Will there be a Dexter: New Blood season 2?

And the revival must have done something right because, after premiering in 2021, it officially became Showtime’s most-watched series of all time, with the show’s 10-episode run averaging around 8 million viewers a week.

“We’re thrilled by the overwhelming response from the millions of fans of Dexter: New Blood these past 10 weeks,” said Gary Levine, the entertainment president of Showtime Networks. “Whether they loved the finale or couldn’t bear to see it end, we so appreciate their passion.”

So why has it been axed at from the network's programming? Read on for everything you need to know. But be warned: full spoilers follow for Dexter: New Blood!

Will there be a Dexter: New Blood season 2?

Despite the success of season 1, according to a new report from TV Line, Dexter: New Blood season 2 has been cancelled at Showtime.

In place of New Blood, Showtime is reportedly focusing on the development of a prequel series, but fans will have to wait for more details on this.

Why has Dexter: New Blood been cancelled?

The news comes in the wake of the announcement of the Showtime and Paramount+ streaming merger, which was immediately followed by Showtime series cancellations, including the removal of Let the Right One In and American Gigolo from the network's programming.

New Blood was originally billed as a limited series, with Showtime’s President of Entertainment Gary Levine previously telling, Deadline: "Dexter is a limited series and any further discussions of Dexter will have to wait until we finish airing the limited series and see where we are with our stories and our characters.

"Dexter was really designed to have a proper conclusion to the series, and I believe we will deliver that in the best possible way."

It seems that showrunner Phillips previously gave fans false hope when he revealed he would snap up an opportunity to work on another season.

He told Deadline: “This show is a huge asset. When people start bingeing this after the finale, I’m confident the numbers will continue to go up. It’s up to Showtime to make the call to me if they want more.

"If they ask me if I’d like to make a continuation of this, I would say yes. I have a lot of things going on but I would drop everything for this and say yes in one second.”

Who could star in a second season of Dexter: New Blood?

While we wait for official confirmation of the show's cancellation, let's look at who could star in a potential second season.

Michael C Hall is the big question mark, given Dexter was killed at the end of New Blood. It would be unimaginable to many fans that a Dexter series could return without its lead actor but any future projects would have to get around the character's death if they were to bring back Hall (perhaps as a ghost figure similar to Harry in the original series, or Debra in the revival?).

Though Alano Miller as Sergeant Logan won't be returning following his demise in season 1, if season 2 was given the green light, we'd imagine Jack Alcott would be back as Dexter's son Harrison Morgan, while Julia Jones as Police Chief Angela Bishop and Johnny Sequoyah as Audrey Bishop could also return.

Meanwhile, any second season would probably also have to include original cast member Jennifer Carpenter, who appeared as an illusory version of Dexter's late sister Debra throughout the recent run.

What could happen in a second season of Dexter: New Blood?

Following Dexter’s demise in New Blood’s finale, a second season would likely shift the focus to Dexter’s now-grown son Harrison, Phillips has revealed.

He told Deadline: “Harrison is such a complicated character and he has within him the seeds of the dark passenger. He’s capable. Look at that takedown of Dexter in the end, what’s in Harrison is that he has to kill this man."

He added: "Also, Harrison brings a different perspective to the vigilantism of it all than Dexter did, which was kind of surprising to Dexter. He brings this youthful, optimistic innocence, that he and his dad are basically Batman and Robin. Think of every time we take out one of these bad guys how many lives we’re saving, that this bad person is not going to kill. Dexter never thought of that. Dexter was only taking out bad guys because that was his code."

It’s not yet clear how Harrison’s storyline would shape up in a second season, but it’s likely to follow on from all of the tragedy that unfolded in the first season.

Dexter: New Blood season 1 ending – is Dexter dead?

After a tumultuous start, Dexter and Harrison grew closer towards the end of New Blood as Dexter let him in on his huge secret: he murders serial killers.

However, Dexter comes to realise by the end of the series that he had become everything he has previously stood against – and that the only person who could save him was his son, who had also inherited Dexter’s darkness.

In the show's finale, titled Sins of the Father, Dexter and Harrison begin making plans to move away from Iron Lake after his house is burned down, potentially at the hands of one of his enemies.

However, police chief and Dexter’s girlfriend Angela discovers something in the ashes that swiftly leads to Dexter’s demise: evidence that he murdered Kurt Caldwell's son Matthew Caldwell. Dexter is dragged to the police station, where he gives Angela information on all of Kurt’s crimes including the locations of the bodies of the countless women he’s murdered.

With Angela distracted, Dexter kills Logan to get access to the keys he needs to escape, and speeds off in Logan’s police car to reach Harrison.

However, when Harrison realises his father has killed his coach, Logan, he reminds Dexter that killing a good man as collateral damage isn’t part of the moral code he’s supposed to live by – and points a loaded gun at him.

Right before Dexter receives a fatal bullet to the chest, the show’s voiceover says: “I’ve never felt real love until now.” And after he’s shot, he tells his son: “You did good.”

Dexter might have returned unexpectedly before, but showrunner Clyde Phillips has insisted that, after he was shot by his own son in the New Blood finale, actor Michael C Hall won’t be coming back to life again.

“I have three words for you: Dexter is dead,” he told Deadline. “I wouldn’t do that to the audience. It would be dishonest. Here, there is no question that this is the finale of Dexter. Dexter is dead.”

Phillips recently explained why Dexter’s death had to occur.

"We needed him to [die], I think," he told Rotten Tomatoes. "Dexter is an antihero, which is [still] a hero that we like, but he is still psychotic. And he kills people, and you’re not supposed to kill people. So it's, in a way, it's just desserts. In a way, it's what has to happen."

He continued: "And as for the specifics of the method of how it happened, that evolved in the writing room. We had great writers, and it's what we call 'best idea wins'.

"And once again, once you introduce what's called Chekhov's 'rifle', people who are paying attention to that kind of stuff … it's kind of a foreboding, a breadcrumb. And then the trick was to make it honest and authentic, dignified, have its own integrity."

Dexter: New Blood is available to watch in the UK on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW. Visit our Drama hub for more news and features, or find something to watch with our TV Guide.

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