Showtime's Dexter

*I will not give away any spoilers to this or any series. I won't give away anything you wont learn in the first couple of episodes. I'm not only doing that out of respect of this incredible series, but also because I believe all great shows should be an experience on its own. So feel free to read on without any fear of spoilers.*

Jump to conclusion:

As most of us do, I consider myself an excellent judge of entertainment. Though I will admit that if anything, I am a lazy watcher. Its rare that I jump on a show as it starts. I do jump on some shows from the start, but it is very rare. This was not one of those few shows I jumped on. I missed this one completely. I didn't even hear about this show until at least halfway through the first series. In its most simple description, its about a serial killer trying to live a normal life. Its premise was not unheard of, I imagined bad movies of people who do wrong, repent and try to do good with 'disastrous' results. I expected a lot of cliche soliloquies about our protagonist 'trying to quit killing'.

I wasn't even close.

Dexter:



This series, which debuted in October 2006, follows a serial killer who is not trying to do good. He is just following his programing. He is very methodical in the way he stalks his victims. He learns their patterns, finds an opening subdues them and brings them to his 'kill site'. He is very good at getting away with it, as a matter of fact he is almost flawless. But to appear normal and avoid suspicion he attempts to fake emotions, relationships and has a day job which he is very good at as well. Dexter's day job is a blood-splatter analyst for the Miami Police Department. Uhuh, the fucking Miami Police Department. He actually helps the police find and capture murderers. And though he never became a cop like his adoptive father, his 'sister' did.

Yeah, this show has some twists and turns. So a little background on this complex individual.

When he was a boy, Dexter went through a traumatic experience when he lost his mother. He was orphaned and was taken in by a cop. This cop, Harry, felt a kind of sympathy for the kid and with the help of his wife and daughter, raised him as his own. He was a son and a brother in rather loving family. Harry began to notice odd things in Dexter's behavior, he eventually found out that Dexter was killing little animals. He approached the kid about it, and the kid promised to stop... But he didn't.

Harry discovered and confronted him a second time, Dexter began to explain why he does that, and acts rather disconnected most of the time. He told Harry about his urges that he gets, that get stronger and stronger until he succumbs to them. He calls this his 'Dark Passenger'. Harry, a veteran cop who has seen his shared of murderers and crazed killers, knew that Dexter was slowly becoming something very, very dark. He realizes Dexter does not kill because he wants money or power, instead because his trauma killed a very important part, the part that feels emotions. Harry knows that Dexter is going in this direction no matter what. So he decides that it would be best to channel it.

He decides to first teach Dexter to blend into society and appear as normal as possible. He then instills in Dexter a code. A code that would allow him to kill. His victims would have to be killers themselves. He would need solid proof of this. And he would have to be certain that they would kill again. He then teaches Dexter everything he knows about crime scenes and forensics.



So there is our little maladjusted protagonist, who has to fake all emotions and sense of friendship, going about his life keeping his dark passenger satisfied as well as trying desperately just to blend in.

That's all I should really say about this show. That is the 'starter kit' for this show. I would mention the fact that he has somehow found his way into a relationship with a woman. But then I would have to explain what makes this weird is that he is not really interested in women or sex, only his next victim. I would also have to mention that he knows the only chink in his armor is intimacy with women. He knows he is not good at faking that, to the point where he ends up 'freaking women out'. I would have to mention that she has two kids from a previous marriage. And (I admit there is a little sarcasm in my voice) I'd feel bad without mentioning how prim and proper his 'sister' has grown up. She is a very delicate flower who Dexter tries to look out for. But I don't want to get into all that. I have the background of the show to write.

Its kind of funny that after giving all that information I never got past the first couple of episodes in the first season. I have also not mentioned the acting (a topic I love). Michael C. Hall plays Dexter perfectly. There is no higher praise that I can give him other than, "Michael C. Hall IS Dexter". If I ever saw this guy in an elevator I'd think twice about getting in. I'd go over my sins in my head and see if I would make Dexter's list. He plays him very demented when he has to, and even plays his 'confused about normal people' scenes just as masterfully. Rightfully so, Michael C. Hall is the standout of the show in my eyes. Jennifer Carpenter who plays his sister gives an interesting performance. I say interesting not because she is bad, but because she can make me care for her character and then completely annoy the shit out of me in the same episode. Not everyone knows this, but, in real life Michael C. Hall fell in love with and married Jennifer Carpenter. Now don't give me that stink face right away, you have to remember that they are not brother and sister in real life. They're not even blood related in the show!

Julie Benz who plays Dexter's girlfriend, Rita, is also pretty good in this. I've seen her before in other shows, and I have to say that she does not dissapoint. She plays the 'single mom with issues' role well and eventually becomes more than just a 'plot device' as the series progresses. The rest of the cast do well in their roles with no real complaints. A standout among them would be C.S. Lee who plays Masuka. Masuka is hillarious; his character is just MESSED up and C.S. Lee plays it beautifully. Dexter may not have any feelings, but Masuka has no tact whatsoever. I have to say that it is one of my favorite characters on the show.


Darkly Dreaming Dexter:



The series is based on a character created by Jeff Lindsay in his 2004 book, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter". This is his first of five books (so far). The first book follows the first season closely (according to Wikipedia). I have unfortunately not had the pleasure of reading any of them, but I'm sure I would not mind reading it eventually. Wikipedia does tell me that after the first season, the book and the series went on their separate ways.


Dexter and Me:

 

I am ashamed to say that I did not see the actual airing of this show. As a matter of fact I haven't had Showtime since like '94. Yeah, I was more of an HBO guy. Anyway, I remember that I when I used to listen to Z100 and Elvis Duran would sometimes mention this show and how great it was. I heard about it before, but was not overly interested in its premise.

One day, out of curiosity I looked it up and even had my friend, 'Pookie' give me a downloaded copy of the first couple of episodes. I was kind of hooked, but it was during a bit of a busy time in my life and in addition to that, 'Pookie' was finding it hard to find more episodes. It wasn't until 2009 when I was in my 9-5 a friend of mine suggested that I try Netflix. I've heard of Netflix but did not see any reason to join it. At the time, I'd just buy the movies that I really wanted and considered the rest disposable. But she told me that she had a free month, so I said, "what the heck".

It was a good time to try to get into Dexter as I was unsure about dropping good money on a series that could easily go into the toilet. It showed great promise, but sometimes promises get broken. So Netflix seemed to be a great solution for this. Dexter became the first DVD I ever ordered and 'streamed' from Netflix. It blew me away and the second and third seasons quickly went on my Netflix Queue.

Dexter is currently in its fifth season, though I am only catching up on the fourth season. I am behind for two reasons:

1. I am not a member of Showtime. I am sorry to say that besides not being caught up to the day on Dexter, there is really no reason for me to watch Showtime when Netflix is so good to me. Weeds is a good show, but I never really got too into it. 'Premium channels' also tend to overplay movies.

2. Showtime only released season 4 this past week... So I'm on season 4, thanks to Netflix.





Season four has started out nice and mysterious. This new killer he is hunting is a little weird. That's saying a lot for a show who once had a killer completely drain his victim's bodies of blood. And I mean completely drained their blood.

This show has been 'deliciously thrilling' throughout the first three seasons, I hear that season four is quite the season. I recommend this show to anyone with a pulse and a few people without. Character development is very key for me, and this show has plenty of it.



In case anyone is interested, I'm attaching Blu-ray links to a package for the first three seasons (in one package), the fourth season, and the first book: