Get ready for Dexter season 9, because our favorite forensic analyst/serial killer's story is continuing this fall. Yes, Michael C. Hall is reprising the role of Dexter and the Showtime series is picking up right where it left off. Dexter season 9 just revealed its release date and sneak peek trailer at Comic-Con @ Home.
Showtime previously released several teaser trailers that reveal what Dexter is up to in the current day (and what name he's living under). And there's recent big news: Jennifer Carpenter is reprising her role as Dexter's sister. Not sure how, since Deb was killed off in the series finale, but guess the writers will find a way!
The show, which ran from 2006 to 2013, followed the titular character as he worked for the Miami Police Department by day and hunted down (other) criminals by night. In the series finale, Dexter faked his own death and became a lumberjack in Oregon. The ending was universally reviled by fans.
"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,” Hall told The Daily Beast back in January. “I include myself in the group of people that wondered, ‘What the hell happened to that guy?’”
Now, Hall and fans will find out. Here's everything we know so far about Dexter season 9.
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Dexter season 9 release date
Showtime has set the Dexter season 9 release date for Sunday, November 7.
"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,” the network said in a statement. “We would only revisit this unique character if we could find a creative take that was truly worthy of the brilliant, original series.”
Showtime is not officially referring to this latest installment of Dexter as season 9, but rather a limited series.
We've known of the Dexter revival for some time. It was announced in October 2020, with Clyde Phillips returning as showrunner. The return of Phillips is welcome news for fans, as he left half-way through the show's initial run. It was around that time that many feel the show began its gradual decline.
Production on season 9 of Dexter started this past February.
Dexter season 9 trailer
During its Comic-Con @ Home panel on July 25, Dexter season 9 dropped its first full-length sneak peek trailer.
Dexter: New Blood picks up about a decade after the last episode, with Dexter living under a false name in Iron Lake, New York. His new antagonist is Kurt Caldwell (Clancy Brown), the town's unofficial mayor. And he's even got a new romantic interest — who just happens to be the chief of police!
Previously, Showtime released several teaser trailers for Dexter season 9. The first is set in a snowy upstate New York wilderness with a fire roaring in the backyard. As the camera zooms out, we see the back of Dexter (Michael C. Hall) with his reflection against the window. In the reflection, he looks despondent, almost uneasy. And in the bottom-right corner of the window, you can see another reflection, one of a person wrapped in plastic, with duct tape over their mouth, struggling to break free.
Hall then turns around, looks at the camera and slowly grins as his eyebrows perk up to the sound of a ting.
A second, extremely brief teaser reveals Dexter is living under the name Jim Lindsay and he works at Fred's Fish and Game. His ID photo is so innocuous — you'd never suspect he was a serial killer.
In the third teaser, Dexter/Jim is walking through town and being hailed by various residents with good cheer (one even calls him "Jimbo"). But they don't see the gleam in his eye when he spies a sharp hunting knife in a store window.
And the most recent teaser, posted on Father's Day, is a sad one. A photo of Dexter holding his son Harrison is tossed into a fire. Is this a sign that father and son could reuite? After all, Harrison was taken by Dexter's serial killer girlfriend Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) to Argentina to hide from law enforcement.
Dexter season 9 main cast
The Dexter revival cast is led by Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan, formerly a forensics expert with the Miami Metro Police Department and vigilante serial killer.
He will be joined by original cast member Jennifer Carpenter as Debra Morgan, Dexter's sister. She died in the 2013 series finale, so the exact terms of her appearance in season 9 are unclear. But Carpenter herself confirmed her return in an Instagram post.
There are a slew of new cast members joining Dexter season 9. They include Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption), who will play Kurt Caldwell, the main villain. Julia Jones (The Mandalorian) will play Angela, Iron Lake's chief of police. And Johnny Sequoyah (Believe) plays her daughter.
David Magidoff (The Morning Show) will take on the role of Teddy, a shy cop who's new to the town. Other cast members include Jack Alcott, Oscar Wahlberg, Alano Miller and Jamie Chung.
Dexter season 9 plot
Not a ton is known about the Dexter revival, but a synopsis released to The Hollywood Reporter states, "10 years after Dexter Morgan went missing in the eye of Hurricane Laura, the revival sees the character now living under an assumed name in a world away from Miami."
When speaking on The Hollywood Reporter's TV's Top 5 podcast Phillips said, "We basically do get to start from scratch. … Ten years, or however many years, have passed by the time this will air, and the show will reflect that time passage. So far as the ending of the show, this will have no resemblance to how the original finale was. It’s a great opportunity to write a second finale."
In regards to the ending of season 8, which had Dexter leaving Miami to live a solitary life as a lumberjack in the small fictional town of Iron Lake, New York, Phillips added, "We’re not going to betray the audience and say, ‘Whoops, that was all a dream.’ What happened in the first eight years, happened in the first eight years.”
What's coming next on TV and streaming? So much goodness! This fall brings Grey's Anatomy season 18, NCIS season 19 and Succession season 3.
And prepare to say goodbye as some fan-favorite series come to an end, including This Is Us season 6 and The Walking Dead season 11. But the cycle of TV life is bringing new series like Wheel of Time, The Book of Boba Fett and a Lord of the Rings show.
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