Spoilers below for the eighth episode of Dexter: Original Sin, so be warned if you haven’t yet watched on Showtime or with a Paramount+ subscription.
Whenever Dexter: Original Sin kicked off with the bonkers current-day follow-up to New Blood’s not-so-deadly ending, revealing Michael C. Hall’s character will survive long enough to lead the upcoming Dexter: Resurrection spinoff, it upended my expectations for how much the prequel would compare to Showtime’s O.G. hit. But then everything slotted right into familiar places, with Patrick Gibson mugging his way through a well-cast ensemble of quasi doppelgängers investigating curiously connected murders. In fact, it looks like its first serial killer antagonist is ALSO the same…somehow.
How To Watch Dexter: Original Sin Online And Stream The Prequel Series Free From Anywhere
That’s right, with the episode “Business and Pleasure,” Dexter creator Clyde Phillips seemingly delivered the gobsmacking reveal that the as-yet-unsolved killings of the so-called NHI Killer were perpetrated by none other than Brian Moser, Dexter’s half-brother (or full brother, technically) who made the Morgan family’s life hell back in 2006 when Season 1 aired. If so, that could easily shape out to be the wildest twist of anything hitting the 2025 TV schedule.
Harry Discovered Brian Moser's Mental Hospital Records
This episode ended with the biggest future-guiding catalyst of both Dexter and Brian's lives, as it relayed the events directly leading to the siblings being locked up and traumatized inside that infamous shipping container with their mother Laura. So it perhaps makes sense that this installment would also offer up proof that Brian made his return to Dexter and Harry's lives much earlier than anyone could have predicted.
Upon discovering the murdered body of psychiatrist Paul Petrie, whose car was involved in previous murders, Christina Milian's Laguerta makes this potentially intriguing comment to Christian Slater's Harry:
I wish your son was here so he could do his…thing.
Not that Brian Moser was ever considered to be Harry's son. In fact, that's the whole problem here, as the detective soon discovers after stumbling across Brian's records in Dr. Petrie's boxes of files. All Dexter's brother needed, at least in theory, was to be adopted by the same family as his only surviving family member. It's something he talked about in therapy often enough, anyway, as evidenced by some of the info Harry was reading.
So there's a way to read Laguerta's comment as if she were speaking out Brian's own wishes. Not that I think he would have been a morally aligned gentleman as Harry's son. After all, Dexter still turned into a killer, albeit one with justice as a guiding light. And since Harry didn't ever stop Dexter, who's to say how his code would have affected Brian?
To be sure, Dexter: Original Sin didn't abjectly confirm that Brian Moser is the NIH killer in the way that the series has made it abundantly clear that Patrick Dempsey's Cpt. Spencer is responsible for kidnapping and harming his own son. But it absolutely feels like that's where this is headed, especially with the Miami Chills ice truck appearing just two episodes prior. Plus, Clyde Phillips' description of the prequel as being a "family show" only adds thematic fuel to the fire.
How Will The Show Explain Brian's Involvement Without Dexter Learning Anything About Him?
If the O.G. series hadn't taken such efforts to make its secret-sibling twist such a jaw-dropper, with neither Dexter nor Debra being the wiser about Brian's identity or connection to their lives, then this Original Sin twist would be easier to sit with. But I can't readily foresee how Harry is going to pull off the multi-step act of A.) solving the NIH killer in a way that keeps Brian out of it, B.) finding a way to stop Brian from murdering more people without arresting him, and C.) stopping Dexter (and others) from finding any further clues and connections.
The only way I can picture this playing out both cleanly and successfully is if Brian realizes that Harry is onto him, and he voluntarily stops committing his lethal crimes, which would make Harry feel safer about shielding his identity from others. Perhaps Brian doesn't even realize that Dexter is now working for Miami P.D., and learning that info will cause him to rethink his priorities.
Otherwise, the creative team could easily end up muddying these characters' histories by showing Harry and Brian meeting up and having a direct conversation about Laura's death and their familial connections. It would be cool to see Harry sharing a full explanation for why he only adopted Dexter instead of both, and I guess Dexter's visions of his father in the flagship series wouldn't be so tainted if the whole idea is that Harry thought Brian was no longer a threat, and thus died with that secret in his heart.
All that said, I'm still wary about this franchise doubling up on Brian Moser as a Season 1 antagonist, but will be all the more impressed if all those twisted pieces do indeed fit together without a whole lot of narrative glue being slapped on it.
Dexter: Original Sin's Episode 9 Trailer Is Focused On Debra And Spencer
When it comes to promoting the penultimate episode of its first season, Dexter: Original Sin isn't giving fans much to chew on by way of Brian Moser teases. Instead, the trailer looks like it's setting up a potentially calamitous "Take Your Sister To Work Day" for the splatter expert and the rabble-rousing Debra.
Although I guess it could be quite the fortuitous experiement for the family, with Sarah Michelle Gellar's character possibly serving as the inspiration that gets Debra to join Miami P.D. instead of hooking up with more shady dudes. Check out the trailer below!
For all that I can't grasp how the NIH killer reveal will turn out, I also have zero clue where this show is going with Cpt. Spencer and his Lunchables-munching victim/son. But I wouldnt' be surprised if it's all connected somehow.
Dexter: Original Sin streams new episodes on Paramount+ on Fridays, with the linear airings hitting Showtime on Sunday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET.
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