OVER the years fans of television series and movie franchises have grown to demand a satisfying conclusion to the stories they have been following for years. It’s not enough to have a fun journey, a great ending needs to put the whole saga over the top.
The ending to ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, the final movie (at this point) of the Star Wars saga, were by-and-large deemed failures, while ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ are considered successes.
‘Dexter’, which ended in 2013 – after an 8-season run – was seen as a major letdown by its fans. For critics, while the first half of the show’s run was acclaimed, it had run out of steam by the end.
In fact, Showtime – the channel that ran ‘Dexter’ – has a reputation for letting shows run way past their expiration date.
For the upcoming series revival, Michael C. Hall will return to the title role of criminal investigator/ serial killer Dexter Morgan, signalling that the new episodes will give the show a more satisfying ending.
"I think in this case, the story that's being told is worth telling in a way that other proposals didn't, and I think enough time has passed where it's become intriguing in a way that it wasn't before," Hall recently told The Daily Beast.
"And let's be real: people found the way that show left things pretty unsatisfying, and there's always been a hope that a story would emerge that would be worth telling.
“I include myself in the group of people that wondered, 'What the hell happened to that guy?' So I'm excited to step back into it. I've never had that experience of playing a character this many years on."
"I certainly thought it was justifiable for Dexter to do what he did," Hall added of his character's actions in the finale.
"I think some of the criticisms were about that, and some of the criticisms weren't so much about the 'what' as they were about the 'how,' and those were valid too.
“We certainly do live in an era where the bar is very high as far as the simultaneous surprise, satisfaction, and closure that should go along with a series finale."
The finale included the death of Dexter’s sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) and Dexter himself escaping to rural Oregon (the opposite side of the country from the show’s Miami setting).
Much can still happen in the revival, which will be under the supervision of former showrunner Clyde Phillips.
Earlier, Phillips has told The Hollywood Reporter, "this is an opportunity to make that right."
The limited series will pick up roughly a decade after the original finale and will come out sometime towards the end of the year. – The Vibes, January 5, 2021
