Aaron Spencer's Fate In Dexter: Original Sin Season 1 Creates A New Bay Harbor Butcher Mystery About The OG Series

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Dexter: Original Sin season 1 and Dexter season 2.Dexter (Patrick Gibson) finally got his hands on Captain Aaron Spencer (Patrick Dempsey) at the end of Dexter: Original Sin season 1, but his final kill in the prequel show created a big mystery for the original Dexter. The ending of Dexter: Original Sin wrapped up several different plotlines that the Dexter prequel show had been setting up for months. One of the most prominent was Aaron Spencer's role as Original Sin's main villain, and the show handled him in classic Dexter fashion: by putting him on Dexter's kill table. Though it neatly wrapped up Spencer's story, Original Sin also messed up Dexter's continuity.

Original Sin already had several timeline inconsistencies and retcons, but even the final episode of the show's first season added new ones. Most of those changes also contradicted small details revealed in one of Dexter's eight seasons, or changed previously established parts of Dexter's history. Original Sin's newest change, however, creates a new mystery that should have been addressed in Dexter season 2. Since Original Sin season 2 hasn't yet been confirmed, it currently looks like there's one big unanswered question between it and the original series.

Why Wasn't Aaron Spencer's Body Found With The Bay Harbor Butcher's Other Victims In Dexter Season 2?

Dexter Dumped Spencer's Body In - Presumably - The Same Spot Where His Victims Were Found In Dexter Season 2

After Dexter killed Spencer on Camilla Figg's (Sarah Kinsey) boat, the Slice of Pie, he dumped the police captain's body into the ocean. Original Sin didn't reveal the exact location of Dexter's dumping ground, but it's safe to assume he dumped Spencer's body somewhere near the place he would dump his victims for years to come. In Dexter season 2, however, Dexter's oceanic dumping ground was found by the police, and all the bodies there were exhumed and examined. If Dexter did dump Spencer's body near them, his corpse should have been found during the Bay Harbor Butcher investigation in Dexter season 2.

There are several caveats to this plot hole, such as the fact that Miami Metro only recovered 17 of Dexter's victims in Dexter season 2. As the timeline of Original Sin confirmed, Dexter had racked up dozens more kills than that, so the police didn't find all of his victims. Spencer's body also could have drifted away, as Dexter may not have thought to weigh the bags down with rocks yet. Still, there's a very good chance Miami Metro would have found Spencer's body either at the underwater graveyard or in its immediate vicinity, yet they never did.

It's Still Strange That Dexter Never Mentioned A Miami Metro Homicide Captain Being A Child Killer

Even If Spencer's Body Wasn't Found, Miami Metro Should Have Seen The Parallels Between Him & The Bay Harbor Butcher

Even if Spencer's body really was dumped in a different location or simply drifted away, his death still presents a major inconsistency between Original Sin and Dexter. Once the Bay Harbor Butcher investigation started, many of the veterans of Miami Metro - like Maria LaGuerta (Christina Milian) and Angel Batista (James Martinez) - should have instantly thought of their former murderous captain who mysteriously disappeared years prior. Even if they didn't connect Spencer's disappearance to the Bay Harbor Butcher, they likely would have mentioned that another trusted Miami Metro colleague turned out to be a murderer less than two decades after Spencer.

All in all, it's probably best to suspend disbelief surrounding Spencer's death at the end of Dexter: Original Sin.

This inconsistency also has its fair share of caveats. Original Sin and Aaron Spencer didn't exist when Dexter season 2 debuted, so there was no way the show could have referenced him. Additionally, if Spencer's body was found, it would have provided ironclad proof that James Doakes (Erik King) wasn't the Bay Harbor Butcher. Spencer was killed before Doakes ever got to Miami Metro, presumably while he was still in the Special Forces, which would have put Dexter back into Frank Lundy's (Keith Carradine) sights. All in all, it's probably best to suspend disbelief surrounding Spencer's death at the end of Dexter: Original Sin.