Dexter: Original Sin’s Finale Is Satisfying After Surprising Villain

Dexter: Original Sin is just getting started, so fans should prepare for a wild ride right until the end.

During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly at the Dexter: Original Sin premiere in New York City on Wednesday, December 11, creator Clyde Phillips hinted at a dramatic ending to the show’s first season.

“Obviously I’m not going to tease a cliffhanger, but I will say that there are, in this show,’ several what we call ‘kills,’” Phillips, 66, told Us. “But there’s also what we call a ‘big bad.’”

In addition to the promised “kills” and “big bad” moments, the Paramount+ prequel will introduce the same storytelling elements fans came to expect from the OG series.

“There is a ‘big bad’ in this show that we think is going to be very surprising,” Phillips, who exited the original show after season 4 before returning for New Blood and now Original Sin, continued. “And from a story standpoint, it is very satisfying to the audience.”

Original Sin is set in 1991 and is focused on Dexter’s (Patrick Gibson) transition from student to avenging serial killer and member of the Miami Metro Police Department. With help from his father, Harry (Christian Slater), Dexter slowly begins his search to find and kill people who he believes deserves to be eliminated from society.

In addition to Gibson, 29, and Slater, 54, the series features a star-studded cast including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Dempsey, Molly Brown, James Martinez, Christina Milian, Alex Shimizu and Reno Wilson. Shimizu and Martinez, 44, recently explained to Us why viewers don’t need to be fans of the original Dexter series to watch and enjoy the prequel.

“The character work that we’re doing is very specific,” Shimizu, who plays Vince Masuka, shared during the press junket on Tuesday, December 10. “These are characters you’re going to grow to love [whether] you know their past or not.”

Shimizu said there is a “very, very surprising and intriguing story” being told in the latest installment of the franchise. “Not much else I could say besides that,” he added. “But I think if you’re someone who enjoys a show filled with humor and some drama, you’re going to really like that.”

Martinez, meanwhile, enjoyed the opportunity to start with “a blank slate.”

“It’s an origin story. So there’s just a lot more liberty that you can take,” Martinez, who brings the role of Angel Batista to life, shared with Us. “I would dare to say you can watch the prequel then watch Dexter in general in sequence, so you don’t have to have watched the original to see this one. It’s for everyone.”

The role of Dexter was originally played by Michael C. Hall in Showtime’s series, which ran from 2006 to 2013. After the show came to an end, Hall, 53, returned to TV screens as Dexter in a 2021 spinoff titled New Blood. He is now a narrator for the prequel, which introduced a new version of Dexter.

“We are retreading some old territory but we’re coming at it from a completely different point of view, so that the audience gets the deeper picture,” Phillips told Us. “And we as writers also come to understand what the deeper picture of it is.”

Phillips praised Hall and Gibson’s different approaches to the titular character.

“When we first met Dexter in the OG show, he was 35 years old. Fully formed, Michael C. Hall. Kills a guy in the first minute of the show. Lives with a woman. Now we meet Dexter, he’s a senior in college. Never kissed a girl,” Phillips continued. “Doesn’t know how to kiss his own sister. He’s developing his own independence, learning how to blend in, and building a stronger relationship with his father, Harry, played by Christian Slater.”

Dexter: Original Sin releases new episodes on Paramount+ Fridays before airing them on Showtime Sundays.

With reporting by Antonio Ferme