Dexter: S2 (Showtime, 2007)

[kaytee]

Dexter Season 2 is up and running.

[X.]

Ha ha, I still can't stop laughing after seeing this poster on the DEXTER website, teasing us about S2.

This shot of Dexter (the blood, the smile) perfectly embodies the deadpan tone of the show!

[X.]

Premiere of S2 aired here last night. There was an incredible buzz about this little show leading right up to the new episode...apparently interest in DEXTER has grown mostly from the very strong word-of-mouth of the previous great season.

Anyways, ep1 of S2 is called "It's Alive," and it is directed by Tony Goldwyn, the same guy who directed "The Last Kiss." The tone and style of the show has not changed; it's still tightly edited and contains loads of macabre fun! And mercifully it felt like a natural progression from where we left off, which is a great relief.

I don't want to talk too much about the new episode, because you really should savour it for yourself. But I do want to say that the show continues to impress me by taking the Dexter character and the overall narrative arc (Dexter dealing with his past incl. killing his own brother; his sister haunted by her traumatic experience with her "psycho killer fiance"; Doakes is hot on Dexter's trail...this being my favourite and most amusing part of the show -- none says "motherfucker" quite like him!) into new territory.

The operative word here is *maturity*.

My confidence in the new season went through the roof when they found a way to get around two things I feared would drag the new season down: (1) Dexter's weekly tortures: find new bad guys to torture in the name of gratuitousness; and (2) The hot hot Julia Benz' jailbird husband and the case of his missing shoe!

Oh, you'll see...

[kaytee]

You almost gave me a hard on. This will be seen soon...

[X.]

I hardly have any free time nowadays -- so I really really need someone here to follow this show, and get me excited enough to continue watching. Come on, you TV nerds!

[shariqq]

I've been watching this regularly, within a few hours of each episodes airing.

Season 1 is by far one of the best shows I have seen. Season 2 started of well, but by now (ep3) it's becoming a little soapy. We seem to be spending too much time with sub-plots (of Dexter & of minor characters) rather than focusing on what really made the first season great: Dexter himself.

Ep3 is still too soon to judge. And I am watching this right after finishing Season1, hence the more harsh relative criticism.

But you still can't take away the brilliance of Michael C Hall so swiftly. The guy is  treat to watch, every minute of the screen-time he gets, and he gets a lot   

[shariqq]

The *Marla Singer* character is supremely irritating, and now with ep4 she is getting on my nerves. And her Stupid Accent.

[madali]

I fully agree, what a terrible actress.

[madali]

Finished the season two (cheated a bit, last two episodes were leaked). Not as good as Season 1, but still, very satisfying. The great thing about Season 2, is that it is not a repeat of Season 1. It would have been so such a temptation for the writers to do exactly what they did before, so it is great, they changed things a lot.

And the best thing about both seasons is how neatly it ends its seasons. I wish more shows had the confidence to do this, instead of cliffhangers that end the finales. With Dexter, if it is cancelled, we would still have a clean finish, without annoying "what ifs".

[X.]

I'm catching up on this, and so far so good. The Marla Singer character is mixing things up for Dexter, but like other citizens here, I am not enjoying her own cliched persona (Stupid Accent included -- "Mohd-Terr," "Dekk-sterr").

At episode #7 now, and ep #5, "Dark Defender," was a real treat.

Will finish the season in the coming days.

[shariqq]

I missed mad's post on this. Season's over? Oh, so I can safely now watch it. I didn't have the patience to continue watching it on episode-per-week format... it get's to me!

[X.]

Finished S2.

It's natural to have the novelty wear off, but, in some ways, the new season is actually better than the first -- the narrative focus is almost entirely on reconciling Dexter's identity crisis: is he good, is he evil? With his very last comment, both Dexter and the audience finally know.

Some spoilers follow, so beware.

I liked how S2, especially in the last few episodes, tried to explore the nature of good and evil. There's even a very subtle mockery of the US military, when Dexter poses the same moral question to Sgt. Doakes. ("I'm bad because I don't get a pay check for killing people?").

S2 balanced the morbid comedy really well: there's a scene when Dexter imagines confessing to his sister that he's the Bay Harbor Butcher. It's hilarious and goofy; perfectly in sync with the clever tongue-in-cheek of the show. I wish S2 had more of that, but it's still very satisfying.

My only real criticism of S2 is the makers went for a really clean finish: it's painfully obvious they want DEXTER back for another season. So when they start creating false suspense through unneeded characters like Lila, who are then off-ed to protect Dexter's secret, it's seems all too convenient. When Dexter knows who he is, and accepts it, why can't Showtime? (Don't answer that.)

DEXTER is still the best TV I've seen in a long long time.

[X.]

By the way, especially with the episode "Dark Defender," comparisons to Batman are almost obvious.

- Dexter lives a double-life. (He wears "a mask".)
- Dexter usually operates at night.
- Dexter has his own moral code.
- Dexter changed because his parent was killed.
- Dexter is a badass.

Honestly, after Nolan's "The Dark Knight," screw him -- Dexter is my new hero!

[shariqq]

Actually, it would be something to have Michael C Hall as some villain opposite the Bale.

[X.]

Actually, it would be something to have Michael C Hall as some villain opposite the Bale.

Shariq, you should be a casting agent. That's brilliant.

If I were Nolan (which I'm not, yet) I would throw the comic book villains out of the window, and create an original villain with Michael C. Hall in mind. Yes, that is what I would do.