Dexter Original Sin: Blood Drive

"This was not the blood drive I was hoping for."

A penultimate cliffhangery episode that left us in the lurch. Typical Dexter.

Everyone at Miami Metro was feeling so dreadfully sorry for Spencer, the poor, suffering dad. Except of course, Dexter, who assumed correctly that only Spencer knew where Nicky was being held captive. So we knew what had to happen next.

Unfortunately, Dexter did something that the original series Dexter did too often – he overestimated himself. When Miami Metro held an aggressive blood drive on Bobby Watt's behalf, Dexter was roped into helping out and ended up secretly giving blood for Clark, whose former partner is HIV positive. It was a kind thing for Dexter to do. But it ricocheted when Masuka, assuming that Dexter was the only one who hadn't donated, forced him to give a second pint. Even young, strong Dexter and his remarkable metabolism had trouble dealing with the loss of two pints of blood.

A shaky Dexter got Spencer on his table twice in this episode – first for the blood drive where Dexter deliberately hurt him and called it foreplay, and second at Nicky's favorite arcade, where we finally found out the "why." Apparently, Spencer hasn't been a secret child killer all along; this is all Becca's fault for turning Nicky against Spencer. Right. Even after the wonderfully karmic finger removal, Spencer knew threatening to leave Nicky to starve would keep Dexter from killing him.

So of course, Dexter loosened Spencer's Saran Wrap bonds just enough and left him alone, and voila – Spencer ran off to his car to lead Dexter to Nicky. Dexter said it felt right to tamp down his urge to kill in order to save a child's life. And of course, again (I keep saying "of course" this time), that's why we can't help liking Dexter. Or why we like watching him explore his emotional boundaries.

The other big plotline in this episode was about Dexter's infamous brother Brian, played in the original series by Christian Camargo and here by Roby Attal. Good casting both times. Attal, handsome and charming, genuinely gave me the shudders as Brian charmed Barb, his former social worker, at an innocuous evening playing bingo before getting her alone and taking her out in the worst possible way.

There was quite a bit of flashback, as we finally learned why Harry and Doris adopted Dexter but not Brian – one of the unsolved mysteries of the original series. The Morgans did try to adopt Brian, but he was already too far gone and attempted to suffocate baby Deb. The unfortunate social worker Barb was the one to take Brian away from Dexter, his only family.

(And hey, big points for Doris Morgan, who knew whose children they were adopting, and why. Doris didn't succumb to the hurt or jealousy she must have felt. She put Dexter and Brian first. She was a good mom. No wonder Deb misses her so much.)

We also learned why Harry, a detective, was in uniform when he found the kids in the shipping container. Harry had told Spencer truthfully that he'd had an affair with Laura Moser, and Spencer had busted him down to uniform and had him search the container yard. Three days of searching, they opened the container, and oh, my god. The episode title was clearly about more than the actual blood drive for Bobby Watt.

Why did Estrada let the boys live? I don't know if that actually constituted a favor. It's difficult not to feel sorry for little Brian, but he turned out to be such a horrifying killer. What he did to Barb was as terrible as it could possibly be, and all she did was the best she could for him when he was small. Of course, Dexter's scorecard is a bit different. It's difficult not to approve of someone who is taking out bad guys, even if vigilantism isn't "right."

Harry told LaGuerta some of the truth, but not all, and then he lied to Dexter, who knew Harry was lying but not about what. It's difficult not to jump to the conclusion that if Harry had taken action, told LaGuerta the whole truth and arrested Brian, Barb would have lived.

Bits:

— There was a nice moment at the hospital where Harry told his fallen and possibly unconscious partner Bobby the truth about Brian and asked his advice, and Bobby responded, "Save Dexter."

— While visiting Miami Metro to give blood, Deb finally showed a real interest in police work. She bonded with Tanya over sports, and introduced herself to LaGuerta... at Deb's own future desk. Deb also got a call from the university and they still want her.

— LaGuerta went to the records room to look up the Laura Moser case, and Camilla had indeed extracted anything in the file about Dexter.

— Barb had a prominent facial birth mark. I assume that was so there would be no doubt whatsoever about the identity of Brian's victim.

— Nicky asked his father, "What did I do?" That's so sad. I still don't understand how Spencer could do this, or why he killed Jimmy Powell. Was it just as cover for killing Nicky? Really?

Quotes:

Dexter: "Spencer was my first child killer. True evil incarnate."

Deb: "You can ground me for a month. I know I deserve it."
Harry: "I'm just glad you're safe. But no more dating older guys, ever. You understand?"
Deb: "The heart wants what the heart wants, Dad. But I'll do my best."
Dexter the narrator: "My sister was always the most honest person in the family."
And of course, we're all thinking Lundy, Lundy, Lundy.

Tanya: "That wasn't an ask. That was an order, but phrased nicely. Go forth, draw much blood."
Again, such a Buffy-like line.

Tanya: "We could always use more kickass women around here."
Camilla said much the same thing to LaGuerta in this episode.

Dexter: "I learned a valuable lesson that night. Never give two pints of blood on stalk-and-kill days."

Dexter: "That moment was the worst case of serial killer blueballs I'd ever had."

All wind-up, no pitch, pretty good but somewhat frustrating. On to the season finale,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

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