It’s seemingly not doable for “Dexter,” as a franchise, to maneuver ahead. Within the remaining moments of the sequel collection “New Blood,” which aired eight years after the unique collection finale in 2013, Michael C. Corridor’s serial killer was fatally shot. (Or no less than, he appeared to be — extra on that in a second.) This growth, on its floor, marked the top of the highway for one of many defining leads of the antihero period, a job Corridor had been enjoying for 15 years on the time. Certain, but one other follow-up, “Resurrection,” would cross the torch to Dexter’s son Harrison (Jack Alcott). But when community Showtime needed to maintain wringing drops from this blood-soaked towel, the one path left to go in was again.
Extremely, the prequel “Dexter: Unique Sin” tries to have it each methods. Not solely does the 10-episode season — advance screeners of which weren’t supplied for critics — wind the clock again to 1991, when a 20-year-old Dexter (Patrick Gibson) graduates from the College of Miami and makes his method into the native police division as a paid intern. The present, created by authentic “Dexter” showrunner Clyde Phillips, additionally undoes the seeming finality of “New Blood.” Because it seems, Dexter survived, and the occasions of “Unique Sin” are framed as reminiscences he mulls over whereas on the working desk. Earlier than introducing Gibson, the digicam zooms in so the “Emergency Room” signal as an alternative reads “Emerge.”
The rapid, insurmountable downside with “Unique Sin” is that the identical superfans who kind its target market are already acquainted with its main occasions, as a result of “Dexter” itself was chock-full of flashbacks. Christian Slater could also be new to the a part of Detective Harry Morgan, but it surely’s long-established “Dexter” lore that Harry helped his adoptive son channel his “Darkish Passenger” to extra (debatably) constructive ends by concentrating on different killers. Even the identification of his first sufferer, a nurse who preyed on her sufferers, is locked into the canon. There aren’t many gaps left in Dexter’s youth for “Unique Sin” to fill in.
“Unique Sin” opts to steer into the skid, embracing repetition slightly than placing in a lot effort to keep away from it. Dexter’s coworkers Batista (James Martinez) and Masuka (Alex Shimizu) are launched precisely as they are going to be within the first collection, proper right down to their costumes: Batista is a gregarious mensch in a fedora, Masuka is a skeezy lech, and each are already put in at Miami Metro. Whereas Maria LaGuerta (Christina Milian) no less than will get a backstory as a brand new detective who’s been publicly important of the murder division’s disproportionate give attention to white, well-off victims, she’s not that far faraway from the lady she’ll be in 15 years. Gibson spends many of the premiere in a ridiculous wig of surfer curls; by the top, he’s received Corridor’s haircut, and his internal monologue sounds suspiciously like his predecessor. (Corridor returns IRL for the opening scene, however retreats to the sound sales space to offer narration all through.)
Dexter could also be a relative novice at 20 years outdated, but he already has his M.O. of wrapping his victims and their environs in plastic — each to restrain them and permit for environment friendly cleanup — dialed in. His sister Deb (Molly Brown) is a bratty teenager, and there’s a faint whiff of novelty to “Unique Sin” as a demented household sitcom a couple of grieving household with some lethal secrets and techniques. (In 1991, Deb and Dexter’s mom has lately handed away.) Dexter’s first kill, initiated by the nurse poisoning Harry when he’s hospitalized after a coronary heart assault, is intercut with Deb’s highschool volleyball sport. However there’s not sufficient to unseat the impression that “Unique Sin” is simply enjoying again the hits, proper right down to a soundtrack of ‘90s touchstones like “Ice Ice Child.” The present might’ve taken extra time to get Dexter within the swing of issues; as an alternative, he satisfies his bloodlust and lands the job in 45 minutes of screentime.
“Unique Sin” gives some new data through Harry, who will get his personal garishly color-saturated timeline set within the Seventies. However the machine simply turns into an echo of the “Dexter” flashbacks, and calls consideration to how a lot the slight ‘90s timeline is in want of padding out. The “contemporary” faces within the “Unique Sin” ensemble are themselves avatars of nostalgia: Sarah Michelle Gellar performs Dexter’s new boss, whereas Patrick Dempsey seems because the mustachioed, helmet-haired police chief. (At the least the hair and make-up departments are having enjoyable!) “Unique Sin” doesn’t draw any new life from a chunk of IP that’s now sufficiently old to vote. It does, nonetheless, symbolize the profit-chasing retrospection that’s devouring tradition from the within out like a termite infestation. All that’s left is a hole construction to be blown away by the following Miami storm.
The primary episode of “Dexter: Unique Sin” is now streaming on Paramount+ and can premiere on Showtime on Dec. 15 at 10 p.m. ET, with remaining episodes streaming on Fridays and airing on Sundays.
