‘Dexter’ Revived, and Fans Are Absolutely Losing It

On Wednesday news of the upcoming Dexter revival first broke, and since then fans have not stopped celebrating on social media. The acclaimed series was canceled in 2013 and is now returning for a 10-episode reboot on Showtime, as first reported by TV Line. For die-hard fans of this crime drama, this is a welcome surprise.

Michael C. Hall will return as Dexter Morgan for a limited series revival on Showtime. Executive producer Clyde Phillips is returning as well, this time serving as showrunner. The revival series is set to begin production in the winter, with a release date in fall of 2021, assuming there are no major delays. Many fans are especially excited because they hope that the revival will correct the controversial ending of the original series.

Dexter is an infamous example of a good show with an unpopular ending, often listed with others like Lost, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones. When the Dexter revival was announced, some fans posted their hopes that the show would simply ignore the controversial ending, but Phillips said that that will not be the case. He discussed the topic at length in an interview on The Hollywood Reporter‘s TV’s Top 5 podcast.

Still, there are fans that have faith in the series and believe that 10 new episodes can only serve as a good thing overall. Here is a look at how Dexter fans are handling the news of the revival.

Timing

Many fans wrote that the return of a beloved show is exactly what they needed in a tumultuous year like 2020. Some suggested that that was the point — that Showtime was turning back to a beloved franchise that was sure to draw an audience rather than taking a risk on something new.

Ending

Some fans were able to take a glass-half-full view of the revival in relation to the unpopular ending, feeling that if new episodes were released, the original ending would no longer be the ending, and that the new ending could be better.

Rewatch

For many, the news of a revival was all they needed to justify a binge-rewatch of the original series. FYI, Dexter is streaming on Netflix as well as Showtime right now.

Other Shows

Of course, fans of other shows saw this revival as a sign that such projects could work, and they hoped to see their personal favorite get picked up as well. Many went back much further than Dexter to pick out shows they believe deserved another season.

Characters

Meanwhile, fans flooded official Showtime accounts with tweets, comments and pleas for what they wanted to see in the series. Overwhelmingly, they wanted to see Debra return for the revival in some form or another.

Return to Form

Fans called out the “vibes” they wanted the new season of Dexter to embody, comparing it to past seasons of the show. Many expected the writers and creators to draw more from the earlier seasons than the latter half of the original series.

Other Cancellations

Finally, TV fans couldn’t help but put the Dexter revival side-by-side with recent cancellations — of which there are many due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a time when so many shows are getting axed, some wondered if it was the right time to invest in a revival rather than the other series that are holding on for dear life.