Dexter: Original Sin – Episode 8 Review

Warning! This article contains spoilers from Dexter: Original Sin Episode 8.

Dexter: Original Sin is reaching the end of its first season, with a jam-packed eighth episode this week, as Dexter continues to suspect Aaron Spencer as being the masked kidnapper, while Harry and LaGuerta investigate their potential serial killer, and Debra finds out the hard way that Gio isn’t the wonderful guy she thought he was.

This episode was directed by Monica Raymund and written by Mary Leah Sutton. It aired on Paramount+ with Showtime on January 31, 2025, and the title of the episode is ‘Business and Pleasure’. Original Sin tries to juggle too many villains and fan service in this episode, and the result is very mixed, while still being an entertaining hour of television.

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The Fan Service Is A Bit Too Heavy And The Episode Also Suffers From Too Many Villains

Original Sin had previously done a good job of balancing fan service with a compelling new story for Dexter Morgan, but it feels like this episode oversteps the mark somewhat. The appearance of a young Miguel Prado felt totally irrelevant, and purely put there to raise a smile from legacy fans, but instead, it was a ‘sigh’ moment. Yes, fans know something had happened between LaGuerta and Dexter’s future kill partner, but it didn’t need require his appearance. This leads to the next problem with ‘Business and Pleasure’- One of Dexter‘s best villains: The Ice Truck Killer is unveiled as a suspect in the serial killer case being investigated by Harry Morgan and Maria LaGuerta, and it just feels a bit forced, and has the potential to derail an otherwise promising first season of the Dexter prequel.

It was suggested that the man in the earlier episode was probably Brian Moser, but now it’s been confirmed, and it’was rather anti-climactic. Dexter will not properly come face to face with his brother for another 15 years, so it stretches credulity that he just happens to be in Miami killing people in the 90s. Harry knows about it, and is supposedly going to try and cover it up. Why? This episode has an embarrassment of villain riches with Miguel Prado, The Ice Truck Killer, Gio, Aaron Spencer as well as Hector Estrada in the 1970s timeline, and it just makes the episode feel overstuffed with too much fan service at the expense of plot.

The Killer ‘Reveal’ Is Weak After It Had Already Been Heavily Teased But The Shootout Was A Stand-Out Moment

The highlight of this episode is the epic shootout during Miami Metro’s raid on the house of a ‘lead’ in the kidnapper’s case. Patrick Dempsey is officially unveiled as the big bad of Original Sin‘s first season, but it felt unnecessary after it was already spelled out to the audience last week. Having said that, there is enough intrigue to keep this storyline going with two more episodes to go.

There is clearly a lot more going on, and Dexter is firmly on the case, despite the distractions he faces with his troubled teenage sister, Debra. Just like she was in the original Dexter series, Debra is the heart and soul of Original Sin, and in this episode, her tough exterior masks her vulnerability for only so long, and her meltdown over Gio is both emotional and heartbreaking. Molly Brown keeps nailing the character.

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