Before we get into it, let’s first take note of Showtime’s weird release schedule resulting in me having 2 eps to review this week. WTH. More importantly, when Dexter: Original Sin debuted, it led with a trailer for a new show, Dexter: Resurrection. This opening sequence showed our hero surviving the events of Dexter: New Blood leading into a show coming this summer.
Notice of the new series has since been removed from the open. Interspersed with Dexter’s birth, this makes the intro read as if the whole series is a flashback Dexter is narrating. Makes sense, except for all the retconning and stuff Dexter couldn’t possibly know.
The dialogue and cinematography really, really seem to be setting up Captain Spencer as being involved in Jimmy’s kidnapping—which later becomes Jimmy’s murder. They’re making such a to-do of Spencer’s outrage and commitment to finding the perp, I think he knows far more than he’s saying. My guess—Spencer is the kidnapper and finger-clipper.
Deb’s subplot in these two eps is awful. Fake cocaine, particularly that made with Benzocaine, could unalive someone who takes it with any number of medications or even OTC drugs. Yikes. But then to see her move on to the real stuff? I’m reminded of why I didn’t like TOS Debra until well into the 6th season. She’s impulsive, makes terrible decisions, and is stubborn as hell about everything despite being...let’s say not very people-smart.
This Debra is the quintessential teen so desperate for attention and approval that she’ll take any risk, challenge any boundary, and fail to give any f*cks. Harry is right. That was a terrible lie. Gio could be heard in the background FFS. Stealing from Dexter and then blackmailing him? Gross. How is Debra the child of a cop, yet she doesn’t know that grown men who don’t mind finding out their date are in high school are NOT GOOD MEN? Watching her is so frustrating especially since Molly Brown’s performance is so genuine and intense.
LaGuerta’s introduction is telling and layered. We heard multiple cops explain the term NHI (no humans involved) and watch Batista realize how messed up it is. Yet Maria calling the old guard out on it makes her an enemy as soon as she walks in the door. Why?
Ostensibly because she took her complaints to the press and the brass before her contemporaries. But really, old white dudes don’t like being called out—especially by people who are not old white dudes. Batista’s first move upon meeting his new colleague was to hit on her. Like Batista, LaGuerta is another cop who worked closely with Harry Morgan and just never happened to mention it in TOS. Meanwhile, we haven’t met Captain Matthews at all.
It's clear that Maria will be our lens as the show examines prejudices against women, racial minorities, Spanish speakers in America, the poor, and the treatment of LGBTQ folk by law enforcement. Note that the guy who screams that he won’t touch “it” referring to a gay prostitute receives no censure. Blatant prejudices permeate law enforcement, and we know that Maria is right to call it out. We get to see her help people and make a real difference early on even as her bosses attempt to humiliate her at every turn.
We’re also seeing Dexter developing his ritual, this week showing another victim exactly why they’re being taken out—visual aids and all. His surprise take-downs need work, as does his hand-to-hand combat skill. I was extra amused that just as I was wondering what would lead Dexter to stop feeding bodies to the alligators—a very recognizable piece of body floated up to the surface, making it highly findable.
I’m not sure why they’ve retconned Laura Moser to be this cunning, conniving undercover spy type pressuring Harry to have an affair with her. Or why do they show Harry resisting when we know he was already having an affair with Valerie Hodges and at least 2 other CIs while his wife was still alive? None of that is working for me, and I can’t imagine how it’s going to pay off dramatically except to paint Moser as more culpable and complicit in her own murder.
The time Harry spends with Dexter and Brian is revealing and...awful. We see that Brian was showing signs of being a serial killer long before his mother was murdered. Maybe just having a junkie for a dad and an unstable life was enough for him. What’s clear is that Harry likes Dexter and dislikes Brian.
Stuff worth noticing:
- “Zodiac” having drastically different meanings to Dexter vs Deb.
- Another great reference to American Psycho in Dex’s fake ID.
- Batista not noticing the irony of saying “Cops take care of their own” while actively not protecting LaGuerta--a fellow cop.
- A parrot probably could survive in the wild in Florida, but its plumage would make it highly vulnerable to predators.
- Jai Lai as the origin of the cheek slice/swipe.
- Dex’s surprise at the ‘Best Grandpa” mug since we know he eventually earns one as “World’s Best Dad” later on.
- Joey Pants (AKA Joe Pantoliano) was delightful as the killer of the week.
- Camilla and Harry explicitly discuss hiding and falsifying records about Dexter’s connection to Laura Moser.
- We learn that Dexter is 20 years old and about to finish school in 1991. He’s exactly my age, which is extra fun for me.
We’re nearing the halfway point of the first season already, and there’s no reason to think there won’t be another. By the end of this season, we’ll need to know who killed little Jimmy and why. Debra’s drug use will have to come to light, and I still fear for the safety of Tanya Martin. It seems logical that we’ll have to see the death of Laura Moser by the end of the season too—especially now that Estrada knows who she is. See you’s next week!