S01.E06: The Joy of Killing

[Snazzy Daisy]

Quote

Miami Metro is shaken by a kidnapping that hits close to home, as Dexter sets his sights on a killer that slipped through the cracks of the justice system. But first, Dexter must survive a double date with Deb and her new boyfriend.

Air Date: Jan 10, 2025

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

The killing of Levi Reed has validated Dexter’s status as a bona-fide serial killer.

Seeing Dexter picking-up little tricks from a man he’s planning to kill is kind of funny. Blending in takes a lot of hard work.

Whoever abducted Jimmy Powell and Nicky Spencer seems to be acting alone. Rafael Campos must be a red herring. There’s nothing to go on, forensically. Are you sure, Tanya? 🤔

Harry continued his affair with Laura until Doris gave birth to baby Debra. This wasn’t just a fling.

Spoiler

Little Dexter should’ve remembered Harry after being adopted by the Morgans. He read him bedtime stories, put him to bed etc. And little Dexter drew him.

Everglades isn’t a foolproof dumping ground. Handsome Tony’s severed arm with a unique ring has resurfaced. An offer from Camilla comes at the right time.

Am having a feeling of déjà vu!

Spoiler

While Dexter is in pursuit of Levi Reed, we get a glimpse of Brian Moser’s iconic freezer truck honking at him.

 

[Affogato]

Little Dexter appears to have not been a stereotypical psychopath serial killer.  Brian was one ( lizards, for example). 
 

Spoiler

But did we hear Harry talking to him about a grave of pet bones, or was that in the first show?

Will Dexter turn out to be Harry’s biological son? It would explain a lot.

We saw someone that looks like Brian earlier and it makes sense that Brian would want to see Dexter without revealing who he is  they are both messed up, although we know Dexter’s PTSD has blocked out most of his past. The ice truck is a nice easter egg  

 

Edited January 12 by Affogato

[Chicago Redshirt]

16 hours ago, Affogato said:

Little Dexter appears to have not been a stereotypical psychopath serial killer.  Brian was one ( lizards, for example). 
 

  Hide contents

But did we hear Harry talking to him about a grave of pet bones, or was that in the first show?

Will Dexter turn out to be Harry’s biological son? It would explain a lot.

We saw someone that looks like Brian earlier and it makes sense that Brian would want to see Dexter without revealing who he is  they are both messed up, although we know Dexter’s PTSD has blocked out most of his past. The ice truck is a nice easter egg  

 

While Dexter being biologically Harry's might help explain why Harry took responsibility for him and not Brian, Dexter simply cannot be Harry's biological son without the timeline as presented here and in OG Dexter being all kinds of messed up.

Dexter was 3 canonically when his mother was killed. For Dexter to be biologically Harry's, they would have had started sleeping together about four years prior to her murder.

That doesn't fit with anything so far in Original Sin.

We've seen the bust that led to Harry flipping Laura, we've seen Laura introduce Harry to both Dexter and Brian, we've seen  Harry and Laura start a sexual relationship, and we even had Harry hem and haw about doing it beforehand. None of that would make much sense if Harry somehow had not only met Laura three to four years earlier, but they had sex back then.  This latest episode said that Laura had been under with the cartel for about a year. 

Granted, this episode suggested Harry was a cheater already, and so maybe he and Laura somehow had a one night stand where neither really remembered the other or something, and it's only after Laura's death that Harry finds out that he's biologically Dexter's dad. But that seems a pretty big stretch.

It would be hard for me to square Brian being an active serial killer who knew where Dexter was in 1991 and then staying out of his life for the next 15 years until S1 of OG Dexter takes place in 2006 roughly (when it aired). But then, maybe they will offer an explanation. I could also maybe buy that they crossed paths without neither knowing it at the time but Dexter somehow put the pieces together later after OG Dexter S1 sometime..

I am considering it a possibility that these kidnappings/killings of Jimmy Powell and now the captain's kid are the work of young Brian. The killer seems to want to point the finger at the cartels hard and is targeting kids like he was, and putting them in a shipping container similar to where they were "born in blood." Or he may be following in Mom's footsteps, pretending to work for the cartel while having his own agenda.

There are probably lots of minor inconsistencies/retcons. In S1 of OG Dexter, Laguerta was hot for Dexter. It's a little tough for me to reconcile that attitude with how utterly indifferent she seems to be to him here. Maybe something happens to get her crushing on him later on this season. 

OG Dexter had him interested in Rita because she didn't want to have sex and he described his sexual experiences as having his partners expose to his partners that something was wrong with him. So I wonder if that is going to be the case with Sofia or if they are going to retcon that too. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 1/10/2025 at 3:25 PM, Snazzy Daisy said:

The killing of Levi Reed has validated Dexter’s status as a bona-fide serial killer.

Seeing Dexter picking-up little tricks from a man he’s planning to kill is kind of funny. Blending in takes a lot of hard work.

Whoever abducted Jimmy Powell and Nicky Spencer seems to be acting alone. Rafael Campos must be a red herring. There’s nothing to go on, forensically. Are you sure, Tanya? 🤔

Harry continued his affair with Laura until Doris gave birth to baby Debra. This wasn’t just a fling.

I am not clear if Harry has just been boning Laura or if he has caught feelings for her. I'm not sure if which is worse, if he's just a big dumb unfaithful horndog idiot who doesn't really care about much beyond getting some action, or if he's actually got strong emotions for her and he's letting her put herself at risk and potentially making her boys that he's met and babysat into orphans. 

Also, it seems like at some point with all the recordings, Harry and his partner should have tried to flip the next person up the chain rather than make Laura work all the way to the top person. They presumably either have someone in the cartel dead to rights for the murder of Alfredo, or if they contented themselves with just chopping off a few of Alfredo's digits, presumably they could flip him.  

[Chicago Redshirt]

Also, I wonder if Mad Dog counts towards Dexter's body count. Even though Mad Dog didn't die at Dexter's knife, he did die because Dexter targeted him and chased him in the street. If so, the Cuban loan shark would be his "cerial killer birthday," not this guy.

[AstridM]

11 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

While Dexter being biologically Harry's might help explain why Harry took responsibility for him and not Brian, Dexter simply cannot be Harry's biological son without the timeline as presented here and in OG Dexter being all kinds of messed up.

Dexter was 3 canonically when his mother was killed. For Dexter to be biologically Harry's, they would have had started sleeping together about four years prior to her murder.

That doesn't fit with anything so far in Original Sin.

We've seen the bust that led to Harry flipping Laura, we've seen Laura introduce Harry to both Dexter and Brian, we've seen  Harry and Laura start a sexual relationship, and we even had Harry hem and haw about doing it beforehand. None of that would make much sense if Harry somehow had not only met Laura three to four years earlier, but they had sex back then.  This latest episode said that Laura had been under with the cartel for about a year. 

Granted, this episode suggested Harry was a cheater already, and so maybe he and Laura somehow had a one night stand where neither really remembered the other or something, and it's only after Laura's death that Harry finds out that he's biologically Dexter's dad. But that seems a pretty big stretch.

It would be hard for me to square Brian being an active serial killer who knew where Dexter was in 1991 and then staying out of his life for the next 15 years until S1 of OG Dexter takes place in 2006 roughly (when it aired). But then, maybe they will offer an explanation. I could also maybe buy that they crossed paths without neither knowing it at the time but Dexter somehow put the pieces together later after OG Dexter S1 sometime..

I am considering it a possibility that these kidnappings/killings of Jimmy Powell and now the captain's kid are the work of young Brian. The killer seems to want to point the finger at the cartels hard and is targeting kids like he was, and putting them in a shipping container similar to where they were "born in blood." Or he may be following in Mom's footsteps, pretending to work for the cartel while having his own agenda.

There are probably lots of minor inconsistencies/retcons. In S1 of OG Dexter, Laguerta was hot for Dexter. It's a little tough for me to reconcile that attitude with how utterly indifferent she seems to be to him here. Maybe something happens to get her crushing on him later on this season. 

OG Dexter had him interested in Rita because she didn't want to have sex and he described his sexual experiences as having his partners expose to his partners that something was wrong with him. So I wonder if that is going to be the case with Sofia or if they are going to retcon that too. 

Dexter is NOT Harry’s biological son, period. Thanks for laying out exactly why. 

Edited January 13 by AstridM

[Affogato]

10 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

While Dexter being biologically Harry's might help explain why Harry took responsibility for him and not Brian, Dexter simply cannot be Harry's biological son without the timeline as presented here and in OG Dexter being all kinds of messed up.

Dexter was 3 canonically when his mother was killed. For Dexter to be biologically Harry's, they would have had started sleeping together about four years prior to her murder.

That doesn't fit with anything so far in Original Sin.

We've seen the bust that led to Harry flipping Laura, we've seen Laura introduce Harry to both Dexter and Brian, we've seen  Harry and Laura start a sexual relationship, and we even had Harry hem and haw about doing it beforehand. None of that would make much sense if Harry somehow had not only met Laura three to four years earlier, but they had sex back then.  This latest episode said that Laura had been under with the cartel for about a year. 

Granted, this episode suggested Harry was a cheater already, and so maybe he and Laura somehow had a one night stand where neither really remembered the other or something, and it's only after Laura's death that Harry finds out that he's biologically Dexter's dad. But that seems a pretty big stretch.

It would be hard for me to square Brian being an active serial killer who knew where Dexter was in 1991 and then staying out of his life for the next 15 years until S1 of OG Dexter takes place in 2006 roughly (when it aired). But then, maybe they will offer an explanation. I could also maybe buy that they crossed paths without neither knowing it at the time but Dexter somehow put the pieces together later after OG Dexter S1 sometime..

I am considering it a possibility that these kidnappings/killings of Jimmy Powell and now the captain's kid are the work of young Brian. The killer seems to want to point the finger at the cartels hard and is targeting kids like he was, and putting them in a shipping container similar to where they were "born in blood." Or he may be following in Mom's footsteps, pretending to work for the cartel while having his own agenda.

There are probably lots of minor inconsistencies/retcons. In S1 of OG Dexter, Laguerta was hot for Dexter. It's a little tough for me to reconcile that attitude with how utterly indifferent she seems to be to him here. Maybe something happens to get her crushing on him later on this season. 

OG Dexter had him interested in Rita because she didn't want to have sex and he described his sexual experiences as having his partners expose to his partners that something was wrong with him. So I wonder if that is going to be the case with Sofia or if they are going to retcon that too. 

Yeah, I haven’t been taking notes. no, ‘explainns a lot’ meant something else, not why he took him in. That is easily explained. Child services would take charge of them. Dexter, who we have been shown had a stronger bond with Harry and who was younger, probably clung to Harry like a barnacle. Harry was a cop, may have stayed with Dex, and adopted out to him because of that bond, because it provided stability for Dex. Brian, older and an established psychopath, likely just played video games. 
 

it does make sense to me that Brian, released from his group home, or wherever,  (having learned to act normal) would seek out Dex. Dex does not remember Brian, but Brian would remember Dex and Harry. Was he going to tell Dex who he was, if that was Brian? Maybe? I mean, I can see him walking away for years, i might have and I’m not a psychopath. It is a lot to take in and Brian probably didn’t have a lot of guidance. 
 

i think the wuestion on the table for the current show is ‘ would Dexter have been a serial killer without Harry?’ Being a sociopath does not mean being a serial killer. But who knows?it isn’t clear to me thos franchise actually makes sense, aside from some riveting acting  

 

 

Edited January 13 by Affogato

[Snazzy Daisy]

Postmortem | Ep. 106 | The Joy of Killing | Dexter: Original Sin

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

Dexter and Deb’s Double Date | Dexter: Original Sin

 

[AstridM]

1 hour ago, Affogato said:

Yeah, I haven’t been taking notes. no, ‘explainns a lot’ meant something else, not why he took him in. That is easily explained. Child services would take charge of them. Dexter, who we have been shown had a stronger bond with Harry and who was younger, probably clung to Harry like a barnacle. Harry was a cop, may have stayed with Dex, and adopted out to him because of that bond, because it provided stability for Dex. Brian, older and an established psychopath, likely just played video games. 
 

it does make sense to me that Brian, released from his group home, or wherever,  (having learned to act normal) would seek out Dex. Dex does not remember Brian, but Brian would remember Dex and Harry. Was he going to tell Dex who he was, if that was Brian? Maybe? I mean, I can see him walking away for years, i might have and I’m not a psychopath. It is a lot to take in and Brian probably didn’t have a lot of guidance. 
 

i think the wuestion on the table for the current show is ‘ would Dexter have been a serial killer without Harry?’ Being a sociopath does not mean being a serial killer. But who knows?it isn’t clear to me thos franchise actually makes sense, aside from some riveting acting  

 

 

I don’t think Brian was an “established psychopath” before he saw his mother murderered. “Psychopath” is not even a formal clinical diagnosis in modern medicine. Certainly, children are never diagnosed as such. 

Edited January 13 by AstridM

[Chicago Redshirt]

9 minutes ago, Affogato said:

Yeah, I haven’t been taking notes. no, ‘explainns a lot’ meant something else, not why he took him in. That is easily explained. Child services would take charge of them. Dexter, who we have been shown had a stronger bond with Harry and who was younger, probably clung to Harry like a barnacle. Harry was a cop, may have stayed with Dex, and adopted out to him because of that bond, because it provided stability for Dex. Brian, older and an established psychopath, likely just played video games. 
 

it does make sense to me that Brian, released from his group home, or wherever,  (having learned to act normal) would seek out Dex. Dex does not remember Brian, but Brian would remember Dex and Harry. Was he going to tell Dex who he was, if that was Brian? Maybe? I mean, I can see him walking away for years, i might have and I’m not a psychopath. It is a lot to take in and Brian probably didn’t have a lot of guidance. 
 

i think the wuestion on the table for the current show is ‘ would Dexter have been a serial killer without Harry?’ Being a sociopath does not mean being a serial killer. 

 

 

YMMV, but for me there has always been an open question as to why Harry adopted Dexter but not only did not adopt Brian, but also kept Dexter completely ignorant as to Brian's very existence.

I don't think OG Dexter ever elaborated on why that was. The books (which I have not read) may have filled in that gap. There's speculation to be had, as you say: it was IIRC expressly said that Brian was older and put into foster homes. 

Since Harry felt indebted to Laura for getting her killed, why would he only assist one of her two kids? Did Harry think that Dexter was salvageable due to his young age, but that Brian was not? Did DCFS? Did he just kind of forget about Brian like Dani kind of forgot about the Iron Fleet? (Never forget GOT S8)

A plausible explanation in a vacuum might be that he had a blood relationship with Dexter and so tried rescuing him and the lack of a blood relationship with Brian meant that he didn't care. Which would be a shitty way to approach things IMO, but then again, Harry is sort of objectively a deeply flawed person based on OG Dexter/Dexter OS. He was negligent leading to the death of his firstborn, he is a cheater, he presumably broke some police department rule by cheating with his CI, he kept Laura undercover too long, he ignored Deb's multiple cries for a crumb of support, he knowingly discounted exculpatory evidence in the Reed case. It's hard to come up with much that is good about him, other than he supposedly is good at his job (which we haven't really seen much evidence of) and he figured out how to channel Dexter so that he somehow seemingly has kept innocent blood off of his hands for what has to be about three decades of killing.

We haven't really seen much of child Dexter bonding with Harry or not, and much of child Brian not bonding with Harry. But even assuming Harry was closer to Dexter, it still raises the question as to what Harry did or didn't do with regard to Brian, who he had to know about. 

We'll see of Dexter: OS addresses what exactly Harry did or failed to do about Brian.

I think the way OG Dexter, Dexter: New Blood and now Dexter: Original Sin have addressed the issue is that the childhood trauma he (and Brian and Harrison) endured meant that they were going to be stuck with an urge to kill no matter what. Of course, this is largely coming from Dexter's perspective and Dexter is an unreliable narrator. There's little chance that this series will go deep enough in the weeds to explore the what if Dexter (and Brian and Harrison) had gotten adequate psychological treatment/medication/responsible parenting to address their bloodlust?

Yes, this show has demonstrated that Brian apparently enjoyed pulling tails off lizards/killing them well before that trauma. But even though torturing animals is often a step towards serial killerdom, it is not a guarantee of that. 

[ajsnaves]

17 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

YMMV, but for me there has always been an open question as to why Harry adopted Dexter but not only did not adopt Brian, but also kept Dexter completely ignorant as to Brian's very existence.

I don't think OG Dexter ever elaborated on why that was. The books (which I have not read) may have filled in that gap. There's speculation to be had, as you say: it was IIRC expressly said that Brian was older and put into foster homes. 

Since Harry felt indebted to Laura for getting her killed, why would he only assist one of her two kids? Did Harry think that Dexter was salvageable due to his young age, but that Brian was not? Did DCFS? Did he just kind of forget about Brian like Dani kind of forgot about the Iron Fleet? (Never forget GOT S8)

A plausible explanation in a vacuum might be that he had a blood relationship with Dexter and so tried rescuing him and the lack of a blood relationship with Brian meant that he didn't care. Which would be a shitty way to approach things IMO, but then again, Harry is sort of objectively a deeply flawed person based on OG Dexter/Dexter OS. He was negligent leading to the death of his firstborn, he is a cheater, he presumably broke some police department rule by cheating with his CI, he kept Laura undercover too long, he ignored Deb's multiple cries for a crumb of support, he knowingly discounted exculpatory evidence in the Reed case. It's hard to come up with much that is good about him, other than he supposedly is good at his job (which we haven't really seen much evidence of) and he figured out how to channel Dexter so that he somehow seemingly has kept innocent blood off of his hands for what has to be about three decades of killing.

We haven't really seen much of child Dexter bonding with Harry or not, and much of child Brian not bonding with Harry. But even assuming Harry was closer to Dexter, it still raises the question as to what Harry did or didn't do with regard to Brian, who he had to know about. 

We'll see of Dexter: OS addresses what exactly Harry did or failed to do about Brian.

I think the way OG Dexter, Dexter: New Blood and now Dexter: Original Sin have addressed the issue is that the childhood trauma he (and Brian and Harrison) endured meant that they were going to be stuck with an urge to kill no matter what. Of course, this is largely coming from Dexter's perspective and Dexter is an unreliable narrator. There's little chance that this series will go deep enough in the weeds to explore the what if Dexter (and Brian and Harrison) had gotten adequate psychological treatment/medication/responsible parenting to address their bloodlust?

Yes, this show has demonstrated that Brian apparently enjoyed pulling tails off lizards/killing them well before that trauma. But even though torturing animals is often a step towards serial killerdom, it is not a guarantee of that. 

I’m relistening to the books right now, just finishing the first one last week. Basically sitting in that blood for a few days overtly affected Brian to a greater degree than Dexter. Brian was acutely aware of what happened, whereas Dexter seemed to block it out. For that reason Brian needed a lot more help than The Morgans could provide.  But that is Book Dexter, who is much different than TV Dexter. The Show definitely sands some of the asshole off to make him more likable.  But I always assumed the same basic backstory. 
 

I think I’m going to have to rewatch the original series to refresh my memory before Resurrection comes out this summer. My recollection is that the show kinda deified Harry. I like that this show is bring him down to earth to show his as the flawed person he really is, who is just bumbling through life.  

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 minute ago, ajsnaves said:

I think I’m going to have to rewatch the original series to refresh my memory before Resurrection comes out this summer. My recollection is that the show kinda deified Harry. I like that this show is bring him down to earth to show his as the flawed person he really is, who is just bumbling through life.  

I've rewatched S1 and S2 just recently. It's interesting because one of the things that stands out in my memory of the series is Dexter interacting with Ghost Harry. But that didn't happen at all during the first two seasons. Nor did some of the things that I take as a signature of the show like him saying "Tonight's the night."

Anyway, the first two seasons establish that Harry did have some of the rough edges we are seeing here, such as Harry having an affair with Laura and generally being neglectful toward Deb. It also established that Harry died about a year after Dexter's first kill. OG Dexter established that Dexter thought that the death was because of a heart problem, but ultimately established that Harry actually committed suicide as confirmed by Doakes ( Surprise, motherfucker! I'm sad that we're not likely going to see a young Doakes...he was one of the best things about the early seasons) and one of the police higher-ups. Dexter believes that the suicide was due to Harry not being able to live with creating Dexter but again, unreliable narrator.

Anyway, Dexter did seemingly muse in those first couple seasons "well, if Harry is a lying scumbag, why am I sticking to his code as if it was Holy Scripture?" but didn't really go very far down that path and (from memory) just abandoned questioning Harry's decisionmaking after a bit.

[AstridM]

Yeah, poor Doakes 😢.

[Elizzikra]

I'm just going to own it. I like this show. I liked most of OG Dexter (blocking out the entire last season). I disliked New Blood. I'm enjoying this.

I think it's interesting that, in OG Dexter, Deb set up Dexter with Rita and here she sets him up with her bestie. I don't know what I make of it, but I think it's a nice bit of consistency across the two series. 

I think Harry did have feelings for Laura. I think that is part of the reason he takes in Dexter, but not all of it. 

Newborn Deb had a ton of hair!

I also enjoyed the ice truck Easter egg.

Quote

I'm sad that we're not likely going to see a young Doakes...he was one of the best things about the early seasons) and one of the police higher-ups. 

Wasn't Doakes a little younger than LaGuerta and Batista? So in 1991 he's still in patrol or whatever. Maybe he will turn up soon?

 

Quote

 think the wuestion on the table for the current show is ‘ would Dexter have been a serial killer without Harry?’ Being a sociopath does not mean being a serial killer.

I think that we are being told the story that Dexter had a drive to kill that needed to be channeled. In one of the earlier episodes, he tells Harry that the hunting "isn't working" for him anymore. Harry tried to channel this need to, if not kill, then to cut flesh and draw blood, through 1) having Dexter become a surgeon and 2) hunt. When those don't work, Harry then tries to limit him to killing "provably bad" people in a way that reduces the likelihood that he will be caught. 

The bigger question for me is whether Dexter would have been a serial killer if it weren't for Laura, and more specifically Laura's bloody death and young Dexter's exposure to it. I think that we are being told the story that Brian had a similar bloodlust prior to Laura's death but Dexter did not though that would be pinning a lot of exposition on some de-tailed lizards.

I think it's interesting to view this show through the lens of trauma. Harry is traumatized by the death of his biological son ("Junior"). Dexter is traumatized by the death of his mother and the experience of sitting with her body and her blood for days. Harry, Deb and Dexter are all suffering the trauma of Doris's death. And Deb (though she may not know it - do we know if Dexter and Deb know about Junior?) has the baggage of being a replacement child for Junior. Certainly not everyone who experiences trauma grows up to be a serial killer, but they each react in really different ways to the trauma and they have different narratives around it.

Finally, can one be a serial killer and NOT also be a sociopath? Dexter is clearly a serial killer but I'm not entirely convinced he is a sociopath. I wasn't in OG Dexter and I'm not really now. 

[Chicago Redshirt]

40 minutes ago, Elizzikra said:

I think it's interesting that, in OG Dexter, Deb set up Dexter with Rita and here she sets him up with her bestie. I don't know what I make of it...

That Deb needs to get herself a pimp outfit/matchmaker service going? JK.

More seriously, OG Dexter played around with the possibility of Deb and Dexter having lusty feelings for each other, building on the real-life actors apparent sexual chemistry that they acted on. IIRC the show made it more explicit only after the actors had broken up. AWKWARD!

I think there's an element of truth to setting someone up is a way to implicitly say "I wish I was the one getting hooked up with one of you." But sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and sometimes a matchmaking is just a matchmaking.

41 minutes ago, Elizzikra said:

Wasn't Doakes a little younger than LaGuerta and Batista? So in 1991 he's still in patrol or whatever. Maybe he will turn up soon?

I don't know if the show ever established what ages the characters were. But for what it's worth, the actors who play them are pretty close in age, according to the Internet. Erik "Doakes" King is currently 61, Lauren "Laguerta" Velez is currently 60, David "Batista" Zayas is currently 62. Assuming that the characters are supposed to be about the age of the actors, Doakes would be about 27-28 at the time of Original Sin. It would make more sense to me that he's off doing Special Forces stuff and he only becomes a cop sometime after this sort of time frame. 

 

[Affogato]

On 1/13/2025 at 8:31 PM, Elizzikra said:

Finally, can one be a serial killer and NOT also be a sociopath? Dexter is clearly a serial killer but I'm not entirely convinced he is a sociopath. I wasn't in OG Dexter and I'm not really now. 

i hope this doesn’t end up behind a paywall. 
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2024-04-02/la-et-gagne-sociopath-memoir

 

i believe Dexter is well portrayed as a sociopath. The question is what made him a serial killer. The two serial killer brothers is fantastc, and is likely all it is. But if he had been raised by someone else, would he have been a serial killer? 
 

i put an article in the media section about Harry as a narcissist and I found it pretty convincing. It was about the original series. It certainly seems Dex wa the golden boy and Deb the scapegoat, and he certainly played them against each other. Mom sounds ineffectual and maybe an enabler. 
 

also there is the weird repeated statement of this show’s runner that this takes place over two or three weeks. This show may be a coma dream. Not saying it is, but possibly. So there may be new revelations. 
 

 

[Affogato]

On 1/13/2025 at 3:14 PM, Chicago Redshirt said:

 

Yes, this show has demonstrated that Brian apparently enjoyed pulling tails off lizards/killing them well before that trauma. But even though torturing animals is often a step towards serial killerdom, it is not a guarantee of that. 

This is the heart of chekov’s gun.  It would be a badly written show that would use that narrative device (vivisection) randomly to show childhood exploration. (Delightful how he decorates his mud pies with small animal parts!) And we know it is, in fact, an easter egg. The thing this episode showed, oddly, was that Dexter perhaps showed empathy. So I thought,anyway. But maybe they just meant to show curiosity and a moment forming a bond with Harry.