‘Dexter’ Pilot: 5 Things You Might Have Forgotten About the First Episode
The Dexter pilot aired all the way back in 2006. And now after a long wait, Dexter is finally back for its revival. Fans are loving Dexter: New Blood and seeing where Dexter Morgan has ended up 10 years after the events of the finale. However, sometimes nothing beats the first few seasons of a great show. It’s always fun to go back and remember how everything began. Some fans probably even forgot about these five things from the pilot episode.
Dexter killed the neighbor’s dog as a child
The Dexter pilot episode jumps right into showing flashbacks of Dexter’s childhood. In one scene, a young Dexter admits to killing the neighbor’s dog to his adoptive father Harry. Dexter explains that the dog would not stop barking and kept his sick mother from sleeping. However, Harry points out that he has found bones from animals that Dexter killed besides the dog. As the episode progresses, Harry begins to teach a teenage Dexter the code.
Maria LaGuerta flirts with Dexter a lot in the pilot episode
When Dexter walks by Maria LaGuerta in episode 1, she winks at him. “I wish she’d stop that. It’s one of those mating rituals which I really don’t understand,” Dexter thinks to himself.
In another scene, LaGuerta very flirtatiously asks Dexter to come to her office, to which Deb replies, “Are you boning her?” LaGuerta also seems much keener to listen to Dexter’s ideas than she does his sister Deb.
LaGuerta laughs a little too hard at Dexter’s jokes and tells him to call her “Maria” instead of lieutenant. It’s a little strange to see LaGuerta flirting with Dexter when the plotline of her having a crush on him was quickly done away with later in the series.
Dexter reveals that Deb saved Rita’s life
Fans came to know and love Rita as Dexter’s girlfriend, then his wife and mother of his son. The one thing they couldn’t forget is her violent end at the hands of the Trinity Killer. However, many fans probably forgot how Dexter and Rita first met. When Dexter is picking up Rita for their date, Dexter’s inner monologue explains that Deb saved Rita’s life on a domestic call and she introduced them. At the start of the series, Rita and Dexter have been dating for six months.
Deb was in Vice, not Homicide in the ‘Dexter’ pilot
When Debra Morgan is first introduced, Dexter finds her working a case undercover disguised as a sex worker. Deb is preoccupied with getting out of Vice and into Homicide but is constantly roadblocked by LaGuerta. Even when she has a solid suggestion, LaGuerta brushes her off. Deb seems a bit unsure of herself in the first episode, but she eventually becomes a very confident detective.
A different actor played Cody
Astor and Cody make a brief appearance in the pilot episode of Dexter when Dexter picks up Rita for a date. The kids are definitely much younger, but fans might have forgotten that a different actor played Cody in the pilot episode. In fact, Daniel Goldman portrayed Cody for the entire first season of Dexter, per IMDb. After that, Preston Bailey took over the role for the remainder of the series.
