6 Biggest Original Sin Characters Who Are Completely Missing From Dexter’s Original Series

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dexter: Original Sin season 1.There were plenty of new characters in Dexter: Original Sin who never appeared in the original Dexter, but these six were the biggest additions to the franchise. The cast of Original Sin is filled with returning characters from the original Dexter, like Dexter (Patrick Gibson) and Harry Morgan (Christian Slater), but also some veterans of Miami Metro like Maria LaGuerta (Christina Milian) and Angel Batista (James Martinez). Because of the timeline of Original Sin, however, the prequel show couldn't be entirely filled with returning characters, and it created a host of new people who were mysteriously absent from Dexter.

Many of the characters who debuted in Original Sin weren't in Dexter for a simple reason: they hadn't been created yet. Dexter had no way of knowing that Original Sin would add new people to Harry, Debra (Molly Brown), and Dexter's lives almost 20 years after the original show started, so it couldn't include those characters. From an in-universe perspective, however, many of Original Sin's characters should logically have appeared or at least been mentioned in Dexter. These six characters from Original Sin are the best examples of that idea.

6 Tanya Martin

Played By: Sarah Michelle Gellar

One of the more noticeable Dexter: Original Sin characters who wasn't in Dexter is Sarah Michelle Gellar's Tanya Martin. As the head of Miami Metro's forensic science team during Original Sin, Tanya worked directly with both Dexter and Vince Masuka (Alex Shimizu). She was essentially a mentor to both of them, and since Vince and Dexter worked together for years after she left the police department, it's odd they never mentioned Tanya in Dexter. Dexter does take place 15 years after Original Sin, though, so there's a more than likely chance Dexter and Masuka simply don't think about Tanya much anymore.

Patrick Gibson as Dexter Morgan and Sarah Michelle Gellar as Tanya Martin in Dexter: Original Sin season 1 with crime scene tape behind them

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It is still strange that Tanya is never even mentioned in Dexter, however, especially since she was important in several other ways. For instance, Tanya gave Dexter the idea to use M99 as a drug to sedate his victims, as shown in Original Sin episode 4. Her absence from the original show only got stranger after Original Sin revealed Tanya convinced Deb to become a police officer. Tanya was secretly responsible for a lot of things from Dexter, yet she never appeared in it.

5 Clark Sanders

Played By: Aaron Jennings

Another member of Miami Metro who wasn't in Dexter is Clark Sanders, Dexter's first police officer friend. As Original Sin progressed, audiences learned that Clark was a gay police officer, and after being spotted at a gay bar, confided in Dexter about his secret. Clark even asked Dexter for help during Bobby Watt's blood drive, and ironically called him a "lifesaver." Despite being the first person Dexter really clicked with at Miami Metro, Clark Sanders wasn't in Dexter at all. His desk at the front of Miami Metro's office was taken up by various unnamed police officers and receptionists instead.

Despite being the first person Dexter really clicked with at Miami Metro, Clark Sanders wasn't in Dexter at all.

Like Tanya, there's a very good chance Dexter simply didn't think about Clark much 15 years after they first met. Clark also could have moved away from Miami, transferred to a department other than homicide, or simply not be friends with Dexter anymore during the original show. There is, however, another possible explanation for why Clark may not have appeared in Dexter: Miami Metro may have found out his sexuality. In the early 1990s, that would have been disastrous for Clark's career, and he may depart Miami Metro as a result.

4 Sofia

Played By: Raquel Justice

Miami Metro Homicide wasn't the only source of character disappearances. Deb's best friend and Dexter's first girlfriend, Sofia, was also never mentioned in Dexter's eight seasons. At the start of Original Sin, Deb and Sofia seemed inseparable. They were both on the volleyball team, they hung out constantly, and even tried drugs together. Friends often grow apart as they age, but Deb and Sofia seemed to be very important to one another. It's not as strange that Dexter never reminisced about her, given how their romance ended, but he still could have mentioned her when ruminating on his lack of interest in sex in Dexter season 1.

Original Sin could have simply used the excuse that Sofia and Deb became enemies to explain why she wasn't in Dexter, but instead, the prequel show had them make up in the season finale.

Sofia's absence from Dexter is also unique for another reason: Original Sin had the perfect opportunity to explain her absence, but didn't take it. Deb and Sofia had a falling out after Deb refused to believe that Dexter cheated on her, and the two weren't even on speaking terms for the second half of Original Sin season 1. Original Sin could have simply used the excuse that Sofia and Deb became enemies to explain why she wasn't in Dexter, but instead, the prequel show had them make up in the season finale. For now, Sofia's absence from Dexter is unexplained.

3 Bobby Watt

Played By: Reno Wilson

One of the more curious characters who was missing from the original Dexter is Bobby Watt, Harry's longtime partner at Miami Metro. Harry and Bobby worked together for decades, ever since they were working narcotics and using Laura Moser (Brittany Allen) to take down the drug kingpin Hector Estrada in the 1970s. Since Bobby and Harry worked together for so long, Dexter should have had some memories of Bobby, or at least made mention of him, in Dexter. He could even have talked to Bobby's wife, Missy (Keisha Thompson) for more information about Harry's secretive past.

Captain Thomas Matthews (Geoff Pierson) and Sgt. James Doakes (Erik King) in Dexter season 2, episode 9

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Like Sofia, Original Sin also had a prime opportunity to explain Bobby's absence from Dexter. Bobby was shot in the neck in Original Sin episode 8, and he easily could have died from his wounds. That also would have fit with the story Dexter told about Davey Sanchez, Harry's original partner who Bobby seemingly replaced in Original Sin. Instead, however, Bobby was still alive at the ending of Original Sin season 1, so the franchise will have to find a new way to explain his absence in Dexter.

2 Captain Aaron Spencer

Played By: Patrick Dempsey

Aside from Tanya, one of the most notable absences from Dexter is Captain Aaron Spencer. After Original Sin revealed that Spencer was the kidnapper, the prequel show instantly made it odd that Dexter never mentioned him. One of Miami Metro's captains turned out to be a secret child killer and kidnapper, yet no one in Dexter ever brought Spencer up. Even during the Bay Harbor Butcher investigation in Dexter season 2, when everyone was shocked that James Doakes (Erik King) had been "hiding" as a police officer, no one saw the similarities between him and Spencer.

Even if the cop-turned-killer similarities between Spencer and Doakes weren't there, Spencer's inclusion in Original Sin still presents a problem for Dexter. Throughout the original show, Captain Thomas Matthews (Geoff Pierson), not Spencer, was shown to be a lifelong friend and superior to Harry Morgan. As such, Matthews was often referenced by other characters or shown in flashbacks to Dexter and Deb's childhoods, but since Spencer worked with Harry for over 20 years, he should have also made some appearances in Dexter.

1 Gio Martino

Played By: Isaac Gonzalez Rossi

The last, and probably least noticeable, character who didn't appear in Dexter was Gio Martino. Gio was Deb's boyfriend for much of Original Sin season 1, until their massive falling out. During a day trip to Bimini, Gio outed himself as a drug smuggler and stranded Deb in the Bahamas without her passport. Gio was just the first of Debra's many terrible boyfriends, which means he could have easily been referenced during one of her later doomed romances. While lamenting how Rudy Cooper (Christian Camargo) turned out to be the Ice Truck Killer, Deb could have noticed the trend that started when she was a teenager.

Debra Morgan's Romantic Interests In Dexter
Season	Name	Issue
Original Sin season 1	Gio Martino	Drug Smuggler
Dexter season 1	Rudy Cooper/Brian Moser	Ice Truck Killer
Dexter season 2	Frank Lundy	Significant Age Gap
Dexter season 3	Anton Briggs	Criminal Informant
Dexter season 4	Frank Lundy	Murdered In Front Of Her
Dexter season 5	Joey Quinn	Police Partner
Dexter season 6	Dexter Morgan	Adoptive Brother
Dexter season 7	Sal Price	Murdered
Dexter season 8	Andrew Briggs	Wanted Fugitive

Gio's absence from Dexter, however, isn't that big of a deal. Again, Dexter takes place 15 years after Original Sin, so Deb probably wasn't thinking about her high school fling much in her late twenties. Her boyfriends in Dexter also proved to be much worse than Gio, ranging from a serial killer to a much older FBI agent who died in front of her, so Gio probably didn't make the list of Deb's biggest romantic worries. Still, he is one of the many characters in Dexter: Original Sin who could have popped up in Dexter, but didn't.