Dexter: Original Sin – Season 1 Episode 6 Recap & Review

The Joy Of Killing

Episode 6 of Dexter: Original Sin begins with troubling scenes, as Becca is left tied up in the garage and Nicky grabbed by a masked man who kidnaps him while leaving her tied up.

Meanwhile, Deb is super excited for a double-date she has planned. Given she wants him to make a good impression with Gio, she urges her brother not to embarrass her and, specifically, not “be himself”. Harry however, is certainly not meeting him, but he does encourage Dex afterwards to keep an eye on his sister.

Next, Dex heads out to a new crime scene. The victim appears to be a loner, with evidence of self-harming. There’s also bruising on his biceps and it would appear that the guy was tied up and choked out with a bag. Whoever the killer is, they wanted to try and savour the kill, given there’s a hole in the first bag and a second that did the trick and killed him. Dexter believes that these killings are linked – especially the one from Coconut Grove and the gunshot victim in episode 2. He thinks the killer is “evolving” given none of them have been robbed and the killings are all “pleasure-based”.

Detective LaGuerta is fronting this case and while she does see merit in Dexter’s theory, she doesn’t think there’s enough here yet to rule it as a serial killing.

A big ruckus occurs at the station when Becca arrives to give her statement. She blames herself for Nicky being taken and is desperate to try and get him back. Spencer is obviously torn up and believes that officials and their families are being targeted here.

In the midst of this, Dexter’s new target happens to be Levi Reed. He works on setting up evidence and stalking this guy. Of course around this, Dex also heads off on the double-date where things inevitably don’t go to plan! At least not to begin with anyway.

Eventually things do go along a bit smoother, and in fact the gang even mess with Tiffany’s car after Dexter ends up “getting intimate” with Sophia in the toilets.

The flashbacks continue too, as Harry keeps an eye on Laura as she heads off on her latest mission. At the warehouse, she finds Alfredo tied up and loses a finger for lying and betraying them. That, unfortunately, puts Laura in a tricky position, as although her cover isn’t blown, she is given a promotion but very visibly rattled by what’s happened.

Things are made all the more tenuous though when Harry’s wife gives birth to Deb. In fact, Dora knows that he’s been having an affair and tells him to end things. He claims it’s over but of course, we know it’s not that easy, especially given what transpires with Harry.

Through all of this, Dexter bides his time and grabs Levi late at night, injecting and, eventually, killing him. At the same time, Harry speaks to Spencer about the case at the station, empathizing with his plight and reinforcing how you can’t always control everything.

Harry promises to get Nicky back, but as we find out, he’s being kept in a warehouse somewhere and it seems he’s on a tight window of time.

As the episode closes out, Dexter is stopped en-route to Alligator Alley, as the cops have found a severed hand and have decided this area is an active crime scene. Unfortunately, Dexter happens to have Levi’s dead body in the trunk. Uh oh!

The Episode Review

Dexter returns with another good episode this week, diving into the psyche of this killer and his feelings in evolving from a straightforward murderer to a serial killer. This confliction comes across really well in the narration, while Harry’s worry about Dex helps to feed into the parental angle which is ultimately the glue holding everything together.

The show has done a decent job so far in fleshing out its ensemble and here, at least, we do see more of Deb during the humorous double-date sequence. It’s ironic that Dexter has learned tips from Levi, the man he’s obviously now killed, and it remains to be seen if he’ll continue to pick up these little tricks for the episodes to come.

Either way, everything here is left wide open for next week’s chapter, where Dexter could well be in hot water for what’s in his trunk. How will he dispose of the body now? Will Nicky be saved? We’ll have to wait and see!