The Only Show That Actually Needs A Prequel Gets One
When Dexter: Original Sin was announced, fans collectively groaned. After all, the original Dexter show ended with an infamously awful episode, and prequels of popular IPs have been played out for a long while. However, much like the titular character planning his next kill, I spent some time mulling over the possibilities related to a series focusing on the early years of Dexter Morgan’s transformation into Miami’s quirkiest serial killer. And I reached a conclusion as shocking as the sudden death of Rita back in season 4: due to its complex lore and unanswered questions, Dexter might be the only TV show that actually needs a prequel.
The Dexter Prequel Story
What is this Dexter prequel about, exactly? Dexter: Original Sin is set in the ‘90s and focuses on how our protagonist (Patrick Gibson) becomes a serial killer with a strict moral code enforced by his father (Christian Slater). Michael C. Hall will return to provide narration as the adult Dexter, and it’s virtually impossible to avoid comparing this show to NCIS: Origins, which is also set in the ‘90s, features different actors playing familiar characters, and has voiceovers from Mark Harmon as the adult Agent Gibbs.
That comparison is a great starting point to discuss why Dexter is the only show that actually needs to have a prequel. The essential problem of NCIS: Origins is that while it splits its time between weekly procedural cases and character development for Gibbs, it doesn’t really offer viewers anything new. We get crappy new characters doing the same thing that their more charismatic counterparts do each week on the original NCIS, and much of the aforementioned characterization is just a dramatic retelling of events fans have already heard about.
The Reason We Need The Dexter Prequel
Why, then, do I think Dexter needs a prequel more than NCIS or any other show? For one thing, there is still much about the title character’s bonkers story that we could use more granular details about. Like, Dexter’s cop father discovers that his son has unstoppable homicidal urges and weaponizes him against bad guys. We only know the broad strokes of how that works, but it could be very rewarding to see how this father (played by throwback icon Christian Slater, no less) develops a crazy solution to an unthinkable problem.
As a big fan of the original Dexter (minus that God-awful finale), I’m also hoping the prequel show delves more into how our favorite blood-splatter analysis effectively infiltrates the police and hides his murderous activities from the people whose entire job is to bust killers like him. It’s part of the original show’s off-kilter charm, but the idea of a prolific serial killer hiding in the midst of the cops is insanely unrealistic. Potentially, this Dexter prequel could help illustrate how our boy pulled this off even as it sketches out his relationship with fan-favorite supporting characters like Batista and Masuka.
Learning To Be A Better Killer
Finally, a Dexter prequel could help outline all the early mistakes the young killer makes that force him to better camouflage himself in the future. For example, his romantic involvement with Rita in the original show was partially fueled by his need to blend in and not look like what he really is: an obsessive, single, white male a.k.a. the profile of far too many real serial killers. For longtime fans, it could be fun to see the early screwups our hero makes to become the confident killer of the original TV show.
Television is replete with sequels, but even some of the best ones are technically unnecessary: Better Call Saul, for example, is the gold standard, but it’s mostly a deep dive into a minor Breaking Bad character rather than a show that helps us better understand the original series. Similarly, fantasy fare like House of the Dragon or Rings of Power offers some fun lore, but none of it ever feels like required viewing to better understand, respectively, the Game of Thrones show or Lord of the Rings films.
Dexter is officially the only show that needs a prequel to help us unpack its main character and fully understand the earlier series. And we can all see how well it does so when Dexter: Original Sin premieres on Friday the 13th on Paramount+. With showrunner Clyde Phillips (who handled the first four seasons of the original Dexter), this prequel series should be anything but boring.
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