Andrew Grevas
The Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 Finale, written by Clyde Phillips and directed by Michael Lehmann is now streaming on Paramount + and will air Sunday evening on Showtime in its regular time slot. This article will be spoiler heavy, so if you haven’t seen the season finale yet, proceed with caution.
The Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 finale is in the books. The episode started in almost unspeakable fashion, with someone other than Michael C Hall playing the role of narrator. Brian Moser’s voice guided us through an opening montage where we saw his childhood, which stood in stark contrast to Dexter’s. While our titular character has no memory of their mother’s murder and then went on to be raised in a loving, caring home, Brian remembers everything.
Brian remembers comforting young Dexter while they sat mere feet away from their mother’s headless body. He remembers Harry pulling Dexter away from him, and then leaving him in the shipping container—only seeming to care about Dexter. He remembers the case worker taking him away from the Morgan family and going to another foster home where the child already there would lock him in a closest, triggering him and bringing up painful memories of being locked in the shipping container. Brian would eventually kill that child that locked him in the closet, one of the murders Harry and Maria were assigned to this season.
Brian remembers going to a group home and stabbing a teenage boy in the hand who stole his dinner. He would kill him eventually too. He remembers being sent to a mental hospital shortly after and thinking that an orderly there was the only person who cared about him. Turns out that orderly was stealing Brian’s meds and selling them, so you guessed it—Brian eventually killed him too. Just like he killed the therapist who told him he could never see Dexter again, because it would be too triggering.
The Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 finale told us explicitly that Brian is not the same as his brother Dexter. Brian remembers the pain that Dexter suppressed. Brian accumulated more pain while Dexter was guided, mentored and loved. Brian’s murders are personal, violent and without concern for being caught. Dexter’s kills are clean, carefully planned out and his victims are bad people who escaped the legal system. These brothers were both born in blood on that same fateful day many years ago but that’s where the similarities end. They are different kinds of monsters.
This story should make us look at ourselves. Who creates monsters? Parents. The system. The way society treats people who are different or disadvantaged. We all lend a hand in creating monsters. If Brian were shown mercy and compassion as a child, would he have turned out to be more like his younger brother? Or if Dexter hadn’t been shown love and affection as a child, would he have turned out to be like his big brother? We don’t know. But these questions need to be looked at.
The Big Bad
After last week’s penultimate episode, we knew the final confrontation between Dexter and Captain Spencer was coming. Dexter followed Spencer to the ship where he was holding his own son. Spencer filled the small room Nicky was being held in with water and gave Dexter a choice: Chase me or save him. In this episode’s theme about different types of monsters, Dexter was faced with this choice but I don’t think it was ever a question on how he would respond. Dexter on an intuitive level is protective of children. He doesn’t remember his origin story but his subconscious does.
Dexter saved Nicky and shot off flares so the Coast Guard could rescue the boy. This gave Dexter time to follow Spencer to his ex-wife’s house, whom he planned to kill next. The rationale of Spencer discovering that Nicky wasn’t his biological son so he was seeking revenge felt a little weak to me. I do find myself wondering why it wasn’t something more along the lines of trying to frame the cartel, which would have made more narrative sense. That being said, Patrick Dempsey was marvelous here as a deranged killer, really tapping into a Robert De Niro in Cape Fear kind of evil. Weak motivation aside, Captain Spencer was a great villain in this “Dexter-verse” on strength of acting alone.
Dexter did eventually get his kill and took a big step towards his “final form” by using Camille’s boat and going through much of the ritual he would use in the original series. While he was very much a novice most of the season, this was his turning point moment.
The Ballad of Harry (continued)
I fully believed that Harry would die in the Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 finale. I did. When Harry and Brian had their face to face on the rooftop, I thought “Tonight’s the night.” The exchange of dialogue between the two was effective though. Brian illustrating Harry’s hand in hurting him. Harry pointing out that he saved Dexter and that Brian might love him, but if he comes back into his life, Dexter will be hurt too.
The Morgan family had their happy ending here, with Deb announcing that she was joining the family business, Harry being proud of Dexter for saving Nicki and prioritizing that over his need for killing, and Dexter basking in the glow of his dad’s approval. The ending scene with Harry and his kids dancing, with Brian staring in the window, was interesting. The implication could be that Brian is going to leave Dexter alone and was saying goodbye here. Or, more likely, it’s that Brian seeing how happy his brother is with the man he blames for some of his pain is going to push him even further into madness.
Clyde Phillips and the cast are all on record saying that they hope to return for a second season. This ending (and really the episode as a whole) could be setting up a second season where we follow both of the Moser brothers. Dexter becoming more refined in his processes and Brian becoming more deranged. Rare overlap…until Brian finally kills Harry that is. Harry’s line towards the end (“I won’t be around forever”) certainly seemed to be a tip of the cap towards that conclusion.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Dexter: Original Sin exceeded expectations. The story felt fresh, even though it’s a prequel. The acting was phenomenal and the story was both funny, as well as reminder of what we loved about the first few seasons of the original series. I questioned if there was enough material to warrant a prequel, and certainly to warrant a second season. but I’m happy to report that there is.
Just give us lots more Sarah Michelle Gellar next season please.
