How Dexter Morgan Survived New Blood’s Ending

WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Dexter: Original Sin season 1, episode 1!Though Dexter Morgan tragically died in Dexter: New Blood’s ending, the vigilante serial killer’s death is officially retconned in Dexter: Original Sin’s opening scene. Based on the hit novel series by Jeff Lindsay, the dark drama Dexter quickly became a success following its premiere in 2006, following Dexter Morgan across eight seasons as he evaded capture while acting as a vigilante serial killer. However, the original Dexter series became notorious for its divisive ending in 2013, which saw Dexter mercy kill his sister Deb, abandon his son, drive his boat into a storm, and become a lumberjack under a new alias.

Given the show’s enduring popularity, Dexter was given another chance to redeem its finale through a limited revival series in 2021, titled New Blood. Dexter begins killing again after a nearly decade-long hiatus, coinciding with his estranged son, Harrison, finding him under his new identity in New York. In New Blood’s ending, Harrison discovers that Dexter murdered an innocent man outside the Code. Taking matters into his own hands and blaming Dexter for his Dark Passenger, Harrison fatally shoots Dexter with his father’s permission. However, the opening scene of the prequel, Dexter: Original Sin, reveals that Dexter actually survived.

Angela Brought Dexter To The Hospital After Harrison Shot Him In New Blood's Ending

Dexter Was Rushed To The Hospital & Revived After New Blood

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The first few minutes of Dexter: Original Sin, a prequel taking the timeline back to 20-year-old Dexter’s first kills and beginnings at Miami Metro in 1991, take place in the present day. With narration by Michael C. Hall, who portrayed Dexter Morgan in Dexter, New Blood, and the upcoming sequel Resurrection, Original Sin’s opening scene picks up exactly where New Blood left off with Dexter Morgan bleeding out in the snow. However, Original Sin reveals there’s more to that scene that New Blood didn’t include.

In Dexter: Original Sin’s opening, a gravely wounded Dexter is rushed to the hospital in an Iron Lake police car, with a team of doctors working tirelessly to revive him. While his pulse was almost lost, the emergency room team was able to successfully jump Dexter back to life, confirming that he wasn’t killed by Harrison’s gunshot. However, it’s likely that Harrison still thinks he killed his father, as New Blood’s ending saw Harrison drive away across the country after Angela let him leave the crime scene.

She brought him to the hospital and ultimately saved Harrison from being a killer.

Since Original Sin shows Dexter being driven to the hospital in a police car, it’s implied that Angela Bishop, Dexter’s ex-girlfriend and the Chief of Police in Iron Lake, rushed him there. In the final moments of Dexter: New Blood, Angela manipulated the crime scene to make it look like she was the one who shot him, not Harrison, and called in the incident as an “officer-involved shooting.” Original Sin now indicates that Angela had some hope for Dexter’s survival after that moment, so she brought him to the hospital and ultimately saved Harrison from being a killer.

Dexter: Original Sin Is Based On Dexter's Life Flashing Before His Eyes While Dying

Dexter Is In The Hospital & Recounts His Early Days As A Serial Killer

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After revealing that Dexter Morgan is alive in the present timeline, Michael C. Hall’s narration sets up the basis for Original Sin’s story – while also justifying Hall remaining the voice of Dexter’s internal monologue throughout the series. Dexter’s voiceover reveals that, as he was dying, his entire life flashed before his eyes. He begins by taking audiences back to the moment of his birth, then skips ahead to the day that he realized he couldn’t put off killing any longer.

Major Original Characters Returning In Dexter: Original Sin Character Actor In Dexter Actor In Original Sin Dexter Morgan Michael C. Hall Patrick Gibson Debra Morgan Jennifer Carpenter Molly Brown Harry Morgan James Remar Christian Slater Angel Batista David Zayas James Martinez Vince Masuka C. S. Lee Alex Shimizu Maria LaGuerta Lauren Vélez Christina Milian

Dexter: Original Sin ultimately becomes centered on Dexter retelling his life’s story around the time he became a serial killer. Original Sin begins when Dexter is 20 years old in 1991, starting with the moment he cuts into a cadaver and realizes that he needs blood to satisfy his Dark Passenger. As grown-up Dexter is dying in the hospital, he thinks back to the choices he and Harry made in the early 1990s that would eventually culminate in where he is today – exposed as the Bay Harbor Butcher, shot by his son, and clinging to life in the emergency room.

Why Dexter: Original Sin & Resurrection Undid New Blood's Death Ending

Dexter Remains Too Popular To Be Killed Off For Good With A Divisive Ending (Twice)

Similar to Dexter: New Blood essentially backtracking on the original show’s ending by having Dexter kill again, Original Sin sets up the franchise’s new sequel series by undoing Dexter’s death in New Blood. Every time Dexter is given what seems to be a conclusive ending, Showtime returns with some bizarre twist to reverse it. Ultimately, the Dexter: Original Sin prequel and the upcoming Dexter: Resurrection sequel are undoing Dexter’s death because of how divisive New Blood’s ending was and how popular the franchise continues to be so many years later.

Related Dexter's New Sequel Admits A Harsh Truth About New Blood, 2 Years Later Dexter: New Blood continued the events of the original show, but now that the franchise is set to expand again, the sequel show reveals a weakness.

Dexter arguably wrote itself into a corner in 2006 by naming the series after the titular character; it’s an almost impossible task to continue the franchise without Dexter Morgan himself being in the lead. Plus, it’s nearly just as difficult to do so without Michael C. Hall being involved either on-screen or through voicework. Unless he becomes Harrison’s Dark Passenger, a la Harry Morgan for Dexter himself, then you can’t continue if Dexter Morgan is dead. However, considering how divisive the character became in New Blood, it would be a major risk to carry a Dexter spinoff on Harrison’s back.

Dexter: Resurrection is set to premiere on Paramount+ with Showtime in the summer of 2025.

Dexter being killed by Harrison in New Blood was met with massive division among audiences and critics, so, in what’s now become expected after controversial finales in this franchise, Showtime decided to undo it and give Dexter’s ending yet another shot. By having Dexter: Original Sin bring him back to life ahead of Resurrection, fans can anticipate Michael C. Hall’s Dexter Morgan returning on the small screen for longer than just a limited series, while also addressing and attempting to repair many of the unresolved stories, complaints, and divisive changes from Dexter: New Blood.

New episodes of Dexter: Original Sin release Fridays on Paramount+ with Showtime.