At the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour Thursday, Showtime president David Nevins weathered a storm of Dexter-related questions, particularly regarding that controversial Season 6 twist that found Deb confronting her romantic feelings for her adoptive brother — a creative choice the exec vehemently defends.
“I’m aware that there’s a certain taboo despite the fact that they’re not genetically related, but [this is] something that has been building over a number of years,” Nevins noted, claiming that this is “an idea that’s informed how they’ve done this show for a long time.”
Regarding the other big Season 6 reveal (i.e. Deb witnessing Dex’s Dark Passenger in action), Nevins said the turning point sets in motion “a very clear trajectory [for] the next two seasons, and it’s going to help to write with that endgame in mind. There should be fundamentally different dynamics now that Deb [knows about Dex] and it’s going to ricochet.
“I’ve been pushing to shake up [Dexter's] formula a bit… so he’s not such a lone wolf,” he added.
Speaking of the show’s “endgame,” Nevins conceded that Dexter‘s two-season pickup provides a “likely endpoint” for the saga, “but I’m allowing for the possibility that the plan can change.”
Other newsy tidbits from Showtime’s exec session:
• Nurse Jackie, The Big C and The Borgias will return with new episodes on Sunday, April 8. Nevins said not to assume that Jackie‘s upcoming fourth season will be its last. “I was really pushing [for Jackie to] start facing some of the consequences of her actions and she does in a big way,” he teased,” noting that “the feel of the episodes is slightly tweaked” this year and it resulted in putting Jackie in “a very different place.” The Borgias, meanwhile, will be a “bigger show in Season 2. It’s got more action and is going in more directions… and I certainly anticipate more seasons.”
* Nevins was guarded when it came to spilling intel on Homeland Season 2, except to say, “I wouldn’t necessarily assume that Season 2 begins the day after Season 1 ended” and that the complex dynamic between Sgt. Brody and disgraced CIA agent Carrie “[has] only just begun.” Nevins noted that the spy drama faces “justified skepticism” coming off a freshman run of episodes that continually one-upped each other, but said, “The writers have some very clever answers for that,” ones that will keep the show “one step ahead of the doubting Thomases.”
• The Franchise will return for a second season with a new and “very interesting” Major League Baseball team, Nevins revealed. The financially strapped Dodgers, perhaps?
• The second season of Episodes will consist of nine installments.
• Nevins said Showtime believes it can have “real impact with documentaries,” and plans to hit the ground running with flicks based on the lives of former Vice President Dick Cheney, infamous hip-hop producer Suge Knight and late comedian Richard Pryor.
