Once again, a reminder that no task on TV is more difficult or unrewarding than putting a long-running show to rest for good. I’m sure there’s a quiet minority who see a moral justice in Dexter facing up to the damage he had done over the years through his vigilantism and knowing he would likely have continued poisoning Harrison’s soul if they’d fled to California. But the contrived and rushed nature of the series finale — why not show an encounter between him and Battista from the original series, for one — and his unnecessary killing of Sgt. Logan (Alano Miller) seemed designed to inflame the ire of longtime fans, who would have been happy to keep cheering Dexter on in his murderous ways for years. The reality is that Michael C. Hall probably wouldn’t have signed on for such a continuation, and from what I’ve read (including our interview with showrunner Clyde Phillips), New Blood was always intended as a close-ended final chapter for this character.
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