via EW: When Scott Buck is ready to talk, you better be prepared. The Dexter showrunner’s answers tend to be rapid-fire direct, the interview equivalent of speed dating. When EW met in his Hollywood office two months ago, the writer-producer was perhaps even more urgent than usual. Dexter‘s final season is debuting in the summer for the first time, which has the creative team meeting earlier deadlines than usual (don’t worry, they assure the show is on track — this final storyline has been in the works for years). Skip the jump to read few season eight spoilers about Dexter, Deb, Hannah and more!
What to expect from Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) this season: “Dexter is a character who has evolved so much over the years that’s he’s almost unrecognizable to who he was in the beginning when he was in the brain of a psychopath. We’ve gradually seen him evolve and become more human. As that’s happened, the show itself has become more real because we’re seeing it through Dexter’s eyes. The trick of the show is that he’s a likable serial killer. But we don’t ever want our audience to forget that he is a serial killer and I think we take him on that final journey this season. This is the person you’ve been loving all these years, but this is ultimately what happens with a serial killer.”
What to expect from Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter): “We’ll see an even darker side to Debra this year — I don’t know if you can go much darker than killing [Maria] LaGuerta — but we’ll see how that has affected her and we’ll see a different side to her than before.”
Bringing back Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski): “For Dexter, this was his first adult relationship, his first time feeling real love in an honest way because he was able to be himself with her. I don’t think he’s been able to get over her and she hasn’t gotten over him. But after what they each did to each other, can they get beyond that? They are two killers, can they ever fully trust each other? That’s the question.”
On the odds of bringing more characters back from Dexter’s past — like Sgt. Doaks (Erik King) last season: “You don’t want to become too gimmicky and keep pulling characters out of the past … I don’t think we’ll be seeing Lumen [Pierce].”
On Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee) getting a bit of a personal life this season: “Masuka discovers something about his past he was unaware of and somebody new enters his life.”
Debra’s sexual feelings for her brother: “It will always color her feelings for Dexter. But after everything she’s been through with him it’s hard for her to entertain any serious thoughts of romance with him. Her feelings are so much more complicated for him now.”
Wrapping up the show: “We want to go out as strongly as we came in. From season 1, [the audience is] asking, ‘Is it weird that I like this person?’ I want them continue asking those questions about this character. I want them to relate to him, but perhaps not on as easy terms as they initially did. If you were to watch the first season of Dexter, you would never imagine that this is what the final season would be like. But to watch it all as a whole it feels like the only natural place to take this character. It’s scary and thrilling and very touching all at the same time.”
The ending itself: “I think ideally it will make our audience sit back and see Dexter a little more clearly than before. People love him for what he does, there’s a lot of wish fulfillment, I think [the ending] will help you see him more of as an actual person. It feels like the exact ending we should be doing. It will be pretty clear and understandable and should absolutely make sense to everybody watching it.”