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Dexter: Original Sin Episode 8 Goes Big

Laura Moser holding her sons before she dies in Dexter: Original Sin Episode 8
Screenshot/ Showtime

After last week’s disappointing episode, Dexter: Original Sin Episode 8 made up for it. A lot of slow moving plots gained momentum, connections are being made and a real sense of urgency has set in. We’re about to get into heavy spoiler territory so if you haven’t seen this episode yet (written by Mary Leah Sutton & Johanna Ramm and directed by Monica Raymund), proceed with caution.


Patrick Dempsey is a marvelous actor. I typically think that every time he’s on the screen, but this week, he really got to showcase it. He’s a terrific villain, too. After all those years of being a heartthrob, it’s nice to see his bad side. It’s been painfully obvious all season long that Dempsey was the Big Bad, but now that the audience gets to see him lean into it, it’s a treat.

Dexter: Original Sin Episode 8 started off with Dempsey’s Captain Aaron Spencer drugging his own son, gently removing his basketball jersey and then consoling him. The boy said “Dad?” before passing out, after which Dempsey unmasked, confirming his identity as the kidnapper and likely murderer of the judge’s son earlier in the season.

We would soon find out that Captain Spencer had given Dexter a multitude of cold cases to work, confirming Dexter’s suspicion that Spencer knew Dexter was onto him. Dexter attempted to tell Harry that he suspected Spencer was behind his own son’s kidnapping, which Harry quickly dismissed, even lashing out at Dexter.

Deb, fresh off her school suspension, was with her mysterious boyfriend Gio. His apartment was quite luxurious and when he told Deb that he had to take his boat to an island for business, it was apparent that we would be learning more about his real identity. While we didn’t get full fledged confirmation that Gino’s dad is in the cartel, he’s obviously involved with some level of organized crime. He’s engaged and he lashed out at Deb when she got a little too nosey.

This all felt neat and tidy, a conclusion to this story. Which means that Gio likely isn’t going to be a bigger player in this narrative. His plot function at this point seems to be a bad boyfriend for Deb to illustrate her emotional turmoil and longing for connection rather than Gio being a criminal Dexter will one day face. He still might, but as of now, it seems like Gio was just the first of many men to break Deb’s heart. Well, second if you count her father.

Big Brother

A large focus of Dexter: Original Sin Episode 8was Harry and Maria’s road trip to try and hunt down the serial killer they believe they’re after. The story took a nice twist with the realization that a psychiatrist was murdered. His patient list revealed that Brian Moser was previously a patient. Harry looked into Brian’s file and put two and two together that another victim was once Brian’s nurse. Could Brian be killing off anyone that knows about his past? It would be an interesting origin story of sorts for Dexter’s big brother. The file also included a note about Brian knowing about Harry and his mother’s affair and that he “wanted to be with Dexter.”

As our stories begin to converse, one can’t help but wonder if Harry is a potential victim for Brian. We’ve always been told that Harry dies of a heart attack, but that’s not to say that Brian doesn’t play a role in this. With two episodes left to go in the season, it feels like a safe bet that we will see Brian Moser soon. Could Harry’s days be numbered? Narratively, it seems likely.

Harry, Maria and local cops investigate in Dexter: Original Sin Episode 8
Screenshot / Showtime

Maria uncovering that Harry took Brian Moser’s file could also become a wrinkle of sorts. This could be the beginning of Maria as a political force in the department, if she chooses to take Harry down. With Spencer already suspicious of Dexter, if Maria comes to him with evidence that Harry stole a file, Spencer might be quick to weaponize that information to protect himself.

Born In Blood

Dexter: Original Sin Episode 8 would be the episode where the show finally pulled the trigger on the dangling Laura Moser story. We’ve known her death at the hands of the cartel was coming. This was an ending we’ve known since the beginning. But here we are. We see Laura and both of her sons get ripped from their home and taken to a storage container, exactly where we know her end will be met.

We do not see Laura die. We see another man get cut up with a chainsaw, while Laura holds her sons close. She’s already begged for their lives to be spared. Dexter’s eyes are wide open as blood spills across the container from this other man. The last thing we hear is Laura saying, “Close your eyes Dexter,” as the camera zooms in on his wide open eyes.

It’s possible, but not likely, that this story continues into the next episode, but this was the “Born in Blood” moment we’ve been promised. Dexter and Brian next to their mother as she’s murdered. Murdered because Harry Morgan kept her as an undercover informant for too long, in too dangerous of a situation. A sick cycle of violence happens between these two families. Laura dies because of Harry. Brian dies at the hands of Dexter eventually. Deb dies because of Dexter. Possibly Harry dies because of Brian. Or maybe Dexter. That remains to be seen.

He Can See Darkness

The last story to track this week was Dexter tailing Captain Spencer. Dex follows him, as he delivers a bag (with the basketball jersey he removed from his son) and cash to a street criminal, who took the bag to a cartel stash house. This would later turn into an anonymous tip coming in that the boy was at this stash house, which prompted a large shoot out, with the people in the house and one cop dying.

Captain Aaron Spencer pulls a gun in Dexter: Original Sin Episode 8
Screenshot/ Showtime

We still don’t know exactly why Spencer had one child killed and kidnapped his own son. We do know that he’s hellbent on blaming this on the cartel. Now we can see that he’s willing to let innocent police officers and people die as part of whatever he’s doing here. Is he that upset over the cartel escaping justice that he’s willing to barter innocent lives to build a case against them? Has the cartel wronged him in other ways?

We don’t know why Captain Spencer is doing these things, but Dexter now knows that Spencer is behind it all. Harry might not believe Dexter, but I don’t think Dexter cares or even feels like he needs Harry’s approval at this point. Dexter says he saw the darkness in Aaron Spencer and he’s ready to inflict justice.

Quick Hits

  • Can people on social media quit asking when Season 8’s Dr. Vogel is going to appear in the prequel? We all want to forget about Season 8!
  • Maria was seen kissing a man with no explanation. It could be Miguel Prada, although it likely would just be a cool Easter Egg and not really of any narrative importance.
  • I can’t shake this feeling that this season is going to end with Deb telling Dexter that she’s going to become a cop. This is because I see about a 2% chance that Harry survives this season.
  • A few weeks ago I speculated that Captain Spencer and Brian might be working together. Molly Brown’s public comments about a bigger twist coming make me want to double down on this prediction. If this is true, Harry’s chances of survival drop to 0.

Until next week…

Written by Andrew Grevas

A staunch defender of the series finales for both Lost & The Sopranos and watched Twin Peaks at the age of 5 during its original run, which explains a lot about his personality.

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