The Dexter prequel series Dexter: Original Sin is off to a strong start with its first episode, creating a beautiful synergy between this new series and the original as well as the first limited series spin-off, Dexter: New Blood. The show kicks off by all but confirming what fans already knew, that Dexter (Michael C. Hall) actually survived being shot by his son in Dexter: New Blood. The story in Dexter: Original Sin is presented as though his life is being flashed before his eyes. He’s thinking back to his start, the time when his father Harry, played by Christian Slater in the new series, already knew who and what he was and was trying to channel the young man’s dark urges.
There were several flashbacks to Dexter’s younger days through the eight seasons of Dexter, with Hall playing his younger self (James Remar, his father Harry). This time, it’s Patrick Gibson taking on the titular role. Fans of the show will love the tie-ins, including different actors playing younger versions of key supporting characters. And die-hard fans will have noticed some enticing Easter Eggs in the first episode, with plenty more to come.
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Dexter: Original Sin
Release Date
December 15, 2024
Seasons
1
A Throwback to ‘Dexter: New Blood’
The first Easter Egg is one that throws back to Dexter: New Blood, flashing back to that series’ final season that saw Dexter lying in snow, dying from a gunshot wound inflicted by his son Harrison (Jack Alcott). But he’s being carted away in the backseat of a vehicle and saved by a team of doctors who manage to get a heartbeat. This sets up the other upcoming spin-off series, Dexter: Resurrection, while providing applicable context for this show. It lets viewers know right away that despite the tease, Dexter did not die.
The Opening Sequence
It was a brilliant idea to bring the opening sequence back, arguably one of the most iconic in television history. The new series’ opening is an homage to the original, virtually identical thematically, showcasing Dexter getting ready for an average morning, doing mundane things like brushing his teeth, making breakfast and coffee, and getting dressed, with dark and bloody undertones at each moment. But it intersperses his moments with those of his parents as well. The music, meanwhile, is the same track, known as “Dexter Main Title,” composed by Rolfe Kent.
Some of the new visual elements, however, include Deb painting her toenails red and chatting on the phone with the coiled analogue cord resting against her neck, and Dexter’s parents leaving the house in the morning as he looks on with a sinister smile. The end of the episode, meanwhile, includes the same familiar musical score that instantly sparks nostalgia.
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The Shaggy Hair and Striped Shirt
Fans of Dexter will recall that flashbacks to Dexter’s later teenage years and early 20s involved Hall aged down by wearing a silly shaggy wig. It was a simple way to keep the same actor in the role and make the scenes believable while differentiating his look from his older self. This was maintained in Dexter: Original Sinbut with Gibson wearing a similar long wig. Since Gibson is younger than Hall, he pulls it off more convincingly, even if the two actors only share a mild resemblance with one another.
Further, Hall’s version of a younger Dexter was often seen wearing a striped polo shirt with a collar in flashback scenes. In Dexter: Original Sin, he’s seen sporting a similar sense of fashion, further keeping with the continuity.
Mention of a Nickname
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In one scene, Dexter is sitting on his bed looking through newspaper clippings of serial killers that he has collected, including Ted Bundy and The Night Stalker. He has then hidden in a “girlie magazine” and when Deb (Molly Brown) walks in, she thinks she has caught him looking at that. Dexter’s inner monologue, however, voiced by Hall, reveals that Dexter is fascinated with these individuals and their accomplishments. He wonders if he is like them and if he might end up with a nickname as well one day.
As fans of Dexter know, of course, Dexter did in fact achieve this goal. His series of murders, once the bodies were discovered and connected from beneath the water, led to police coining the name The Bay Harbor Butcher.
Vince Masuka’s Laugh And Womanizing
Vince Masuka was Dexter’s only friend in Dexter. Played by C.S. Lee in the original (Alex Shimizu in this series), Masuka took a liking to his buddy but was completely oblivious to Dexter’s disinterest in having a personal friendship or talking about “regular” guy stuff. His appearance in the pilot episode was an adorable throwback to some of Masuka’s most defining quirks and personality traits, including the same cute (or irritating) laugh that became his signature.
The personality is also spot-on, as Masuka jeers at women walking by during a college campus career fair, where he’s there with the Miami Metro Police Department to help promote careers in law enforcement. It’s fitting that it’s Masuka and his booth that would drive Dexter to want to pursue this field versus medicine. Happening upon the booth, Dexter becomes instantly fascinated with the idea of working in forensics and the access he would have to blood and potential victims in such an occupation.
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Nurse Mary as the First Victim
In Dexter, the lead recalls his first-ever human victim as being a nurse named Mary (Tanya Clarke, played by Denise Crosby in the original) who was purposely harming patients, including his father Harry, after he suffered a heart attack. She, too, had a dark passenger and her murder is the first time Dexter and Harry figured out that maybe they can use his dark passenger for “good.” Up until that point, Harry had tried everything from hunting animals to pushing Dexter into a career in medicine to help channel his urges. But when Dexter murders this nurse, ultimately saving Harry’s life in the process, he feels a rush like no other.
But this is also when fans see Harry start to crack with guilt, knowing that he gave his son the go-ahead to stop her. Dexter: Original Sin uses this death as a perfect way to launch Dexter’s murderous path and introduce the first formations of Harry’s Code.
The Kill Room and Ritual
A signature of Dexter’s kills in Dexter is the ritualistic nature of them. Each time, he covers a room in plastic. He sets up a table, takes the person out of commission in some way, strips them naked, and lays them on the table, held tightly at the forehead, torso, and ankles with more plastic wrap. He taunts them about their wrongdoings, usually with a photo of some kind. He makes a single cut on their cheek to procure blood for a blood slide, then plunges a knife into their heart and watches the life drain from their body. From there, he chops up the body, places the parts in garbage bags, and drives them out to sea. Naturally, the older Dexter refined his process.
But in Dexter: Original Sin, fans get to see a sloppier Dexter just getting started. First, he knocks Nurse Mary out versus injecting her to put her to sleep. She awakens to him looking through her book of obituaries of all the people she has killed and taunts her about it. He hasn’t yet started with the blood slides, but he does keep her earrings as a trophy. He doesn’t chop up her body but wraps her up and takes her to a swamp known to be infested with alligators, where she is promptly eaten by a hungry one. It’s interesting to see the beginnings before Dexter evolved his ritual, and this Easter Egg is an homage to his earlier recollections about how he started out very sloppy.
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The Chair Spinning
In the final moments of the episode, Dexter is starting his internship at Miami Metro PD, and he’s excited to dive right into the job, despite his father’s reluctance. As he enters the room with Masuka, his new boss directs him to the smaller desk and chair, the one that would become Dexter’s workspace for years to come. He sits in the chair, gets comfortable, and starts spinning around. This is something the older Dexter did many times in the original series. It’s a nice Easter Egg for fans that recall his efforts to look playful and “normal” while secretly expressing his excitement at the thought of spending his days analyzing blood.
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Stream Dexter: Original Sin on Paramount+.
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