Episode five of Dexter: Original Sin, "F is for F•ckup," picks up with the last few seconds of episode four, and Mad Dog becoming a pile of splat. We know The Code says to never kill an innocent. Luckily for Dexter, there’s nothing in there about traumatizing an innocent driver. We can’t blame Harry for grounding Dexter for such a clear F-up. But Harry demonstrates several times this week that everyone F’s up sometimes.
Most grounded kids don’t happen upon a Tupperware full of weed brownies, but Dexter does. This perpetuates the myth that THC edibles make people giggly like smoking does. Nonetheless, Debra and Dexter have a good talk. It is, as it happens, nearly one year since the death of Doris. None of them are dealing with it particularly well. Deb decides they should meet up at the cemetery.
We gotta talk about Gio. He talks a lot about how rich his dad is, and his car is nice. He could be a chauffeur for all we know. Or his dad could own a dealership. More importantly, he’s doing a hugely performative job of giving Deb the thing he knows she’s lacking—attention. The flowers for Doris? Driving her to the cemetery after she’s stood up? Trying to take her clothes off while she’s wearing a dress obviously bought for a child? All of it is super gross.
Deb explains to Doris at her grave that she’s alone, isolated, and can’t rely on anyone. Then she makes the realization she doesn’t act on until Dexter Season 7: that maybe she should stop waiting for Dad and Dexter to change. She should also stop seeing grown men who aren’t embarrassed to drop their girlfriends off at high school. To our dismay, Debra sleeps with Gio by the end of the episode. Any guesses on how exactly he turns out to be awful?
Tanya Martin likes to gamble. The writing is so swift we get a bunch of info in just a few sentences. She’s gambled on the ponies for some time, including while she dated a jockey. Suss. Her husband made her an ‘honest woman.’ A popular expression, but I think it’s meant to be ironic here. She just lost a whole bunch of money. All of that combined with the show listing her as a guest star leads me to think she’ll exit not via murder, but disgrace.
Speaking of disgrace, a witness-related F-up gets Harry booted from the case of the kidnapped judge’s son, now the murdered judge’s son. I still think Spencer is culpable and that’s why he doesn’t want his best detective on it. Harry will be partnered up with LaGuerta, which should be fun even if it makes it even weirder that she never mentioned him on TOS. The guy who got away? Levi? Dexter is gonna kill him. Next week.
The horrible retconning of Laura Moser continues as she relentlessly pursues a sexual relationship with Harry. Dexter watchers know that Harry was already having affairs with multiple informants at this time, including Valerie Hodges. Yet Harry is portrayed here as a family man conflicted and pursued by a slick pretender living a life of deception. This retconning is especially troubling if you accept the premise that this show is supposed to be Dexter remembering his early years.
All that said, watching Harry bond with Dexter is even more disturbing. Remember, he eventually brings home only one of Laura’s children and pretends to his wife that he’d never seen the kid before. Oh, and Doris is pregnant with what we assume is Debra.
Despite my utter hate for some of this retconning, I’m finding a lot to like about Dexter: Original Sin. There are still plenty of characters we’ve not heard from yet. James Doakes would be great to introduce this season. Dr. Evelyn Vogel ought to make an appearance. Plus wouldn’t it be hilarious if Soderquist became a central character at Miami Metro just because he was such an NPC in Dexter?
Still no word from Thomas Matthews. My guess is that he’ll be introduced after Spencer leaves in disgrace over his involvement in the death of Jimmy the judge’s son. The judge probably made a call Spencer resented and this is how he handled it. Y’all can quote me on that. That’s my best guess.