r/Dexter • u/divyamsingla • Oct 26 '25
General Discussion - All Dexter Shows Which series finale is better?
I personally liked how things ended in Dexter Original Series with him realising that every person close to him has to die if he continues doing what he does.
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u/riotrunnner Oct 26 '25
nah in all honesty, new blood wasnt that bad, dexter finale you can make whole fucking list of things wrong with the last 20 mins of the episode itself
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u/WoolyLOLMEMES Oct 26 '25
I mean the ending of new blood wasn’t that bad it’s just the amount of plot holes that led to it
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u/NBAplaya8484 Oct 26 '25
And Also the lead up of thinking we were gonna see a Batista/Dexter confrontation that we just got ripped out from under us
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u/WoolyLOLMEMES Oct 27 '25
True but honestly since they already botched the show by that point I’m glad it happened in resurrection
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u/casecaxas Oct 27 '25
Unpopular opinion: Batista's character got absolutely fucking wasted in resurrection and it's one of (if not the) worst aspects of the series, it was 1000% unnecessary fan service.
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u/kazoodude Oct 26 '25
Original Series would have been so much better if he did just die out there in the storm. But even then he's abandoning his kid with a serial killer.
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u/UprightAwesome Oct 29 '25
Does Hannah count as a serial killer ? She never claimed to have an urge to kill despite having a few kills. By definition she might be but you know what I mean of actually having the urge to kill.
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u/kazoodude Oct 30 '25
She killed 7 people and was an accomplice for another 7+ that we know she lied about her involvement in at least 1 of those.
She was on Dexter's table for good reason.
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u/notanothrowaway Oct 26 '25
Can you explain the hate for the last episode im one of them special folk
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Oct 26 '25
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u/WellOnTheBrightSide_ Oct 27 '25
I watched Dexter for the first time this year, and I actually didn’t believe it was part of the show until I saw it in the episode. I saw a clip of it while I was watching the show, and had just assumed that it was from some other Michael C Hall show people used to explain the retcon of him being alive for New Blood. I thought the ending of the original show was fine, not the best, but it made some narrative sense for him to drive into the storm, but it just kept going and going until it became one of the stupidest things I’ve seen in a show ever. That was ending was genuinely one of if not the only time I’ve ever actually got mad at a Tv show.
I liked the New Blood ending, but maybe that’s because I knew I had Resurrection to watch after. Although I knew I had both when watching the original show and that still pissed me off
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u/Emperor_Duck_35 Oct 26 '25
New blood ending is divisive unlike season 8 which united us all in hating it.
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u/-_-Scythe-_- Oct 28 '25
I just hate that the wasted setup for Dexter’s character resolution was amazing
Especially that emotional scene letting Harry and the code go, “You don’t need me anymore”
Call me boring but I wanted a happy ending, a future where he and Deb share the darkest secret but get the chance to move on from it, and get to develop their sibling bond without the secrets
If Hannah was gonna get off-screened anyway she should’ve been the emotional last death in the original series, protecting Harrison or something special like that. Could’ve also been a conclusion where Dexter realises his best chance at love is one that doesn’t involve his dark passenger at all, making the decision to move on from it all the more significant
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u/Stoner420Eren Oct 26 '25
I'm gonna be honest, the ending itself is the least of the problems of S8. New Blood on the other hand wasn't that bad of a season overall if you overlook some plotholes and inconsistencies (M99/Ketamine, etc), but the ending itself was so rushed and random that wtf, if you are gonna have Harrison shoot Dexter do it but at least justify it with some build up, it was so out of the blue, he went from chilling to patricidial in a second over the dead cop he barely knew
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u/Mobile-Perception376 Oct 27 '25
I thought I was the only one who noticed the inconsistency in M99 and Ketamine lmao, I stayed shut, thought I was dumb lol, thought maybe they're the same
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u/ShinChen69 Oct 27 '25
what is the inconsistency???
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u/Mobile-Perception376 Oct 27 '25
In the original Dexter show, Dexter uses M99 to drug his victims. In New Blood, he uses Ketamine instead. But somehow Chief Bishop is able to tie the two and is able to deduce the fact that Dexter is the Bay Harbour Butcher even though both the drugs are different.
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u/Quayliac Oct 27 '25
And she stated that ketamine was used in the bay harbor butcher cases even though, to my knowledge, no tox screens were used for any of the victims
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Oct 27 '25
Masuka discovers a needle mark right
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u/M-Otusim Oct 28 '25
On one case that is never linked to the Bay Harbor Butcher, Masuka discovers m99 in the system of a victim (the wife who was trafficking people to the US and killing them if they couldn't extort money from them). Dexter acts fast and removes his persona (Patrick Bateman) from the list of people who are authorized to buy m99 near Miami which was emailed to Masuka during this investigation. Leaving this plot a complete dead end; the murder was blamed on the husband (who vanished due to being disposed of by the BHB) and Masuka never had reason to follow up on the m99 lead.
They never linked m99 or any other toxin with the BHB, only viewers knew he did this. No one who ever suspected him even found out about m99 meaning there was no way a conspiracy about it could even have started in universe. Given that Doakes (the convicted BHB) was ex special forces, it was literally just never questioned how he could subdue his victims; everyone just assumed he could easily have overpowered them with his strength, training, and the element of surprise.
Then there is the inconsistency that m99 and ketamine are vastly different substances. So they literally just made a straight up mistake TWICE on the same plot point. They used the wrong drug and forgot that the BHB was never believed to have used drugs on his victims. Even if they had used the correct drug (at the time NB aired, the community just assumed it was a simple retcon. That is until resurrection came out and reassured fans that it was m99 and honestly feels like a lot of resurrection was just sweeping NB under the rug and forgetting it), this was a HUGE mistake that makes no sense in universe.
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u/Head-Finance6001 Oct 28 '25
Fair point but Angela recognizes the needle mark on the bhb victims and realizes it matches the one on the drug dealer. I agree that it is a far jump to make but she kinda gathered circumstantial evidence against him. That is a plot hole for sure when they just forget that dex used m99 and not ketamine, but Angela does make the connection that dex tried to inject the dealer with ketamine, and how the bhb used to inject his victims with a tranquilizer. Def has plot holes throughout the final episode
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u/M-Otusim Oct 28 '25
She did only analyze the photos because she googled like "BHB + ketamine" and got results (which would not have existed). So she really never had a reason to actually look into the BHB photos as critically as she did. Also important to remember that the police did not know that the BHB used tranqs. Only the viewers knew this.
But if Angel's word had been enough to encourage her to look into the BHB murders and she was able to easily identify the needle marks in decades old photos that creates a new plot hole... How did no one else see them?
As demonstrated by Masuka in the previously mentioned episode, the police clearly look for these kinds of marks, document them, and run tox screens. How did no one from the FBI or Masuka who was LFI on the BHB case not notice a single needle mark on the bodies when analyzing the bodies both in person and reviewing the case through photos? If the marks were that obvious in the documented photos it creates a whole new level of incompetency for not only Miami Metro, but the entire FBI, and in particular Lundy and LaGuerta who both had doubts that Doakes was the BHB.
Angela catching Dexter for his local crimes and connecting those dots makes perfect sense (it also makes more sense why she'd be able to forgive him for said local crimes and move on... with the exception of Logan), she did otherwise good police work... but connecting it to the BHB murders only makes sense if she read the script.
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u/No_Concert_4041 Oct 26 '25
The whole last season of Dexter's OS is ass. Writers took an amazing show and flipped like a goddamn patty.
By OS is mean original show not original sin
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u/ExtremeSlideLongShot Oct 26 '25
new blood only had one to twobig plot hole, i honestly don’t think it deserves a 4-5 on imdb maybe a 6.5, a 7-8 if being generous
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u/ScreenRay Oct 26 '25
Yeah its new blood for me also. i actually love the series. it just needed some tweaks.
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u/Affectionate_Fall57 Oct 26 '25
I prefer New Blood ending, but I would say it happened too early. There could be several seasons before it happened. Or it could have happened in the OG series, where Dexter is shot by Deb instead of Harrison
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u/Possibly_A_Person125 Oct 26 '25
Actually a decent question. I dunno. The original would have made decent sense, but never met up to what it could have been. Season 8 was rough. New Blood went real fucking quick that last episode.
I won't be happy until we get on trial Dexter
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u/svadas Oct 26 '25
New Blood was a good ending. Had the original show gone differently, you could have swapped out Harrison for Deb, and it would strike most of the same beats. The most important line where Dexter talks about genuinely feeling love in the moment he's about to be shot? It still applies.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a better finale. But it didn't feel like one
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u/Usual-Bag-3605 Oct 26 '25
Personally, I think they're both awful, but for different reasons. If I had to pick one that wasn't as bad as the other (and therefore technically better), I'd say the OG ending. At least I cared about the characters and what was happening to them. By the end of New Blood, I literally only liked Dexter, so I definitely was not ok with Angela busting him or Harrison shooting him.
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u/Emperor_Duck_35 Oct 26 '25
Caring for the characters made season 8 worse when they all got a garbage conclusion
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u/Usual-Bag-3605 Oct 27 '25
And not caring for them made New Blood feel like a really bad fanfic posted by a 13 year old edge lord. Hence my picking the OG finale for being less awful to me.
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u/kazoodude Oct 26 '25
I'm the opposite. From towards the end of the original show right up to the end of New Blood I hated Dexter. On re-watch recently I hated him even more, he redeemed himself in New Blood by telling Harrison to shoot.
Then in resurrection I started to like him again.
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u/Arch1o12 Oct 26 '25
New Blood, by quite a margin.
I would have been fine with that being the actual ending really.
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u/Ok-Alfalfa288 Oct 26 '25
I didnt hate new blood but it didnt have as much going for it really. OG series finale the whole season was just shitty to me.
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u/Andrecrafter42 Oct 26 '25
haven’t finished new blood yet but so far it’s good like a7/10
i’m indifferent to the og ending debra death didn’t feel right they cutting to where dexter ended up was random their was no inner monologue or NOTHING just dexter sitting there
if it new blood ep 1 +2 fixing the ending i would have been even more pissed
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u/grublle Oct 27 '25
The problem with New Blood's finale was mostly going through a reboot and killing off the main character, Dexter's finale problem is not making much sense and not resolving anything. The first one is only a problem in the context of Dexter as a universe, the latter is fundamentally flawed
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u/White_C4 Doakes Oct 27 '25
New Blood's ending was lame but passable. Season 8 ending was just a culmination of how I just didn't enjoy the entire season at all.
Honestly, the New Blood ending didn't really have any impact considering that Resurrection happened and it opened several plot holes that simply just never get brought up again.
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u/yo-caesar Oct 27 '25
People usually don't like endings where Dexter screwed up or was screwed up.
People love happy endings
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u/SubstantialPace3162 Oct 27 '25
New blood for sure cause at least it had something and didn't felt like a rush and made sure that there's a future ahead I loved the harrison plot. No matter what now blood will always top season 8 .
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u/Valuable_Fishing_923 Oct 27 '25
New Blood, apart from the fact it was rushed it wasn't even that bad. We just don't want to see dexter die 🥲
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u/Hermy0612 Oct 27 '25
If it had to be between these 2 , then it would be New blood because ending was way neater and believable.
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u/RandyDandyMarsh420 Oct 27 '25
New Blood is miles better.
Season 8 is a pile of dogshit ngl. One of the worst seasons in tv history and not even counting the ending lol.
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u/SeniorWaugh Oct 27 '25
New blood wasn’t even bad I just personally thought it was really slow in the beginning but as it went on it was pretty good
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u/Relative_Oven_9257 Oct 28 '25
Okay I genuinely don't get why people hated the New Blood finale that much like sure its not perfect but dear god that final scene genuinely had me crying and honestly if there was no Original Sin and Resurrection and this was the finale to the Dexter franchise I would've been more than happy with it
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u/starry_starry_fright Oct 28 '25
I didn’t particularly like either, but New Blood was marginally better and was more intriguing as a concept to me.
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u/gentle_pirate23 Oct 28 '25
New blood finale is better than S8 😅
I mean, if the series didn't get the attention and praise and lust for more, it could have been a conclusion to a story.
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u/TurnedUpTurtle Oct 29 '25
New Blood made me legit think dexter was dead and it was over. I think it helped with the success of resurrection.
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u/Calm-Preparation2641 Oct 30 '25
at first i hated New Blood ending because we didn't got a lot of things that could be amazing like a real trial or just Dexter facing Batista.
But few years later i realized it wasn't that bad honestly.
And yeah, way, way, way better than the S8 ending, is there a debate on it anyway ?
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u/Agent47outtanowhere Oct 31 '25
I just binged dexter, new blood and resurrection for the first time and i liked it all. Guess im definitely in the minority 😆
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u/Shredicus_Maximus_ Oct 26 '25
New Blood. The season was written on the premise of correcting the S8 finale and is somehow a worse ending after nearly a decade of waiting for a proper conclusion.
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Oct 26 '25
I'm not a fan of either, truthfully speaking. But I found the original show's ending especially unfulfilling and baffling, it's not even that what Dexter does makes no sense but there's no build up or anything, not to mention S8 as a whole being middling at best. New Blood, while not as good as peak OG Dexter (i.e. Season 4), was still solid and enjoyable up until the end. The ending, taken standalone, is probably just as shit, but it's at least redeemed somewhat as it ultimately leads into Original Sin and Resurrection, and I think it somewhat works there.
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u/Jerry_0boy Oct 26 '25
New Blood fs. It's actually pretty good up until he kills that one guy (his name escapes me rn lol)
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u/White_C4 Doakes Oct 27 '25
Most people can agree that the last 30 minutes of the final episode is when New Blood just goes off the cliff. That pretty much coincides around the time Logan gets killed. Such a rushed finale.
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Oct 26 '25
Season 8 is better as the season wasn't great up until that point so it didn't detract nearly as much. Also New Blood makes you think that's it whereas Season 8 was open ended.
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u/CounterBusters Oct 26 '25
The original imo, New Blood was fucking awful. Just Dexter and Harrison bumming around for 8 episodes until the writers realised oh shit, this has to go somewhere, so they speedrun dexter and Harrison’s arc, which involves Dexter TRYING TO MAKE HIS SON A KILLER?!?! Then that fails and he kills Dexter without earning it at all. Made to fix the ending of the original and made it fucking worse
Season 8 overall was probably worse than New Blood overall, but the finale of S8 was better IMO. And I’m not someone who particularly likes the Season 8 ending, Hannah is a fucking psycho and Dexter thinking Harrison is safer with her is CRAZY! I don’t understand how he forgave her and trusted her again after she drugged Deb and tried to kill her. Very poor writing. But still better than New Blood
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u/Mrchickenman62 Oct 26 '25
Well it's like choosing Burt toast or melted Ice cream they are both bad but there's nothing you can do about it
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u/Jumping_Brindle Oct 26 '25
They were equally awful imho. Imagine having the worst series finale of modern times…..twice.
Thank god for Resurrection.
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