Dexter fans left ‘devastated’ after spin-off is cancelled

Dexter fans have been left furious after TV bosses cancelled a spin-off months after announcing it.

Two Dexter shows have aired this year – prequel Original Sin and Resurrection, which is a follow-up to the main series and divisive miniseries New Blood, both starring Michael C Hall.

Despite acclaim and a confirmed second season, Original Sin has been killed by Paramount and won’t be returning.

According to Variety, no production dates were scheduled despite the renewal announcement in April and its lead stars, including Patrick Gibson and Christian Slater, have been freed up to pursue other projects.

Paramount is reportedly pinning all its hopes on Dexter: Resurrection, which has become one of the year’s highest-rated shows since its launch in July, with showrunner Clyde Phillips set to lead a writers room for a new batch of episodes.

However, a second season is yet to be officially confirmed.

Original Sin viewers have branded the show’s cancellation “a horrible decision”, with another asking: “I thought they just renewed it? I guess they are going all in on Resurrection. Huge shame though I enjoyed the prequel.”

Others said they were devastated and disappointed by the news.

Original Sin, which was narrated by Hall, followed a young version of the blood spatter expert as he first honed his taste for murder into a code created by his police officer father, Harry. With Harry’s assistance, Dexter kills other murderers.

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In Dexter: Resurrection, Hall’s deadly lead character, created by novelist Jeff Lindsay, move to New York after learning his teenage son Harrison (Jack Alcott) has been caught up in a killing.

While there, he rubs shoulders with a variety of other murderers, brought together by billionaire venture capitalist Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage), who is obsessed with serial killers.

Fans are in agreement that Dexter: Resurrection is as good as the best of Dexter, which peaked with its second and fourth seasons.

The series has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 94 per cent, with an overall score of 9.2/10, which currently places it as the 25th greatest TV show of all time. The highest-rated episode, number seven, has a 9.7 score, with the lowest, episode two, sitting at an admirable 8.7.

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In fact, episodes four to seven all have scores sitting higher than nine – the first time since the show’s fourth season, centred on John Lithgow’s Trinity Killer, aired 16 years ago.

The Independent has contacted Paramount for comment.