The Trinity Killer (John Lithgow) was the main antagonist in Season 4 of Dexter, with Dexter (Michael C. Hall) finally meeting his match and coming face to face with someone as sadistic as himself. Following the success of Dexter: New Blood, which saw Dexter meet a more satisfying end than what was originally offered in the original series, the writers are now hard at work creating ideas for future Dexter spin-off titles. These potential spin-offs could set the foundation for a promising future for the franchise.
One of these spin-offs could focus on the Trinity Killer in the years before the events of Dexter Season 4, but this does pose a problem. Trinity was always presented to viewers as a monster, which could make it difficult for viewers to become emotionally invested in his struggles and justifications for his crimes. But could it work?
John Lithgow’s Trinity Was Always Amazing
When it comes to characters that will be remembered fondly, very few stand out quite like the Trinity Killer, largely due to Lithgow’s amazing acting ability. Season 4 of Dexter is often seen as the peak of the show, with it being the final season that the original writers created before departing, and it is difficult to imagine anyone else being able to juggle the loveable family man and sadistic murderer like Lithgow was able to.
Like many real-life serial killers, Arthur Mitchell had a pattern and MO that he largely stuck to. The Trinity Killer murdered in patterns of four, with each victim being killed in a specific way to symbolize a death he experienced in his own life. These murders are a young boy being buried alive, a young childless woman bleeding out in a bathtub, a mother of two jumping to her death, and a father of two being bludgeoned to death.
Although Arthur Mitchell deviated from his MO on a few occasions, he could stick to it for three decades and rack up dozens of killings, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in history, perhaps only matched by Dexter Morgan. A further look into Trinity’s past would create a compelling spin-off for the Dexter franchise, but we’re unsure whether it would be the right choice and whether viewers would be able to get behind such an evil man.
Trinity Is Too Much Of A Monster For A Series
While Dexter was a sadistic serial killer, he was still presented to viewers as an anti-hero due to his justifiable reason for killing. Dexter’s code would only allow him to kill evil people and criminals that were never brought to justice, although he did occasionally deviate away from this code. His logic was one that many viewers could get behind and root for, even though we knew what he was doing was still wrong in itself, even if the reasoning made sense.
When it comes to Trinity, he had no logical excuse to justify his killings; he was just an evil serial killer that took pleasure in taking the lives of others. For this reason, as great as both the actor and character are, Trinity is too much of a monster to be the protagonist of his own series. It would be incredibly interesting to get a deeper look at the history of the character and his beginnings of becoming the Trinity Killer, but it is rare for a TV show to have the villain star as the main character.
This wouldn’t be impossible to achieve. Shows such as Hannibal have successfully had the antagonist as the main character. Often we can look at good guys that do bad things and justify why we like them, such as Dexter or Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in Breaking Bad. However, Trinity Killer is much like Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen); without the Trinity Killer having the kind of balance Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) offered Hannibal, a Dexter spin-off focusing on the character could be alienating. Still; it could work, but the show’s writers would need to tread carefully in order to craft a story that showcases the intriguing story of the Trinity Killer while not presenting him as a likable anti-hero.
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