The 'Dexter: Original Sin' Begins to Fill in the Blanks Leading to Harry Morgan's Suicide

Spoilers for the pilot episode of Dexter: Original Sin.

Longtime viewers of Dexter know that Dexter’s Dark Passenger is his adopted father, Harry, portrayed in the prequel by Christian Slater. Much of what we know about Harry comes from season two, where we learn not only that Dexter was adopted but also that Harry was having an affair with Dexter’s biological mother, Laura Moser, who was a confidential informant for Harry. Due to Harry’s indirect actions, Laura was brutally murdered in a shipping container. Consumed by guilt, Harry adopted Dexter but did not adopt Dexter’s biological brother, Brian Moser, who became the Ice Truck Killer in season two.

In the second season of the original Dexter, we also learn that Harry took his own life. Though he tried to teach Dexter The Code—channeling his murderous impulses toward evil people—Harry was ultimately overwhelmed by the guilt of creating a monster and overdosed on his own heart medication.

In the prequel series pilot, we begin to see the early stages of Harry’s downfall. He suffers a heart attack in the episode and, though he survives, presumably starts taking heart medication. This episode also marks the first time Harry explicitly directs Dexter to follow The Code by taking someone else’s life—in this case, a nurse who had been killing her patients and attempted to kill Harry. Until this point, Harry had only been helping Dexter suppress his urges.

The episode also unveils new layers of Harry’s personal tragedy. For the first time, we learn that Harry had another son, Junior (or more likely, Harrison Morgan Jr.). One day, while watching football on television, Harry lost track of Junior, only to find him drowned at the bottom of their pool. This devastating loss profoundly affected Harry and his wife, Doris, who would later succumb to cancer. The pilot episode marks the first mention of Junior’s existence.

Junior’s death may have influenced Harry’s decision to adopt Dexter. However, it’s unclear whether Deborah knew about Junior or where, exactly, in Harry’s timeline Junior’s drowning occurred.

Ultimately, Dexter: Original Sin explores more than just Dexter’s origin story. It delves into Harry’s motivations for creating The Code, his reasons for adopting Dexter, and the guilt that eventually led him to take his own life.

‘Dexter: Original Sin’ airs weekly on Paramount+.