Michael C. Hall suggests Dexter revival will improve upon 'unsatisfying' finale

The Dexter series finale is perhaps one of the few major pop culture events over the last decade that fans can agree on: The once-acclaimed Showtime drama's final episode was considered very disappointing, especially when judged against the show's creative peak years earlier.

Star Michael C. Hall will reprise his role as the avenging serial killer Dexter Morgan in the cable network's upcoming limited series revival, which suggests the new project will give the series a more satisfying conclusion.

"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 during a conversation about his new band, Princess Goes to the Butterfly Museum. "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 season 8 ender featured the demise of Dexter's sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) and his ditching Miami to take a job in rural Oregon. Despite years of suspense generated by Morgan hiding in plain sight while working at the Miami P.D., his colleagues never discovered his crimes.

Ultimately, there's plenty of potential story left on the table for the limited series, which is helmed by former showrunner Clyde Phillips, who was in charge of the show's first four (and most acclaimed) seasons. The limited series will pick up roughly a decade after the original finale. Phillips has made it clear that everything we've previously seen really happened, telling The Hollywood Reporter, "this is an opportunity to make that right."

The 10-episode Dexter limited series is tentatively planned for fall 2021.

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