Dexter Season 4 Post-Mortem:
Wondering where the show will go from here? Read theories and share your own:
Open Questions from the Dexter Season 4 Finale
Dexter Spoilers and Speculation: What's in Store for Season 5?
Dexter Producer Sheds Light on Season 4 Finale

Dexter Season 5 Casting News:

Update [8-17-10]: The Dexter supporting cast influx continues! Chris Vance (Mental) has joined season 5 for a multi-episode arc as "Cole, a meticulous, physically fit, well-spoken personal aide to a famous businessman," EW reports. "Meticulous"? If that's not an adjective for a serial killer, I don't know what is ...

Update [7-20-10]: Katherine Moenning (The L Word) will appear in one Dexter season 5 episode as a tattoo artist. "How she'll become embroiled in the serial killer's world remains unknown," reports TV Guide. EW reports that former ER star April Lee Hernandez will join the cast in a recurring role as "a new cop (presumably) working in Miami Metro's homicide department."

Update [7-19-10]: Peter Weller (AKA the original RoboCop) has joined for eight episodes of Dexter season 5 as "a Miami Metro cop who gets entangled in an internal affairs investigation." Julia Stiles' character will be named Lumen. She's described as "psychologically and physically damaged," and her introduction presents Dexter "with a dilemma."

Update [6-25-10]: Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone) has joined Dexter season 5. His character is still pretty tightly under wraps, but according to Variety will be "a mysterious man who ends up tangled in a storyline with Julie Stiles."

Update [6-11-10]: Former Tudors actress Maria Doyle Kennedy will return to Showtime and join the Dexter season 5 cast for a recurring role as Dexter's irish nanny. Kennedy played King Henry VIII's (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) first wife Catherine Aragon in the first season of The Tudors.

EW's Michael Ausiello reports that Southland actor Shawn Hatosy will join Dexter season 5 as "a bad guy."

Julia Stiles is already in talks to join the cast as a mysterious, non-killer young woman who forms a unique bond with Dexter. Julie Benz, who played Dexter's wife Rita, is set to make an appearance in the fall premiere. But there are more personalities to look forward to, according to TV Guide Magazine. 

Evidently, producers are looking for a funeral director and several mourners to cast for Rita's funeral, which will be filmed this month. Another casting call for Dexter seeks a young male actor to play Agent Walker, the newest face of the FBI in Miami. Then there's a 60-something couple named Molly and Bill who are expected to lend a hand to Dexter and his sister Debra as they raise a motherless Astor, Cody and Harrison.

Dexter Season 5 Romance News:

Speaking of Debra, the show is planning to give her yet another love interest next season, but don't expect someone new. According to Entertainment Weekly, Johannessen is finally going to pull the trigger on a Deb-Quinn romance.

See where Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow landed on our "Best of the Year" lists:
BuddyTV Slideshow: Best Drama Lead Actors on TV
BuddyTV Slideshow: Best Drama Supporting Actors on TV

Are you looking forward to the new characters of Dexter season 5? How do you feel about the Deb-Quinn pairing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

(Image courtesy of Showtime)