Dexter: Original Sin season 2 cancelled after renewal
Paramount+ made the unusual decision to cancel the second season of Dexter: Original Sin after previously announcing that it had been renewed.
Created as a prequel series to the show Dexter (2006 – 2013), Dexter: Original Sin showed viewers the origin story of the titular serial killer Dexter Morgan, starting in 1991. The spin-off series launched in December last year with an all-star cast including Christian Slater, Christina Milian, Patrick Dempsey and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Airing in the US on TV network Showtime, it became that channel’s most-streamed premiere when it debuted, “with over 2.1 million global cross-platform viewers”.
Fans had to wait a couple of months after the 10-episode season finished up in February before they heard good news: In April, it was announced the show had been renewed for a second season.
This week, a surprising U-turn from series streamer and producer Paramount Plus: Dexter: Original Sin has now been cancelled, and a second series will not go ahead.
Variety reports that the series has “been on hiatus and no plans to shoot a second season had moved forward and no production dates were scheduled”.
But there is some good news to soften the blow for Dexter fans: A second season of Dexter: Resurrection will get underway shortly, with Variety reporting that a writer’s room for the season will open shortly.
That spin-off acts a sequel to 2021’s one-season reboot Dexter: New Blood and the original Dexter series, and stars original series lead Michael C. Hall reprising his role as series killer Dexter.
Hall told news.com.au in 2021 ahead of the New Blood series that from his perspective, the original Dexter finale “lacked a sense of closure and I knew that would likely be frustrating for people”.
The original show’s 2013 finale ranks as one of the most divisive in TV history – and Hall said even he could agree they could’ve done it better, hence his eagerness to return for new seasons.
“Just as Dexter was reeling, I think I was reeling to a degree, running on fumes,” he confessed.
“I felt like there may one day be unfinished business that revealed itself to tend to, but I was not in a place where I was champing at the bit to take that on. “I certainly stand by what happened. As far as how it was executed, perhaps we could’ve done a better job. But it was what it remains.”
