Dexter: Original Sin is back from its hiatus this week, and what an episode with which to return! Last we saw Dexter (Patrick Gibson), he was facing two big problems: a former victim’s lower arm had resurfaced in the Everglades and made Dexter’s dumping grounds an active crime scene, and the body of a new victim lay in the back of his truck.
With the return of episode 7, Original Sin drops a huge bombshell as the search for Nicky Spencer (London Thatcher) continues. Additionally in this week’s recap, Deb (Molly Brown) compromises her future, Laura (Brittany Allen) finally meets Hector Estrada (Carlo Mendez), and Dexter works out his big, bad body problem against a backdrop decorated with Easter eggs.
Dexter’s big, bad body problem
Episode 7 opens right where episode 6 left off with Dexter driving up to his dumping spot in the Everglades to dispose of Levi Reed’s (Jeff Daniel Phillips) body, then being stopped by police and told to turn around because the area is an active crime scene. But it’s not just any crime scene; it’s Dexter’s crime scene, in more ways than one.
It’s his literal dead body dumping ground, and now it’s his new case to work as a forensics technician, which is how he manages to stay at the scene. Dexter flashes his credentials, knowing it is pertinent he is there to do his job. This way, he can control the evidence collected and dispose of anything that could lead back to him. And he does, like a rockstar.
The severed lower arm belongs to Tony Ferrer (Roberto Sanchez), the bookie from episode 3, and Dexter is the only one who knows this. As luck would have it, he realizes he can get partial prints from one of the fingers, which is super bad because it could ultimately lead police right back to him. He ponders getting caught and considers what he’d have as his last meal: a porterhouse steak and two chocolate milkshakes. Gross.
As he works around Masuka (Alex Shimizu), he devises a plan to thwart the investigation. While everyone else is busy and distracted, a hungry gator surfaces. Dexter fakes being attacked, and by the time others working the scene get to him, ta-da! The severed arm is gone. No more evidence. Bullet dodged. But as one problem is solved, another lingers: where to dispose of Levi Reed, and future dead bodies now that this area is tainted.
Dexter ultimately decides his best option for now is to toss Reed’s body in a dumpster near the landfill on garbage day. Within hours, Ferrer’s body is lost amongst a sea of trash where he belongs. These big, bad body problems turned out to be close calls.
Deb compromises her future
We find out in episode 7 that Dexter never called Sophia (Raquel Justice) after their double date with Deb and Gio (Isaac Gonzalez Rossi). When she confronts Dexter in his truck and finds a condom wrapper on the floor, she assumes the worst and breaks up with him, unbeknownst to Deb. Later that morning at school, Sophia cries to Deb about what happened, then gets upset when Deb takes Dexter’s side by defending him against the cheating accusations. It’s the first crack in their friendship, and though Deb doesn’t know it yet, it’s going to be the one crack that splits their entire foundation as friends.
At volleyball practice, Deb sits alone as she puts on her gear. Tiffany (Victoria Martzloff) approaches—the mean girl who’s always leaving Deb out—and tells her she knows Deb stole her car and got it stuck in the sand on the beach. As the two argue, Deb realizes the only other person who knew about that (besides Gio) was Sophia.
And so, that crack opens into a rift, and Deb and Sophia argue, ultimately ending their friendship. Tiffany calls for a new volleyball captain before turning and making ugly remarks to Deb, who responds to her bully with a punch right to the face. It’s an action that fully compromises Deb’s future, as she is kicked off the volleyball team and suspended from school—her impending scholarship to Florida State University now in jeopardy.
By the end of the episode, we see Deb fed up with caring. She’s just done. As Harry grounds her, she asserts herself and throws down the gauntlet with where she’s at emotionally, then she storms out and goes to be with Gio.
Laura ends it with Harry and finally meets Hector Estrada
In one of Harry's flashbacks, we see him and Laura arguing. She wants out of the operation and Harry reminds her what she'll be risking if she walks away before Miami Metro has what they need on Estrada. As he pleads with her to stay on the case, she tells Harry she's done just as Dexter walks in the room and runs towards Harry, calling him Daddy. Laura scoops him up and tells him, "That's not your daddy. Say goodbye to Mr. Morgan."
The next day, as she’s unloading groceries at home, a car pulls up and a man steps out, demanding Laura stop what she’s doing and come with them. Knowing this is cartel-related and that she has no choice, she complies. She’s driven to a mansion, where she’s given a robe and told to strip. It’s a good thing she wasn’t wired that day. She’s then led outside to the pool where she (and we) finally meets the man of the hour.
Estrada is much younger than I expected … and handsome. He’s insanely fit and charming but also unnervingly calm and serious. As he and Laura sit in the pool and talk about how she’s been able to expand her clientele so quickly, Estrada says he notices her hunger and wants to know the source. It’s a tense moment that ends with her responding, “My family.” Estrada knows of her sons and likes what he hears. Before ending their conversation, he puts her in charge of her own operation and says he’ll see her again soon.
Easter eggs and revelations at Miami Metro
Acutely aware they are on Day 4 of Nicky Spencer’s disappearance, everyone at Miami Metro works rapidly and diligently to locate Captain Spencer's kid—everyone except LaGuerta (Christina Milian) and Harry, who are busy working her N.H.I. (No Human Involved) cases, which they believe are connected.
LaGuerta pulls Captain Spencer (Patrick Dempsey) aside and tells him she thinks they’re dealing with a serial killer on the N.H.I. cases due to similarities between the last three victims: They were all loners, nothing was stolen from them, and they were killed and discarded in specific ways. She points out that the killer’s methods are escalating, that he (or she) is experimenting and figuring out what’s pleasurable. When Harry chimes in that he agrees it’s worth pursuing, Captain Spencer gives the go-ahead, then gets back to focusing on his son.
Off to the side, Dexter flips through a book of maps showing bodies of water in South Florida. As he considers various locations to serve as his new disposal spot, he mentions in voiceover that he just needs a boat. I’d say this is Easter egg #1: the origin point of Dexter’s plans and efforts to acquire The Slice of Life.
Still not convinced water is the way to go, Dexter hops down to the Records Department and pours through old serial killer cases to see what their methods of disposal were. First up is Ed Gein, but no, Dexter certainly couldn’t decorate the family home with the bones of his victims. Next is the Son of Sam/.44 Caliber killer David Burkowitz, whose method of leaving his victims in plain sight, well, that wouldn’t work either. Dexter even looks at John Wayne Gacy, the killer clown of Chicago who buried victims in his crawl space. Then, he does the unthinkable and asks his co-workers how they would get rid of a body and where some of the best places to hide a dead body are. When Harry walks in on this, he fails to see the amusement in what his son is doing, but we viewers don’t.
Things take a somber turn when Miami Metro receives a delivery: the severed finger of Nicky Spencer. Captain Spencer is beside himself and has to be held back. In the lab, Dexter eyes the finger while telling us how violence against children makes him feel and how he "can’t wait to get this guy on [his] kill table." As Dexter investigates the box in which the finger came, he notices a tiny speck of blood on the outside that doesn’t appear to be from the finger.
We watch with intrigue as he, CSI Chief Tanya Martin (Sarah Michelle Gellar), and Masuka do their thing and extract the blood sample to test. It’s the first time we see Dexter drop a sample between two slides, and instantly we see how awestruck he is. Easter egg #2: the origin point of Dexter’s new idea for those kill trophies.
The big, bad bombshell
There’s no better word to describe episode 7 than bombshell.
Nicky Spencer is still alive, and he’s hellbent on escaping. He’s a smart kid, and instead of just sitting and waiting for what comes next, he takes action. He removes the handle from the bucket he was given to use the bathroom in and makes himself a shiv.
When the kidnapper opens the door slot and puts the Lunchable through, Nicky says he isn’t eating it, and if they want him to eat it, they’ll have to come in the room and make him. He stays motionless on the floor, crouching in wait as the perpetrator gets close enough for him to strike. Unfortunately, little ole Nicky is no match in strength, and he’s ultimately wrestled down to the floor after managing to slash his attacker's left arm. As punishment, he cuts off one of Nicky's fingers.
At the station, blood test results come back, and the blood Dexter found on the box is a match for the same blood type as Nicky Spencer. However, CSI can’t prove that it does or does not belong to Nicky, or that it does or does not belong to the killer. All they know is that their killer and Nicky share the same blood type.
The more he investigates, the more Dexter notices a big difference in the way the fingers of Jimmy Powell and Nicky Spencer were severed. While there was no hesitation cut on Jimmy’s finger, there is a hesitation cut on Nicky’s, and this could be the puzzle piece Dex needs to figure out this big picture. Dexter takes this news to Captain Spencer. As he and Dexter look at the test results, Captain Spencer rests his left arm on his desk, revealing blood-soaked gauze wrapped around his wrist and forearm. Dexter instantly spots this and freezes as he stares, and when Captain notices, he pulls his arm back and mentions he had an accident at home.
But Dexter is in full speculation mode, and so are we. We can’t help but ask (and answer) the question, “Is Captain Spencer responsible for his own son’s kidnapping and torture?! Is he the killer of Jimmy Powell?!”
As Dexter tells himself he needs a new dumping ground sooner than he thought, episode 7 pans to its bombshell ending scene where we see … wait for it … Captain Spencer at a gas station buying several of the Lunchables both Jimmy and Nicky were forced to eat.
Review of Dexter: Original Sin episode 7
For now, it seems confirmed: Captain Spencer is our alleged perpetrator! How could he do this to his own son? How could he do this to anyone’s son? And why? What’s his motive? Is he a serial killer? Surely the fresh wound on his arm and the purchase of so many Lunchables aren’t just coincidences. There are no coincidences … not in Dexter Morgan’s universe anyway.
Episode 7 works to show us how Dexter’s code, killing ritual, and disposal method are developing and evolving at the same time that Dexter is developing and evolving as both a forensics tech and a vigilante serial killer. It's a nice comparison they have running side-by-side.
And Deb’s character arc gets really interesting in this episode, revealing to us that, just like Dexter, she’s also this soul with a conscience and a Dark Passenger of her own: anger. She’s also strong-willed and mouthy due to years of trauma and being made to feel insignificant. After this episode, it’s hard to say where she is mentally at this point, or what she’ll do next.
Dexter: Original Sin has done a fantastic job so far of hitting us with blindsides and origin stories, and episode 7 continues the excitement by dropping a huge bombshell on us—one we never saw coming. Big, bad body problems abound in this episode for more than just Dexter, and they do so in ways that are creating lasting tension as the prequel creeps closer and closer to its end.
Dexter: Original Sin streams Fridays on Paramount+ with Showtime and airs Sunday nights on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET.