Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Dexter: Original Sin Episode 9.
While Dexter: Original Sin has not only documented Dexter Morgan’s (Patrick Gibson) first kill, it has also captured his progression to a full-on serial killer. The series has paved the way for building to the version of Dexter the world fell in love with in his original series while also adding a ton of context to the world at large, adding more backstory to other characters that were a big part of both Dexter's past and future. As Dexter: Original Sin has unraveled, another serial killer emerged from the shadows — his brother, Brian Moser (Roby Attal), or, as Dexter fans might know him, The Ice Truck Killer. The twist of Brian being the N.H.I. (No Humans Involved) Killer has been quietly teased through this new prequel series and the case was left on the back burner when the kidnapping of the children of both a judge and Captain Aaron Spencer (Patrick Dempsey) takes precedence, leaving him to continue his dirty work.
‘Dexter: Original Sin’ Is Much More Than Dexter’s Origin
A lot of fans were very hesitant about the announcement of Dexter: Original Sin, but the series has more than proven its worth for existing as it only enhances elements of Dexter while filling in some major gaps in not only his past but his sister Deb's (Molly Brown), and Harry's (Christian Slater) past — not only as his mentor to tame his Dark Passenger, but how he ended up taking him in as his own when he was a child. The inclusion of Dexter's brother, Brian, in the series was a shock to many, especially knowing Brian would become the main antagonist in Dexter Season 1 as the Ice Truck Killer. Showing Brian's evolution as a killer mirroring Dexter's own is such an ingenious way to continue to build on the original series with Dexter: Original Sin, perfectly exploring the duality of the sibling serial killers. While Dexter's style of killing in Dexter: Original Sin is fairly close to how we see it in Dexter, Brian goes through numerous stages of experimentation with his victims, with Dexter noticing a connection in the victims that the killer could be seeing what method he enjoys the most, before landing on the more refined style we see when Brian eventually becomes the Ice Truck Killer. A connection that both Harry and Detective Maria LaGuerta (Christina Milian) eventually decide to pursue.
Season 1, Episode 9, of Dexter: Original Sin, titled, “Blood Drive,” showcased how the aftermath of the infamous Shipping Yard Massacre, which led to the death of Dexter and Brian’s mother, Laura Moser (Brittany Allen), resulted in both boys being adopted by Harry and Doris Morgan (Jasper Lewis). Even though the flashbacks of this moment in Dexter, showed both Dexter and Brian as infants, Dexter: Original Sin reveals that they were actually around seven years old, making the trauma of watching their mother brutally killed in front of them even worse. The siblings handle this trauma very differently — Dexter hasn't spoken a word since the incident, and Brian has a short fuse, one that leads to a violent outbreak when Brian tries to suffocate baby Deb with a pillow and viciously striking Harry, leaving them with no option but to split the brothers up after the traumatic loss of their mother. This choice not only oddly causes Dexter to speak again, but it will shape the troubled life of Brian, sending him on a journey tempered in blood and rage.
Dexter: Original Sin has shown Brian’s own personal Dark Passenger journey, one filled with vengeance on anyone who took him away from his brother after the tragic death of his mother. Witnessing his mother and Harry become so close during their work together on the Estrada case, paired with abandoning him and keeping Dexter, is more than enough fuel to start the fire of a serial killer in the making. Not only was Laura Harry's undercover informant, the two had an affair, and at one point he even babysat the two brothers, and then one day, the three got torn away from strangers, resulting in the death of their mother. While Dexter had a bond with Harry from the start of Harry's relationship with his mother, Brian did not. From Brian's perspective, it's easy to see that Harry is the main reason that both his mother and Dexter were taken away from him.
Sarah Michelle Gellar needs a character buff in the 'Dexter' prequel series for audiences to be invested.
Brian’s Journey in ‘Dexter: Original Sin’ Could Reveal a Major Twist
With Harry’s eventual death forthcoming, it begs the question if Brian had something to do with his alleged suicide, knowing now that his early victims were ruled out as being linked to a serial killer, as they were posed as suicides or drug overdose. One of the strengths of Dexter: Original Sin has been showcasing the effects Dexter's newfound extracurricular activities have had on Harry while also examining Harry's past mistakes, but nothing in the series has pointed to Harry being willing to take his own life. Harry is peeling back the layers of the N.H.I. Killer, piecing together that it could be Brian, while also realizing that he has been stalking Dexter since he joined the ranks of Miami Metro Forensics Division. Harry's discoveries could easily lead him to being right in Brian's crosshairs, leading to his untimely death, but since Brian is so hellbent on being reunited with his brother, why don't they meet until 15 years after this series in Season 1 of Dexter?
Brian has already checked one name off his revenge hit list, as he dismembered the social worker who promised to keep the brothers together, Barb (Kathleen Rose Perkins), with a chainsaw, mimicking how he witnessed his mother being killed when he was a child. Since Deb's mother died of cancer, it's highly unlikely that she was also a victim of Brian, but like previously theorized, Harry is definitely at the top of the list of people that wronged Brian. This could also put Deb in grave danger as well, but as we already know, she's a major character in Dexter, especially in the Ice Truck Killer arc, leaving Brian to play the long game with Deb and Dexter for now. Regardless, it will be interesting to see the role Brian plays not only in the finale of Dexter: Original Sin, but possible future seasons of the series.
Dexter: Original Sin is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
Image via Paramount+
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