Why Did the Series ‘Dexter’ Leave Netflix? Inside the Details of Its Removal

Long before audiences became obsessed with serial killer Joe Goldberg in the Netflix hit series You, there was Dexter Morgan, whose murderous practices on the Showtime series Dexter set the tone for the current television popularity of dark and twisted characters. When Dexter hit Netflix, both new and returning fans were eager to dive into the show, but its sudden removal left fans wondering why.

Premiering in October 2006 and airing a total of eight seasons until September 2013, Dexter was an instant hit with fans as it chronicled the complicated journey of forensic blood spatter analysis technician Dexter Morgan and his double life as a vigilante serial killer.

On Wednesday, June 18, Dexter officially left Netflix and is no longer available to stream on the platform.

According to Decider, as has been the case with many shows in the past, the licensing agreement between Paramount and Netflix, which allows Netflix to stream the series in the U.S., expired.

It is possible that a new licensing agreement could be reached in order for the show to return to the platform, but there have been no reports of that happening as of now.

Fans of the original Dexter series are in luck because all eight seasons are currently streaming on Paramount+ with Showtime.

If you don’t have a subscription, the series is also available for purchase and can be streamed on Prime Video. For Hulu subscribers, adding the Paramount+ with Showtime bundle to your existing account will allow you to stream it on that platform as well.

To date, there have been three spin-offs in the Dexter universe, demonstrating just how beloved the show and its central character, Dexter Morgan, are over a decade since the original series ended its run.

Dexter: New Blood aired for one season, from November 2021 to January 2022, followed by Dexter: Original Sin, which premiered in December 2024 and was renewed for a second season that aired in April 2025, and the newest show in the universe is Dexter: Resurrection, set to premiere on July 11, 2025.

The show’s premise immediately follows the events of Dexter: New Blood and follows Dexter surviving the near-fatal gunshot wound at the hands of his son, Harrison.

"The character was severely traumatized by a lot of what happened to him in the original incarnation and is only now at a place where he's able to shed that,” actor Michael C. Hall said of the character he made famous in an April 2025 interview with Vanity Fair. “Spending time with that [Original Sin] material helped embroider and color in what was maybe a line drawing or an outline that I had in my mind from the beginning — so it's a tool for us."

"Dexter has a lot of hesitation about making contact, which is a fundamental part of the tension that is pervasive for the first bit of the season,” Michael said of Dexter’s quest to find his son. “Harrison revealed himself to be, and remains, an all-the-more potent connection to Dexter's tiny sense of humanity. He craves it, in spite of himself, so it's a major bolt of thread running through his interior life and the life of the season.”