Dexter: Original Sin Avoids One Of The Most Laughable Trends From The Original Show

By Daniel Bibby

Published Jan 8, 2025

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Warning: Spoilers ahead for Dexter: Original Sin season 1!With Dexter: Original Sin cast as the infamous serial killer, original star Michael C. Hall is still heavily involved as he continues to perform narration duties as Dexter's inner voice. The recasting of Dexter Morgan was an obvious and necessary move given when the new show is set, but this isn't something the original project considered.

Dexter: New Blood's ending also divided public opinion, and it has taken the existence of Dexter: Original Sin to give the beloved franchise another shot at redemption. However, it isn't just the saga's lack of a perfect finale that the Gibson-led show is trying to rectify.

Younger Harry Morgan In Dexter: Original Sin's Flashbacks Looks So Much Better Than Michael C. Hall's Original Flashbacks In A Wig

Hall should probably have been recast for Dexter's flashback sequences

Originally played by James Remar in Dexter flashbacks, Harry Morgan has been recast in Original Sin, with Christian Slater inheriting the role. Remar recently entered his seventies, so he would have been too old to reprise the role. However, the introduction of Slater to take over as Dexter's adoptive father shows a great amount of growth for the franchise, as it once would have been sufficient to just slap a wig on Remar and call it a day - as proven by how Hall played Young Dex in the original show. That being said, Slater is still given the wig treatment.

Dexter (Patrick Gibson), very high lying on the sofa in Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 Ep 5

Dexter: Original Sin Introduces A Shocking Realization About Dexter Morgan Throughout The Original Series

Dexter: Original Sin episode 5, "F Is For F**k-Up" reveals that Dexter let loose in his younger days, which he never did in the original series.

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The difference this time around is that Slater's subtle de-aging to play Harry in two eras twenty years apart is far more effective than what Michael C. Hall was subjected to. When Dexter would show its leading man in an unconvincing wig in scenes that were supposed to be dark and dramatic, it was very difficult not to find them amusing. This time around, the saga has learned its lesson and tried much harder not to make Slater's wig quite so comical as Hall's was. As a result, Dexter: Original Sin's flashback sequences are more effective.

Dexter: Original Sin's Flashbacks Have A Very Different Function Than The Original Show's Did

Original Sin doesn't focus on Dexter's past quite so intently

Harry Morgan (Christian Slater) looks at a picture with young Dexter in Dexter: Original Sin season 1, episode 5

Dexter's flashback sequences were all from the title character's point of view. They were a way of showing the audience his origin story - a task that is now being handled far more effectively by Original Sin's "present-day" sequences. There was nothing in the flashbacks that Dexter himself didn't already know, but Original Sin changes all that by flashing back to Harry's point of view instead. This way, what's revealed to the audience during these moments is actually being withheld from Gibson's version of the character.

Even if Dex does share these memories, they're very unlikely to be identical.

Of course, Dexter is still in some of Harry's flashbacks, as Original Show is using the scenes to achieve several things - including establishing how Harry and Dexter met. What separates Dex's presence in the Original Sin flashbacks from the Dexter ones is that he is very young in the former, and he only really has a shot of ing the scenes in which he's in. Plus, with the Original Sin flashbacks being seen through Harry's eyes, it's possible that certain events are being ed incorrectly. So, even if Dex does share these memories, they're very unlikely to be identical.

Dexter: Original Sin's Series Premiere Still Honored The Original Show's Flashbacks

Gibson had to wear a wig just like his predecessor (but only briefly)

Dexter: Original Sin begins with a remake of a classic moment: the flashback of Dexter's first kill from the original show. This milestone is a vital part of Dexter's character, so there was no real way the prequel could avoid acknowledging it. The issue was that Dexter had already shown it, so Original Sin had to make some tweaks to accommodate Dexter's recasting and a few other factors that created canonical issues.

Harry Morgan (Christian Slater) screaming with a piece of cotton in his mouth while plastic wrapped to a table and Dexter Morgan (Patrick Gibson) holding a syringe and a bottle in Dexter: Original Sin season 1, episode 5

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Dexter: Original Sin finally explained one of the weirdest parts of Dexter Morgan's kill ritual, 19 years after the original show's first victim.

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Overall, Original Sin did an awesome job of adapting the scene, but that also meant it was beholden to Dexter's ridiculous decision to put Michael C. Hall in such an obvious wig. So the two versions of events aligned, the scene's remake had to make sure Gibson's hair also looked like Hall's did when their respective versions of Dexter Morgan took their first life. Thankfully, Dexter: Original Sin gave its title character a much-needed haircut almost immediately after the Nurse Mary flashback, doing away with one of Dexter's worst mistakes.

Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 Release Schedule On Paramount+
Episode	Title	Release Date
1	"And in the Beginning..."	December 13, 2024
2	"Kid in a Candy Store"	December 20, 2024
3	"Miami Vice"	December 20, 2024
4	"Fender Bender"	December 27, 2024
5	"F is For F*ck-Up"	January 3, 2025
6	"The Joy of Killing"	January 10, 2025
7	"The Big Bad Body Problem"	January 24, 2025
8	"Business and Pleasure"	January 31, 2025
9	"Blood Drive"	February 7, 2025
10	"Code Blues"	February 14, 2025