Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 Episode 5 Recap: Harry's Levi Reed Decision & 9 Other Story Reveals

Harry Morgan (Christian Slater) is slowly losing control over Dexter (Patrick Gibson), and Dexter: Original Sin episode 5 only made that problem worse. The cast of Dexter: Original Sin is fairly large, and each of its characters is so well-developed that they all have interesting storylines to follow every week. While that does make for great television, it also means it can be hard to keep up with everything happening at the same time. Some viewers may need a recap of all the bloodshed and family drama Dexter and the Morgans went through.

Original Sin episode 5 is, as the title suggests, all about mistakes. Dexter had to face the consequences of his failed attempt to kill Mad-Dog (Joe Pantoliano). That meant he spent a large chunk of the episode grounded by Harry Morgan, but it also gave him a chance to connect with Deb (Molly Brown) on a deeper level. Meanwhile, Debra decided to get closer to her boyfriend because of Dexter and Harry's mistake of not meeting her at Doris' grave site. Harry arguably made the biggest mistake of the episode, however, as he let a killer walk free. All those mistakes opened up new opportunities, and some viewers might need a refresher.

10 Mad-Dog Died In The Car Crash & Dexter Barely Escaped The Police

Dexter Misjudged How Quickly Miami Metro Would Show Up & Barely Had Time To Take Down His Kill Room

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One of the biggest cliffhangers from the ending of Original Sin episode 4 was the fate of Mad-Dog (Joe Pantoliano). Luckily, Original Sin episode 5 quickly confirmed that Mad-Dog died immediately when he was hit by a car, and that Dexter hadn't been seen by any witnesses. Dexter wasn't completely out of the woods, however, as he still had to clean up his plastic-covered kill room before the police arrived. That was much easier said than done, however, and Dexter was very nearly caught because he underestimated Miami Metro's response time.

Despite a scare where one officer was astounded at Mad-Dog's guitar collection, Dexter managed to get away from the crime scene unseen. Unfortunately, Harry heard about the commotion on his police radio, and he was furious with his son for being so careless and not considering all possibilities. As a result, Harry grounded Dexter to make sure no one could tie him to Mad-Dog's death, and he began investigating what Miami Metro knew about the situation. In a moment of anger, Harry even said it was a mistake to let Dexter kill Nurse Mary.

9 Dexter Accidentally Got High & Had A Heart-To-Heart With Deb

Dexter Ate Deb's Pot Brownies & The Two Talked About Doris Morgan

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While Dexter was grounded, he passed the time by eating a tin of Debra's (Molly Brown) brownies out of the fridge. What he didn't realize, however, was that Deb's brownies were actually pot brownies, and Dexter got extremely high from them. Deb decided to join him when she got home, and the two had a night filled with pizza, I Love Lucy reruns, and other hilarious situations. At one point, Dexter even found the fact that pizza is a circle made up of triangles packaged in a square box to be outrageously funny.

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Deb and Dexter's hangout wasn't all fun, however. After telling Dexter about her new boyfriend, the siblings talked about their late mother, Doris. Deb asked if Doris would be proud of them, and both siblings felt like they didn't know. Deb also revealed that she had pawned Doris' pearl necklace, and Dexter shared how he felt like a bad person. On the whole, it was a very good night of bonding for the duo, and it was a hint of the great relationship Deb and Dexter had in the original series.

8 Dexter Decided To Fix His Mistake With Mad-Dog After Listening To Maria LaGuerta

Maria Told The Kid Who Hit Mad-Dog To Grow From This Accident, Which Dexter Also Took To Heart

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As part of his punishment for Dexter, Harry made him fingerprint Evan, the kid who hit Mad-Dog with his truck, to confirm he hadn't been seen. Though Evan didn't recognize Dexter, and he was mostly thinking about how much he wanted to kill Mad-Dog, he still had a lesson to learn from the fingerprinting session. Evan was absolutely devastated that he accidentally killed Mad-Dog, so Maria LaGuerta (Christina Milian) told him that accidents happen, and you have to decide how to grow from them. LaGuerta's advice wasn't aimed at him, but Dexter still learned a lesson from her words.

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Because of LaGuerta's lesson on accidents, Dexter decided to fix the mistakes he made with Mad-Dog and become an even better serial killer. He identified one major part that needed improvement: his method of subduing his victims. The entire reason Mad-Dog was able to escape was because he was secretly awake when Dexter cut the bindings on his ankles. Dexter decided knocking people out with force wasn't reliable enough, but he still needed a replacement strategy.

7 Levi Reed Walked Free Because Harry Rejected His Alibi

Harry's Decision To Dismiss Levi Reed's Girlfriend As An Untrustworthy Addict Created A Mistrial

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In Original Sin episode 2, Levi Reed's (Jeff Daniel Phillips) girlfriend, Brandi (Carlye Tamaren), came forward with an alibi for the night the murders took place. At the time, however, she looked completely disheveled and couldn't remember the day of the week, so Harry dismissed her outright and called her useless. Unfortunately, during the trial, Reed's defense attorney brought Brandi in, looking completely professional now, and asserted that Harry had wrongfully withheld her alibi from discovery. The judge agreed with the defense attorney and declared Reed's case a mistrial on the grounds of suppression of evidence.

Harry made a massive mistake by not taking down Brandi's alibi, and the entire case was thrown out because of it.

If Harry was following proper police procedure, he would have taken Brandi's statement and included her alibi in the case file for Levi Reed. Then, it would have been up to the prosecutors to disprove Brandi's alibi and call into question her mental faculties. Instead of that, however, Harry made the call himself, and he didn't even give the lawyers a chance to speak with Brandi. Harry made a massive mistake by not taking down Brandi's alibi, and the entire case was thrown out because of it. Now, Levi Reed is free to kill again, and the entire department knows it's Harry's fault.

6 Tanya Martin Told Dexter About Etorphine, & He Decided To Steal Some From A Stable

Etorphine, Or M99, Was Dexter's Drug Of Choice In The Original Show

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Dexter: Original Sin episode 5 introduced another part of Dexter's kill ritual that hasn't been seen in the show yet: a horse tranquilizer called etorphine, which is better known as M99. Etorphine is rather important to the franchsie: Dexter used it to sedate his victims throughout Dexter, and Dexter: New Blood's M99 retcon was a major source of controversy. Now, however, Original Sin showed how Dexter first learned about the drug. Tanya Martin (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is an avid horse racing enthusiast, and after her chosen horse broke a leg during a race, she told Dexter that they would sedate it with etorphine.

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Original Sin didn't just put M99 on Dexter's radar, though. In the original series, Dexter had a fake medical license that he used to get etorphine from the DEA. In Original Sin's timeline, however, Dexter didn't have a medical license yet, so he had to steal the drug from a local stable. After letting a horse out to distract the veterinarian there, Dexter grabbed several bottles, syringes, and a dosage chart before hiding in one of the stalls. Unfortunately, Dexter was stuck with a scared horse for several hours while the vet was on a phone call, but he ended up escaping with his new weapon.

5 Nobody Went With Debra To Doris' Grave, So She Had Gio Drive Her

Debra Feels Alone Without Doris, & She Slept With Gio After Visiting Her Grave

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On the one-year anniversary of Doris Morgan's (Jasper Lewis) death, Debra wanted Dexter and Harry to meet her at the cemetary so they could all speak with her. Harry and Dexter didn't make it there, however, as they have several times already in Original Sin. So, Deb got Gio (Isaac Gonzalez Rossi) to drive her to the graveyard, and he proved himself a very caring and compassionate boyfriend in the process. Gio even bought Deb a bouquet of lilies to leave on Doris' grave. Since Harry and Dexter didn't show up, Deb got a chance to speak to Doris on her own.

While talking to Doris' grave, Deb mentioned how she felt like an outsider without her mother there, especially since Harry and Dexter were so close.

While talking to Doris' grave, Deb mentioned how she felt like an outsider without her mother there, especially since Harry and Dexter were so close. Eventually, Deb decided to not wait for Dexter and Harry to change, and she doubled down on her relationship with Gio. Later that night, Deb even had sex with Gio in his car. Unless Dexter can have more close moments with Deb, like when they were high together, she might drift away from her family entirely.

4 Harry Told Laura About His Son, Junior, & Doris Announced She Was Pregnant With Deb

Harry Was Sleeping With Laura While Doris Was Waiting To Announce Her Pregnancy

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While visiting Doris' grave, Harry remembered one of his evenings with Laura Moser (Brittany Allen). After sleeping with her, Harry saw young Dexter's drawing of him as part of the Moser family, and he ended up putting the kid to bed. Laura smartly deduced that Harry had prior experience with children, which prompted Harry to tell her about his late son, Junior. As the premiere of Original Sin revealed, Harry's son Junior Morgan drowned in the pool while Harry was watching him, and he told Laura that he felt responsible for his death.

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After their heart-to-heart, Harry had another surprise waiting for him at home. Doris had prepared a fancy dinner and told him that they were going to celebrate. After finding a baby rattle on one of the plates, Doris revealed that she was pregnant with another child, Debra. The pregnancy was even more unexpected than usual, as Harry and Doris had given up trying to conceive a child in an earlier episode of Original Sin. Unfortunately, Doris' good news was undermined by the fact that Harry had just come back from sleeping with another woman.

3 Harry Got Punished For Missing The Alibi & He Tried To Kill Levi Reed

Spencer Put Harry On The "NHI" Homicides With LaGuerta Before Harry Tried To Shoot Levi Reed

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Harry had to face some repercussions for bungling Levi Reed's alibi and creating a mistrial. Captain Spencer (Patrick Dempsey), originally told Harry to take the day off, and he eventually found him drinking later that evening. Harry tried to hand in his badge, but Spencer revealed that he had gone to bat for Harry and gotten him a diminished punishment. Instead of losing his job, Harry was taken off of Jimmy Powell's murder case and put at the bottom of the list, working the "NHI" (no humans involved) murders with LaGuerta. While it was the best outcome, it didn't do much to cheer Harry up.

After Spencer left the bar, Harry continued drinking. He got so intoxicated that he drove to Levi Reed's house, and he was even planning on shooting the man in his front yard. As Dexter's narration explained, Harry was willing to bend his moral code for a child killer that he let off the hook, and he wanted to deliver justice the only way he had left. Luckily, Harry's drinking threw his aim off, so he wasn't able to actually kill Reed before Dexter stopped him.

2 Dexter Tried Out M99 On Harry & Convinced Him To Let Him Go After Levi Reed

Dexter Saved Harry From Killing Levi Reed & Convinced Him To Let Dexter Use His Training

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Before Harry could actually pull the trigger and kill Levi Reed, however, Dexter stopped him by injecting M99 into his neck. Dexter had followed him from the bar, hoping to display how good he was at stalking people and going unnoticed to convince Harry to let him kill again. In a startling twist, Dexter actually put Harry on a kill table wrapped in plastic to show how much better he had gotten at subduing his victims. He then ran through his entire process, from calculating the right dosage of M99 to stripping his victims naked so the plastic wrap would cling better.

Episode # Episode Title Release Date & Time On Paramount+ With Showtime Release Date & Time On Showtime 1 "And in the Beginning..." December 13, 2024 @ 12:01 am ET December 15, 2024 @ 10 pm ET 2 "Kid in a Candy Store" December 20, 2024 @ 12:01 am ET December 22, 2024 @ 10 pm ET 3 "Miami Vice" December 20, 2024 @ 12:01 am ET December 22, 2024 @ 11 pm ET 4 "Fender Bender" December 27, 2024 @ 12:01 am ET December 29, 2024 @ 10 pm ET 5 "F is for F***-Up" January 3, 2025 @ 12:01 am ET January 5, 2025 @ 10 pm ET 6 "The Joy of Killing" January 10, 2025 @ 12:01 am ET January 12, 2025 @ 10 pm ET 7 "The Big Bad Body Problem" January 24, 2025 @ 12:01 am ET January 26, 2025 @ 10 pm ET 8 "Business and Pleasure" January 31, 2025 @ 12:01 am ET February 2, 2025 @ 10 pm ET 9 "Blood Drive" February 7, 2025 @ 12:01 am ET February 9, 2025 @ 10 pm ET 10 "Code Blues" February 14, 2025 @ 12:01 am ET February 16, 2025 @ 10 pm ET

Dexter's theatrics ended up working. Harry agreed to let him kill Levi Reed, and he even suggested Dexter get smelling salts so he could wake Reed up when he was ready to kill him. This scene was significant not only because it set up Dexter's fourth victim being Reed, it also showed that Dexter thought of himself as a kind of weapon for Harry to use when the usual legal channels failed. Dexter even told Harry that he had trained him to be a killer, and that Harry should let Dexter be himself and kill Levi Reed.

1 Dexter Said He Missed How Doris Was Able To See A Glimpse Of Goodness In Him

Harry Accepted Dexter As He Was, But Doris Was Much More Hopeful About Her Adoptive Son

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Dexter was the last member of the Morgan family to visit Doris' grave, and his words there were arguably the most important. Earlier in the episode, while talking to Deb, Dexter said he missed how Doris would tuck his hair behind his ears to calm him down. At her grave, however, Dexter revealed he lied to Deb, and that what he really missed most about Doris was "...someone looking at me and seeing a chance at goodness. Even if it wasn't there." That sentiment alone opens a massive can of worms about Dexter's self-image and Harry's role in his development.

Dexter's comment at Doris' grave shows that Doris might have been able to encourage him to be good, if Harry hadn't trained him as a killer.

The question of whether Dexter was born a serial killer or molded into one has been at the forefront of all three Dexter shows so far. Dexter himself often believed his "dark passenger" was with him the moment he witnessed Laura Moser's murder, and that he was always going to be a serial killer after that point. His comment at Doris' grave, however, shows that Doris might have been able to encourage him to be good, if Harry hadn't trained him as a killer. It doesn't outright answer the nature vs. nurture debate, but Dexter: Original Sin added quite a bit of fuel to the discussion.