Dexter (Showtime, 2006)

[X.]

Dexter
(Showtime, 2006)

I stumbled upon this show almost by accident...my discovery spurned by Michael Cuesta's IMDb page: a mention of it in this great young director's bio which includes indie gems like "L.I.E.," "12 and Holding." Cuesta has helmed the pilot episode of "Dexter." Also, the fact that I read and loved Jeff Lindsay's dark dark darkly satirical novel naturally helped.

The premise goes like this: a young boy, Dexter, with serial killer tendencies is adopted by a blue-blooded cop. When his foster father recognises the lad's urges to kill, he helps him channel it into something constructive: like torturing the real bad guys which the cops cannot catch/punish. Dexter is now a grown man. He's a forsenic expert and one of the best in the Miami police dept. During the day he helps put bad guys behind bars. At night, he hunts down the ones that the law couldn't reach. Kind of like Hannibal Lector's version of Judge Dredd.

The show captures the ironic tone of the book pat down. The use of Dexter's deadpan voiceover narration is perfect (a frazzled forsenic colleague tells Dexter at a crime scene: "This killer...he drained the blood out of the body. Dexter, you got to look at this...there's NO blood. Dexter looks disgusted; the camera fixates on his face; then his voiceover: "That's genius. Why didn't I think of that?")

Cuesta is no stranger to black comedy (by black comedy I mean dark comedy, not African-American, which is the widely misintepreted understanding): he directed several episodes of "Six Feet Under," one of the best shows in US TV history. Another key factor why "Dexter" works is Michael C. Hall who plays the lead. He played the homosexual brother in "Six Feet Under," and here he's well supported here by the hottie Jennifer Carpenter (Emily from "The Exorcism of Emily Rose") who plays his foster sister (although Dexter is not sexual in any way...he claims to be "a shell...totally empty inside," I sensed enough hints of a possible incestuous relationship between them in the future. This show can go there; it is so perverted!).

The fun bit about "Dexter" -- besides the hard adult rating -- is that everyone accepts Dexter as a nice guy. And, you know what; he really is! Really! Children love him, his token girlfriend is crazy about him (but they still haven't had sex, and Dexter is relieved about that) and the cops in his dept adore him (an early scene shows him bringing doughnuts -- lol, yes fucking doughnuts -- to his cop friends!).

I can go on and go, but you must at least see the Pilot to appreciate how the sadistic torture scenes are tempered with moments of deadpan humour. At one moment you're wincing with disgust...not second too soon, you're laughing!

I, honestly, can't believe how under-the-radar this show is. S1 is done and dusted. It's been picked up for S2 which starts in Sept.

[madali]

This sounds great! I was just getting The Riches based on KT's recommendation, but this will go in my list also.

[kaytee]

Nice, I'm getting it too.

[madali]

Excellent Pilot. A very good recommendation, because I'd never heard of it, and could easily have escaped my radar.

I just hope the rest of the epsidoes are as good.

[madali]

Fantastic Season. A little weak at times, and the secondary characters and their subplots almost always suck ass, but ultimately a very pleasing season, with a great season finale.

[X.]

Almost done with the show, and loving every minute of it so far.

You begin to laugh and not a second later your laughter catches in the throat -- there’s a fine tonal balance to the show, not seen after the demise of brilliant “Six Feet Under.”

Michael C. Hall is perfect as Dexter, the natural born killer struggling to “fit in, be normal.” He’s likable but not in the standard anti-hero way. He’s tortures people, makes no compromises; he is governed by a set of principles and value system imbibed by his foster father. The show may not look it – hard hard language, sadistic killings and gore – but this is the most family-friendly show on TV right now; every family around the world should be made to see this. Dexter is about one guy trying to make sense of life, the world. 

The writing, the direction, the editing, the ACTING…everything works.

[X.]

Finished S1 last night. The finale was superb, and ended with a hilarious sequence.

Minor Spoiler!

The last few episodes were weighed down by one major subplot: Dexter’s girlfriend’s domestic problems. Honestly, the jailbird ex-husband character overstayed his welcome. He became a device to throw suspicion on Dexter. It was annoying and a surprisingly shallow tactic considering DEXTER’S lean writing.

That said, its still a small quibble in the wider context of what the show achieves otherwise. What will make me return for DEXTER’S second season are not the obvious threads, but the subtle curiosities: big brash black cop’s Special Ops connections and his surveillance of Dexter, and our favourite serial killer's detachment issues with his sister.

[madali]

SPOILERS

The show has one of my favorite season finale endings ever. Dexter fantasies about people cheering him on. There were complaints in the IMDB forums about how it was out-of-character for Dexter to want fame, but that’s not what it meant to me. Dexter wasn’t fantasying about fame, but about people understanding him. He kills, not because he has no emotions, but because, even if he doesn’t fully acknowledge it himself, he believes what he is doing is right. The last scene is a hidden desire of him of wanting others to know this, and agree with him.

I agree with AK’s claim that this is one of the most family-friendly shows, especially how important family members are here. The relationship between Dexter and his foster father is excellent. It is a father’s desire not only to protect his son, but shape him to his own hidden intentions. Dexter’s relationship with his sister, is a typical sibling relationship taken to an extreme. A love between siblings without any real understanding between the hidden personality of each. And the final revelation of his brother might have been a trite twist, if it did not deal with complex emotions within Dexter. The final killing was one of the most touching scenes I’d seen in a TV show, a mess of emotions, family ties, and relationships.

[captainhowdy]

Just got my hands on the complete first season. Can't wait to get into it.

[kaytee]

Watched the first couple of episodes and it is interesting. Has the same feel and comic touches like Nip/Tuck.

[captainhowdy]

Watched the first couple of episodes and it is interesting. Has the same feel and comic touches like Nip/Tuck.

I never liked Nip/Tuck. I'm not very familiar with the shows on Showtime, but from what little I've seen, most of them seem to offer the same average quality as the shows on other free-to-air channels except they include profanity and sex. Only shows I've like so far are Sleeper Cell and Weeds. Keeping my fingers crossed for Dexter. Will start in a couple of days.

[kaytee]

Weeds

Care to give us a little bit more insight. I have read good things about it, but never got down to watching it.

[captainhowdy]

Care to give us a little bit more insight. I have read good things about it, but never got down to watching it.

Fast paced, quirky, sexy, dark comedy. Couple of characters, especially Elizabeth Perkins' 'Celia' and Justin Kirk's 'Andy' are really entertaining. Plus the plot - a recently widowed suburban housewife moonlighting as a Range Rover drivin' drug dealer. Oh, and she's also dating a DEA agent! Recommended.

[shariqq]

Getting myself this. Should start watching in a day or two...

[shariqq]

Started on this. The pilot was fantastic, absolutely delicious. Waiting to go deeper through the series.