What Happened To Hannah In Dexter? New Blood Kills Original ...

CAUTION: This post contains spoilers for Dexter: New Blood. 

New Blood has killed an important original series character off-screen—but who is Hannah McKay, and what happened to her in Dexter? New Blood episode 1 sees the return of Harrison Morgan after nearly a decade, having tracked down his father after the serial killer faked his death. While much of Dexter’s initial shock at seeing his son was due to how long it had been since abandoning him, it was also rooted in confusion, considering Harrison was supposed to be living with Hannah in Argentina.

Hannah McKay (Yvonne Strahovski) was introduced in Dexter season 7 as a semi-villain, a former serial killer who Dexter and Miami Metro had to recruit the help of to discover hidden bodies. While Hannah clearly had sociopathic tendencies of her own, she was recruited into killing as a teenager by Wayne Randall, a man she fell in love with and with whom she went on a killing spree before the two were caught. By the time they meet in Dexter's original series, Hannah has been living free for years, though Dexter discovers she may have been responsible for more kills than she led on to the police. Feeling Hannah would be a nice victim for his Dark Passenger, Dexter places her on his table, only for the two to engage in a sexual and emotional relationship from then on.

Related: Dexter: New Blood Filming Location - Where Is Iron Lake?

Dexter and Hannah continued an on-and-off relationship throughout Dexter seasons 7 and 8, at the obvious disapproval of Dexter’s sister Deb, who had—against her own morals—asked her brother to kill Hannah. After Dexter eventually placed Hannah in jail, the two briefly broke up, only to get back together in season 8. Realizing they were in love with each other, Hannah and Dexter formulated a plan to abandon their serial killing lives in Miami and escape to Argentina, where they could give Harrison a chance at a normal life. In Dexter’s original, deeply hated series finale, Harrison and Hannah were boarding the plane to Argentina, only for Dexter to never appear, as he faked his death and changed his identity instead. New Blood reveals that Dexter and Hannah had kept minor contact thereafter through letters, but it wasn’t until Harrison tracked him down that he discovered Hannah had died three years prior.

According to New Blood, Hannah and Harrison had lived a small, quiet life in Buenos Aires on a farm for a long while. After approximately five years of living like this, Hannah passed away from pancreatic cancer. Harrison was then sent back to Miami, living in the foster care system for three years until finally deciding to track down his father, who he discovered from the letters was still alive. While it was understood that Hannah McKay—played by Handmaid's Tale's Yvonne Strahovski—wouldn't be featured in New Blood, it wasn’t clear how the writers would resolve her fate. Since Hannah was still a wanted fugitive at the time of her escape to Argentina, many believed Harrison returning in New Blood episode 1 meant she was finally arrested. Instead, the character's death occurred off-screen from a terminal illness, which is pretty out of character for Dexter’s series.

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While Hannah was an extremely important character in the final two seasons of Dexter’s original series, she wasn’t particularly well-received by fans. Many found it a betrayal of Dexter’s character that he would suddenly lose his Dark Passenger after falling in love with Hannah, and that he would feel Harrison was “safe” with her considering she’s a fugitive and convicted killer. While it may have been more satisfying to see Hannah’s demise on-screen, it makes sense why New Blood episode 2 made her death a passive occurrence. New Blood is about Dexter and Harrison's dynamic, and Hannah being brought back would serve as a distraction from Iron Lake’s world-building. When originally asked about Hannah’s role in New Blood, Strahovski was in the dark as much as fans, but felt it likely that the teenage Harrison had murdered her character—a plot twist that could still pan out if Harrison lied.

Next: Dexter: New Blood Returning Cast & New Character Guide