Get out your plastic wrap.
The hit serial killer drama “Dexter” has returned, with a prequel collection about Dexter’s youthful years.
Known as “Dexter: Original Sin,” it premieres Friday, Dec 13 (on Paramount+ with Showtime) and has its linear debut Sunday, Dec. 15 (10 p.m. on Showtime).
Set in Nineteen Nineties Miami, the collection follows a twentysomething Dexter (Patrick Gibson, “The OA”) as he evolves from med college pupil into the enduring serial killer from the unique present.
The forged is rounded out by Christian Slater as Dexter’s policeman father, Harry, and Patrick Dempsey and Sarah Michelle Gellar as cops who work with Harry — and later Dexter, because the latter begins his internship on the Miami Metro Police Division.
“Dexter: Original Sin” is entertaining sufficient in case you’re a “Dexter” fan. It’s acquired nice performances and delivers some stale thrills — however with an emphasis on stale.
The unique “Dexter” was Showtime’s largest hit, airing for eight seasons from 2006 to 2013. The story adopted Dexter (Michael C. Corridor), a serial killer whose cop father, Harry (James Remar), taught him to channel his urges into solely concentrating on fellow killers as his victims. In 2021, it had a sequel collection, “Dexter: New Blood,” following Dexter years after the occasions of the present.
Within the unique present, Dexter labored by day as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Division. His colleagues included his adopted sister, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), the fashionable Detective Angel Batista (David Zayas), and obnoxious lab tech Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee).
The strongest a part of “Dexter: Original Sin” is its forged. Gibson was nice within the underrated Netflix collection “The OA,” so it’s good to see him get a star car, and he captures Corridor’s demeanor effectively. (Corridor returns as an exec producer, and he lends his voice-over to Dexter’s inside ideas, simply as he did for the unique present).
Slater is stellar, and he carries a lot of the present’s emotional weight.
Dempsey, however, is saddled with taking part in his function as a blowhard to a typically absurd extent. At one level, the character says to his workforce, “I’m not a proud mama, fellas. I am one pissed-off menopausal bitch!”
It strains credibility that any boss would discuss to his subordinates like that — even a cop within the ’90s. However, it’s enjoyable to see Dempsey, the “sexiest man alive,” lean into such an outlandish half.
Youthful variations of Batista (James Martinez) and Masuka (Alex Shimizu) are spot-on, with the latter particularly nailing Masuka’s mannerisms, proper right down to his annoying giggle.
For “Dexter” followers who simply need to see youthful variations of the characters — or who simply need to see Dempsey and Slater chewing surroundings — “Original Sin” is a deal with.
The issue is the writing. Even the most effective forged can’t repair that.
To begin with, this present doesn’t appear to have discovered what its level is for current. (Clearly to make Showtime and Paramount cash, however a present shouldn’t really feel like a cynical money seize).
The unique “Dexter” extensively coated his childhood. Not a lot of Dexter’s life is unexplored. So, the prequel collection is left answering uninteresting questions that no one requested, comparable to “Did Bautista still wear that hat when he was younger?” (The reply: sure).
In lieu of claiming something recent, “Dexter: Original Sin” is crammed with imitations.
Shimizu mimics the unique Masuka effectively, so the actor can’t be faulted for that. However what’s the purpose of exhibiting us an impression of an annoying facet character from “Dexter”? That isn’t a compelling story.
“Dexter: Original Sin” provides us with extra of the identical: Dexter being a enjoyable dangerous man who goes after worse dangerous guys. There was an edgy allure to the unique present. “Dexter: Original Sin” has that allure, to a sure extent. It’s possible you’ll be happy, if that’s all you need.
However what number of occasions can we watch Dexter kill a worse killer? It will get previous after the 600th time. “Original Sin” isn’t a lot of an origin story, both, as a result of by the top of the primary episode, he’s already a lot of the means there to being the “Dexter” we all know.
A very compelling origin story would begin with the character in a vastly totally different place than the unique present. Within the criminally underrated 2014 pirate present “Black Sails,” Lengthy John Silver (Luke Arnold) had a incredible origin story the place he was unrecognizable at first, and advanced into the well-known literary character over the collection. Whether or not you like or hate “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power,” even that present understood this about origin tales.
In “Original Sin,” making Dexter an intern quite than a full-time worker on the Miami Metro PD is hardly “vastly different.” He’s not given a lot room to alter, since he’s just about the identical Dexter we all know, simply youthful.
And, much like the “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon,” this present is harm by the data that the unique “Dexter” had one of many worst collection finales amongst exhibits of the aughts. It’s good to see younger Deb (Molly Brown), however her terrible, undignified exit from the unique “Dexter” casts a shadow.
“Dexter: Original Sin” isn’t unwatchable. It’s crammed with entertaining performances, however the story feels prefer it’s beating a useless horse, quite than providing up an thrilling prequel that has a compelling motive to exist. And even Dexter, a serial killer, would by no means beat a useless horse. He had higher style than that.
