The following article contains SPOILERS for Dexter, Dexter: New Blood and the first episode of Dexter: Original Sin, which recently premiered on the 2024 TV schedule. If you still need to catch up, stream it with a Paramount+ subscription with Showtime.
When it comes to the story of Dexter's titular character, there have been bits and pieces that we have received over the years regarding his past, but one character who always felt like an enigma – or, rather, a ghost – was Dexter's father, Harry. However, Dexter: Original Sin gives us a chance to get further into the mind of the man who made the killer, and when I spoke about his backstory to creator Clyde Phillips, his explanation made me want to rewatch the original series again.
While James Remar played Harry in Dexter, one of the best shows on Showtime, Christian Slater took over as Harry for the prequel, and we are already getting more backstory on who Harry is as a person. When I spoke with Phillips about diving deep into Harry's backstory in the prequel, the showrunner commented that, at its core, Dexter is a "family show," so the prequel gives opportunities to dive deeper into that aspect, including the main character's father:
Dexter, if you want to put it in various categories, one of the categories is it's a father-son show. And it's a family show. And it's humorous, and half the show takes place in their house, not at the kill table.
Phillips points out a specific scene in the first episode, where we see that Harry lost a child in his earlier years due to negligence. Moments like that really gave Phillips and his team a good "kick in the butt" in order better to understand Harry. as well as Dexter's family life, more this time around. This happens as we learn about how Dexter learned how to kill people, became a blood splatter analyst and more. Philips continued:
That swimming pool scene is really cathartic and just releases storytelling and motivation and understanding of the character. And it really gave us a good kick in the butt to get going on understanding who Harry is, and what his relationship is with his colleagues and what his relationship is, more importantly, with his children.
I never really thought of Dexter as a family show, but how Phillips describes it makes me want to rewatch it as a whole. I know some people aren't fans of the original Dexter ending—and some aren’t fans of the explosive finale of Dexter: New Blood either.
However, for me, learning more about Harry's life, and what makes him him on Dexter: Original Sin, has opened up my eyes a lot more to who he is, as well as what his impact is on Dexter as a whole has been great. In the original series, it almost felt like Dexter was guided so much by Harry and his moral code. Now we get to see it unfold in real-time in his earlier years.
With this information in mind – and how much more I'm sure we're going to learn as the series progresses – I think it might be time for a Dexter rewatch. Or maybe you want to watch Dexter: Original Sin and just enjoy the prequel goodness. Either way, you'll have a new understanding of Harry this time around. Maybe you'll end up thinking Dexter is a family show just as much as Phillips does.
