Dexter- Dark, Dysfunctional, Detective Deals with Demons, Dreams of Dullness and Delivers Death !

“Have you seen Dexter?”
I raise my head from my computer at work. It’s Vanessa, a good friend and the television savant that got me hooked on LOST. Due to this, I respect her decision when it comes to new shows and my attention perks up. It’s Friday.
“No... Should I”
“Yes... you’d love it.”
“Who’s in it?”
“Michael C. Hall”
“OK, I give… who’s Michael C. Hall?”
‘You watched Six Feet Under correct?”
“Yup, all the time. Loved it.”
“He was the gay brother.”
“Ooooooh... He was good... what’s the show about?”
“A Blood Splatter Expert who’s also a serial killer.”
“Time and Channel?”
“Showtime, Sunday at 9 or 11 est.”
“Check... Bring me up to speed and I’ll start watching it this week-end."

... and with this relatively short conversation began yet ANOTHER addiction to a TV Show.
I’m weak, I’ll admit it. Look, it’s not like I do nothing EXCEPT watch TV, I have a life… a wife, a child and another on the way. I work 11 or 12 hrs a day. I have a trailer in the summer, I swim and golf and ski. I like to cook and kick back for a few drinks with my neighbors and friends.

... but I also love, LOVE, LOVE (tryin' to stress this enough), original television and am always on the look out for the new and gripping. Sometimes it’s a sporadic offering, as with Twin Peaks or Carnivale but sometimes it floods the idiot box in waves.
Right now we have LOST and Ugly Betty and House and The Office and My Name Is Earl and Southpark and Family Guy and Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares and even re-runs of Arrested Development...
...and now Dexter.

Dear Deceptive Dexter

Damn.

I had to pick up the box set because this conversation happened in fall of last year and by then I had already missed the first 2 or 3 episodes, of which there are 12.
And, to be fair, I’m the kind of dude that watches things over and over. I’m on my 3rd run through the season.

DEVELOPMENT:

The show is based on a series of novels written by Jeffry P. Freundlich under the name Jeff Lindsay (who, by the by, is married to Ernest Hemmingway’s niece... cool little factoid).
Season 1 is based fairly closely to the first book in the series which is called Darkly Dreaming Dexter. There are a some significant differences but nothing I’m going to share here. Sufficed to say that if you have read the books as well as watched the show, you will be as interested as I to see how they deal with these differences in the 2nd season.

The show is presented from the first person perspective and narration of Dexter Morgan, an extremely affable and decent blood splatter expert for the Miami Police Department. While appearing a likeable guy, buying donuts and smiling, his narration reveals that he views himself as a soulless monster.

We are quickly introduced, through his interaction, to the following characters:
Debbie Morgan- Dexter’s adopted sister and a Vice cop who’s desperately trying to get in to Homicide. Dexter loves Deb more than anyone else.
“I don't have feeling about anything, but if I could have feelings at all, I'd have them for Deb”
Rita Bennett- Dexter’s damaged girlfriend who has 2 kids, a mousy personality, an abusive, convicted, druggy, ex-husband and an aversion to sex
Maria LaGuerta- Dexter’s police Lieutenant who is a rising female, Latino star on the force, who has a crush on Dex and who HATES his sister.
James Doakes- A hulking, menacing, intimidating Sergeant on the force who has some weird top secret government past and sniffs that something is not right with Dex.
Angel Batista- Another cop and probably the closest thing that Dexter has to just a regular friend. Angel is a good, straight forward detective and the epitome of an honest cop.
Vince Masuka- A fellow blood expert on the force with Dex and a sexual deviant who you figure would nail anything in a skirt (or tights... or pants... or Lederhosen... or a Sari... or a Burka... or leather... or rubber... or plastic... or ripped Fishnets... I mean... dude is a serious pig) and who comes out with the most wildly inappropriate comments on the show.

Through flashbacks we are also introduced to Harry Morgan, Dexter’s dead adopted father who was also a cop and was the “mentor” and controller to Dexter’s dark urges.

You see, Dexter needs to kill. Something happened in his past that he has blocked out but which affected him so badly that he absolutely MUST slaughter people. So Dexter’s Dad (who adopted him soon after finding him at a crime scene) told him that he was loved, taught him how to appear like a normal human being and instilled in him that if he absolutely HAD to kill, he should stick to a code... The Code Of Harry... and kill only those individuals who managed to evade the law for some grisly crime.

This is the main thrust of the show. Dexter is a stranger in a strange land, playing at being human, longing to be normal, dealing day in and day out with cops and all the while stalking rapists, child molesters and multiple murders at night, carving them in to small pieces (after he has saved a microscope slide of their blood), carting their bodies on board his boat The Slice Of Life and then dumping their weighted carcasses in to the ocean.

Pretty average stuff.

And then the Miami Police Department discovers a rash of other serial killings. All the victims are hookers and all have been carved in to multiple pieces and drained of blood. Dexter should have no part in this (a blood splatter expert in cases with no blood) but the killer seems to be singling him out specifically, almost as if it were an invitation to a game. The killer (dubbed The Ice Truck Killer due to the fact that he keeps his bodies mobile and frozen) goes so far as to beak in to Dexter’s apartment and leave a “memento”

Dexter isn’t angry, he’s in awe... as if he is a novice watching a true master at work.
“I think this is a friendly message like, "Hey! Wanna play?" and yes I wanna play. I really, really do.”

The entire first season is the hunt for The Ice Truck Killer, Dexter’s discovery of himself and his past and the fleshing out of the inter-dynamics between all of Dexter’s co-stars and the small resolutions that happen in their day to day lives... What happens when LaGuerta plays politics, what are the dynamics of Angel’s family life, Deb’s search for romance while striving for recognition at work, Rita’s emergence from an abused wife to an independent single mother of two (and how she deals with the re-introduction of her husband), hints of Doakes past as well as his ongoing animosity towards Dexter.

In would almost be mundane, if not for the absolute brilliant strength of the main character.

DISCUSSION:

The show is flat out glorious. I can think of no other word that does justice. Brilliant is over used and Outstanding is boring.
The main role of a vigilante, serial-killing, cop is compelling and you never have any trouble liking him.
With the exception of Erik King who plays Doakes the acting is spot on and understated. He’s a bit over the top and would be distracting if he had a larger part.
Everyone else is just a regular person. You’re heart goes out for Angel and Rita.
Deb is portrayed just pathetic enough that you understand why she has trouble keeping a guy. While you are drawn to her and like her you also get the sense that she’s her own worst enemy and not someone that you would want to date.
And Dex? Dex could be your best friend He’s a very sociable monster.
It would have been very easy to portray him over the top… but Michael C. Hall shows a subtle hand and some brilliance in his craft. Dexter is just a regular guy who is compelled to kill and searches for something that the rest of us long to break away from... normalcy.

The show’s grisly subject and abundance of blood is tempered nicely by the humor... and the humor is heavy. Regular life can be funny. Why can’t a serial killer have some humor?
The look of the show also enhances the subject matter. At times it’s sunny and warm and tropical... depicting Dex’s outward appearance, but at other times it’s dark and dirty, seamy and ugly... reflecting nicely the duality of his nature.

DIRECTION:

Season 2 begins on September 30th. I strongly advise you to tune in (after buying or renting season 1).
Keith Carradine will be introduced as an FBI agent and (it appears) main foil to Dexter’s murderous ways...
Deb will probably still be searching for love, despite any past problems she may have had...
LaGuerta may still be trying to play the political game...
Doakes and Dex may even get in to another fight...

Who knows? I haven’t read the next book Dearly Devoted Dexter but from what I hear the next season isn’t linked to it at all

DENOUEMENT:

The show was filmed and presented in 2.35:1 widescreen ration.
The DVD is jammed with extras and includes 2 separate audio commentaries as well as documentaries entitled The Academy Of Blood- A Killer Course, Witnessed in Blood- A True Murder Investigation and 2 episodes of the Showtime show Brotherhood (which co-stars Jason Isaacs or Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter series)

Now, much like my reviews on LOST, I’ve gone to a lot of work here and have delved pretty deep. Don’t let it go to waste. Start watching the show.
If you hate it... well, post your own review.
In the mean time, be nice to each other... if for the simple fact that you never really know who’s watching you