14 DAY TRIAL // Season 6 of “Dexter” doesn’t premiere on Showtime until October 2, but fans can already see what their favorite serial killer has been up to. The first episode has leaked in full – and several sources confirm it’s the real deal.
AceShowbiz says that the episode emerged online at TorrentFreak before the weekend, and was downloaded over 50,000 times in a very short while, thus further confirming the popularity of the show.
While Showtime is yet to address the leak or take a stand on it, it’s already too late in terms of getting the content back: if it’s out there, it can’t be pulled off.
“When confirmed about the news on early Friday, September 23, Ernesto of TorrentFreak said about 50,000 people have downloaded the 502 MB file, which is possibly ripped from a DVD source,” AceShowbiz writes.
“It is impossible to take down now, unless they shut down the entire internet,” Ernesto said of the leak and how Showtime may react to it.
Then again, there’s a chance the network might not want to take any action at all, since this could be a marketing ploy meant to drum up even more interest in the brand new season, voices online are saying.
Though no one ever admits to it, the practice is not new in the industry, when artists or movie / television studios “leak” projects they’re yet to release to benefit from the free publicity.
The same could have happened here, Signature9 believes.
“Had they tried to release the episode early through official channels, there may have been more licensing hassles and less buzz from people who spread the word after feeling like they’ve stumbled upon an unauthorized version,” the e-zine says.
“Even with the early release, that will surely get a few extra viewers tuning in on October 2nd to rewatch the first episode, and more than likely a few after that,” Signature9 further states.
Of course, fans have a choice to not see the leaked season premiere, which is what they’re encouraged to do. For them, Showtime has two brand new, very promising clips from the upcoming season.
Dexter, “Tragedy Strikes”