Dexter Sequel And Prequel Series Are Mistakes, Here’s Why

I won’t lie—the cast of Dexter: Original Sin is exciting. As guy who was entering his teens around the time Christian Slater was becoming a household name, the idea of the Heathers star playing Harry Morgan intrigues me. Not to mention that as a hardcore Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, I’m psyched to see Sarah Michelle Gellar part of the team.

But if there is any series that doesn’t need a prequel, it’s Dexter. Why? Because you could already paste together an entire prequel series just from the flashbacks in the original series.

Dexter is not withholding with its flashbacks. One of the very first scenes of the series premiere features a much younger Dexter with his father Harry, played by James Remar.

We already know how Harry discovered his son was killing animals, including a neighbor’s dog. We already know how Harry turned Dexter into a weapon, how he gave his son the “Code of Harry,” and we already know how much Harry grew to regret what he did. We already know Dexter’s first human kill—Nurse Mary, played by Denise Crosby of Star Trek fame.

There is going to be something in Original Sin that contradicts the events depicted in Dexter.

I don’t say that because I have inside info about the prequel series—I don’t. I say that because prequels always contradict the events of the source material. It’s practically a requirement.

You need to convince your audience there’s something new and surprising about the story to justify the prequel, and while that doesn’t necessarily mean something that contradicts the source material it always winds up being something that contradicts the source material.

For example, I’d be willing to bet money on Dexter: Original Sin contradicting the story about the titular serial killer’s first murder being Denise Crosby’s Nurse Mary.

And that’s okay. Our enjoyment of Dexter doesn’t have to be changed by another series, but why not just leave the whole thing alone?

New Blood wasn’t bad, but it also felt kind of like a dramatized appendix—an addendum to a deeply flawed ending.

The reason neither New Blood nor the upcoming Resurrection could ever truly act as a continuation of Dexter is because Miami is in the rearview mirror and there’s no way to change that.

Even though the hook of Dexter is the vigilante serial killer who hunts other murderers, what grounds it is the supporting cast—Dexter’s found family, his attempts to understand them, and the challenge of hiding his crimes from them.

Without that tension—without Deb and Angel and Masuka and LaGuerta and Rita—Dexter isn’t Dexter.

Could Dexter: Resurrection give us a new cast of supporting characters to act as the eponymous killer’s found family? Sure, but as New Blood showed us, it won’t.

We live in the era of prestige TV and among other things that means fewer episodes and bigger budgets. As such, did Dexter: New Blood give us a new found family for the lead? It sure did.

And by the time we got to know any of them, the cat was out of the bag and Dexter was bleeding to death in the snow.

I could be wrong. It’s been known to happen. But rather than give us time to know and get emotionally invested with whatever characters Dexter finds himself attached to next, with Resurrection we are likely just looking at yet another one-and-done ten episode season.

There has to be some level of irony that a franchise like Dexter, that revolves around death, simply refuses to die.

But at the same time, I’ll be honest—I will be checking out both Dexter: Original Sin and Dexter: Resurrection as soon as the episodes drop. I love Michael C. Hall‘s work, I love the franchise, and in this case, more than anything, I would love to be proven wrong.