Dexter: Original Sin Already Brought Back Many Of My Favorite Characters, But There's One OG I Absolutely Want To See In Season 2

Dexter: Original Sin concluded its bonkers first season, and while we know the sequel series will resume with Resurrection, we're still in the dark on whether the prequel show will itself return for another season at Showtime. The horror-drama's viewership stats sound promising for a second season, and if the renewal does get confirmed, I think we HAVE to see a young James Doakes.

Classic Dexter fans no doubt remember Doakes like a muthafucka from the early seasons, even though it was long enough ago that forgetting wouldn't be so unforgivable. For those who may be struggling to remember Erik King's character outside of his colorful language, here's why he's on my shortlist for the character Dexter: Original Sin needs to bring back if Season 2 is happening.

What Bringing In James Doakes Would Add To Dexter: Original Sin

Dexter Morgan already had some close calls in Dexter: Original Sin, thanks to his relative inexperience in being a serial killer. While Dexter's rookie behavior is a great touch, it further pushes the narrative of just how incompetent Miami Metro is. While I do suspect there is someone at the department who knows Dexter's dark secret, we need someone who is a little more suspicious, or at least putting some pressure on him as he's inexplicably missing for huge chunks of time.

James Doakes is that person who, by Dexter's own admission in the original series, was always creeped out by the main character. He doesn't find Dexter's ability to describe crime scenes as endearing, and he gets weird vibes from him regularly. In short, Dexter's masking of his darker desires doesn't work on Doakes, which makes him the perfect person to add to the mix in Season 2.

Plus, let's remember that Erik King's authority figure was killed off in Season 2 of the original series. He was one of my favorite characters at the time, but was only around for such a short time in the grand scheme of things. As such, bringing Doakes into Original Sin would give us bonus time with the infectious character, even if we know he'll meet an unfortunate end down the road.

What Dexter: Original Sin Can Do To Improve Doakes' Story

One element of James Doakes' story that wasn't an attention magnet during the OG era was his close relationship with Maria LaGuerta. She's currently partnered up with Harry, but we do know she'll eventually partner up with Doakes, which is where their relationship supposedly blossomed. I wanna see that blossoming.

Dexter: Original Sin could show us where Doakes' suspicions about Dexter Morgan began. We already know that LaGuerta has her eyes on Harry after watching him deliberately bury her leads on Brian Moser, thus preventing her from uncovering the link between the NHI killer and Dexter. Will LaGuerta eventually tell Doakes about that, giving him a reason to question the forensic expert's motivations?

It certainly would better explain why Doakes never liked Dexter, as well as why he eventually figured out his coworker was a serial killer. In the original series, I never was satisfied with the simple explanation that Doakes had the gut instinct that something was off about Morgan, especially since so many other people at Miami Metro should have had those same instincts. There has to be more to the story, and I'd love to see Dexter: Original Sin further legitimize the original storyline for me.

Bringing In James Doakes Would Also Make For A Fun Interaction Between Him And Another Character He Never Met

Speaking of, Maria LaGuerta slid in a reference to another Dexter character in Original Sin that viewers might've missed. Miguel Prado was name-checked by the young detective, who met with him after she investigated a scene with Harry. It had me wondering if there was ever a time when Prado and James Doakes crossed paths?

While he was relatively low on CinemaBlend's Dexter villain ranking, Prado's shadiness as a prosecutor would had to have set off alarm bells for Doakes if they happened to meet, right? Sure, the schmoozer wasn't killing people yet during that earlier stage in his life, but it would be a great easter egg to watch Doakes (or others) becoming just as uneasy about the future Season 3 villain as Dexter makes certain characters feel.

It also doesn't seem like a scene that Dexter: Original Sin would need to force to happen. LaGuerta knows Prado well, and Doakes eventually will become her partner. It seems natural that he may tag along with her at some point when she's asking his advice about a case or some other errand that she's running.

How Would Harry And Doakes Interact?

I'm also intrigued by the idea of James Doakes meeting Harry Morgan, Dexter's adoptive father and the mastermind behind "The Code." While Dexter is the serial killer, I think Original Sin has shown that Harry has his own share of shadiness by protecting Brian Moser and training his son to be a killer rather than getting him into therapy at an early age.

And yet, it seems as though Harry had a glowing reputation around Miami Metro, to the point that both of his children were readily accepted into the department once they completed their training. I can't help but wonder how Doakes felt about Harry Morgan, and if he had the same vibes around him that he did his son. There's a part of me that wants the answer to be yes, though I think Harry is much better at hiding his true self than his son.

This is why bringing in James Doakes for Dexter: Original Sin Season 2 would be a great idea, though we still need the series to get a renewal first. Now would be a great time to rewatch the season with a Paramount+ subscription to help push that renewal across the goal line faster, but who can ever see for sure?

The best part about streaming Dexter: Original Sin is that all the other Dexter shows are available on the platform, as well. It feels like the series is on the cusp of a major revival, so it may not be a bad time to revisit the original series if it's been a long time since readers have done so.