Dexter: Original Sin Recap: What Evil Lurks

This far into the first season of Dexter: Original Sin, I’m discovering there may be a ceiling to my enjoyment of this show. Beyond the classic drawbacks of the prequel genre, there are persistent tonal issues, sloppy writing, and plotlines that just don’t work (sorry, Sofia). All that being said, I have to acknowledge “Business and Pleasure” as the strongest episode so far, propelling the plot forward with bursts of action alongside meaningful character moments. It may be time to accept that this show has much more in common with the deeply flawed later seasons of Dexter than the first four — and start grading on a curve accordingly.

But this was a plot-heavy episode, so let’s get into it. At the Morgan household, Harry remembers that he has another child and becomes mildly concerned that Deb never came home last night. He finally starts asking some real questions about Gio, discovering that his 17-year-old daughter’s boyfriend is in his mid-20s. “Oh, Deb,” says Harry, father of the year. Rather than prioritize finding her, Harry announces he’s headed to Tampa with LaGuerta to investigate the NHI serial killer. Dexter is tasked with Deb duty but makes sure to drop the bomb that he suspects Captain Spencer of the Jimmy Powell murder and Nicky’s kidnapping. Harry shoots him down with a rather cruel, “I know you have a darkness inside of you; I just didn’t know that you were gonna project it on everyone around you.” (For the record, the show confirms the kidnapper’s identity in the episode’s opening moments, where Spencer unmasking himself is treated as a huge reveal despite the fact that we knew this last week.)

On the drive to Tampa, Harry and LaGuerta have a nice bonding moment as he reveals how much he’s struggling to parent Deb — which, I mean, are you even trying, my man? Maria was once a troubled teen herself, and she assures Harry, “I always found my way back home. Deb will, too.” That’s questionable, given that Deb has decided to tag along on a “work trip” to Bimini with her increasingly shady boyfriend, but no one else knows that yet. Dexter heads to the high school to ask Sofia about his sister’s whereabouts, but his jilted ex still isn’t talking to Deb, whom she doesn’t think wants to be found anyway. That gives Dexter permission to put a pin in his search and tail Spencer instead. He’s right to do so, of course: Instead of heading home, Spencer hands a bag and a wad of cash to an unkempt stranger. Dex starts following this new lead, tailing the man to a house — could this be where Nicky is being held? Before he can investigate further, Dexter gets a 911 page from Harry, eager for an update on Debra.

Oh, right, Deb. Harry is not thrilled to learn that Dexter has been following Spencer instead of looking for his sister, but there’s not much he can do about it from Tampa. And Harry and LaGuerta have run into a problem of their own: Paul Petrie, the man whose car is the sole clue in the NHI murders, was bludgeoned to death in his home well before the Miami vics were killed. Harry and Maria meet their Tampa counterparts, Detectives Raymond and Bean, who absolutely belong in the wacky-sitcom version of this show that keeps peeking out. It turns out Petrie was a psychiatrist working with adolescents at Harbor Light Mental Hospital. The fact that pages of his appointment book have been torn out means his killer was probably one of those patients, so Harry and LaGuerta will go through a staggering 22 years of patient files at the Tampa police station. Rest assured we also get a joke about Detective Raymond’s bad toupee — gotta keep things light!

Meanwhile, Deb is having the time of her life with Gio because she is very bad at picking up on vibes and very good at being distracted by coke and booze. They party on the beach in Bimini as Gerardo’s iconic “Rico Suave” plays. (The music cues on this show are rarely subtle.) When Deb asks Gio about the massive crate being loaded onto his yacht, Gio’s temper flares before he decides to distract her again, this time with a diamond bracelet. She tells him that she loves him, assuring him that it’s fine if he doesn’t say it back. To quote Harry Morgan: Oh, Deb.

Would you believe that Gio, obvious criminal business dealings aside, is not on the level? Back in Miami, Dexter finds his address and shows up at his luxe penthouse only to find himself face-to-face with Ariana, Gio’s fiancée. She doesn’t seem surprised to learn about Deb, and the two definitely have a way with words in common (Ariana refers to Gio’s side piece as the “New Bitch on the Cock”). She’s also kind enough to let Dexter know where Gio would have taken Deb. Bimini is a bit farther than expected, but Dex finally decides to take Camilla up on her offer to let him borrow the boat. En route to fetch his wayward sister, Dexter’s voice-over muses that Harry’s belief in good people and bad people isn’t quite right — there’s darkness in everyone. I mean, duh, but congrats to Dex for discovering the shades of gray that color every character on this show.

Back in Tampa, Harry and LaGuerta are slowly making their way through the patient files. While Maria is out of the room, one particular name jumps out to Harry: B. Moser. Yes, Dexter’s long-lost older brother was a patient of Petrie’s — and he’s a definite suspect after Harry’s able to directly connect Brian to the parking-lot victim. Unfortunately, Harry can’t flag any of this to LaGuerta, since the file is pretty incriminating to Harry himself, noting that much of Brian’s bad behavior can be traced back to his knowledge of his mom’s affair with Harry, Dexter calling Harry “dad,” and the fact that the Morgans only wanted to adopt Dex. (I’d be messed up, too, and that’s to say nothing of the shipping-container slaughter.) Despite identifying as one of the good guys, Harry steals the file before LaGuerta can see it.

Meanwhile, it’s a good thing Dexter is on his way to Bimini because there’s trouble in paradise for Gio and Deb. When Gio leaves to make a call, Deb heads to the yacht to grab her jacket — and do a little light snooping. Gio walks in on her, and that temper flares again. “I brought you here because I thought you’d be a good girl and stay out of the way,” he tells her before kicking her off the yacht. “Fuck your fucking yacht, Gio!” she answers, even though she’s now stranded in Bimini. When Dexter shows up, his sister is sitting on the beach in the dark (not sure what her long-term plan is here), and they hug. As they travel back to Miami, Deb says she feels stupid for not realizing Gio was an entirely different person from who she thought he was (wait till she finds out about her brother). Then, she acts stupid by throwing her very expensive bracelet into the water. While it floats down, Heart of the Ocean–style, Dexter has a lightbulb moment. “Once it’s in the ocean, it’s gone forever,” he says, and we all know what he’s really thinking about.

Back home, the siblings have a brief bonding moment before Dexter is called away to work, leaving Debra to cry alone in the dark. Oh, Deb. In Dex’s defense, there’s been a major break in the Nicky Spencer case — an anonymous tipster says Nicky is being held at a cartel stash house, and a SWAT team is going in. I’m not clear on why Dexter and the rest of the forensics team are invited along, but it’s good that he’s there since he recognizes the house as the same one he saw earlier in the day. Inside, Captain Spencer antagonizes the cartel members at gunpoint, demanding to know where his son is. Gosh, it’s almost like he wants to escalate the situation! Sure enough, someone pulls a gun, and a shoot-out ensues. All the cartel members are killed and Bobby gets shot in the neck — that wound looks pretty fatal, but I’ll keep hope alive. Nicky, of course, is nowhere to be found, but the cops find his jersey, which Dexter realizes was in the bag Spencer handed off earlier in the day. This was all part of the captain’s plan, and Dex, surveying the carnage, realizes he could have prevented it. I think that lets Harry off the hook for his repeated dismissals, but it’s a pretty chilling moment.

Not quite as chilling as how the episode ends, however. Throughout “Business and Pleasure,” we get more flashbacks to Laura Moser as her story nears its conclusion. After Estrada’s men spot Harry indiscreetly pushing Dexter on a swing — how is he so bad at this! — the drug lord realizes Laura is working with the cops. His goons kidnap Laura, Brian, and Dexter and take them to the shipping container that’s always served as the darkest element of Dex’s origin story. There are more Estrada enemies surrounding the Moser family, and as his men begin to execute them by chain saw, Laura tries to shield her children’s eyes. In the present, Dexter realizes he knew Aaron Spencer kidnapped and mutilated his own son because Dex can see the darkness in people. And it all goes back to the formative moment when he saw the brutal murders in the shipping container. I don’t love the way Original Sin has retconned the OG series, transforming Dexter from a baby baptized in blood to a fully aware toddler. But there’s real power to the ending of this episode — Laura pleading, “Close your eyes, Dexter,” as young Dex finds himself unable to look away.

Blood Spatter Analysis

• So Gio is definitely a high-level dealer, yes? This has been my theory for a couple of episodes, though now I’m wondering if he’s somehow connected to the overarching story of the season. Does Gio have anything to do with Spencer using his son as an excuse to take out the Los Tigres cartel?

• LaGuerta discovers the file that Harry stole, which seems likely to cause some problems for Detective Morgan. I’m just wondering how to square all of this with the first season of Dexter, but perhaps we’re looking at another retcon down the line.

• There are a couple of Easter eggs in this episode, including LaGuerta dating Miguel Prado and the big bad of Dexter season three, played by Jimmy Smits. In the show’s most egregious example of prequelitis thus far, Maria tells Harry, “He’s delusional, thinks he’s gonna be DA some day.” Eye roll.

• A subtler Easter egg arrives in the form of Camilla’s boat, named Slice of Pie. In the original series, Dexter’s boat is the Slice of Life, renamed from Slice of Heaven. And (vague spoilers ahead) a slice of pie plays a big role in Camilla’s death. Slices abound!

• While I continue to love the period details, it took me out when Deb asked Dexter if he wanted to “rent a Blockbuster.” This is not something we said in the ’90s! “Go to Blockbuster,” sure. “Rent a movie at Blockbuster,” okay. But “rent a Blockbuster”? Not on my watch.