Sure, every Dexter fan joked about Michael C. Hall’s terrible wig in those flashbacks to college-age Dexter. But to get to the point: Dexter’s origins were very well told throughout the original series. There are so many flashbacks to different parts of his life and so much information over time that Original Sin always had to tell and show us things we already knew. Turns out it only took one episode for him to fall right into that trap. At this point, Dexter Morgan is simply not a character with holes in his story crying out to be filled.

“And in the Beginning” also introduces new Miami Metro characters Bobby Watt (Reno Wilson), Aaron Spencer (Patrick Dempsey) and Tanya Martin (Sarah Michelle Gellar). The show certainly did well in terms of casting actors with particularly iconic backgrounds in the form of Slater, Dempsey and Gellar. And it’s in this Miami metro area that we’ll probably get the most ongoing plot and real new information, as they probably won’t cast Dempsey and Gellar without the intention of doing some notable things with them – which also means that we can begin to guess which of them will turn out to be the murderer and/or the victim at the end of the season.

In its first few seasons, “Dexter” was a prime example of the dawning prestige TV era. But then it took much longer than was comfortable and fell into its own way, with some truly pathetic storylines that culminated in a disappointing eighth season and finale. (Lumberjack Dexter, anyone?) It was rumored that keeping Dexter alive was a mandate from Showtime, which makes sense considering network execs immediately expressed their desire to create a Dexter spin-off about… Dexter to have. When it finally came, 2022’s Dexter: New Blood wasn’t great, but it was decent – and far better than the last few seasons of Dexter. More importantly, it gave the character Dexter Morgan a much better and seemingly final sendoff.

But they just couldn’t keep it down enough, and so not only do we have this prequel series, it’s already been announced that Michael C. Hall will be starring in No, He’s Not Dead in Dexter: Resurrection. “Original Sin” begins with a teaser for the series set in 2025 – it actually turns out to be a bridge between “New Blood” and “Resurrection,” as it’s also a continuation of the series, so to speak, with a framing device that Hall shows Dexter being rushed to the hospital after being shot by his formerly estranged son Harrison. The character’s life flashing before his eyes frames Original Sin And an excuse to let Hall continue to narrate what’s happening on screen.

Is Hall’s voice a calming presence in Original Sin, evoking memories of Dexter at its best? To a certain extent, yes, and Hall still seems to be having fun and doing his best. However, the narrative became a tangible, annoyingly unnecessary symbol of the show’s decline. And even in “And in the Beginning” there are echoes of it, like when Tanya tells Dexter that Harry taught him well, and in Hall’s narration, “She had no idea,” in a way that almost forces Gibson to have one Jim Halpert to give look into the camera.

Gibson makes a solid start to the role of Dexter, evoking the same cool distance that Hall mastered so well. A few of the little grins he gives show rare, amusing signs of genuine joy – through killing or the thought of killing, of course. Playing Deb is somewhat of a thankless task, as Jennifer Carpenter’s performance and foul-mouthed attitude in the role were so concrete and funny that Brown feels like she’s imitating Carpenter. Hopefully she’ll be able to make the character feel like her own in future episodes – and hopefully Dexter: Original Sin can somehow stop feeling like an echo of something that was once great.

Other thoughts:

• The only major addition to the premiere’s Dexter story is the revelation that Harry and his late wife Doris (Jasper Lewis) had a son who died before Harry adopted Dexter. The son’s death by drowning (under Harry’s watch) is clearly further evidence of why a guilt-ridden father would protect Dexter (and his murderous urges) at all costs. But it also feels unnecessary. Couldn’t Harry have just been a loving father with his own messed up idea of ​​how to deal with a messed up child?
• In Dexter canon, Harry dies a year after Dexter kills Mary. So if this show continues, Christian Slater could eventually play the same imaginary/”ghost” Harry as James Remar. That’s especially true given Slater’s role in “Mr. Robot” pretty funny.
• Dexter’s urges are portrayed in an almost supernatural way here, especially when he tells Harry that the sight of the blood of the guy he fought at the graduation party pushed him forward. This makes Dexter sound almost like a vampire, which is a fun approach.
• Although we saw Dexter kill Mary back in that 2006 episode, we hadn’t seen him dispose of her body or take her earrings. If we’re looking for new information, it looks like this show will fill in even more gaps on how Dexter ends up taking a blood test from each of his victims and disposing of their body parts in the water instead of feeding a corpse to alligators. But because the original series showed us so much in flashbacks, we know it has to be Alex Timmons. Timmons was believed to be the first Dexter victim from whom he took the blood sample back in 2009, as previously established in the web series “Dexter Early Cuts” after appearing in a flashback in Season 1.Return to sender.”
• The first episode of Original Sin was directed by Michel Lehman, who last worked with Slater on the 1989 classic Heathers.