Nicholas A. Spencer (commonly referred to as Nicky) is a character in the Showtime series Dexter: Original Sin.
Nicky is the son of Aaron and Becca Spencer. Following the kidnapping and later murder of Jimmy Powell, Jr., a friend of Nicky's, he is also kidnapped and held in an unknown location while the Miami Metro Police Department marches a manhunt to find him. Nicky is a fighter compared to Jimmy and fashions a weapon out of a bucket handle, which he uses to wound the kidnapper and give Dexter Morgan a clue on who it is.
It's revealed that his father Aaron is the kidnapper but his motivations for murdering Jimmy and mutilating his own son are unknown.
Background[]
Nicholas Spencer was born to Aaron Spencer and Rebecca Spencer. At some point as he grew up his mother was seeing a man named Nelson behind his father's back and this led to a divorce. Living between two households, he often endured the fighting his parents would participate in and took to video games as an outlet to escape - becoming quite skilled at games such as Sonic the Hedgehog and having the top score in Dragon Ninjas" at Pirate Arcade, which he used to visit every weekend with his father until his promotion to Captain of Miami Metro Homicide. At some point he joined Little League and became friends with Jimmy Powell, Jr., whom their fathers Judge Powell and Aaron, have a history together - having putting away various Cartel members. Eventually he would also join a soccer team though his father had not attended any of these games in the 1991 season according to his mother Becca (Nelson on the other hand had attended every one of his games - indicating that the two have developed a close relationship). His Dad would also get him a copy of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Game Gear, that he got special from Japan.
Summary[]
12 days after Jimmy Powell, Jr. had been abducted and had one of his fingers shipped to his parent's house, his body was found hanging from an overpass bridge with a rope around his body. Once the body had been lowered to the ground to be investigated, a media circus surrounded the crime scene as Captain Aaron Spencer managed the scene - his time taken up throughout the rest of the morning. Later on in a briefing covering Powell his ex-wife Becca walks in with their son Nicky Spencer - resulting in him having to break off from the meeting.
Becca says she was tired of leaving messages with the receptionist so she needed to talk to him directly. As they head out into the hall beside his office, Aaron has his son wait outside giving him a hug and a kiss on-top of his head while he takes a seat - pulling out his Sega Game Gear to play a copy of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2". When they enter the office Becca tells Aaron that she needs him to take Nicky to soccer due to her own Step Aerobics Class she has to teach. Aaron becomes frustrated with her as she tries to tell him that Nicky would love to has his father there at practice, that he hasn't been to one game with him this season. Aaron ignores this to tell her if she's "seen the news" and that he's busy right now - to which she mentions her Fiancé Nelson has been to every game that causes him to snap in anger over his name. They then devolve into a fight about her cheating on him while Dexter Morgan watches from afar - when Nicky speaks up telling him that they'll be like that for awhile.
Dexter decides to go over and connect with Nicky, asking what he's playing. Nicky tells him it's Sonic the Hedgehog and that his Dad got him it special ordered from Japan. Dex asks he's any good to which Nicky says he plays whenever his parents are fighting so yeah...pretty good. Nicky then asks if he ever plays which Dexter admits he does just on the TV version of it though and Nicky offers him a chance to play it. Unfortunately Dexter's on the clock so he declines but Nicky shrugs it off, letting him know he got the top score in "Dragon Ninjas" at the Pirate Arcade and that he can find him under "NAS" (likely Nicky A. Spencer). He tells him that his Dad used to take him to the arcade every weekend...until he got his promotion to Captain. Dexter tells him that he'll try to beat Nicky's score next time he's at the Arcade and offers him a Twix bar, to which Nicky declines since he's not allowed Candy but Dexter assures him that he can keep a secret. Nicky gladly accepts the bar with a smile.
On the morning of Saturday June 1st, 1991 Nicky can be seen playing a copy of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" on his Sega Game Gear while his Mom moves bags from the house into their car in the attached garage. She tells him to hurry up and get his shoes on, while also do something about the sound the game is making as it's causing her a headache. Nicky puts in a pair of headphones, which isolates the sound to his earbuds and blocks out all other sound as he makes his way into the car where he resumes playing the game. Becca, a little annoyed that her son can't hear her, places a bag of oranges haphazardly in the trunk of her car and one rolls out onto the ground. As she turns around to pick it up, a masked man approaches her from behind and punches her in the face resulting in her being rendered unconscious. The man then moves her off to the side and zipties her hands, while making his way back to the car where Nicky can be seen still invested in his game. After a moment he notices that his mother isn't moving around anymore and he takes out an earbud to look around, only to be grabbed by the attacker who he tries to fight off as he's pulled from the car and brought out of the house.
Later that day his father Aaron is in the briefing room going over details from the Powell case when Officer Clark Sanders relays a call about the attack to Detective Bobby Watt who then passes this onto Spencer. In what would appear to be a genuine display from here-on-out...Spencer angrily grabbed a chair and threw it in the office, before noticing that Becca has arrived at the station (with her fiancé Nelson). As Spencer embraces Becca he warns Nelson to stand down as he becomes increasingly more enraged - blaming Spencer for calling out the kidnapper on TV and this escalates into a fight initiated by Nelson, where both men are dragged away from one another. After tensions settle Spencer questions his ex-wife about anything she might have seen...little did she realize that he disguising his real intent with the questions - asking if she saw anything that could identify him as the kidnapper. After her emotional display confirming that it was just one man with a mask...he exits the office, feigning tears he wipes away as Harry goes to comfort him - saying he would assist if not for the Mayor's orders (due to the screwup with the Levi Reed case).
Spencer would continue to play the grieving father into nightfall even lashing out at superiors as he gives a convincing emotional display. During this situation Bobby Watt comes in with a cartel big shot to focus on which changes Spencer's tune quickly. The man's name is Raphael Campos, head of the Los Tigres Cartel and they begin spinning theories that these men could be responsible. Now with the investigation focusing on the Cartel, Aaron's emotional display has him dismissed to the hallway by Deputy Chief Carl Borlee that devolves into an argument that leads to Spencer storming back to his office. Following a talk with Harry in his office where he assures him that his detectives will be able to find him...Spencer returns to where he locked Nicky up, the same dark cell that had once held Jimmy Powell prior to his murder. Wearing the same mask he knocks on the abduction, he knocks on the door opening the slot and offers a Sunnysmiles Ham and Cheese meal to his son. The boy demands he be let out, aggressively calling for his release as he takes the food and the slot closes up after. With his father walking away, Nicky looks about with a lantern he was provided and notices a blood smear on the ground that belonged to Jimmy. Nicky begins to shiver in feaer, as he processes the danger he's in and he falls back against the wall thinking on his next move.
On the day that Dexter Morgan "takes out the garbage", Jimmy can be seen unscrewing the handles of a bucket where he pops it loose. A flexible metallic material, he bends it around and finds a point which he begins sharpening on the metallic ground. As he works on it he inspects via the nearby lantern light if it's sharp enough by forcibly pressing his finger to the point multiple times to confirm if it's ready. If he did not draw blood he continued to sharpen. As he works on this his father Spencer can be seen in the briefing room asking for an update on the Los Tigres investigation. After going over a timeline comparison to Jimmy Powell's 12 days in captivity and Nicky's days since disappearing he states that the fourth day is when Jimmy Powell's finger showed up realizing that today that is likely to happen. In reality he told them plain to their face what he intended to do - after he finished with his business at the office. He also hears out LaGuerta's theory on an N.H.I. serial killer and with Harry's approval he allows her to continue the investigation...though as she leaves his expression shows malice.
Later that day Nicky can be seen seated on his bed, staring at the door waiting for the kidnapper to return. Behind his back is the wire, now fully sharp and fashioned into a makeshift shiv. When his father arrives and places the tray in the slot - with intent of pulling Nicky through and cutting off a finger - Nicky refuses, telling him that "you're going to have to come in here and make me eat them, motherfucker!". He pulls back the tray and closes the slot...seemingly having left as Nicky begins to relax, having tensed himself up ready to strike. Just that moment the door unlocks, which scares Nicky and he readies himself once more. Spencer strolls in, one arm behind his back just like Nicky had one behind his own. As he gets closer Nicky keeps his head down and once he's in range Nicky strikes, slashing across Aaron's left arm drawing blood. He attempts to follow up by stabbing at him again only to be caught for his arm to be caught by his father, where he disarms and subdues the boy on the bed, pulling back one of his arms towards him. From behind his back he pulls out a pair of spring-loaded pruning shears and sets them along Nicky's pinky finger while he yells at him to let him go, that his father is a cop and Aaron sets the shears against his son's finger. He takes a moment to look down at him, then goes through with cutting off the finger much to his son's terror and pain.
After Aaron sends the finger to his house where Bobby and Batista were stationed at, Aaron rushes in feigning panic while the detectives in the office hold him back - the bandaged wrapped around his left wrist barely visible in the chaos. He moves into his office and waits with Harry for Tanya Martin's report on the finger, which comes back with everything he was expecting to hear - except for the trace amount of blood that he himself left on the outside of the box. He thanked her initially for the discovery...but then realized it was Dexter who had found it, he's then told the results should be back first thing in the morning. Later that morning he is the first in the forensics lab, mulling over a report in a somber manner as he sees the exact blood type result one would have with their own child. As Dexter arrives with a new found purpose in finding this kidnapper, Aaron tells him too bad the test didn't help him point out the killing (pretending that the droplet outside the box must have been his son's) but Dexter assures him that the blood type is 34% across the board for a possible match...then refers to evidence of a hesitation cut on the finger. This perplexes Spencer and Dexter tells him his theory that it could indicate a personal connection. It's then when he notices the bandage around Spencer's wrist...and Spencer deflects it as having hurt himself fixing an A/C in his apartment. He tells Dexter that if he has any theories to come directly to him and he departs for his office...as Dexter begins to realize that Spencer is the kidnapper. Thanks to Nicky's defensive strike he was able to give Dexter all the evidence he needs that confirms his father is the killer. Now it's a race against the clock to stop his father and save Nicky's life.
During a preview of next week's episode it is claimed that Nicky Spencer was spotted at a known cartel safehouse. It's unclear if this means Spencer allowed him to be found or if Dexter tracked Spencer to Nicky, then called in the tip to see how Spencer would react.
TBC
TBC
After Nicky was rescued by Dexter, he was taken to the Angel of Mercy Hospital.
While investigating the Bay Harbor Butcher Case decades later, Detective Claudette Wallace reads an article about how Aaron Spencer is missing and wanted as the prime suspect in the murder of Jimmy Powell, Jr. and the kidnapping of his own son Nicky due to new forensic evidence combined with Nicky's shocking testimony.
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