I got on the Dexter train late. After hearing all the hype about the ending of Season 4 (and successfully dodging any spoilers) I gave it a shot. Little did I know we would be on such a long journey that would include Dexter Original Sin many years later.
After giving the original Dexter a shot, I was hooked.
Season 5 was fine. It should have gone in a different direction. After starting hot, I was turned off by the Lumen storyline. Then came seasons six and seven, which had its moments, but never could grab that Season 4 magic. Season 8, of course, brought out the controversial ending to Dexter that spurned all the recent shows now.
“A FUCKING LUMBERJACK!??!?! THAT’S IT?!??!”
That was my reaction, and likely many others, to the Season 8 ending. It was lazy, completely unsatisfying, and flopped. After eight seasons, we’re just going to accept that Dexter, goes off and does manual labor in a lumber yard all day? Oh, and he dumped Deb in the ocean and faked his own death, by the way. Horrible. I was so angry about this ending and wondered if this was the original plan. I understand it was a way to “put away Dexter” for his past but c’mon, this is abysmal.
Dexter: New Blood
When this was announced, I was stoked. It’s 2021 and I’ll be watching NEW episodes of Dexter. Episodes 1-9, were great. I loved the vibe, Clancy Brown as Kurt Caldwell was a perfect villain for Dexter. Debra taking the role of Harry worked really well and I even liked Harrison (for nine episodes). After fans clamored for a new ending, they gave us one….
AND IT WAS WORSE THAN THE FIRST TIME
How could they mess this up twice? How on Earth did you receive a blank slate and STILL SCREW IT UP. Episode 10 was wonderful for the first half hour and then it went down the tubes so, so quickly. I was apparent (at the time) that this show was simply DOA. I’ll always love seasons 1-4 and nothing can change that. Until, the newest edition of Dexter came around.
Dexter: Original Sin
When the trailer dropped for Original Sin, I was snarky about it. I didn’t watch it initially and when I did, I hated everything about it. I think I was still going through it emotionally that I just laughed off yet another attempt to revive this show. Then, one night, my wife and I decided to give it a shot. Boy, was I wrong about this show.
Dexter: Original Sin from start to finish was incredible. It was captivating, never dull, and tied all the storylines from the original series into it. THIS, my friends, is how prequels should be made. We got backstories on every important character and it was done to perfection. There are times in shows when the main story is very intriguing but the secondary stories don’t hold up. I never felt that way when we were digging deeper into Harry, Deb, or even Laura. It all flowed so well. All while trying to figure out which psycho is going around kidnapping kids and holding them hostage.
I loved that we also got a lot deeper about Brian as well. I felt his time on the original Dexter could have been expanded. There was so much more they could have done with him, making him a distant threat to Dexter while wrestling with what to do with him. So, I loved that he was a big part of this story, particularly near the end. This does leave the door open for a Season 2, which I imagine has to be in the conversation at this point. The season did such a great job at showing how brutal that night was for Dexter and Brian, which brought the brutal ending on Laura. It’s such an important moment because this was the catapult for how and why Dexter and Brian are the way they are.
It takes a lot to admit when we’re wrong, but I was DEAD wrong about Dexter. This gives me renewed hope that the next series, Dexter: Resurrection will get it right. I mean, how many more chances can you get at this point?
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