Dexter: Origins Feels Like It's Set Up To Fail Already

Dexter: New Blood took viewers into the future following Dexter‘s disappointing ending. New Blood managed to give viewers a more satisfying conclusion; however, it now looks like the universe will keep expanding with Dexter: Origins. Now that we’ve seen into the future, the new series will take fans to the past, visiting Dexter’s earlier years before he joined the Miami Police Department.

The upcoming Dexter: Origins looks to give fans of Michael C. Hall‘s iconic character a look at the events that led Dexter to becoming a killer. With many pivotal moments in Dexter’s early life being shown in the original show, Dexter, it is worrying that Origins could be doomed to fail before it has even began.

Dexter: Origins’ Story Has Already Been Told

Over the course of the original Dexter TV show we got a great amount of insight into the earlier years of Dexter Morgan before the events in the show took place. Flashback scenes in the show showed us Dexter’s mother (Katherine Kirkpatrick) being killed, and him being found in a pool of blood by Harry (James Remar), as well as parts of his upbringing as he discovered his murderous intentions. A major part of Dexter’s character progression in his earlier years was Harry nurturing Dexter’s urges to kill and learning how to control his “Dark Passenger.” Unfortunately for the producers of Dexter: Origins, this story was already told during flashback scenes.

Dexter’s first kill took place when he was just 18 years, taking the life of Nurse Mary (Denise Crosby), who was discovered to be murdering her patients while she was treating Harry for heart problems and tried to kill him. As major moments in Dexter’s life have already been told, Dexter: Origins now has has the challenge of revisiting these events and simultaneously offer new context to viewers, or tell a brand new story without rehashing previously told stories and events, but remain true to the franchise.

How Dexter: Origins Can Provide Something Fresh

Although many important parts of Dexter’s upbringing have been told in the original Dexter TV show, they could (and should) be recapped to give newer viewers a greater look at his early years and tell a more rounded story. When it comes to the story and kills that could be shown in Dexter: Origins, there were 51 kills before the beginning of Dexter Season 1.

Some of these were mentioned throughout numerous episodes of the original TV show, while some of the earliest ones were seen in the animated Dexter’s Early Cuts web series. These Early Cuts were very short animations and have never been seen by a large part of Dexter’s fanbase. This means they could serve as a perfect time period for Dexter: Origins, as many happened before Dexter developed his signature killing method of wrapping the body, taking a blood slide, and stabbing his victim through the heart. The viewers could see Dexter develop his kill method and struggle with dealing with the aftermath of killing, especially after Harry passed away.