Why Dexter Season 9's New Character Reveal Has Fans Divided

Showtime's drama series "Dexter" has remained one of the service's most beloved shows since its debut in 2006. The series went on for eight seasons (and nearly 100 episodes) before showrunners wrapped up the story in 2013. Or did they? 

"Dexter" follows Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a regular guy who works as a forensic blood-spatter analyst by day, and a vigilante serial killer at night. However, he doesn't just serial kill anyone; he prefers to target Miami's biggest murderers. The dichotomy of Hall's double life is central to the series. In one scene he's a mild-mannered law enforcement official, and in the next he's setting up a plastic-wrapped kill room. It's gripping stuff. Hall stars alongside Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, James Remar, and C.S. Lee in the original series. 

While "Dexter" has always been a hit, fans and critics alike were disappointed by the finale. Dexter vanished from his former life in Miami to live in the snowy tundra of Oregon. He becomes a lumberjack trying his best to suppress his sinister urges, but that wasn't enough to make fans feel satisfied. Because of the unsuccessful ending, Showtime has decided to release a 10-episode ninth season entitled "Dexter: New Blood" to pick up the story 10 years later. 

The synopsis of "Dexter: New Blood" is pretty simple. It's set 10 years after Dexter went missing in a hurricane. While he ended Season 8 in Oregon, the serial killer found his way to the small town of Iron Lake, New York. Under the assumed name Jim Lindsay, Dexter runs a local shop and tries his best to ignore his dark passenger. But a series of unexpected events in his sleepy little town begs him to go back to his murderous ways. 

A recent teaser from Showtime on Twitter indicates that another familiar face will be making a return — Dexter's son, Harrison. We last saw Harrison in Season 8 after his father shipped him off to Argentina with no plans of tagging along. According to the teaser, Harrison (played by Jack Alcott) is all grown up and reunited with his father. It's unclear whether or not Harrison has also developed his father's murderous tendencies, but the "Dexter" Twitter account teased that it could be "like father, like son?" Ominous, to say the least.

Fans on Twitter had mixed feelings about the reveal. "WAIT. WOAH. OH MY GOD!!" tweeted @sirfamous_, kicking off a thread of excited outbursts.

Others weren't as excited — saying they were "dreading" the storyline and not excited about the prospect of a Harrison spinoff. "Oh no. That's a storyline that I was dreading," tweeted @SamGuichelaar. "Harrison spin off too? Meh."

@mathj1122 rationalized the series revival, mentioning that Hall probably wouldn't have signed up for it unless it was truly amazing: "Let's all remember. Michael c hall is an extraordinary actor and artist and I highly doubt he'd sign on to anything, if it wasn't up to snuff and make sense. So, while some are predicting dumb stuff remember. He's only there cuz the script prob rocks."

It sounds like all "Dexter" fans will have to wait until November to form their concrete opinions about the upcoming mini series, and Harrison's role in it.