Review of 'Dexter: Original Sin' 1.1-1.3

The Dexter series is back with a prequel -- Dexter: Original Sin on Paramount+Showtime -- and here's a review with plenty of spoilers:

The debut episode starts off right where Dexter: New Blood ended, with Dexter killed. Except, turns out he survived, and the ensuing Dexter: Original Sin is described by the recovering Dexter as "seeing your life flash before your eyes," as you're lying, almost dead, on your nearly death bed. Now, this was a great beginning, but Dexter's survival didn't come as a surprise to me. I already knew Dexter survived his son's bullet because I'd seen all the announcement of Dexter coming back in the flesh, not only with Michael C. Hall's voice, but Michael C. Hall on the screen, this coming summer. Advice to Paramount+Showtime: you should have kept your announcement that Dexter was coming back not only as his younger self but himself per se under wraps until the first episode of Original Sin had already aired/streamed.

And it was an excellent episode. Patrick Gibson was right on as young Dexter, Molly Brown as young Debra, and you can't go wrong with Christian Slater as the Dexters' famous (in Dexter-lore) father Harry, who taught his son the code: you can give vent to your urge to kill by killing killers who deserved to die. In this case, it's a nurse in a hospital where Harry goes to have his heart condition treated but instead is being slowly poisoned to death by the nurse. The nurse is no newbee, and her age gives young Dexter material for one of his fine patented wisecracks said to himself (and us): my first was an older woman.

Significantly, Harry not only gives his son permission to kill Harry's would-be killer, but explicitly tells Dexter to do just that. Thus, Harry is clearly as responsible for Dexter going on this deadly course as is Dexter, and we see Harry brought to tears by this realization. Harry not only seeks and sought to protect his son, but he activated his son on his deadly way of life. Harry did this to save his own life, which is understandable, but he knows that now he'll have to live with the results.

It was also fun in this first episode to see younger versions of Batista and Masuka, looking in Batista's case and acting in Masuka's case just like their older counterparts whom we've come to love. Some new characters are also sprinkled in, and, all in all, Dexter: Original Sin looks like one really enjoyable addition to the Dexter library on television.

***

Paramount+Showtime was good enough to put up both the second and third episodes of the prequel Dexter series tonight and the result was double all the things we enjoy about Dexter. Including at least two prime pieces of interior commentary from Dexter (the young Dexter) with the older Dexter -- voiced by Michael C. Hall -- speaking the commentary.

One comes when Dexter, now working in his father Harry's Miami police unit, hears their Captain, at a press conference, comment that they had received a finger of the boy who had been kidnapped, sent to them by the kidnapper, with no other message. Dexter thinks/says in internal dialogue "that's because the finger was the message". A nice homage to Marshall McLuhan, intended or not (and I put the quote in the present tense because I wanted to emphasize the McLuhanesque quality of the line).

Dexter has another especially apt interior line -- "hello darkness my old friend" -- borrowed from Paul Simon, and Dexter is honing his skills, managing to get back the earrings he took as souvenirs from his first killing, which Debra gave to Sophia. Here I'll say I'm not clear why Dexter is shown rebuffing Sophia's advances. The adult Dexter certainly was not immune to the charms of women. So what's the point of making younger Dexter not interested? He's too much in love with discovering he's truest love, which is murder of those who deserve it? If so, I think this aspect of the narrative is being handled a little too heavy-handedly at this point.

But it was good to see young Batista get so much story, and young LaGuerta introduced. In many ways, they were the most important characters other than Dexter and Debra, in the original series -- well, everyone was important -- and Batista comes back in the Dexter: New Blood sequel. One of the great strengths, as I said, of Original Sin is how much most of the characters look and sound like their older selves that we came to know in Dexter. At one point in Original Sin 1.2, Batista (played by James Martinez) sounded so exactly like David Zayas that it made me wonder if Zayas actually did that voicing.

In any case, as of the first three episodes, Dexter: Original Sin is doing one fine job, and I'm looking forward to more.

See also my reviews of Dexter: New Blood