It’s seemingly not possible for “Dexter,” as a franchise, to move forward. In the final moments of the sequel series “New Blood,” which aired eight years after the original series finale in 2013, Michael C. Hall’s serial killer was fatally shot. (Or at least, he appeared (More on that later.) This development, at first glance, marked the end of the road for one of the defining leads of the antihero era, a role Hall had been playing for fifteen years at the time. Sure, still another sequel, “Resurrection,” would pass the torch to Dexter’s son Harrison (Jack Alcott). But if network Showtime wanted to keep wringing drops from this blood-soaked towel, the only direction left was back.
Incredibly, the prequel “Dexter: Original Sin” tries to have it both ways. Not only does the 10-episode season — which was not previewed for critics — turn the clock back to 1991, when a twenty-year-old Dexter (Patrick Gibson) graduates from the University of Miami and finds his way into the local police force as a paid intern. The show, created by original “Dexter” showrunner Clyde Phillips, also undoes the apparent finality of “New Blood.” It turns out that Dexter survived, and the events of ‘Original Sin’ are framed as memories he reflects on as he lies on the operating table. Before Gibson is introduced, the camera zooms in so that the “Emergency Room” sign reads “Emerge” instead.
The immediate, insurmountable problem with “Original Sin” is that the same superfans who are its target audience are already familiar with the big events, because “Dexter” itself was packed with flashbacks. Christian Slater may be new to the role of Detective Harry Morgan, but it’s long-standing “Dexter” lore that Harry helped his adoptive son channel his “Dark Passenger” for more (debatably) constructive purposes by targeting other killers . Even the identity of his first victim, a nurse who preyed on her patients, is recorded in the canon. There aren’t many holes left in Dexter’s early life for “Original Sin” to fill.
“Original Sin” chooses to steer into the skids and embrace repetition rather than putting much effort into avoiding it. Dexter’s colleagues Batista (James Martinez) and Masuka (Alex Shimizu) are introduced exactly as they will be in the first series, right down to their costumes: Batista is a gregarious mensch in a fedora, Masuka is a skeezy lech, and both are already installed in Miami Metro. While Maria LaGuerta (Christina Milian) is at least given a backstory as a new detective who has been publicly critical of the homicide unit’s disproportionate focus on white, affluent victims, she is not. That a far cry from the woman she will be in fifteen years. Gibson spends most of the premiere in a ridiculous wig of surfer curls; By the end he has Hall’s haircut and his inner monologue sounds suspiciously similar to its predecessor. (Hall returns IRL for the opening scene, but retreats to the sound booth to provide commentary throughout.)
Dexter may still be a relative novice at the age of twenty, but he already has a habit of wrapping his victims and those around them in plastic – both to restrain them and to enable efficient cleanup –. His sister Deb (Molly Brown) is a sassy teen, and there’s a touch of novelty in “Original Sin,” a demented family sitcom about a grieving family with some deadly secrets. (In 1991, Deb and Dexter’s mother recently died.) Dexter’s first murder, caused by the nurse who poisoned Harry when he was hospitalized after a heart attack, is juxtaposed with Deb’s high school volleyball game. But there’s not enough to dispel the impression that “Original Sin” is just playing the hits, right down to a soundtrack of ’90s touchstones like “Ice Ice Baby.” The show could have taken more time to get Dexter up to speed; instead, he satisfies his bloodlust and gets the job within 45 minutes of screen time.
“Original Sin” offers some new information through Harry, who gets his own flashy, color-saturated timeline set in the 1970s. But the device just turns into an echo of the “Dexter” flashbacks, drawing attention to how much the little ’90s timeline needs to be filled out. The “fresh” faces in the “Original Sin” ensemble are themselves avatars of nostalgia: Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Dexter’s new boss, while Patrick Dempsey appears as the mustachioed, helmet-haired police chief. (At least the hair and makeup departments are having fun!) “Original Sin” isn’t reviving a piece of intellectual property that’s now old enough to vote. However, it does represent the profit-seeking retrospective that is devouring the culture from within like a termite plague. All that remains is a hollow structure that will be blown away by the next Miami storm.
The first episode of “Dexter: Original Sin” is now streaming on Paramount+ and will premiere on Showtime on December 15 at 10pm ET, with the remaining episodes streaming on Fridays and airing on Sundays.