SEASON 1
Dexter is one of those rays of sunshine within a cluttered mess of current Television Crime themed shows. It gives you an in depth look into Dexter, a man who on description you should hate, but with each passing episode you become more and more supportive of his cause. The show is based on Jeff Lindsays Darkly Dreaming Dexter and is one of the best shows to grace out television boxes for a very long time.
The series follows Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for Miami Metro Police Department. His unique skill of reading blood patterns helps lock away some rather fiendish characters, but this ‘gift’ you will soon realise is key to his greatest secret. He is closely followed by his foster sister Debra who despite somehow managing to climb the ranks of Miami Metro with imperative ease is in fact a pretty dim cop who has little imagination and most all of her decisions are either based on her brothers views or someone else’s. He also has a companion of sorts, the lovely Rita, a woman who has gone through hell on earth and yet has come out smiling on the other side.
From the outset Dexter is your average everyday cop, helps save lives, goes home to a beautiful girl and enjoys going out on his boat feeling the ocean breeze ruffling his hair. You will quickly learn there is a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to Dexter Morgan. Dexter is in fact a serial killer, with motives and reasoning. He preys on those who have done wrong and shows them what it feels like to get a taste of their own medicine. He is not your average killer either for Dexter has no emotion; he feels nothing and has to balance his ‘Normal’ life with his alter ego. Things soon change when a new serial killer hits centre stage at Miami. The infamously titled Ice Truck Killer gifts Dexter with a series of corpses all of which are clues to Dexter’s traumatic and until now forgotten past.
As the series progresses he slowly begins to realise why he has to kill and why he feels nothing. The key to this show is the show putting the viewer basically behind the eyes of a killer and what’s more getting you to like it. Despite knowing that he is murdering a countless amount of people and even with the curse of having no emotion you would think it hard to relate to such a character. Yet as you watch him stumble through life you have a certain admiration towards his ability to fake every known human emotion. You’ll watch him pretend to be happy and sad with imperative ease or at least well enough to get by, then you’ll chuckle to yourself as you watch poor Dexter attempt to comfort his girlfriend despite not having a clue what to do in such a situation.
You sympathise with the killer for being alone and despite a number of colleagues calling themselves his ‘friend’ he still is unsure what constitutes being a friend much like his dilemmas with female relationships. As the series progresses you’ll begin to learn why Dexter feels nothing. What’s more amazing is that this admiration for a known killer only grows as his past is uncovered. Through the shows expletive narrative you know every thought, urge and decision Dexter makes on his way to learning the truth. The main plot behind the show is the battle, should I say relationship between Dexter and the infamous Ice Truck Killer. There are other sub-plots, but all minor and barely memorable in comparison to the Ice Truck Killer who kills prostitutes and attempts to turn there body’s into art, not for the average Joe, but for Dexter, herein lies the clue to his past.
Michael C Hall does an above exemplary job of playing Dexter, I cannot think of a more perfectly cast part. He plays the role with a nice balance of everyday humour towards human emotions and at the same time a certain disgust for the way people go about their lives. He almost makes the art of cutting up someone’s body acceptable, a very hard feat to pull off Indeed. The one weakness to Dexter is his sister, as mentioned before she seems to be a pretty useless cop, almost a puppet or copycat. What’s more Jennifer Carpenter isn’t that good, her Stallone like mouth get’s annoying after one episode and like every other part she plays all she can do it seems is yell very loudly and throw in a few random curse words. The fact that she’s meant to be a cop who within an episode is promoted to homicide (because of Dexter), and yet she couldn’t solve a game of Cluedo let alone catch a serial killer.
On the upside Sgt Dokes is the perfect colleague, he may be rude, but the fact that he simply ‘knows’ that there’s something wrong with Dexter makes their work relationship intriguing to say the least. Also Julie Benz does a great job of playing Rita, Dexter’s companion, the two play off each other perfectly and it will give you a giggle watching Dexter attempting to ‘seduce’ Rita, with varying results.
Really though the entire series is carried by Hall from start through to finish, he is the key to Dexter and why it is just that good. As for the camera work it will amaze you. Scenes are generally very white which makes for a very clean looking show, to add when blood starts entering the equation it stands out all the more due to the sublime videography. Scenes are stitched together with seamless ease and each scene leads into the next with the viewer never wondering what’s going on. The audio is also a feast for the ears, there is a great mix of music, from dark classical concertos too happy bubbly themes playing in the background whilst Dexter is getting to grips with a screwdriver and a victim’s head. The bubbly music doesn’t ruin the atmosphere of Dexter’s murders, if anything a hint of irony will come over you as he starts carving up his prey.
By the time you’ve reached the final episode I guarantee you’ll be itching to start season two, Dexter is a show that will have you wanting to smash through every episode in a single night. It truly is that good; Michael Hall is the perfect serial killer with a conscious.
OVERALL SUMMARY
An excellent plot, a devilish number of twists and some immersive episodes makes Dexter a must for anyone. The show is a perfect mix of drama, action, comedy and thriller. It puts you behind the eyes and ears of a serial killer and does the wonderful job of making you like Dexter’s company, despite knowing it’s wrong you’ll root for him when he slips up, you’ll agree with his motives, you’ll cry with him when he realises the truth about his past and you’ll be beside Rita as she comforts him. It is the most immersive show to hit TV’s in an extremely long time.