Dexter’s Prequel Casting Makes The Original Show’s Funniest 7-Year Running Joke Even Better

With most of the original Dexter cast now officially replaced for the upcoming sequel show, an ongoing trend from the parent program has become even more amusing – to the point of it being almost nonsensical. The cast of Dexter: Original Sin are primarily playing younger versions of established franchise characters, 15 years before the events of the original show. The Dexter prequel will cover the earlier years of the property’s titular serial killer, originally played by Michael C Hall – who also returned to reprise the role as part of the Dexter: New Blood cast.

Filming has started for Dexter: Original Sin, and at present, Michael C Hall isn’t slated to appear in the show. Given the gulf in time between the prequel show and the original, paired with the fact that Hall is far too old to be playing a college-aged student, it makes perfect sense that the character has been recast. That being said, Dexter‘s original run didn’t seem to think Hall’s age was an issue in moments when it really should have been considered one.

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Dexter’s Prequel Show Makes Michael C. Hall’s “Young Dexter” Flashback Scenes Even Funnier

Hall’s wig was unintentionally hilarious

The title character in Dexter: Original Sin will be played by Patrick Gibson. Despite being almost 30 years old, the actor looks the age of a college student. This aligns with the prequel show’s timeline in relation to the original story. However, the Dexter producers never put nearly as much thought into this aspect of the main character’s appearance during the original show’s flashback sequences. During those scenes, Dexter was roughly the same age as the character will be in Dexter: Original Sin.

The issue is that all they did was put Michael C Hall in a wig and expect viewers to buy into the illusion. While this was objectively hilarious, it was made even funnier by the fact the sequences weren’t played for laughs. With Patrick Gibson stepping into the role of Young Dexter, those original flashback sequences make even less sense than they once did. Now, in the Dexter universe, there’s the canonical issue of Young Dexter looking suitably college-aged when played by Gibson, while simultaneously also looking like a man in his mid-thirties who’s masquerading poorly as his younger self.

Dexter Still Has A Great Explanation For Why The Original Show’s Flashbacks Are Different From The Prequel

Dexter’s memory is flawed in the original show

Surprisingly, the continuity clash of Hall and Gibson both playing Dexter at a similar age doesn’t necessarily derail the story’s logic. Dexter’s flashbacks are shown from his perspective as a grown man. So, when he’s casting his mind back, it could be argued that he’s seeing himself as he looks in the present day, as that’s the version he knows best. Dexter: Original Sin won’t be told via flashback, but rather as a “live” look-in to the character’s day-to-day life, and making them the “real” version of events. This explanation helps the Dexter flashbacks sit nicely alongside the upcoming prequel.

Dexter

Based on the character created by author Jeff Lindsay, Showtime’s Dexter follows Miami Metro Police Department’s most skilled blood spatter analyst, Dexter Morgan, as he attempts to satisfy his Dark Passenger’s need to kill by hunting down criminals who have escaped justice. However, using the rules his adoptive father taught him to remain undiscovered, Dexter must walk the fine line of seemingly blending into society while continuously feeding his dark urges. Dexter faces several serial killers as his facade slowly crumbles around him; with every problem solved by his Dark Passenger, another one arises for his suburban fatherly life. When Dexter takes things personally or feels that the law is failing, he takes matters into his own hands and even compromises the investigations of his co-workers. Dexter aired on Showtime for eight seasons before receiving a mini-sequel series called Dexter: New Blood, which picked up ten years after the show’s events. You can buy each season for just $9.99 for Prime Day. 

Cast

David Zayas , Michael C. Hall , Lauren Velez , C. S. Lee , James Remar , Jennifer Carpenter , Desmond Harrington , Julie Benz

Release Date

October 31, 2010

Seasons

8