Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 Episode 1 Review: And In The Beginning…

When a character has already been established, continuing the franchise with a sequel or a prequel becomes daunting. The creators have to be sure the different versions of these characters still line up, and so far, Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 Episode 1, “And In The Beginning…” does that perfectly.

Not only does it build upon the world established in Dexter, but it also sets up the ending of Dexter: New Blood so that the story can continue next year with Dexter: Resurrection. All this is before traveling back to 1991 and establishing the beginning of Dexter’s career as both a serial killer and a forensics scientist at Miami Metro.

In the first episode of this prequel series, we get it all: Dexter enacting the code, Harry having a heart attack, Harry and Dexter agreeing that Nurse Mary should be killed, and Dexter starting on his path toward being the best forensics guy at Miami Metro. 

Dexter Has An Urgency That Can’t Be Ignored

As fans of the character already know, Dexter Morgan carries a dark passenger with him that encourages him to seek out death and blood. We also know the character got started as the serial killer he is because his father, Harry, established a strict code of conduct. 

Dexter: Original Sin dropping us into the story when Dexter is 20 and facing the future of being an independent adult is perfect because it shows us all his current stressors while implying there are more to come. We get a peak at how Dexter is in college with his fellow students vs. his teachers. 

Having Michael C. Hall there to narrate Dexter’s inner thoughts is a nice touch, but Patrick Gibson does such a great job of mirroring Hall’s previous mannerisms and vocal cadences that we can believe this is a younger Dexter. So, while the touch of Hall’s narration is exciting and fun, essentially, it’s unnecessary in terms of establishing young Dexter as being the same character.

It’s also helpful to see Dexter forced into social situations like a college party, thanks to Deb. Not only because it further establishes the bond we know and love between the siblings, but also because it shows how hard it is for Dexter to control his urges while under stress.

The chemistry between Gibson and Molly Brown is very reminiscent of that between Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter in the original. In fact, you’d have to work really hard to convince me Molly Brown isn’t actually Jennifer Carpenter.

At the party, when Dexter beats the crap out of that guy trying to rape Deb, we see not only his protective brother’s side in action but also his dark passenger. The behind-the-scenes crew of this show does a fantastic job of focusing on the knife while having a glow about it to show what Dexter is considering.

Don’t even get me started on later when Dexter is killing the nurse while Deb is playing volleyball, and the sports commentator perfectly times his “Morgan for the kill” to coincide with both siblings’ defining actions.

The Trouble with Harry

While Dexter: Original Sin does focus quite a bit on events we already knew happened, thanks to reflection from Dexter in the original series, it does expand on a few we didn’t. For example, we get a whole flashback with Christian Slater that establishes Harry has extreme guilt, which defines his actions with Dexter.

It wasn’t previously established that the Morgans had any children before Dexter. In fact, the original series specifically states that Harry adopted young Dexter because he and his wife didn’t have a child.

However, we now know that Harry might’ve had further reasons for adopting the young Dexter. It’s a two-folded story of guilt — both about the death of his informant Laura and about the death of his son Junior from a drowning accident.

Harry’s guilt over the death of his son, alongside the guilt of Laura’s death, defines how he approaches parenting Dexter and his “passenger.” It’s a great way for this show to establish itself beyond the world already created, so it doesn’t feel like a direct rehash of events we’ve known about for years.

 Not only that, Slater does a great job of showing just how closed off Harry is toward his children, despite loving them endlessly. He wants to protect them but doesn’t really know how to be warm and affectionate. 

His reluctance to let Dexter actually use the code he established further shows that he’s scared of what Dexter is turning into. This further strengthens the fact that Harry committed suicide; he clearly can’t handle the idea of Dexter actually killing people.

Stray Thoughts

• As we move forward, it’ll be interesting to see why Dexter says taking the earrings was a mistake.
• I love that from the moment we meet Masuka we know who he is because of the signature laugh.
• Patrick Dempsey’s only memorable feature for this episode is his mustache, which doesn’t say much about his character yet.
• Also interested to see how Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Tanya Martin will play into Dexter’s rise in the forensics department.
• The soundtrack to the series is officially my favorite thing about this. It’s so 80s that we can’t help singing along. Plus, the songs line up perfectly with what is happening.

 

What did you think of this episode of Dexter: Original Sin? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Dexter: Original Sin airs Fridays on Paramount+ and Sundays at 10/9c on Showtime.

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