Major ‘Dexter’ Star Seemingly Confirmed to Return for Season 9

While Showtime is holding off on an official announcement, fans are increasingly convinced that Jennifer Carpenter‘s Debra Morgan will be returning for the ninth season of Dexter. These fan theories are all cobbled together from clues gleaned from Carpenter’s Instagram. In a recent post, Carpenter is seen joyfully jumping on an unmarked film set. “Work is weird this year. Is there where I say something like-” Carpenter wrote in the cryptic caption.

However, eagle-eyed fans/conspiracy theorists are pulling the tiniest clue from the photo as a sign she’s returning to Dexter. In the photo, a man is seen doing some sort of prep work on set. You can see that he is wearing a lanyard with a badge, but the badge’s details are difficult to decipher beyond the color red. Fans at Dexter Daily are convinced that it’s a Dexter badge after combing over official photos from the set that features the official badges.

Internet sleuths were previously convinced that Carpenter would be returning for the revival after she posted and then deleted a video of the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum located in Lincoln, Massachusetts, which happens to be where Dexter is filming. Additionally, Carpenter followed some key season nine production people on Instagram, including directors Sanford Bookstaver and Marcos Siega, writer Scott Reynolds, and actress Julia Jones. Siega also tagged Carpenter in a photo from the set.

Considering the fact that Deb died in the original series run’s finale, it’s unclear how she would return. “We’re not undoing anything,” showrunner Clyde Phillips explained in a recent interview. “We’re not doing movie magic. We’re not going to betray the audience and say, ‘Whoops, that was all a dream’ or whatever it is. What happened in the first eight years happened in the first eight years. This is now, however many years later. We’re not undoing anything.”

Still, Phillips did leave the door open for some possible surprises, teasing, “There is some flexibility to do some movie magic. That’s all I can say about that.” Could Deb return as a ghost to haunt her serial killer brother? Seen in flashback? Fans will just have to wait and find out.