+++Warning, this contains spoilers from Season 8 of the original series but does not contain any major giveaways from New Blood.+++
As most are likely aware, Dexter is a tv series about a "good" serial killer that ran from 2006 to 2013. It ended with Dexter having gotten away with everything, faking his death, and moving to Oregon. That ending left pretty much everyone, including Michael C. Hall, with a bad taste in their mouth. Because of that, this series was thought up by the original series creator, Clyde Phillips, who was no longer a part of the show in season 8, to retcon that ending.
New Blood sees Dexter living a normal life in a fictional town called Iron Lake in upstate New York. He works at a fish and game shop, is dating the chief of police (played by Julia Jones), and is living the typical small-town life. We find out that he has abstained from killing for ten years, and seemingly has everything he ever wanted. Of course, things do not remain rosy as his dark passenger rears its ugly head again, and Harrison (played by Jack Alcott) manages to track Dexter down seeking answers.
This series has a mostly new cast that includes Jones and Alcott, and also includes the great Clancy Brown, Jamie Chung, Johnny Sequoyah, and Alano Miller. There is a handful of returning characters from the original series, most notably Jennifer Carpenter. I will not spoil her role, but it is not hard to figure out in what capacity she is brought back.
I do think the series gets a bad rap for how it ended (there are some absolute crazy one-star reviews on Amazon from right-wing nutjobs and Q dipshits that should be totally ignored), but most of the negative reviews revolve around the last few minutes of the final episode. Although I do think some variation on how it ended is the way the show should have ended, I do think that it could have been done better. I personally would have liked to see a bit more of a tie-in with the original series and have the original cast members included in the climax of the series, even if it meant making one more episode.
For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great in HD. There is some really great cinematography that shows off the filming locations very well. The extras include short featurettes on reviving the show on discs one and two (each just 2-3 minutes long) and then on the fourth disc there is a making-of documentary that runs about 30 minutes. A good amount of material, especially since many series, if they are lucky enough to get a DVD release much less a Blu-Ray release have almost no bonus features.
Overall, the series is very good. The ending is controversial, but I do think it is better upon second viewing than it was the first time I watched it, and I get why they made the choices they did. The writing, on the whole, was much better than what we got in Season 8, and the acting by all was superb. Hall and Carpenter fell back into their roles seemingly with ease, Clancy Brown was great, and Jamie Chung pretty much stole every scene she was in (all but one). I certainly cannot say that everyone will like this season, but I think most fans of the show's original run will find this season to be more satisfying than what season eight provided.
As most are likely aware, Dexter is a tv series about a "good" serial killer that ran from 2006 to 2013. It ended with Dexter having gotten away with everything, faking his death, and moving to Oregon. That ending left pretty much everyone, including Michael C. Hall, with a bad taste in their mouth. Because of that, this series was thought up by the original series creator, Clyde Phillips, who was no longer a part of the show in season 8, to retcon that ending.
New Blood sees Dexter living a normal life in a fictional town called Iron Lake in upstate New York. He works at a fish and game shop, is dating the chief of police (played by Julia Jones), and is living the typical small-town life. We find out that he has abstained from killing for ten years, and seemingly has everything he ever wanted. Of course, things do not remain rosy as his dark passenger rears its ugly head again, and Harrison (played by Jack Alcott) manages to track Dexter down seeking answers.
This series has a mostly new cast that includes Jones and Alcott, and also includes the great Clancy Brown, Jamie Chung, Johnny Sequoyah, and Alano Miller. There is a handful of returning characters from the original series, most notably Jennifer Carpenter. I will not spoil her role, but it is not hard to figure out in what capacity she is brought back.
I do think the series gets a bad rap for how it ended (there are some absolute crazy one-star reviews on Amazon from right-wing nutjobs and Q dipshits that should be totally ignored), but most of the negative reviews revolve around the last few minutes of the final episode. Although I do think some variation on how it ended is the way the show should have ended, I do think that it could have been done better. I personally would have liked to see a bit more of a tie-in with the original series and have the original cast members included in the climax of the series, even if it meant making one more episode.
For those who get the Blu-Ray set, the show looks and sounds great in HD. There is some really great cinematography that shows off the filming locations very well. The extras include short featurettes on reviving the show on discs one and two (each just 2-3 minutes long) and then on the fourth disc there is a making-of documentary that runs about 30 minutes. A good amount of material, especially since many series, if they are lucky enough to get a DVD release much less a Blu-Ray release have almost no bonus features.
Overall, the series is very good. The ending is controversial, but I do think it is better upon second viewing than it was the first time I watched it, and I get why they made the choices they did. The writing, on the whole, was much better than what we got in Season 8, and the acting by all was superb. Hall and Carpenter fell back into their roles seemingly with ease, Clancy Brown was great, and Jamie Chung pretty much stole every scene she was in (all but one). I certainly cannot say that everyone will like this season, but I think most fans of the show's original run will find this season to be more satisfying than what season eight provided.
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