Dexter producers told not to kill him off
Showtime told Dexter producers not to kill off the lead character in the series finale.
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Dexter producers have spilled on that goddawful ending for the show in which out (anti)hero become a lumberjack.
Producer John Goldwyn has said that the writers were told by Showtime that Michael C. Hall’s character had to stay alive.
Whether it’s to keep the door open to a sequel isn’t clear, but the directive sure was.
“They won’t let us kill him,” he said. “Showtime was very clear about that. When we told them the arc for the last season, they just said, ‘Just to be clear, he’s going to live.’ There were a lot of endings discussed because it was a very interesting problem to solve, to bring it to a close.
“People have a relationship with Dexter, even if it doesn’t have the size and the ferocity of the fan base for Breaking Bad. But it has a very core loyal following.”
So there you have it…
Still pissed.
Source: Vulture
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- Tagged with Breaking Bad, Dexter
11 Responses
Lulu is right, that’s still not a reason for him to become a lumberjack. Either they got pissed that Showtime was being so demanding and decided to purposely ruin this season like they did… Or they’re just using Showtime as a scapegoat for their uninspired writing.
Homeland producers have outfoxed Showtime by simply dropping Brody from the series so far this season.
Apparently this is a common thread with Showtime- they have given the same directive to the Homeland producers who have wanted to kill off Brody in both the first season and second. Clearly, this demand by the network impacts on the quality of a show.
Granted, Dexter’s final season was abysmal, but it could have had a far more interesting ending had they got the chance to kill him off. Likewise, Homeland would have really surprised viewers by killing Brody off.
Yes. It looked like the writers just phoned in the last season. Still it worked for Showtime, they got record ratings.
Will now forever be on those “worst final episodes” lists that pop up from time to time.
Last season’s finale should have had Dexter killing Maria (rather than Deb shooting her), which would have created all sorts of questions about Dexter’s morality now that he has killed an innocent person in order to protect himself and his secret.
That kill would then have also triggered all the things that pushed him to be a killer in earlier seasons — the addiction and desire to murder. Things start to fall apart and Dexter loses sight of the code as he tries to protect himself, and eventually starts killing people close to him who are suspicious and know the truth (ie Deb).
If he had to live then I suppose the ending would have been similar to what we got — Dexter totally isolated having killed all the things he ever loved. Or if the network had been on board, Dexter would have self destructed and imploded in some way, perhaps with a twist of some sort that referred back…
I loved Dexter and enjoyed every season but the ending was crap. Killing Deb after all she endured was tragic and the lumberjack scene has rightfully become a parody.
I agree with David, the final season should have focussed on Dexter getting caught and possibly going on the run, similar to Breaking Bad’s final season
I’m not fan of the series, but that is crap, you need something memorable, not dumb.
Producers are jerks.
I prefer the original showrunner’s desired ending of Dexter on the execution table and seeing all of the people he murdered watch over him.
Was the whole season then a F Y to Showtime?
Even though he had to live, he didn’t have to become a lumberjack. That’s not an excuse, nor is it an excuse for the poor quality of the entire season.