If you’re like me, you thought you were prepared for anything Dexter could throw at you.
But then Dexter: Original Sin was carelessly canceled just before Angel Batista went down on Dexter: Resurrection Season 1 Episode 9, “Touched By An Angel.”
I’m still trying to process the one-two gut punch. Just ugh. Angel’s final words, his history, and his very presence are gone, and, for now, there’s no chance we’ll see him again soon.
Batista was never just another cop in Dexter’s orbit. He was the steady heartbeat of Miami Metro.
His warmth, his humor, and his ability to ground even the most outlandish cases represented the humanity that made the show more than just a serial killer procedural.
Losing him in Resurrection hurts enough on its own, but here’s what makes it worse: we were supposed to have more of him.
Dexter: Original Sin had already brought him back to us. And it wasn’t just a stunt or a nostalgia gimmick — it worked.
In one of the best prequels I’ve ever seen, the casting was so phenomenal that by the end of the first season, it felt like these younger versions had always been there. They didn’t feel like replacements. They felt like natural extensions of the universe.
That’s why the cancellation stings so much. At least if Original Sin had continued, Angel Batista would have lived on.
His younger self was set to carry the torch, reminding us why we loved him, why Miami Metro mattered, and why Dexter’s story was more than just his kills. Now? Nothing.
And Batista isn’t the only loss. Debra Morgan — Dexter’s sister, his conscience, the emotional heart of the original series — was already taken from us once, killed in Dexter’s final season.
Then she was erased again, stripped of her role as his guiding voice in New Blood. Original Sin offered a chance to honor her legacy, too, by weaving her back into the fabric of the story and reminding us that Dexter wasn’t just a monster — he was a brother.
Now that thread has been cut.
Think about it: Batista, Deb, Miami Metro, the early days of Harry’s code, the entire ecosystem of characters that gave Dexter’s story meaning — all gone in one fell swoop.
And here’s the kicker: Original Sin wasn’t just promising. It was seamless. Patrick Gibson didn’t just play young Dexter — he was young Dexter.
By the end of Dexter: Original Sin Season 1, it felt like we were finally seeing the man behind the flashbacks come alive. Gibson didn’t parody Michael C. Hall; he embodied him.
That’s why, when Resurrection folded in a scene lifted straight from Original Sin, it didn’t feel like fan service. It felt inevitable. Gibson made it so believable that both shows clicked together like puzzle pieces. That’s franchise magic — and Paramount threw it away.
And then there’s the 1991 connection. Original Sin was set in the exact same year as NCIS: Origins, another Paramount prequel mining its own mythology.
The potential here was staggering. Imagine Gibbs and Franks flying down to Miami on a Naval case… only to find a quiet, green Dexter Morgan processing the scene.
No crossover gimmick. No Marvel-style stunt. Just a subtle, tantalizing brush of two universes sharing the same air. Fans would’ve lost their minds. Paramount could have built connective tissue between two of its strongest properties.
Instead, they killed the very project that could have made it possible.
It’s baffling.
Look at what they did with Yellowstone. Paramount built an empire out of that franchise, spinning off prequels and expansions until it became a self-sustaining universe. Love it or hate it, they nurtured it, invested in it, and recognized its value.
Dexter could have been that. In fact, it already was. Between New Blood, Resurrection, and Original Sin, the world was expanding in ways that felt organic and fan-driven.
The appetite was real. For once, fans weren’t rolling their eyes at another unnecessary spinoff — we were begging for more.
And Paramount said no.
It’s not just a bad business move. It’s a betrayal.
Because losing Batista in Dexter: Resurrection is devastating, yes, but it didn’t have to feel this final. We should have had Original Sin to soften the blow, to keep him alive in another corner of the universe.
We should have had Deb back in the mix. We should have had Patrick Gibson’s young Dexter building the bridge between past and present. We should have had the possibility of cross-franchise synergy with NCIS: Origins.
Instead, we got bupkus.
And that’s what makes Batista’s death so unbearable. We’re not just mourning a character. We’re mourning an entire legacy, an entire future. A franchise that should have been nurtured the way Yellowstone was, but was instead abandoned.
Michael C. Hall has said before that Dexter is a character who lingers, who refuses to stay buried. The same is true of the world around him. Fans still want it. Fans still care. And Paramount walked away from the one expansion we actually needed.
Very shitty, Paramount. Very shitty.
And that’s what’s so maddening. It’s not like Paramount is shy about building endless franchises.
They’ve given us 452 Mission Impossibles, two dozen Screams, and more Transformers and Terminators than anyone asked for — many of which sucked the life out of what made those stories special in the first place.
So why not give that same attention to TV? Why not nurture a property like Dexter, which has a fan base, mythology, and connective tissue to thrive as a long-term franchise?
If they treated TV with the same energy they treat movies, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
But hey, if you’re listening, I’m available for consultation. There’s time to reverse your decision and weave a cross-network franchise worthy of two of the most devoted fanbases of all time. I’ll keep an eye out for your email!
Watch Dexter: Resurrection Online
Watch Dexter: Original Sin Online
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