Dexter: Original Sin Ending Explained (And How it Sets up Season 2)

Spoiler alert for Dexter: Original Sin‘s season finale! Dexter: Original Sin season one has officially ended and it sets up quite a lot for season two (and beyond!) Dexter was a show that didn’t leave too many stones unturned during its initial run from 2006 – 2008. During its first eight seasons, we learned all we needed to know about Dexter from his father’s complicated past and his secret brother to how exactly he came to be a “moral” serial killer, or at least as moral as a serial killer can be. To say anyone was actually demanding a Dexter prequel is far from the truth and it was greenlit more because Dexter Morgan met an unfortunate demise at the end of Dexter: New Blood.

Of course, that didn’t stop Showtime from eventually devising a way to bring Dexter back from the dead for a sequel series known as Dexter: Resurrection. While that is likely to be the main course for a lot of fans, Dexter: Original Sin was a welcomed appetizer that surprised fans with its charming cast, sharp writing, and fun twists and turns that kept fans guessing right up until tonight’s finale. As it turns out, there was still a lot to learn about Dexter and his family/colleagues and it will likely spawn multiple new seasons that fill in the gaps before the original series.

Dexter: Original Sin Ending Explained

Fans were pretty shocked to learn a few weeks ago that Captain Aaron Spencer is the main villain in Dexter: Original Sin. It would mean Dexter wasn’t the first or only killer in Miami Metro and create an interesting problem for him as he’s still learning the ropes in vigilantism. With that said, Dexter: Original Sin episode ten, titled Code Blues, opens with Dexter following Spencer to an abandoned ship where he has been keeping his son, Nicky.

Dexter and Spencer duke it out a bit before Spencer begins flooding the chamber that Nicky is held in so he can escape. Naturally, this forces Dexter to make a tough choice: Save Nicky or go after Spencer. Dexter chooses to save the boy and shoots a flare up so that Nicky can be rescued by police and then continues his hunt for the captain. Eventually, he finds Spencer at his ex-wife’s house where he’s attempting to kill her and reveals that Nicky is actually the child of a love affair with her current husband. Dexter manages to subdue Spencer before anything terrible happens and takes him out to sea on Camilla’s boat.

Spencer plants the seed that there may be more to his origins than meets the eye, given Harry’s affair, but Dexter kills him before learning anything else. Elsewhere in the episode, Harry is investigating the murder of Barb, the social services worker that took Brian Moser away from the Morgan family when he was a child. Harry puts the pieces together and is able to confront Brian on a nearby rooftop where the serial killer has been spectating his own crime scene, hoping Dexter would show up.

Harry confronts Brian about his obsession with Dexter and tells him he needs to surrender himself. Brian expresses his anger over all of the pain Harry has caused him and points the finger at him for everything that has happened. Ultimately, Harry convinces Brian that he is likely the best thing for him and not Brian, but Brian knocks Harry out and escapes to avoid going to jail. After a chaotic night, Bobby Watt awakens from his coma which allows Harry to go home and rest.

Dexter comes home and sees Harry watching the news, revealing that Nicky was taken into police custody and outed his father as the kidnapper. Harry allows Dexter to have his “you were right” moment, but expresses frustration over not allowing his son to take action. Dexter confesses to killing Spencer and saving Nicky himself, which his father commends as it shows that the code is working as intended and he was able to save a life while controlling his blood lust.

Some time later, Dexter, Deb, and Harry go out to eat for lunch where Deb reveals she turned down a scholarship to FSU to go to the police academy after being inspired by Tanya, LaGuerta, and Camilla. Dexter and Harry continue to plot about a future that allows Dexter to use the code for good before joining Deb to dance. Meanwhile, Brian lurks outside the restaurant, watching the family enjoy himself as he sulks.

How Dexter: Original Sin Sets Up Season 2

Dexter: Original Sin takes place about 15 years prior to the start of the original show, so there’s a ton of room to tell new stories. There are a lot of blood slides and bodies at the bottom of the ocean when Dexter starts, so he has plenty of people he can still kill. With that said, Original Sin sets up its future pretty well. If Showtime decides to not move ahead with a season two, which would probably be a mistake given this show has set records for the network, all of this sets up the original show well.

Deb is on her way to becoming a cop, Dexter is on the path of becoming a murderous vigilante, and Brian is stalking Dexter, waiting for his moment to strike. However, if they do choose to go forth with a season two, here’s how these things could be portrayed on-screen. For starters, it will be interesting to see Deb work her way up the force. As fans know, she starts the original show in Vice as an undercover sex worker before entering homicide. Obviously, that will probably lead to some interesting stories for Deb that will show her hardships.

Dexter will, of course, continue killing. The original show reveals that Harry killed himself after discovering the monster he created, so we will likely get to see how that unraveled from Harry’s perspective in a future season of Dexter: Original Sin. Perhaps the answer wasn’t as cut and dry as we originally thought. With Dexter: Original Sin revealing Brian Moser has been here all along, it’s possible we will find out that he may have killed Harry in some way to get him out of the picture.

It’s unclear if Brian will return in future seasons, but we may see him here and there as he develops his alternate identity of Rudy Cooper. Whether or not Brian keeps killing people in Dexter: Original Sin before becoming the Ice Truck Killer remains to be seen, but there is over a decade of time where he’s totally unaccounted for. As of right now, Dexter: Original Sin season two has yet to be confirmed, but it likely won’t be long before we hear something if it is happening. What do you want to see in a future season of Dexter: Original Sin? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.