Original Dexter showrunner Clyde Phillips tells how he would have ended the show if he stayed in charge of the series after season 4…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
For the first four seasons of Dexter, Clyde Phillips led the ship of the popular Showtime show about the ultimate anti-hero who murders for a living while leading a double life as a family man and forensics officer for the Miami Police Departement.
Under Phillips’ reign, Dexter saw more success than any other time during the show’s eight season run including the award winning fourth season featuring John Lithgow as the villainous Trinity killer.
Following the end of season four, Phillips exited the show (although he was listed as a consultant despite the fact that he publicly said he had nothing to do with the show at that point) and now works as the showrunner for another Showtime series, Nurse Jackie. At the time of his exit, Phillips said his decision to leave was based on his desire to spend more time with his family.
It’s hard to say if that’s really what led to Phillips’ exit from Dexter, but nonetheless he’s recently had a few things to say about the series while answering fan questions via Reddit, but the real bombshell came on Sunday night via E! where he revealed his vision for the end of Dexter.
As we all know now [SPOILER ALERT], Dexter survives an apparent suicide attempt of driving his boat into a hurricane where he now lives his life alone as a lumberjack. His sister Deb died, while his son Harrison now lives in the care of his ex-girlfriend Hannah in a new life they made for themselves in Argentina. Phillips had a much, much different vision of how Dexter should come to an end, and he gave a little St. Elsewhere flavor to it all.
“In the very last scene of the series, Dexter wakes up. And everybody is going to think, ‘Oh, it was a dream.’ And then the camera pulls back and back and back and then we realize, ‘No, it’s not a dream.’ Dexter’s opening his eyes and he’s on the execution table at the Florida Penitentiary. They’re just starting to administer the drugs and he looks out through the window to the observation gallery.
“And in the gallery are all the people that Dexter killed—including the Trinity Killer and the Ice Truck Killer (his brother Rudy), LaGuerta who he was responsible killing, Doakes who he’s arguably responsible for, Rita, who he’s arguably responsible for, Lila. All the big deaths, and also whoever the weekly episodic kills were. They are all there.
“That’s what I envisioned for the ending of Dexter. That everything we’ve seen over the past eight seasons has happened in the several seconds from the time they start Dexter’s execution to the time they finish the execution and he dies. Literally, his life flashed before his eyes as he was about to die. I think it would have been a great, epic, very satisfying conclusion.”
So there you have it folks. If Phillips had stayed in charge of Dexter the entire show would have been retconned for a dream sequence as he was laid out on the table and executed for his crimes.
Is that a more befitting ending for Dexter? Should he have gone out this way instead of what we saw on Sunday night?
Leave your comments below and weigh in!
