There’s a lot going on this week in Dexter: Original Sin episode 6, mostly centered around big moments for Dexter (Patrick Gibson) as he evolves further into adulthood, into his knack for crime scene forensics, and as an official vigilante serial killer.
Additionally, Harry (Christian Slater) adjusts to his new demotion at work while continuing to flash back to his time with Laura Moser (Brittany Allen), Deb (Molly Brown) plans a double date for her and Gio (Isaac Gonzalez Rossi) with Dexter and Sofia (Raquel Justice), and Miami Metro faces another another high-profile kidnapping.
Here’s a full recap and review of episode 6!
Another child is kidnapped
Episode 6 opens with another kidnapping of a high-profile official’s kid. Unfortunately for Miami Metro, it’s Nicky (London Thatcher), Captain Spencer’s (Patrick Dempsey) son. It appears to be the same guy who kidnapped Jimmy Powell (Brayden Gleave) in episode 2, as Nicky’s mother is knocked out and tied up in their garage, and Nicky is taken to the exact same room where Jimmy was held. He’s also similarly chained to the floor and given the same lunchable to eat.
At Miami Metro, Captain Spencer and Nicky's mother are beside themselves with fear, panic, guilt, and desperation.
He and the entire department are desperate to find Nicky before he suffers a deadly fate. Dexter can't help but obsess over Levi Reed (Jeff Daniel Phillips), specifically how Reed will be his third kill. Three kills signal a pattern, three kills signal a serial killer. When he learns Captain Spencer’s son has been kidnapped, he’s pulled closer to finding out who is taking and harming these children… but first, he has to tend to Levi.
Before leaving, Dex points out to Harry that they only have 10 days to find Nicky before he’s killed. He notes it was 4 days after Jimmy Powell was taken that they received his finger, and then by day 12, they found his body. Harry knows they’re short on time and struggles with not being able to help on the case. He does what he can and keeps Cap’s head focused, reminding him he’s needed to take down the bad guys and keep everyone safe.
Harry’s big flashbacks
Harry's flashbacks continue, always focused on his time spent working the Hector Estrada case with Laura Moser (Brittany Allen).
In the past year, they’ve cemented their working relationship as Laura continues getting closer to Estrada, they’ve consummated their personal relationship on several occasions, and then Harry arrived at the point where he knew he must end their personal relationship. He brings it up but doesn’t cut things off, and instead leaves to return home to his pregnant wife.
After a particularly gruesome cartel meeting wherein Laura’s life is threatened with violence if she ever wronged them, she tells Harry she wants out; she’s done. He urges her just to hang in there, that she’s so close to getting the evidence they need against Estrada, and he promises to protect her. Laura asks Harry if his wife were in her shoes, would he be so willing to send her back in? He hesitates and before he can answer, Bobby (Reno Wilson) turns up with news that Doris (Jasper Lewis), Harry’s wife, has given birth to a healthy baby girl.
At the hospital, Harry is smitten at seeing Debra for the first time. The life that left his eyes after the death of their son returns in a flash, and as Laura watches, she tells Harry he has to end it… the affair. Caught off guard, Harry stumbles to speak. Doris says she’s known about it for a while but didn’t say anything. Now that their baby is here, she needs him to be a present father and husband. Harry agrees and says he’ll end things with Laura.
Deb plans a double date with Dexter
Deb and Gio are growing closer and getting more serious by the day, and she’s decided she wants her brother to meet him. So, she plans a double date for her, Gio, Dex, and Sofia, and she warns Dex to be normal, not to be himself.
It’s an awkward date, to say the least. Dexter is totally himself and in full socially awkward mode. Upon meeting Gio, he complements him on his nice teeth, then sits down and orders a plethora of food, which he inhales, well, like a starving predator. Later as the couples play darts, he gets a sense of who Gio is when Gio confronts a guy for bumping into Deb and spilling her drink on her.
“Nobody messes with my girl,” he yells out loud.
Things between Sofia and Dexter heat up when, after helping her throw darts, Sofia follows him into the bathroom and locks the door. The two then share an intimate moment—a first for Dex, who reappears with his mind blown and a big smile on his face.
He now has a new perspective on dating, but he isn’t short-sighted when it comes to realizing the effort it takes to keep it up is quite draining, and quite frankly, he already has enough on his plate.
Dexter drops a major crime scene theory
We’re given a new crime scene in episode 6, this time another male. Remember, we’ve already had two previous dead males this season. As Dex works the scene and does his thing, Harry and LaGuerta (Christina Milian) ask him what he sees.
Dex is methodical, particular, careful… fine-tuned to detail. And this is why he’s so good at his job and is able to theorize how a victim might have died. In this particular case, the victim is suffocated with two bags over his head. Dexter notices a hole poked in the first bag, which leads them to wonder, then, about the second one and why it was there. The victim’s hands were tied behind his back, so he couldn’t have torn the hole in the first bag. So, who did?
Dex slips into the mind of the killer and theorizes that he wanted to savor the kill and make it last longer, so he brought a spare bag because he wanted to see the fear in the victim’s eyes before he died.
“It was pleasurable for him,” Dexter says before pointing out similarities between this death and the previous two crime scenes. “What if they’re connected?” he asks, noting how each kill has been more refined, more intimate. The killer is evolving his process. And all three victims were completely isolated from any friends or family. It’s a pattern.
While it’s a good theory, LaGuerta dismisses it, only later to discover Dexter’s theory was right and they do, indeed, have a possible serial killer on their hands.
Dexter's joy of killing evolves
Since the end of episode 5 when Levi Reed walked out of court a free man, Dexter’s sights have been focused on one thing: killing him. Episode 6 sees Dex begin his routine. He gathers information on Reed’s killings, he follows Reed, he stalks Reed, and when the moment is right, he takes Reed down.
Stalking is new to Dexter. He’s evolving his process and is very aware of that. In voiceover narration, he tells us how it’s exciting for him, watching a killer when they aren’t killing, seeing them act normal. In his efforts, he’s learned that Levi is a creature of habit, an animal who relies on basic instinct, leaving his mark all over the world wherever he goes. Dexter uses this to his advantage and decides he’ll take Reed down when he stops for his nightly urination in the alley. It's the perfect location.
The next night, Dex waits outside of Reed’s house and follows him when he leaves. He knows the routine, where he’s going. Just as Reed ducks into an alley and begins to relieve himself, Dexter sneaks up from behind and injects him with the sedative, then drives him to the kill spot, which is where else but the Shapiro home. As he preps the room, Dex speaks of killing and romance in voiceover narration: “There’s so much about the anticipation, the buildup, and then, of course, the happy ending.” He can’t get enough of it… the killing, that is.
Reed awakens strapped to the table and starts to panic when Dexter tells him all about how Reed should actually be thanking him for saving his life. He identifies himself as Harry Morgan’s son, then tells Reed about Harry’s plan to kill him outside of his home the night he was set free, but Dexter stopped him.
“Harry trained me, you know,” he says to Reed. “Yep, he gave me all the skills needed to make sure someone like you never hurts anyone again.”
And at the perfect moment, the show’s theme music softly begins, driving the tension and our excitement as Dexter moves closer in for the kill.
“Tonight, with this kill, I will become a bonafide serial killer,” Dexter says. He isn’t sure how he feels about being a serial killer, but he likes it.
As he questions Reed about the Shapiro killings, Reed begins laughing because he recognizes the familiarity in Dexter’s joy of killing. He loves it as much as Reed does, and Reed points this out. Dexter quickly retorts with one major difference: He doesn’t kill children or innocents. Then, he plunges his knife deep into Reed’s chest, blood spattering everywhere.
Dexter cleans up and loads Reed’s body to drive him out to the Everglades, only the closer he gets to his favorite feeding spot, the more aware he becomes that trouble looms on the horizon. And he’s right. A cop stops Dexter and tells him he must turn around, that the area is now an active crime scene.
Let’s hop back to episode 3, when Dexter stalked then killed devious loan shark Tony Ferrer (Roberto Sanchez). He disposed of Ferrer’s body at the same place in the Everglades, only as he turned to walk away after the alligators fed, a severed lower arm and hand resurfaced, without Dex knowing.
His second kill (and now second mistake) has come back to bite him in the a**. What’s he going to do? How’s he going to get out of this one and thwart attention away from himself? And how’s he going to dispose of Reed’s body now?
Dexter: Original Sin episode 6 review
There’s a lot about episode 6 I like. For instance, I love the pairing of Dexter’s dark evolution with the evolution of this unknown killer likely responsible for Miami Metro’s past three homicides. I love the pairing of similarities and differences between Reed’s passion to kill and Dexter’s need to kill. The show has kept a really solid pace focusing on Dexter’s evolution not just as a vigilante serial killer but also as a young adult and a forensics expert.
Something else I loved about this episode were the creative scene transitions and unique camera work. The more I watch this series, the more I come to notice how well-timed music creeps into specific scenes and drives the tension in subtle little ways.
While we didn’t discover more about who Gio is, we did learn how serious Deb is about him (and seemingly he is about her), making it that much more anticipatory to know the truth behind his real identity. And though the scene did not allude to it, I can’t help but predict that Dexter is going to discover something about Gio that only he could recognize. Maybe I’m wrong, but maybe I’m right. Time will tell.
For now, keep up, kids. We’ve got a kid to find, a body to hide, and another mess to clean up.
Dexter: Original Sin streams Fridays on Paramount+ with Showtime and airs Sunday nights onShowtime at 10 p.m. ET.