'Dexter: New Blood' Showrunner Breaks Down 'Brutal' Finale

01/10/2022 05:17 pm EST

The new series finale of Dexter is finally here, and showrunner Clyde Phillips has an explainer for fans. The writer gave an interview with TV Line on Sunday after finally finishing up his beloved drama series with the revival season Dexter: New Blood. Fair warning: there are spoilers ahead.

The Dexter series finale ends with the titular anti-hero (Michael C. Hall) successfully fooling or escaping everyone once again – except for his own son, Harrison (Jack Alcott). In the moment when Dexter and Harrison both realize that Dexter has broken the "code" they both stick to, Harrison follows it himself by killing his father. Phillips explained that he thought this was the best way to end the show and honor all of its biggest storylines up until this point. He recalled explaining it to Hall when they were planning the revival.

"He knew early on that Dexter was going to die. He understood that that was the right decision," Phillips said. "If Dexter keeps getting out of a jam every single time then we're doing a superhero show. We wanted to bring as much humanity as we could to the ending of the show, and to say goodbye to the character with dignity and integrity."

Phillips also said that no other possible endings were ever discussed and that it was always the plan for Harrison to be the one that pulled the trigger. However, he credited the 10 writers of the show for charting the most impactful path to that ending, saying: "It's a very brutal and intimate moment when this happens, but I think it ends the way it has to end." 

New Blood has always been advertised as a standalone season, and Phillips said that he faced no pressure from the network to leave things open-ended or to cash in with a further sequel. He said that the goal was to portray Dexter indoctrinating Harrison with his "code," then have Harrison watch Dexter break it "irrevocably" so that in the end Harrison feels like the code is "bulls—."

"Harrison subconsciously realizes that Dexter is an addict," he said. "Dexter's a murderer. When Harrison talks about killing, he's thinking, 'look at all the lives we can save if we take out this serial killer.' Dexter never thought like that. Harrison is thinking like Batman. Dexter's thinking, 'My code is I kill people who do bad things.'"

Finally, Phillips noted that he believes Angela (Julia Jones) is "a heroine at the end of the series," specifically because she "covered for" Harrison. He said that she despite being so "filled with death and sadness," Angela "has an opportunity to do something humane and kind and graceful. She takes responsibility away from Harrison and puts it upon herself and sends him off."

All nine seasons of Dexter are now streaming on Showtime. Phillips reiterated that there are no plans to take the show any further, but he is open to a spinoff.

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