Killer ending on Dexter: New Blood delivered record ratings to Showtime
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
A record number of Dexter fans turned into the series finale of New Blood Sunday.
The 10th episode of the event series, which kicked off Nov. 7 on Showtime, averaged 3 million viewers — the network's biggest finale in eight years, surpassing the season 3 finale of Homeland in 2013. It also set a streaming and on-demand record for Showtime with 2 million folks tuning in via non-traditional platforms to watch their favorite antihero played by Michael C. Hall.
Over its entire run, the series averaged more than 8 million weekly viewers across multiple platforms — which made Dexter: New Blood the most-watched series in Showtime history, the network reports. It also helped Showtime get some much-needed subscribers, the cable network says it acquired the most signups in its history at the end of 2021.
Showtime/Youtube
So in the end, it wasn't such a bad idea to bring back Dexter Morgan!
"We're thrilled by the overwhelming response from the millions of fans of Dexter: New Blood these past 10 weeks," said Showtime Networks President Gary Levine in a statement. "Whether they loved the finale or couldn't bear to see it end, we so appreciate their passion. Our deepest thanks to Michael, Clyde, Scott, and Marcos for delivering a profoundly powerful conclusion to our beloved and extraordinary series."
For now, it seems we have seen the end of the Morgan way of, ahem, living life. Executive producer Clyde Phillips told EW there are no plans to spin off the sequel with a drama about Dexter's chip-off-the-old-block son, Harrison (Jack Alcott).
"I'm open to the possibility," Phillips told EW. "I've been with Showtime forever. I did the first four seasons of Dexter and the last three seasons of Nurse Jackie. Showtime is family. I'm open to the possibility if they wanna pursue it but there are no plans at the moment for that."
As for the finale, Phillips said, "the intent was to tell a complete story. It's no secret that the eighth season was very unpopular and dissatisfying to the fans. I wanted the audience to feel as if we had completed the story. I guess I was striving for redemption, not in any religious sense. I just wanted to redeem the show for the audience and send it off with something that we're proud of instead of something that we'd have to make excuses for."
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
