Scott Buck discusses DEXTER season 6

Entertainment Weekly have a terrific interview with Dexter's new showrunner Scott Buck, where he discusses the show's past and present. In particular, Buck reveals details about the forthcoming season (spoilers if you haven't seen season 5 yet), with the following confirmations:

• Dexter will be "very strong, sure-of-himself" this year, in contrast to season 5's anguished shadow, and on something of a spiritual search because he's worried his son Harrison will inherit his "dark passenger". In many ways the show will be returning to its roots, but with Dexter as a "more evolved serial-killer".
• Edward James Olmos (Battlestar Galactica) will be playing religious studies professor Dr Geller. Colin Hanks (King Kong) will be playing an acquaintance of Geller's called Travis, who has "fallen under his power". Molly Parker (Deadwood) is playing Travis' big sister Lisa Marshall. Mos will be playing a "street thug who found God while in prison" called Brother Sam.
• The season will involve a serial-killer who murders with "great conviction" because he believes he's in the right, partly inspired by the real-life Zodiac Killer. There will be a season-long adversary, but also multiple villains along the way.
• Baby Harrison will have a new "sparky, upbeat" nanny called Jamie (Aimee Garcia), as they decided to let Maria Doyle Kennedy leave the show because Buck admits they "wasted her" last year.
• A new "hard-ass detective from Chicago" called Mike Anderson (Billy Brown) will feature.
• Loose-ends like the "Kyle Butler" situation (Dexter's false identity from season 4, known to the Trinity Killer's surviving family) will be returned to again.
• Quinn will "hit some dark days" and his relationship with Debra will be explored further.
• Buck refused to be called on hopes Debra will discover her brother's a serial-killer this year, understandably.

After reading this interview I'm more intrigued about season 6, and I must admit that having Scott Buck run things feels like a wise move. He's been writing for Dexter almost from the start, so really knows its strengths and weaknesses, and the episodes he writes tend to be highlights. I just hope he understands fans are now very aware Dexter follows certain patterns, and are inured to the show's tricks. What once felt raw, shocking, gripping and cutting-edge in season 1 and 2 has become formulaic and almost comfortable in later years.

Maybe Buck won't be able to stop the rot spreading (because this is just what happened when feisty, edgy shows mellow in old age), but I'm hoping season 6 is a return to form in some way. Or just more entertaining than season 5 ended up being, really. The spiritual/religious angle is certainly something I'm quite interested in, if it's done well.

And if nothing else, season 6's guest stars are an interesting mix (certainly more alluring than Julia Stiles and Jonny Lee Miller were last year), and I'm especially interested to see how Olmos fits into the show.

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