‘Dexter: Original Sin’ is guilty of beating a dead horse: TV review

On December 14, 2024By Online Niel

It doesn’t seem possible for “Dexter” as a franchise to move forward. In the final moments of the sequel “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 did appeared to be — more on that in a second.) This development, on its surface, marked the end of the road for one of the defining pieces of the antihero era, a role Hall had been playing for 15 years at the time. Sure, still another the sequel, “Resurrection,” would pass the torch to Dexter’s son Harrison (Jack Alcott). But if the Showtime network wanted to continue squeezing drops from this blood-soaked towel, the only direction left to go was backwards.

Incredibly, the prequel “Dexter: Original Sin” tries to have it both ways. Not only does the 10-episode season — previews of which were not given to critics — return to 1991, when a 20-year-old Dexter (Patrick Gibson) graduates from the University of Miami and works his way into the local police department as paid intern. The show, created by original “Dexter” showrunner Clyde Phillips, also undoes the apparent finality of “New Blood.” As it turns out, Dexter survived, and the events of “Original Sin” are framed as memories he thinks about while on the operating table. Before introducing Gibson, the camera zooms in so that the “Emergency Room” sign reads “Emerge”.

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The immediate and insurmountable problem with “Original Sin” is that the same superfans that make up the target audience are already familiar with its major events, since “Dexter” itself was full of flashbacks. Christian Slater may be new to the role of Detective Harry Morgan, but it’s long-standing “Dexter” lore that Harry helped his adopted son channel his “Dark Passenger” for more (arguably) constructive purposes, targeting other killers. Even the identity of his first victim, a nurse who preys on her patients, is locked in canon. There aren’t many gaps left in Dexter’s early life for “Original Sin” to fill.

“Original Sin” opts for slipshod, embracing repetition rather than making much effort to avoid it. Dexter’s colleagues Batista (James Martinez) and Masuka (Alex Shimizu) are presented 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 at the Miami metro. While Maria LaGuerta (Christina Milian) at least has a backstory as a new detective who has publicly criticized the homicide department’s disproportionate focus on white, affluent victims, she is not. that far from the woman who will be in 15 years. Gibson spends most of the premiere in a ridiculous wig of surfer curls; by the end, Hall’s hair is cut and his inner monologue sounds suspiciously like its predecessor. (Hall returns IRL for the opening scene, but retreats to the sound booth to provide narration throughout.)

Dexter might be a relative novice at 20, yet he already has the MO of encasing his victims and their surroundings in plastic – both to contain them and to allow for efficient cleanup -. teenager, and “Original Sin” is a family-friendly sitcom about a grieving family with some deadly secrets. (In 1991, Deb and Dexter’s mother has recently died.) Dexter’s first kill, initiated by the nurse who poisoned Harry when he is hospitalized after a heart attack, is interrupted by Deb’s high school volleyball game . But it’s not enough to undo the impression that “Original Sin” is just playing the hits, even down to a soundtrack of ’90s touchstones like “Ice Ice Baby.” The show could have taken more time to get Dexter into the swing of things; instead, he satisfies his bloodlust and lands the job in 45 minutes of screen time.

“Original Sin” offers some new information through Harry, who has his own colorful timeline set in the 1970s. But the device only turns into an echo of the “Dexter” flashbacks and draws attention to how much the 1990s timeline must be completed. 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, helmeted police chief. (At least the hair and makeup departments are having fun!) “Original Sin” isn’t breathing new life out of a piece of IP that’s now old enough to vote. However, it represents the profit-seeking hindsight that eats culture from the inside out like a termite infestation. All that’s left is an empty structure to be blown away by the next storm in Miami.

The first episode of “Dexter: Original Sin” is now streaming on Paramount+ and will premiere on Showtime on December 15 at 10:00 PM ET, with the remaining episodes airing on Fridays and airing on Sundays.