Television

'Dexter' Reboot Coming To Showtime, Michael C. Hall Returning

dexter reboot
By Chris Evangelista

I can't imagine anyone was craving more Dexter right now, but I guess I'm dead wrong because Showtime is bringing the series back! A Dexter reboot will take the form of a new 10-episode limited series that will bring back Michael C. Hall as the serial killer who learned to harness his murderous impulses by targeting criminals. The show started off rather strong and then went downhill incredibly fast, ending with a finale that slapped a terrible fake beard on Hall and made pretty much everyone unhappy. Perhaps this is Showtime's chance to right a wrong.

Showtime has announced a Dexter revival that brings back star Michael C. Hall and showrunner Clyde Phillips, and I have questions. Well, one question, really: who is this for? I know Dexter had its fans, and I was one of them for a few seasons. But the show ran out of steam and concluded with a finale that made everyone unhappy. Is this revival going to completely ignore that ending in lieu of something more palatable? Let's hope!

"Dexter is such a special series, both for its millions of fans and for Showtime, as this breakthrough show helped put our network on the map many years ago," said Gary Levine, one of the Presidents of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc. "We would only revisit this unique character if we could find a creative take that was truly worthy of the brilliant, original series. Well, I am happy to report that Clyde Phillips and Michael C. Hall have found it, and we can't wait to shoot it and show it to the world!"

The original series followed Hall as Dexter Morgan, "a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department who moonlights as a serial killer." Dexter learned to harness his killer instincts for good – sort of – by targeting killers, rapists, and other criminals. But of course, things didn't always go smoothly, and much of the series was devoted to Dexter trying to maintain the facade of a normal life. Every season would also see him facing off against another killer. The first few seasons pulled inspiration from the series of Dexter novels by Jeff Lindsay.

Where the show stumbled, in my humble opinion, was after season 4, where Dexter ran afoul of the Trinity Killer, played memorably by John Lithgow. I thought that season was pretty damn great, and I also thought the seasons after that were unable to recapture that greatness. Showrunner Phillips actually departed the series after season 4, so that might account for the quality dip. If so, bringing him back for the revival is a good sign.

I bailed on the show before it ended, but all you need to know is that the story concluded with Dexter growing a beard and becoming a lumberjack in Oregon. Will this revival pick up from there and focus on lumberjack Dexter? We'll see. The new limited series is set to begin production in early 2021, with a tentative premiere date set for the fall of 2021.

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