WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Dexter: Original Sin season 1, episode 1!The premiere of Showtime’s new prequelDexter: Original Sinincludes a pop culture reference that doubles as a callback to a season 1 Bay Harbor Butcher detail, which the sequel seriesNew Blooddivisively retconned. ThroughDexter: Original Sin’s new and returning characters, more details about the early days of Dexter Morgan’s serial killing come to light whileshowing where he got the inspiration for certain aspects of his modus operandi. This includes some of the serial killers he was influenced by or compared himself to, whether real or fictional.
InDexter: Original Sinseason 1, episode 1, Dexter is graduating from college while coming to understand that he can no longer suppress his Dark Passenger. At one point, while Dexter is taking graduation photos, he’s told to think about something that makes him happy in order to smile. While doing this,Dexter imagines the 1991 Bret Easton Ellis horror novelAmerican Psycho, which tells the fictional story of investment banker and serial killer Patrick Bateman. The reference is fitting givenOriginal Sin’s story also begins in 1991, but it also provides a deeper callback to Dexter’s future crimes.
Dexter: Original Sin’s American Psycho Reference Foreshadows Him Using Patrick Bateman’s Name To Buy M99
Dexter Used Patrick Bateman As An Alias To Buy M99 In The Original Show
Original Sinisn’t the first time that Dexter Morgan has shown his fondness for the serial killer character Patrick Bateman. In the original Showtime series,Dexter used the name Patrick Bateman as an alias to purchase M99.Dexterseason 1, episode 6, “Return to Sender,” features a sequence in which Dexter explains having to set up an account for a fictional doctor to buy animal tranquilizer, specifically M99. Dexter noted that this drug could only be purchased with a DEA license due to its strict control, so he faked his purchasing name as “Patrick Bateman, M.D.”
Dexter would use the M99 all throughout his killing career inDexter’s original eight seasons. Dexter’s typical process for killing involves donning a specific outfit, wearing gloves, knocking out his victims by injecting them with M99, tying them up on a table with plastic wrap, cutting their cheeks with blood slides, and stabbing them in the heart with a knife. Therefore, he needed careful access to large amounts of M99 in order to kill his intended victims for so many years.
InDexter: New Blood, Dexter Morgan used the alias “Jim Lindsay.”
However,Dexter was almost caught using the Patrick Bateman alias to purchase M99 in season 1. When the substance was found in the body of a woman thatDexter Morgan killed, Vince Masuka received a list of people who were able to purchase M99 with a DEA license. Dexter was nervous that the alias would eventually be traced back to him, so he deleted the name from the list, keeping his M99 purchasing secure while not having any red flags raised about Patrick Bateman, M.D. at Miami Metro.
New Blood Retconned Dexter Buying M99 For His Kills
Dexter: New Blood Changed This Detail To Him Using Ketamine
ThoughDexter: Original Sinbrings back Dexter’s love forAmerican Psycho’s Patrick Bateman, the franchise’s previous sequel already created a major change to the context in which the show originally referenced him. While Dexter used the alias of Patrick Bateman specifically to buy M99 in the original series, Showtime’sDexter: New Bloodretconned Dexter using M99in his kills. Rather,New Bloodhad Dexter use ketamine, a different tranquilizer, in order to subdue his victims. Not only that, but the show indicated that Dexter had always used ketamine, not M99.
All Dexter Retcons In New Blood
New Blood was conceived as a do-over for the franchise’s original, divisive ending, but the series also retcons the original Dexter in the process.
AfterNew Blood’s retcon of Dexter’s tranquilizer drug of choice,it’s unclear whether the idea that he used the Patrick Bateman alias to buy M99 is also erased. It’s possible that this may imply he used the alias to buy ketamine, but it certainly creates some continuity issues between the originalDexterand its spinoff shows. Given Dexter’s identity as the Bay Harbor Butcher is exposed inDexter: New Blood’s ending, the upcomingDexter: Resurrectionsequel may be able to clarify whether his using the Patrick Bateman alias is still canon.
Dexter: Original Sin Has A Big Choice To Make After New Blood’s Drug Retcon
Original Sin Has To Choose Which Drug He’ll Use
Dexter: New Bloodretconning Dexter’s use of M99 was divisive among audiences, so the new prequel has a big choice to make:revert to the original show’s detail of Dexter using M99, or further establishNew Blood’s ketamine retcon as canon. InDexter: Original Sin, he hasn’t made a firm decision on what drug he’s using on his victims, as Dexter has only killed Nurse Mary so far. As he starts figuring out his process,Dexter: Original Sin’s upcoming episodes will need to commit to either M99 or ketamine as the drug he uses to make his victims unconscious.
Dexter: Original Sin
Cast
Dexter: Original Sin explores Dexter Morgan’s early years in 1991 Miami as he transitions from student to avenging serial killer. Guided by his father, Harry, Dexter crafts a moral code and navigates a forensics internship at Miami Metro Police, all while controlling his darker impulses.
Dexter
Dexter is a television series following Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for Miami Metro Police who secretly leads a dual life as a vigilante serial killer. Released in 2006, the show focuses on Dexter’s internal conflict as he hunts down criminals who elude justice within the legal system.
Dexter: New Blood
Set a decade after his disappearance, Dexter: New Blood follows Dexter Morgan living under a new identity in Iron Lake, New York. Despite his attempts to embrace a peaceful life, unforeseen events in the tight-knit community reignite his Dark Passenger, challenging his efforts to leave his past behind.
