Showtime should reject grotesque Trinity Killer spin-off concept
Why, Showtime? Why?
This was the question I asked myself as I discovered that Showtime is considering a Dexter spin-off revolving around Arthur Mitchell. The Trinity Killer.
Perhaps the most grotesque and disturbing villain in all of television. A true monster.
The Trinity Killer sought out and viciously killed people that were weaker than him. And when Dexter finally got to him, he of course, was a coward to the end, killing Rita in one of the most devastating endings to a show you’ll ever see.
Normally, we should celebrate talented actors like John Lithgow and his work here. And we did.
But this villain should never be showcased alone. Never.
For the uninitiated, Trinity isn’t like The Borg from Star Trek or The White Walkers from Game of Thrones, who believe everyone should adapt to their ways. He’s not like Moriarty from Sherlock who was a playful nemesis.
He was an evil coward. A woman killer.
You might be asking why can’t he be portrayed in the spin off that way. That’s a fair question. After all they did it to Hannibal Lecter.
Because we can’t allow Trinity to be an anti-hero. That’s what Dexter is. We celebrated Dexter because he used the same psychological illness against the people doing these horrible things.
They can’t do this with Trinity. It would have to be a prequel. There is no believable redemption arc with this monster.
Showtime should leave the Dexter mythology alone. But they won’t. They don’t have any ideas.
But a Trinity Killer spin-off would not only be in bad taste, it would be celebrating a character who murders women with a nightmarish perversion that is best left in the past.