[This story contains major spoilers from the finale of Dexter: Original Sin, “Code Blues.”]
Dexter Morgan was born in blood. Any fan of the franchise knows this. But why does he get all the serial killer press? Why doesn’t anyone think about his serial killer brother, Brian?
When it comes to prequel series Dexter: Original Sin, which released its season finale Friday, Brian is actually very much on the mind. The series, a serial killer origin story for young Dexter (played by Patrick Gibson, who in the future is played by Michael C. Hall) has been building to a startling reveal: Dexter’s older brother (played here by Roby Attal), who has been estranged since the death of their mother and his subsequent inability to fit into the adoptive Morgan family, is killing people in the Miami Metro area in order to get Dex’s attention.
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Of course, it doesn’t work, ultimately, because it can’t; Dexter and Brian don’t meet face to face until season one of the original series, which takes place years later in the Dexter universe timeline. But Brian’s actions do get young Harry’s (Christian Slater) attention, leading to a climactic rooftop showdown between Dexter’s father and Dexter’s brother in this 1990s timeline, warring for their shared loved one’s soul.
In the end, Brian lets Harry live, and abandons his quest to win back Dex’s heart. At least, that’s how it appears. The final image of the season features Dexter, Deb (Molly Brown) and Harry dancing together as one happily rallied family unit, all while Brian looks on from outside, bitterly missing out on the life his brother was granted.
Is that it for Brian? Or does the show have more to say about the Ice Truck Killer in his nascent stage? And how about Patrick Dempsey‘s turn as Miami Metro police chief Aaron Spencer, who turned out to be the season’s big bad, kidnapping his own son as a revenge tactic against his estranged wife? The Hollywood Reporter sat down with Dexter creator Clyde Phillips for more on how it all wrapped up and what it might mean for the future of the franchise, as he plans for more seasons of Original Sin and is currently in production on Dexter: Resurrection.
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At what point did you know Original Sin would include Dexter’s brother in such a big way?
We knew from the very beginning. I don’t know if you caught it, but back in the second episode, he appears for two seconds. I’m following the internet following our show, and it was so fun to see people say, “Hey, that guy looks familiar.” Every season, we have two things we do: the Big Bad, and then the Kill of the Week. The Big Bad was Patrick Dempsey in this case. The Kill of the Week, that’s what Dexter investigates each episode. But little does anyone suspect that the murders he’s investigating are Brian, who is evolving as his own sort of serial killer, but also setting up bait so he can observe his brother on the job. That’s why the rooftop scene with Brian and Harry was so great. We actually shot that on the roof of our writing room at Radford Studios in L.A. There’s this great moment where Harry looks up and sees that orange University of Miami hat, knows it’s Brian and everything just changes.
Was it challenging to figure out how to include Brian, considering he and Dexter don’t really meet until season one of the original Dexter series?
Right. Michael C. Hall met his brother, and killed his brother, so we knew that’s where this goes eventually. If we see Dexter at 20, and Brian at 23, he’d recognize him [in the future], and we can’t have that.
Does Harry pave the way, then? Because we don’t know enough about his past, he could form some kind of relationship with Brian. There’s a lot to be said about Harry’s place in the show’s title and theme of “Original Sin.”
Yes. The show shoots in two time periods: 1991 and 1973. There’s a third time period, too, when Harry’s baby dies, and it’s Harry’s fault. He’s watching the Dolphins game, drinking beer after beer, cigarette after cigarette…
It’s dark! But it gets light by the end of the season, with the final scene featuring the whole family dancing.
It’s a happy family moment! And again, it’s a serial killer show, but it’s also a family show. Half of the show is about Deb, Dexter and their father. So the three of them are in a happy place, and we could easily go to closing credits off of that, right?
And then there’s Brian, on the outside, looking in.
Right. At one time, it was written and shot that we’d see Brian looking in on them and he has a passport in his hand, gets in a cab and drives away. But as we were editing, things changed. The show’s alive until it airs, because we’re always editing, and things can always change, just like a script. So we got to this point where we have this family. Molly Brown, who plays Deb, is a great dancer who lights up the screen. We’ve already established that Dexter’s an awkward dancer. And then I wrote that Harry has to get up and get dragged onto the dance floor by Deb, doing the old white guy dad, thumbs up sorta thing. But Christian came to me and said, “You know, I actually really know how to dance. Do you mind if I try it?” And then Molly did some choreography, and it was great. The moment was even happier, which makes the cliffhanger even stronger.
Do you view it as a cliffhanger, then? Is the story of Brian still ongoing?
I honestly don’t know. I’m busy shooting Resurrection now and haven’t been thinking about the next season of Original Sin. We’ll see.
How did you settle on Patrick Dempsey as the big bad?
Each season we have one. [John] Lithgow, [Jimmy] Smits… this season, we wanted to hide it. In the past, you know who it is right away. But this time, we wanted to keep it hidden. How better to hide it than to have it be the captain of the homicide department who has known Harry since forever? Patrick was game right from the start.
Was he your first choice for the role?
This is the first time in my career I can say we’ve gotten every single one of our first choices for the cast. He was the only choice, and he was game. Sarah Michelle Gellar, too. All of this opens up a great opportunity to change up all the ’90s stuff with music and all of that.
It’s funny, because by the end of the season, Sarah Michelle Gellar is almost poised to become the Rupert Giles to Deb’s Buffy. We see they form a quick bond, and it inspires Deb to sign up for the police academy.
It’s a really pivotal moment. Deb realizes through talking to her that there’s something else out there for her. We cut to the restaurant at the end, and she hands Harry the University of Florida envelope, but it says she’s been accepted to the police academy. She says something like, “I could spend the next four years of my life spiking volleyballs over a volleyball net, or I could do something with my life.” We know this is Deb’s origin story, too. She was a cop first — a uniformed cop — before she was a detective.
There’s a scene where Deb meets LaGuerta (played here by Christina Milian), and it’s played as a happy beat of, “Okay! Here’s what my future could look like.” And then I remember what Deb does to LaGuerta later on in the original series…
That’s a great moment, where they meet. Did you catch when Harry and LaGuerta are driving up north, and he picks her up at her house, and she’s kissing Miguel Prado (Jimmy Smits’ character from season three)? It was so fun to put these Easter eggs in there.
Was that a one-off, or do you think Miguel could pop up again?
I don’t see that. But who knows? I walked into all of this with a completely blank slate. We knew there were several things we had to do. We had to get Dexter his boat. We had to get the Henley shirt. He was going to start using the red string. We would see the evolution begin. But as far as actual storytelling? We didn’t know everything going in, and still don’t [for future seasons]. [Editor’s Note: Original Sin has not officially been renewed yet.]
There’s still the blood slides, too…
We set up trophy collecting this season, which backfired. It’s what got him in trouble, the earring. He has to change. His urges can become bigger than the code. Which raises conflict with him and Harry. And the minute you say the word “conflict,” a writer loves that.
The season began with Michael C. Hall’s return, setting up his reflections on his young life, but also setting up Dexter: Resurrection [which Phillips previously described as being like the next season to Dexter: New Blood]. Did you ever consider ending with Michael again, or setting up Resurrection in any other ways?
No, we never thought about that. We don’t really need to. But we’re shooting right now. Michael C. Hall is downstairs shooting a scene.
Does he want to come up and say hi?
Maybe next time. (Laughs) Wait until you see the cast announcements. It’s going to blow your brain, big time.
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Dexter: Original Sin is now streaming its full season on Paramount+, with a finale linear release Sunday at 10 p.m. Read THR‘s season one Easter eggs.
