TV Revivals: Ready to keep the Dexter season 9 conversation going?

“Dexter” is a show in need of some redemption. It you look back at the first five seasons of the show, they are works of art. They may be macabre and at times depressing, but the writing, the acting, and the directing were top-notch across the board.

Then, the final three seasons happened. They all had their high points, but if you look back on the series finale, that may serve as the low point for the entire series. The show lost Debra Morgan, and in the closing minutes our title antihero decided that it was best to go off the grid and live out the remainder of his days as a lumberjack. For a long time there was serious controversy regarding Showtime’s supposed influence in whether or not Dexter survived the finale, and that doesn’t matter much to us as a viewer — what does is that this was the ending that the show decided to give the character. Can they turn that around?

Even years after the episode aired, we still argue that there is merit to it coming back and that is precisely what we want to discuss in this latest edition of our CarterMatt TV Revivals series.

How to bring it back – For just one more season. Make it six – ten episodes (short and sweet) but focus on reversing that miserable ending and give Dexter an ending that’s a little more satisfying. They need time to remove Dexter from his exile and get him back to where he needs to be — in Miami and in some ways around many of the main characters who are still alive following the end of the series. The series either needed to show Dexter somehow getting away with his crimes completely, or facing justice for what he had done. Him fleeing, dumping his son on someone who is pretty much a stranger and not looking back just doesn’t have that satisfaction. We don’t need to see him on another killing spree, but we do need to know that there is some sort of real end for him.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing that you can do in order to revive Deb; this isn’t a situation where we can throw the character into a Lazarus Pit and bring her back to life. Our suggestion is that you turn her into the new Harry Morgan, as a conscience that can follow Dexter around and advise him on his next move. Anything to ensure the return of Jennifer Carpenter.

Could it happen? – There was a time when we were very confident about this, as there were rumors flying that Showtime could be interested in giving Dexter another shot. We do still think that there is a desire for some people to make it happen; it remains one of the network’s most successful series ever, so we think that a revival could produce big ratings (and revivals are a bit thing right now). There are three major struggles standing in the way: Finding the right story, getting the important cast members back, and then also making sure that viewers who are still angry about the finale find a way to come back to the series. If these are achieved, then there’s a good chance that a season 9 comes on the air … though we figure that even if was ordered tomorrow, it wouldn’t be back until 2018 or 2019.

Do you want to see Dexter season 9 happen on Showtime? Sound off in the comments, and head over here to check out some other editions of our TV Revivals series. (Photo: Showtime.)