The world of Dexter Morgan returned to the small screen with two new shows, both of which released new episodes as part of the 2025 TV schedule. The first season of Dexter: Resurrection with Michael C. Hall still has a couple episodes left in the first season, while Dexter: Original Sin finished its ten-episode Season 1 back in February. Fans got the good news in April that Original Sin had been renewed for Season 2, but that decision has been reversed. The show has been cancelled, but fans aren’t ready to give up just yet.
Dexter: Original Sin Cancelled After One Season
The decision to cancel Dexter: Original Sin came from the Paramount TV Studios team as led by Matt Thunell, according to Deadline. The team is new to Showtime after Skydance acquired Paramount Global. Despite the renewal for Season 2 back in April, a writers room reportedly never opened and production dates were never set. Writers from Original Sin moved over to work on Resurrection, and will return for the second season of the series that brought Michael C. Hall back in the flesh. (The OG Dexter only narrated for Original Sin.)
Dexter: Original Sin released with a subscription to Paramount+ with Showtime as a prequel to the original Dexter. The story was set in 1991 Miami as Dexter (played by Patrick Gibson) goes from student to serial killer with an eye towards avenging. His father Harry (Christian Slater) helps him adopt the Code that guides him to kill only the kinds of people who are deemed unworthy to live. Dexter started the build the habits that were demonstrated in the original series, as he began his work as a forensics intern at the Miami Metro PD.
The show included younger versions of characters from the original series beyond just Dexter and Harry, with some spot-on impersonations of the cast. The Season 1 finale ended on a note that raised the possibility of somebody learning the big secret; now, unless Dexter: Resurrection somehow addresses that chapter in the character’s past, fans of Original Sin may never know. That is, unless they get their wish and the series is rescued!
Fans Are Furious
It didn’t take long for fans to hit social media to express their dismay (to put it lightly) about the cancellation, with no fewer than three change.org petitions already available just hours after the unfortunate news broke. While the “Save Dexter Original Sin“ and “Save ‘Dexter: Original Sin’ from cancellation“ petitions only accumulated 33 and 36 signatures, respectively, at the time of writing on Augst 23, “Save Dexter: Original Sin“ has reached 523, and the number is growing.
Plus, there are plenty of unhappy fans on X (formerly known as Twitter) using two main hashtags: #SaveDexterOriginalSin and #BringBackDexterOriginalSin. These are just a handful of examples of how people are feeling. (Comments edited for content and clarity.)
- @joshlovesfilms: “We needed more. The writers planned for us to see Dexter in his apartment, in the green Henley… we still had 15 years of stories left. Fans want more. We need more.”
- @SuperSonOfKalEl: “Cancelling Dexter: Original Sin after it was successful and already renewed the day after an episode of Dexter: Resurrection airs is both the stupidest and cruelest thing you’ve ever done, Paramount.”
- @sistapam96: “It’s like you wait with bated breath to find out if your favorite TV show gets renewed. And when it’s renewed you’re like phewwww, we’re safe. But apparently not because they can just choose to take it away at any moment?!”
- @RPoppy19: “I’m truly devastated and so freaking mad… Choosing to cancel Dexter: Original Sin when it was already renewed is just pure evil…The cast deserve so much better, i don’t want to lose them. I’M SICKKK.”
- @Lailas_Archive: “Can’t any production company just do its thing and buy the rights from Paramount?”
There’s no word just yet about whether there are any plans to shop Dexter: Original Sin around to another platform to pick it up, and I personally doubt that will happen. The franchise is continuing on Paramount+ with Showtime, as Dexter: Resurrection is expected to get a second season. The crime drama had the makings of a major hit from the start, with the first episode accumulating 2.1 million global viewers across Paramount+ and Showtime over three days, according to Paramount Global (via Deadline). Paramount Global reported that it was the most-streamed premiere ever in Showtime history.
Season 1 also accomplished something that isn’t too common for television: the finale audience was larger than the premiere audience. It fact, with was 27% larger, according to Deadline, with a viewership tally of 2.68 million over three days. Dexter: Resurrection did well with viewers and there were many years of Dexter’s life that could have still been explored without overlapping into the timeline of the original series. The future truly seemed bright for Dexter: Original Sin. Sadly, unless fans are very successful with their petitions and/or cause waves on social media via hashtags, this chapter of Dexter’s life seems to be closed for good.
The cancellation news came on the same day that a new episode of Dexter: Resurrection released on Paramount, with two more episodes left before the Season 1 finale. To revisit past episodes, you can find them streaming with a subscription to Paramount+ with Showtime now.
