Dexter: Resurrection Could Finally Use This Alternate Ending

Summary

Clyde Phillips may have the chance to use his alternate ending for Dexter in the upcoming series, Dexter: Resurrection.
Michael C. Hall is set to star as the narrator in the prequel Dexter: Original Sin, with his return also set for Dexter: Resurrection, with the sequel series potentially running for multiple seasons.
Fans eagerly await the possibility of a satisfying conclusion in Dexter: Resurrection, hoping to avoid previous disappointing endings.

Michael C. Hall is returning as the eponymous serial killer in Dexter: Resurrection, and it's set to air in summer 2025. Hall will also provide 'the inner voice of Dexter' narration in the prequel series, Dexter: Original Sin. Dexter originally ran between 2006-2013, and the ending was poorly received by fans and critics alike, which led to a limited series, Dexter: New Blood, arriving in 2021 with a supposedly definitive ending for fans. However, Dexter's return seems to have undone the serial killer's final farewell, and raised the possibility of showrunner, Clyde Phillips, finally getting the opportunity to use the alternate ending he intended for the original series.

Clyde Phillips quit as showrunner on Dexter after season 4, so he was unable to end the show the way he planned, but he was given a second chance to do so, when he returned as showrunner on Dexter: New Blood. The limited series ended with Dexter's teenage son, Harrison, shooting him in the chest, with the serial killer with a code bleeding out in the icy woods of Iron Lake in Upstate New York. But Dexter: New Blood's ending also wasn't what Phillips originally envisioned, meaning it could be third time lucky for him to use his alternate ending, with Dexter actually alive in Dexter: Resurrection.

The Alternate Ending For Dexter Would've Been The Perfect Way To Bow Out

Clyde Phillips exited his role as showrunner on Dexter way back in 2009, after the conclusion of season 4, which was arguably the best season of the whole show. One of the best villains in the Dexter series, The Trinity Killer (John Lithgow) murders Dexter's wife, Rita (Julie Benz), leaving their infant son, Harrison, in a pool of blood, as his mother lay dead in the bathtub. It was a tragic ending to the season, and in hindsight, it would've been a better ending to Dexter than the actual one four years later.

But neither the fourth season nor the actual ending in season 8, which saw Dexter driving his boat into a hurricane, and faking his own death, was how Phillips would've actually ended Dexter, if he'd been in charge. Phillips exclusively revealed in an interview with E News in September 2013, how he would've pitched the ending to Dexter Morgan's story:

In the very last scene of the series, Dexter wakes up. And everybody is going to think, 'Oh, it was a dream.' And then the camera pulls back and back and back and then we realize, 'No, it's not a dream.' Dexter's opening his eyes, and he's on the execution table at the Florida Penitentiary. They're just starting to administer the drugs, and he looks out through the window to the observation gallery. And in the gallery are all the people that Dexter killed—including the Trinity Killer and the Ice Truck Killer (his brother Rudy), LaGuerta, who he was responsible for killing. Doakes, who he's arguably responsible for, Rita, who he's arguably responsible for, Lila. All the big deaths, and also whoever the weekly episodic kills were. They are all there.

Dexter: New Blood's ending did acknowledge some of the innocent people whose deaths Dexter was responsible for in a flashback sequence, before Harrison shot his father in the chest. However, it wasn't as effective as it would've been in Clyde Phillips' alternate idea, with Dexter's execution. Phillips elaborated on his idea in the same interview:

That's what I envisioned for the ending of Dexter. That everything we've seen over the past eight seasons has happened in the several seconds from the time they start Dexter's execution to the time they finish the execution and he dies. Literally, his life flashed before his eyes as he was about to die. I think it would have been a great, epic, very satisfying conclusion.

Dexter: Resurrection Could Finally End Dexter's Story In The Right Way

Clyde Phillips will serve as the showrunner on the prequel, Dexter: Original Sin, as well as the sequel series, Dexter: Resurrection, meaning he is firmly in control of Dexter's ultimate fate. However, it's unclear if he'll opt to go with the alternate ending he revealed to E News back in 2013. Despite this potential ending being out there for fans to see, it would still be a great way to end Dexter's story.

Michael C. Hall confirmed in an interview with Variety, that Dexter Morgan's return in Dexter: Resurrection wouldn't be a limited series, and could run for multiple seasons, making the ultimate ending potentially a long way off. Dexter: New Blood's ending was arguably just as unsatisfying as the one fans were given back in 2013, so the pressure is on to finally stick the landing in Dexter: Resurrection.

Fans will likely approach Dexter: Resurrection with an element of caution, as Phillips has made false promises in the past. For instance, he made a supposedly definitive statement about Dexter's fate in an interview with Deadline, soon after the final episode of Dexter: New Blood aired. It's fair to say the statement has not aged well:

I have three words for you: Dexter is dead. 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.

Turns out, Phillips was being rather dishonest, and once it was revealed that Dexter: New Blood broke all viewing records on Showtime, followed by the lucrative merger with Paramount, and their interest in developing the Dexter universe further, Dexter Morgan was suddenly alive again.

Dexter: Resurrection needs to avoid any fake outs or retcons, and end Dexter Morgan's story satisfyingly for fans. The consensus seems to be that both Dexter 'finales' were rather disappointing, so fans might be willing to forgive being lied to, if Clyde Phillips and his cohorts can deliver the goods in Dexter: Resurrection.