Dexter: Original Sin Is Completely Ignoring A Major Twist From Dexter Season 8

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dexter: Original Sin episode 4 and Dexter season 8.The prequel series Dexter: Original Sin has gone to great lengths to fit in with most of Dexter‘s established canon, except for Dexter season 8. Almost everything in Dexter: Original Sin is designed to add to the original show’s story rather than detract from it. Even the cast of Original Sin is mostly composed of returning characters, and even Michael C. Hall has returned as the voice of Dexter’s inner monologue. That doesn’t mean the prequel show hasn’t retconned anything, however – it’s already changed the ending of Dexter: New Blood – and it seems to be changing Dexter season 8 as well.

In Dexter season 8, Dexter met Dr. Evelyn Vogel (Charlotte Rampling). Dr. Vogel was a psychologist who specialized in psychopaths, and she indirectly treated Dexter when he was a child. Dexter revealed that Harry went to Vogel for guidance about how to handle Dexter, and they came up with the Code of Harry together. Though she only came in at the end of Dexter‘s eight-season run, Vogel proved to be a massively influential part of the serial killer’s life. Now, however, Original Sin is making her far less important to Dexter’s early days of killing.

Harry Morgan Should Be Talking To Dr. Vogel About Dexter In Original Sin’s Timeline

Harry Was Being Advised By Dr. Evelyn Vogel Throughout Dexter’s Early Days As A Serial Killer

After Dexter first met Dr. Vogel in Dexter, she gave him some of the videotapes she made of her meetings with Harry. Those tapes revealed that Harry was meeting with Dr. Vogel as Dexter began killing, since he was talking in the present tense about events that took place just days prior. Based on Original Sin‘s timeline and the fact that it follows Dexter’s first few kills, Harry should be meeting with Vogel about Dexter in the prequel show. He hasn’t, however, and it looks like Harry doesn’t confer with Vogel at all in Original Sin.

Dr. Vogel’s absence can – at least partially – be explained by how Original Sin has changed the timeline of Dexter. Several of the kills that were supposed to be in Original Sin would have taken place when Dexter was still in college. The show contradicted that and proved Dexter took his first victim, Nurse Mary, just days before graduation. It could be that in expediting Dexter‘s timeline, Original Sin skipped over Vogel. That isn’t a full explanation, though, as there still should have been room for Harry to meet with Vogel if the show wanted to include her.

Original Sin Also Changed One Of The Kills Harry Told Evelyn Vogel About In Dexter: Season 8’s Videotapes

Dexter’s Third Kill Was Supposed To Be A Drug Dealer, But It Ended Up Being A Mob Hitman

Original Sin isn’t just writing Dr. Vogel out of Dexter canon, it’s also changing some of the kills that Dexter season 8 established. In one of Vogel’s videotapes, Harry mentioned that Dexter had killed his third victim, a drug dealer who killed a few college students. In Original Sin, however, Dexter’s third victim wasn’t a drug dealer, but a mafia hit-man named Mad-Dog (Joe Pantoliano). There’s a huge discrepancy in Dexter season 8’s description of Dexter’s third victim and Original Sin‘s depiction of the moment. There are also only a few ways to reconcile that discrepancy, short of saying that Harry lied to Vogel for no reason.

At the end of Original Sin season 1, episode 4, Dexter didn’t actually kill Mad-Dog himself, as the hitman was struck by a car. Original Sin could make the case that Mad-Dog technically wasn’t Dexter’s third victim, since he didn’t deal the killing blow. While there is room for Original Sin to stick with Dexter season 8’s story, it doesn’t seem very likely. When he was discussing Dexter’s third kill, Harry mentioned that he began displaying photos of their victims, which is exactly what Dexter did with Mad-Dog. That presents even more evidence that Original Sin is forging its own path.

Why Original Sin May Be Rewriting Dexter Season 8

Dexter Season 8 Wasn’t Well-Liked, & Leaving Vogel Out Helps Harry’s Characterization In Original Sin

There are a handful of reasons why Original Sin may be rewriting the canon Dexter season 8 established. Dexter season 8 is fairly infamous for being a low point of the entire series. Aside from Dexter‘s “lumberjack” ending, many fans took issue with how the entire season treated Deb and Hannah McKay, and Dr. Vogel’s entire storyline as a whole. It’s possible that Original Sin didn’t think it was that big of a deal to rewrite a season that was almost universally disliked. Rewriting the events of Dexter season 4 would have caused outrage, but retconning Dexter season 8 has ruffled far fewer feathers.

Original Sin also may have chosen to ignore Dr. Vogel in favor of a different character: Harry Morgan. By taking Vogel out of the equation, Harry has a lot more responsibility for Dexter becoming a serial killer that he could barely control. It’s far more dramatic than blaming the Code on a random psychiatrist, and it makes Harry’s story in Original Sin much more thematically poignant. It will also help explain the guilt that ultimately led Harry to suicide, so Dexter: Original Sin may have simply decided that retconning the events of Dexter season 8 was a small price to pay for a better story.

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  Dexter: Original Sin explores the origins of Dexter Morgan as he transitions from student to serial killer in 1991 Miami. Guided by his father, Dexter channels his dark urges through a moral code while starting a forensics internship at the Miami Metro Police Department.

  Release Date

  
  December 15, 2024
  

  Network

  Paramount+ with Showtime

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  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. 

  Release Date

  
  October 31, 2010