5 January 2025
TV’s favourite serial killer is back – but not quite as we know him.
In the finale of Dexter: New Blood, Dexter’s life flashes before his eyes as he lies bleeding out in the snow. Dexter: Original Sin repeats that flashback and provides a look at how America’s favourite vigilante, one of TV’s most iconic anti-heroes, turned from a student to a serial killer.
This excellent 10-part prequel series is set in 1991 just as 20-year-old Dexter (now played by Irish actor Patrick Gibson with original star and executive producer Michael C. Hall providing Dexter Morgan’s inner voice) graduates from the University of Miami and starts his forensics internship at the Miami Metro Police Department. With his dark urges to kill getting stronger, his adoptive police detective father Harry (Christian Slater) helps him channel that darkness and adopt a moral code: only kill other murderers who have escaped justice. Dexter: Original Sin explores him learning how to kill – without getting caught.
In the original show, Dexter worked by day as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department. His colleagues included his adopted sister, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), the stylish Detective Angel Batista (David Zayas), and obnoxious lab tech Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee).
From the original series to Dexter: New Blood to the upcoming Dexter: Resurrection, there’s proving to be no lack of spin-offs to watch in the Dexter universe. This new prequel series is set in 1991, 15 years before the events of Dexter, so there is plenty of scope for further series along the line.
The original series ran for eight seasons between 2006 and 2013 and i just devoured them again in their entirity on Netflix, where they’ve recently been added.
Five episodes in (they are dropping weekly on Fridays on Paramount+) I am happy to report that Dexter: Original Sin is in great shape and running like a thorough bred. Quality TV.
Patrick Gibson (you may recognise him from The Tudors) nails Dexter’s recognisable quirks, capturing everything from the eerie calm to the awkwardness that made the original Dexter such a compelling character, and he’s convincing when it comes to channeling the character’s sociopathic tendencies. It’s great to see him make to leap to fully flegged TV leading man. He doesn’t disappoint on any level.
Christian Slater is another clear standout in the cast, capturing the essence of James Remar’s original Harry while still making the role his own across two separate timelines, including a garishly colour-saturated storyline set in the 1970s.
Dexter’s co-workers Batista (James Martinez) and Masuka (Alex Shimizu) are introduced exactly as they were 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 at Miami Metro. Among the guest stars, Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Dexter’s new forensics boss, while Patrick Dempsey appears as the mustachioed, helmet-haired police chief. Both knockouts.
For Dexter fans – like me – who just want to see younger versions of the characters — or who just want to see Dempsey and Slater chewing scenery — Original Sin is an absolute treat. This series is shaping up to be a show we didn’t know we needed.
