Dexter, the original, long-running series, ended in 2013 with what is considered one of the worst finales in TV history. After a lacklustre eighth season, our antihero drove his boat into a hurricane and seemingly died before a final scene revealed he’s alive and living in the woods somewhere. Eight years later, Dexter: New Blood ended with Dexter being shot by his son – a finale that was widely praised as “the ending we deserved”. Now, that too has been retrofitted as simply a significant wound, and Dexter is back for yet another new reboot.

Reboots like New Blood allow an almost “it was all a dream” logic to give us a second chance. Nobody wants their last memory of a beloved character to be an unsatisfying finale. But with streaming services endlessly trying to capitalise on nostalgia in a bloated ecosystem, the franchise now risks ruining its own recovery. And it’s not alone.

With more and more series getting rebooted (Scrubs, Malcolm in the Middle and Friday Night Lights are all on their way), there’s also more risk of diminishing the catharsis and narrative impact of genuinely good finales.

At the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, our hero not only manages to save the world (again) but, through a series of machinations, manages to break the cycle of being the world’s only saviour. It ends with her smiling as she realises she gets to have a life outside of her role as a slayer, and gets to leave the small town of Sunnydale. It is an emotionally fulfilling end to a beloved series. We don’t yet know many details about the coming Buffy reboot but we do know Sarah Michelle Gellar is reprising her role as Buffy and will be sharing the screen with a new, younger slayer.

If the reboot fails to justify itself, it runs the risk of souring the original series’ resolution. Buffy, in many ways, gets a “happily ever after” moment – but by bringing back her iconic character, especially in this kind of genre, it runs the risk of traumatising the character for narrative sake, removing the “ever after” from the equation.

The Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That … did just that, choosing to kill off Carrie’s husband Mr Big via a Peloton in its first episode. That freed up Carrie to explore dating and sex (they had the city covered). While his bike-related death was confronting for some fans, it was a necessary move to bring a fresh perspective and a new life to this new incarnation of the franchise – but at the cost of Carrie’s happy-ever-after.

Loading

As we move into an era where streamers are desperately trying to find ways to bring back popular shows for nostalgia and to capitalise on proven success, it feels inevitable that we’ll get closer and closer to “it was all a dream” logic making its way into the narrative justification for a show’s revival.

The upside? If you didn’t like The Handmaid’s Tale finale, its sequel series The Testaments is already in production.

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.