‘Dexter’ Series Finale: Producers Already Apologizing for the Ending?

Across eight years of TV and hundreds of 'Dexter' kills, near-every fan of the series will share similar stories of their personal favorites: a riveting first season, a few stumbles thereafter, and an all-time pinnacle in season 4 that became all too difficult to match in subsequent years. Now that the series finale is on the horizon, however, why is 'Dexter' executive producer Sara Cottleton already warning fans that "there will be people who hate it"?

Speaking to TVLine, the 'Dexter' EP cautioned that series finale "Remember the Monsters" will realize the ultimate vision of the character as they saw it, but likely polarize viewers along the way, perhaps more so than the average series finale. “This has been the ending that we [the executive producers] have talked about for years now. So to us, it feels right for our show and how we feel about it.”

That doesn't sound too apologetic on its own, but Cottleton goes on to warn, “There will be people who hate it, but we can’t try to anticipate that or put it through the lens of any other show’s finale — because that was another show. This is our show. This is 'Dexter' ... At the end of the day, we know that you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.”

Of course, six episodes into the final season of the Showtime horror thriller, we can't be certain of exactly where the narrative will head. Most recently with Sunday's "A Little Reflection," we saw Dexter deciding to take on a new prodigy to be taught Harry's code, while the surprise return of Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) spoiled the recovering relationship between Dexter and his sister Deb. Previously, we'd observed of filming that at least several scenes close to the finale would take place in a hospital, while 'The Shield' veteran Kenny Johnson has been said to play an important role in the final hours.

Still, Cottleton maintains that “At the end of the day, we would rather go down with what we feel is right than try to figure out how to make everybody happy. We feel that we’ve pulled off what we wanted, and that is what we needed to feel.”

Such ominous warnings don't strike us very well, whether or not you feel 'Dexter' has returned to its former glory over the past two seasons, but for now we'll give our beloved Bay Harbor Butcher the benefit of the doubt to stick the landing. Don't get us started on the potential spinoff, though.

While we wait for the second half of the season, check out the latest preview for this coming Sunday's "Dress Code," and tell us if you're ready for the end in the comments!