Entertainment
Resurrection,’ This Forgotten 3-Part Spin-Off Is Ready for a Rewatch
Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) has been one of TV’s most fascinating characters for two decades, so much so that fans refuse to let go of him. After the failed ending of the popular original series, Dexter, there was a spinoff sequel, Dexter: New Blood, which tried to fix things, followed by a better-than-expected prequel, Dexter: Original Sin. Finally, the franchise got it right with Dexter: Resurrection. After a great first season, the show is set to come back for a second. That wait is far off, though. If you’re craving more Dexter Morgan, check out the lost series you may have never even knew existed, an animated one that you can still find on YouTube today.
‘Dexter Early Cuts’ Was a Series of Short Animated Films on YouTube
Dexter Early Cuts premiered in 2009 during the run of the original Showtime series. Long before Dexter: Original Sin, which starred Patrick Gibson as the serial killer in his early days, audiences wanted to know more about who he was before we first met him. Dexter Early Cuts fills in some of those blanks in a unique way. From 2009 to 2012, three seasons of Dexter Early Cuts were released as a clever way to promote the upcoming new episodes. By putting the content on YouTube, free for all to see, it increased interest in what you had to pay to see later on Showtime.
The first season of Dexter Early Cuts consisted of 12 easy-to-digest mini-episodes, with runtimes that clocked in at only a few minutes. The familiar music of the intro is there, complete with a quick shot of darkened images of bodies, a syringe, and a spot of blood. Released weekly, the first season takes a burgeoning Dexter Morgan on his journey of tracking down and taking out three serial killers. Season 2 of Dexter Early Cuts, subtitled Dark Echo, did things a bit differently, with only six episodes, and all coming out the same day in October 2010. Two years later, in late summer 2012, came a third and final season, subtitled All in the Family, this time going back to the better format of one mini episode per week.
‘Dexter Early Cuts’ Is a Richly Drawn Exploration of Dexter Morgan’s Origins
Dexter Early Cuts is not as good as the original show it promoted. It’s not as good as what’s come after either. But it’s not supposed to be. With such limited time to work with, there is only so much the series can do. Still, it’s much more than filler or a lazy commercial for Dexter. It’s a compelling series, with Michael C. Hall back as the narrator, and a journey that takes Dexter from multiple victims at the start of the journey to a season-long big bad, and in the last season, a father-and-son duo who will challenge our anti-hero in new ways.
Dexter Early Cuts isn’t perfect. We know Dexter is in no danger, and the short runtime makes it difficult to get invested in the evolution of his mind or who the antagonists are. They are simple fodder. The animation style is also an effect you’ll either love or be frustrated with. In our opinion, it works. Rather than being a simple, twisted cartoon of sorts, Dexter Early Cuts is more akin to a graphic novel. It mostly stays still, with zoom-ins and zoom-outs, the camera moving across the page from one frame to the next. The little movement there is, with mouths moving on still characters, feels disjointed and off-kilter, just like the rich, exaggerated colors that are often hurried, scratched, and frayed. It’s purposely imperfect and not lifelike, which serves to make it unsettling. The simplicity also forces the viewer to use their imagination rather than being shown everything.
It’s truly art, and a style taken seriously because of who is involved. Season 1 is illustrated by Kyle Baker, a former illustrator for Marvel Comics who has been around since the 1980s. The second is a joint production by Bill Sienkiewicz (a surrealist who influenced The New Mutants movie) and David Mack (a writer and artist for Daredevil Marvel Comics), before Mack handles the duties on his own in Season 3.
If you’re a fan of graphic novels and comics, Dexter Early Cuts is fascinating. The iconic character and the actor who voices him are the way in. The animation is the reason to stay. The style hides the flaws that would exist if the short episodes were the usual live-action sameness. The attention-getting animation is as much of a reason to watch as the stories told. 15 years ago, it was a stylistic way to keep Dexter alive in the imagination of viewers between seasons. It worked well enough two decades ago. Today, Dexter Early Cuts is an even better watch because we’ve since gone back to the origins of Dexter Morgan, and with renewed interest due to Dexter: Resurrection, the mini-episodes are more effective, whether it’s for a rewatch or the very first time you’ve seen it.
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