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In a recent interview with BingetownTV podcast, executive producer and director of six Dexter: New Blood episodes Marcos Siega gave his insight on how the Ghost Deb scenes were shot and how she was actually much different than Brian Moser and Harry Morgan.
BingetownTV: When it comes to filming these scenes with Jennifer Carpenter versus having Harry be his conscience or, you know, his mind space… What was your thought process with how you filmed / gave notes to Jennifer about how you wanted the scenes to play out because obviously she was a way different type of conscience in his head than Harry was for him.
Marcos Siega: Yeah. This would take a real astute Dexter fan to catch, but when I say it and if you go back, I think you'll see it. Harry was shot completely differently than Deb, right? Just shot differently the way he appeared. He wasn't popping in and out the way Deb does, right? Wasn't involved in the scenes. But you know, when I directed episode two of season two, I had the pleasure of saying goodbye to the Ice Truck Killer. It's the episode when Dexter releases him. Yes, yes. And there were two things I held on to from that episode. The first was when we were at the funeral for Rita's husband. And it's not the funeral… it is the wake and it's the casket. No one is there, except the four of them. Mm-Hmm. Rita and the kids go up and go to the casket and Dexter is left alone in the pew. Brian appears to Dexter exactly as Deb appears to him. Here I shot it the same way. It's not like how Harry appears and he's there now. Brian is talking as his brother, but it just pans to his right and he's sitting there. The camera slowly moves around and suddenly there he is talking and he's out of focus. And then Dexter looks around. I was like, I want this to feel different than Harry being in his head. This is his brother, but it's not his brother, it's his conscience talking to him when he's trying to let go of his brother and he's trying to let that out. So I figured out how I wanted to execute it, appearing and disappearing. If you go back and look, he's there, then he is not there. Yeah, and it's the same as Deb is. They're not there and then they are there. So they're siblings and they're both in his conscience. And I married those two things. And at the very end, at the very end, Dexter's on his boat and he's looking into the water and he leans in and his brother's hand comes up, shoots out of the water and he grabs it. And then he lets it go slowly. Same as the end of episode 10.
BingetownTV: She's holding on to him as he dies.
Marcos Siega: So, you know, these are things again. And just so fans understand there's a lot of thought that goes into that. It's not like willy nilly in terms of her character on the page. I loved her. You know, I understand people saying she's annoying. She's this. She's that. But you know, we needed to have a conscience to be like, I can't tell Harrison. This will remind him and this will ruin him. And what better way than to do it with death? Right? Of course, with that character. So, the shooting style, the way she appeared and disappeared for me, was very deliberate in terms of I wanted it to mirror the way his brother appeared in his mind back in episode two of Season 2. I don't think anyone probably catches that unless, you know, I pointed out, but for me, it was important that that manifested itself in the same way because you think about they are blood to him (Brian is blood and Deb was considered blood). Right? It's that connection. And then and sure, Harry is too, but Harry was different. Harry was teaching him the code and wasn't really his conscience. It was more like his guidance. Yeah, yeah more like his North Star. This is what it has to be. This is how you do it. This is how you keep doing it right. This is how you don't get caught. Mm hmm. If you go back and listen to it, Brian, it's just like the voice of reason is he's telling him it's his conscience. Yep. And so in terms of Jennifer, it being on set and directing her, we played with the levels of anger. There were things that were scripted much harder that she felt she could do with less.
But yeah, that was fun to do and fun to play with on the day. There were many times (with Jennifer) like This is too much. It's too big. And then I got into the cutting room and it was like, Oh, it's not too much. If it works, you know, people, some people like it, some people don't. But I think it was the right thing to do to bring her back in that way. And again, for fans who are like, what a waste you brought Jennifer back that way. Jennifer had a big say. Yeah, yeah. In all of it, she also felt like this gave closure to Dexter and to that relationship, and I love it the end. It's not Dexter letting go of her. She let go of him. Mm hmm. At the very end, those are again things we talk about when we're doing it, and I feel really proud of how we executed those scenes. One of my favorite moments is at the opening of episode five, where Dexter's looking at the blade and he knows. Yeah, you know that what's happening? Yep. And Deb is not a ghost. She's in his brain.
BingetownTV: She's him. Yeah.
Marcos Siega: It's the struggle. It's the it's like, I got to say something. I can't say anything, you know? And and then how she gives him that. She yells at it, scolds him and he's in pain. And then it ends with just her embracing him. And it's weird as fuck, but powerful, you know? It's very rare. When I was there, I shot it. I directed it, and then I get to the cutting room and I put it together. And a week later, when I watch it back, I'm emotional.
Source: BingetownTV