Dexter: New Blood Delivered the One Thing the Original Never Had

When Dexter: New Blood showed up in 2021, a lot of us were just happy to see Michael C. Hall back in the kill room. But behind the scenes, showrunner Clyde Phillips apparently wanted to push things further than what we got. As in: more blood, more bodies, less restraint. Showtime said no. Now, with Dexter: Resurrection rolling and Season 2 on deck, it sounds like Phillips might finally get to sharpen the knife.

Phillips wanted New Blood to be, well, bloodier

New Blood did the whole self-control arc: Dexter hiding out, white-knuckling his Dark Passenger, reconnecting with his son Harrison. It also gave us a terrific new villain in Clancy Brown and a supporting cast that included Jack Alcott as Harrison and Julia Jones. Then it ended by killing Dexter off, which slammed the door on a New Blood Season 2.

Phillips has since said his original plan was gnarlier than what made it to air. In a recent chat with Final Draft, he revealed the team had cooked up two extra kills for the season. Showtime vetoed them. He chalked that up as the biggest creative loss.

'So we’d planned two additional kills. There weren’t many kills on the show otherwise. But the network didn’t want to do that. That was probably the biggest one for me.'

The idea was to spend part of the season on Dexter’s abstinence, then flip the switch and remind everyone who he is. The network wasn’t into the escalation. Which is kind of a funny note for a show about a serial killer, but here we are. If you thought New Blood felt a bit tamer than expected, you were not imagining it.

What that means for Dexter: Resurrection

Phillips has been hinting that Resurrection could bring back the old, ruthless energy. If New Blood was the restraint chapter, Resurrection looks like the relapse. Nothing official on what those 'missing' kills would have looked like or how he’ll course-correct, but the implication is clear: expect a sharper edge.

Season 2 is happening. Here’s the timeline to watch

Michael C. Hall confirmed in October 2025, via the Dexter Official YouTube channel, that Showtime had greenlit Dexter: Resurrection Season 2 and a writers room was coming together. Season 1 premiered in July 2025 after shooting earlier that year. If the show sticks to roughly the same rhythm, here’s the probable cadence:

• Writers room: assembling now, post-October 2025 confirmation
• Production window: likely spring 2026, if they mirror Season 1’s path
• Premiere target: late 2026 or early 2027, depending on how the schedule shakes out
• Where to watch: Dexter: Resurrection is streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime

The bottom line

New Blood gave us a leaner, more introspective Dexter, and then ended him. Phillips wanted a nastier ride, Showtime pumped the brakes, and those two scrapped kills stayed on the whiteboard. With Resurrection moving and Season 2 locked in, the door’s open for the series to swing back toward the brutality that defined early Dexter. Honestly, that’s probably where a show like this lives best.