Dexter Morgan may be dead—along with chances for a new season—but all hope isn’t lost. In November 2021, Showtime revived its hit series Dexter for a 10-episode run in Dexter: New Blood. While talk floated around about a potential second season, it was never confirmed. According to TVLine, though, any hopes for a second season are officially gone. However, Showtime isn’t ready to give up the Dexter universe quite yet.
When New Blood concluded, Police Chief Bishop (Julia Jones) had finally connected the dots from the Bay Harbor Butcher to Dexter (Michael C. Hall). She eventually arrested him and brought him in for questioning, but she struggled to get any solid information from him. After she pursues a hefty lead Dexter gave her for another case, Dexter manages to escape his cell—after killing Logan (Alano Miller)—and meets up with Harrison (Jack Alcott), who found out about Dexter’s past-time of choice in the ninth episode. Harrison soon realizes what happened to Logan and every negative emotion he felt towards Dexter came to the surface. Ultimately, Harrison ends up killing Dexter and leaves town after Chief Bishop finds him. The show ends with Harrison driving away from Iron Lake.
The second season would have picked up from that ending and placed a heavy focus on Harrison. Throughout New Blood, viewers saw that Harrison was severely affected by being abandoned by Dexter in the original series, Rita’s death, and Hannah’s off-screen death. Much like Dexter, he exhibited violent tendencies. However, his “Dark Passenger” didn’t quite match Dexter’s, something that became more prominent in Episode 9. While details about what Season 2 would have specifically focused on weren’t revealed, Harrison would likely have continued to battle his earlier established trauma, as well as confronting having killed his father.
During its run, New Blood became the most-watched series for Showtime with an average of over 8 million weekly viewers across all platforms. That said, it does seem a bit surprising that the premium network wouldn’t continue to capitalize on that with a natural continuation from Season 1. Numbers aside, when the series was initially announced, it was confirmed as a limited run, meaning Showtime’s decision not to move forward also isn’t totally unexpected.
While we may not get a Harrison follow-up, TVLine also shared that the network is continuing to explore new stories to tell, including a prequel series centered on a young Dexter. This and other show possibilities within the Dexter universe haven’t been set in stone, but should they ever move forward, there’s plenty of existing lore to work with. Events from the original series such as the shipping container incident with toddler-aged Dexter and his brother Brian, the revelations Dr. Vogel brought in Season 8, and other flashbacks offer solid starting points.
Dexter first debuted in 2006 and ran for eight seasons until 2013. It followed Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for Miami Metro PD who did a little serial killing in his spare time. However, he acted with a code and only killed other killers and criminals he believed deserved it. New Blood picks up a decade following the original finale. Dexter has relocated to the fictional Iron Lake, NY where he lives under the persona Jim Lindsay. Though he left his old ways behind, a new case rekindles his dark urges.
All episodes of Dexter and Dexter: New Blood are streaming on Showtime.
via Collider