Just as we’ve reached the halfway point of the final season of Dexter this shows up online and it couldn’t have made me happier.  The final season might be a little hit or miss so far, but this first draft of the Dexter credits by Creative Director Eric Anderson truly floored me when I saw it earlier tonight.  I can see why Showtime didn’t ultimately go with it; it’s darker, more sinister and it definitely plays up Dexter’s identity as a serial killer instead of flirting with his persona as the more likable character that we now know and love.  But I don’t care. This is badass.

So much of what I love about this has to do with Xploding Plastix’s intense song, “More Powah to Yah”.  The skittery beats, the rich Bernard Herman-esque strings punctuated with sharp Psycho-like blasts of noise.  It all screams dark, film noir-like danger.  While most of the imagery we see in this version can be found in the final version of the credits, the individual shots take on a more malevolent tone when paired with the explosive editing designed to match the rhythmic intensity of the song. Some of the playfulness of the final version is lost, but it makes up for that with an atmosphere that creates a pure morbid curiosity about what it is that you are about to see.  While this wasn’t the perfect match for the showrunners of Dexter, I think this would work superbly for a darker serial killer-based show like NBC’s outstanding freshman show, Hannibal.

If you’d like to know more about this first draft of the Dexter opening credits you can check out this recent interview with Creative Director Eric Anderson where he describes what went into the creative process to get us to the final product.