Original Sin Cancelled by Paramount+ After One Season

August 22, 2025

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In a shocking development, Paramount+ has officially cancelled the Dexter prequel series, Dexter: Original Sin, just weeks before the conclusion of its second sequel series, Dexter: Resurrection. The news comes as a major surprise since Paramount had already ordered a second season of Original Sin back in April of this year.

Considering where things left off in Dexter: Original Sin’s season 1 finale, now the series finale, future episodes of the series seemed inevitable. Abandoning Original Sin after one season doesn’t necessarily screw up the overall Dexter timeline, but it sure does omit plenty of interesting backstory developments that were to come for Dexter, Debra, their father Harry, and Dexter’s biological brother, Brian Moser.

Dexter: Original Sin’s Streaming Viewership Wasn’t As Strong As Resurrection

Dexter (Patrick Gibson) looking at Aaron with suspicion in Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 Ep 9

One reason why Dexter: Original Sin was ultimately canceled was due to its viewership, which was not as successful as Resurrection’s had been. Original Sin’s premiere episode only achieved 2.1 million views in its first three days and roughly 3.3 million in its first week, compared to Resurrection’s 4.4 million views in its first seven days.

However, Original Sin’s viewership was considered an achievement for Paramount+ and Showtime when it was released in late 2024, heralded as Showtime’s biggest viewership for any premiere episode of all time. Resurrection then broke Original Sin’s record following its mid-July release, but the two Dexter shows still remain Showtime’s two most popular premieres ever.

Dexter: Original Sin’s Cancellation Comes Amid Major Skydance & Paramount Merger

The behind-the-scenes restructuring going on at Paramount is likely the biggest reason why Original Sin will not continue, especially after it was renewed and then un-renewed in a matter of months. The Skydance and Paramount merger that went into effect on August 7, 2025, has resulted in several drastic programming changes already, including the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

There are also new reports of layoffs coming for Paramount after the merger’s completion, so Original Sin’s cancellation could be related to any budgetary concerns and may just tragically be a cost-saving measure. Strangely enough, the overwhelming success of Dexter: Resurrection may have also worked against the prequel series. Reports suggest that a more intentional effort to focus on the more critically acclaimed of the two recent spinoffs is a key factor.

Dexter: Original Sin Being Cancelled Highlights A Bleak Reality For Showtime

Dexter- Original Sin Season 1 Ep 10 Harry Morgan with a drink

Showtime was once one of the few homes for prestige premium TV, and Dexter was always one of its most popular series. The network that brought fans classic series like Ray Donovan, Shameless, Homeland, Weeds, and Californication has been narrowing its original output in recent years.

Following Dexter: Original Sin’s cancellation, only a handful of Showtime original TV projects are still standing, such as Yellowjackets and The Agency. While there’s been a lot of change at Paramount this summer, the success of Dexter: Resurrection season 1 has seemed to but the franchise some more time. That said, more changes may come.