The Dexter revival will bring the show’s serial killer back to the East Coast (so no more lumberjacking in the Pacific Northwest, thank goodness), and the generally accepted view is that most, if not all, of the O.G. cast members won’t be in attendance. That’s the right call for several reasons (including these characters being either dead or well aware of Dexter’s real calling), and although many hold out hope that Jennifer Carpenter’s Debra will return in flashbacks, James Remar (who played Dexter’s dad, who gave him his code) threw cold water (truthfully or not) on the hope of any old faces in the revival beyond Dexter himself.
Naturally, anyone who starred in Dexter will field such questions, and that includes Julie Benz, who was Dexter’s unaware-of-his-murder-addiction girlfriend, Rita, for four seasons before becoming a Trinity Killer victim. Benz previously declared that being killed off the show was the worst thing to happen in her career, yet this week, she told TV line that there’s no coming back for Rita, not even in ghost form:
“I think Dexter has moved way past Rita. It doesn’t make sense for her to be on his mind as a ghost because she was only his cover. He didn’t internalize her, so there are no plans for Rita to show up. I would obviously do it in a heartbeat if they asked. But I’ve always said Rita shouldn’t make an appearance in his head because she didn’t know the real him. She didn’t know the Dark Passenger.”
This makes sense, given that Rita’s death propelled Dexter into a new phase of how to cope with his Dark Passenger. Besides, it would be a hell of a lot more fun to see Debra come back and give Dexter sh*t for that watery grave, and she should also tell him how silly that hurricane survival maneuver was. Fans have hoped that Debra, who obviously died during the show’s finale episode, would somehow make it back for the 10-episode revival, even if it’s some zombie-Vision thing in his mind. Seriously, the striped-shirt evidence must mean something, so let’s see some snarky Debra (in a teaser) already.
The Dexter revival will likely arrive in late 2021.
(Via TV Line)