Summary
- The first episode of Dexter: Original Sin overused the iconic Masuka laugh, leading to a lack of impact.
- Use of the Masuka laugh felt rushed and unnecessary, lacking context and buildup.
- The potential overuse of Masuka’s laugh may detract from a meaningful portrayal of the character’s origin story.
Dexter: Original Sin saw the return of many iconic characters from the original series, as younger versions of themselves. One of these characters was the sick-minded forensic expert, Vince Masuka, who was originally portrayed by C. S Lee, and now played by Alex Shimizu in the prequel series. Masuka’s return also meant the origins of his famous filthy laugh came back with a vengeance.
Legacy fans love Masuka’s laugh, and it obviously had to feature in Original Sin, but it didn’t necessarily have to arrive in the very first episode on multiple occasions. The Masuka laugh is so iconic, it deserved to be saved for later in the series. Having said that, Alex Shimizu did nail the sound of the laugh, and he is clearly the perfect actor to play the character.
The First Time Masuka Laughs In Original Sin Felt Like A Missed Opportunity
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Dexter: Original Sin |
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Starring |
Patrick Gibson, Christian Slater, Molly Brown, James Martinez, Christina Milian, Alex Shimizu, Reno Wilson, Patrick Dempsey, Joe Pantoliano, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Raquel Justice and the voice of Michael C. Hall |
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Created by |
Clyde Phillips |
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Directed By |
Michael Lehmann |
Vince Masuka’s return was probably the most prominent of the original Miami Metro based supporting characters in Dexter: Original Sin episode 1. Angel Batista was only featured sparingly, and Maria LaGuerta didn’t even feature at all, so the focus was firmly on Masuka. He is already an established member of Tanya Martin’s forensic department at Miami Metro in the 90s, despite his young age. Dexter meets Masuka for the first time at a job fair, where the lab geek is representing Miami Metro at a pop-up stand. Literally, the first thing Dexter hears is Masuka’s mucky laugh, and he’s drawn to the gruesome crime scene photos on show, while Masuka creepily takes pictures of girls.
Wanna see my nine-inch nail?
The double entendre’s and general off-color humor is fully present in the young Masuka from the start of Dexter‘s prequel pilot. However, the first time fans hear the iconic laugh in Original Sin feels like it’s been shoehorned in for no particular reason. Masuka only made the laugh in the original Dexter series when he’d said something really perverted. However, this wasn’t the case in Original Sin as he just randomly blurts it out with no context. A slow build up to this moment would have been much more satisfying.
The Vince Masuka Laugh Was Overused In The First Episode Of Original Sin
Masuka’s next scene arrives shortly after Dexter’s first kill, with the members of Miami Metro Homicide turning up at the Morgan family home brandishing takeaway pizza and other food related delights, as a welcome home for Harry Morgan after his health scare. Tanya Martin offers Dexter an internship, while Masuka praises the serial killer’s obvious instincts for the job. As Masuka enters the Morgan home, he just randomly blurts out the iconic filthy laugh, but there is absolutely no reason for him to do it, and it stinks of fan service. Masuka’s final appearance in the episode is in his natural habitat: the offices of Miami Metro Homicide. Dexter turns up for the first day of the rest of his life, as Tanya Martin suggests, and immediately, Masuka teases him about being late, and follows it up with THE laugh…again.
The Masuka laugh appears a staggering THREE times in the first episode of Original Sin, and none of these incidences were linked to any seedy joke or general off-color remark. It doesn’t feel earned, and it just falls a bit flat. Of course, fans were delighted to hear it, but it might have been more satisfying if it arrived later on in the series, during a really inappropriate Masuka moment that felt truly worthy of it. If this is going to be a regular occurrence in each episode, it’ll just become irritating, and fans will lose interest in the character. That would be a great shame, as Alex Shimizu really has nailed every little nuance of the Masuka character and is clearly a worthy successor to C. S Lee’s older version in the original Dexter series. Fans want to see a different side to Masuka and the constant use of his laugh threatens to derail a truly meaningful portrayal of the character’s origin story.
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