At the network's Television Critics Association event on Thursday, Showtime Entertainment president David Nevins defended the controversial romance on 'Dexter' this past season.
"I'm aware that there's a certain taboo despite the fact that they're not genetically related," Nevins said of Debra's feelings towards her adopted brother, "but it's something that has been building for a number of years."
"If you go back and look the past couple seasons, it's an idea that has informed how they've done the show for a long time."
"It occurred to us that Debra — with her failed relationships one after another and the fact that her first big relationship that we saw was with a serial killer," added executive producer Manny Coto, "and then maybe there was some underlying psychic connection to Dexter that was leading her towards these people who were unavailable or downright evil."
"So that's where that evolved from: that maybe there was a reason for all this, which is that maybe she's slowly falling for her brother."
Coto said that the storyline would "continue next season."
"But obviously, even if you're in love with someone, if you've just seen that person kill someone in cold blood your feelings are going to change," he said.
"So her feelings will have to evolve given that revelation, but they will be taken into account. They will come forward throughout the season to inform how she's going to respond to this."
"Debra has discovered, at the very least, that her brother is a cold-blooded killer. That is going to inform the next two seasons, or however many more seasons there are. It's going to be a different dynamic, which is part of the fun."
"What we've done is upended the show, and it's now no longer about a guy who's trying to keep his secret from his sister and everyone else around him. For all intents and purposes someone knows who he is and Debra has a big decision to make: 'Do I turn him in? What do I do about this? I've just seen him kill somebody.' That's the first thing we're going to be dealing with."
"I think there's a very clear trajectory where they're going," Nevins interjected. "It's time to shake up what Dexter goes through so he's not quite such a lone wolf."
As for the show's two season renewal, Nevins note: "This is the likely end point, but I'm allowing for the possibility that the plan could change."
"We kind of know what we're going to do next season," says Coto, "but we don't know what kind of position there will be for a Big Bad, so to speak, or not. We may do someone that goes over two seasons. The options are open for us."
At the network's Television Critics Association event on Thursday, Showtime Entertainment president David Nevins defended the controversial romance on '
