Before we start, I have to issue a mea culpa. I mentioned twice that we hadn’t met Matthews yet. But upon rewatching the second episode, Dexter offers a donut to someone he calls “Thomas.” That was almost certainly him. Whoops.
This week’s episode begins with a snag in my "Spencer was probably involved in Jimmy’s kidnap/murder" theory. Becca Spencer is beaten and bound while Nicky is kidnapped and held in the same fashion as Jimmy the judge’s son. Since we actually got a chance to meet Nicky, and because we know what’s coming—this kidnapping has a stronger emotional impact.
Meanwhile, Deb and Dex are double-dating with Gio and Sophia. It’s exactly as awkward as you’d expect—including a surprise bathroom hummer that surprised me as much as it surprised Dexter. Gio cosplaying an alpha male was more predictable. Maybe Gio isn’t a career criminal given that he can’t even hotwire a car. Note that Sophia has a lumberjack fetish. Does anybody else wonder how she’d have reacted to the Dexter season 8 finale where he literally goes off to be a bearded lumberjack? Ha! Seriously though, what’s gonna be wrong with Gio and when will we find out? Aside from his being in his 20s being statutory with a teenage girl, I mean.
Back at Miami Metro, Dexter works with Maria and his Dad (now partnered up because of the snafu in the Levi Reed case) on another transient murder. Let me say again how weird it is that LaGuerta never talked about Harry on Dexter TOS given that they were partners. Doakes tells Dexter in TOS season 2 that he didn’t ever work with Harry but heard a lot of talk about him. Does that mean we won’t actually see James Doakes any time soon?
Dexter recognizes an escalating pattern of deaths connecting three seemingly random cases to a single fledgling killer. The whole scene has real Hannibal Lecter vibes—which makes sense because Dexter and Lecter were both killers pretending they were geniuses for understanding a killer’s mindset. We gotta think Dexter dials this thinking back eventually because it should be suspicious AF that he’s this intuitive about murder when he’s this young and inexperienced. Harry agrees with me.
Speaking of Harry, his affair with Laura continues despite her having real issues with him, the fact that he has a wife, the fact that she was trapped into being a CI and now her life is in danger. Instead of helping her and securing her safety, Harry sends her back to work for the cartel. Back at home, Debra is born and Doris tells her husband to end his affair with whoever it is. Harry promises he won’t see her anymore even though we all know he obviously will. We know in his mind, Harry thinks of himself as a good man in a difficult position rather than a selfish jag repeatedly taking advantage of women who trust him. Yuck. As a Gen Xer, it’s difficult to watch Christian Slater play a guy I like less every time I see him. So I guess that means it’s a strong performance.
Laura’s promotion comes at a high cost—for the guy she replaced. Jimenez stages an ugly scene making it clear that people who screw him over don’t get to keep all their body parts. Or stay alive. Yet Harry doesn’t let her out.
Dexter: Original Sin is hitting a lot of sociopolitical notes—more so than any other Dexter series. In E6, we find out that Detective Bobby Watt is gay. I’m tempted to say he’s closeted because of the time period. But there are probably plenty of people in law enforcement who don’t feel safe coming out even today. Anyway, Dex finds out by accident while out stalking a victim. Bobby may even think Dexter is gay because he was near that club. We shall see.
The Camilla who interacts with Dexter seems too young to have been around when Dexter was taken in by the Morgans. Either way, she seems to have given our hero vital intel on how to get rid of a body and impress girls: boats. That’s bound to come in handy as Dexter finally gets to take out Levi Reed (it does).
Spencer tells everyone his son’s kidnapper is no doubt "the cartels." We know the cartel cuts fingers off, and so does the kidnapper. But Spencer knows that. I dunno. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s involved—especially if he wanted to send a message to his ex-wife. Lots of anger there.
Episode 6 winds down with Harry giving an inspiring speech offering some hope to Spencer. We see Nicky being given the same giant Lunchable Jimmy was eating before he was killed. This time though, a chef’s swoop of blood on the ground shows Nicky that he’s in grave danger. Will that inspire him to fight back rather than going to his death unawares?
Dex is off to feed Reed to the gators when he’s stymied by an active crime scene. Remember that arm that floated to the surface a few weeks ago? Handsome Tony the loan shark? Well, it’s been found and now the cops are all over it. Thank goodness for Camilla and her offer of a boat, eh?
Dexter: Original Sin streams Fridays on Paramount+ with Showtime and airs Sunday nights on Showtime at 10/9c.