Showtime’s “Dexter” – based on the novel “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” by Jeff Lindsay – came highly recommended to me, and so, when season 1 hit the shelves at my local DVD pusher, I was quick to snatch up a copy. It turned out to be one of the best purchases I have made in the tv-show realm.
On the surface, Dexter Morgan appears to be living a normal, and a very neat life. He is good looking, sympathetic and caring. He has a job as a blood-spatter analyst at the forensic department of Miami PD, a loving girlfriend, a caring sister and loyal friends at the Miami PD.
But it’s all a sham, for beneath the surface beats the heart of a calculating and highly skilled serial killer. His job, his appearance, and even his girlfriend, Rita, are all covers to hide who he really is. Compassion, empathy, love and remorse are alien emotions to Dexter, and his only true friend is his inner voice, aptly named “the Dark Passenger”, urging him to kill.
Due to a childhood trauma, Dexter developed sociopathic tendencies, stripping him of his ability to feel normal human emotions, and leaving him with an aching urge to kill. Noticing this, and realising the urge would never go away, his foster father Harry – a Miami police detective – taught Dexter everything about killing, and laid down the rules of who he is allowed to target.
Following the “Code of Harry” , Dexter knows who to kill, how to kill them, and how to get away with it. Faking human emotions, he is able to appear normal to the world by day, while carefully targeting his victims at night. He takes his time with them and collects “blood trophies” to appease the Dark Passenger.
Dexter is in complete control of his life, and all is well.
That is, until the mysterious “Ice Truck Killer” is brought to the attention of the Miami PD. Upon the crime scene, Dexter finds himself greatly admiring the work of his fellow colleague , feeling like a student watching the master at work. His fascination only grows, when the Ice Truck Killer is quick to entangle Dexter in his game.
Dexter is also forced to delve into his past and come face to face with the incident that shaped him.
I think the the quote “I can kill a man, dismember his body and be home in time for Letterman. But knowing what to say when my girlfriend’s feeling insecure… I’m totally lost” by Dexter describes the show pretty good. It describes Dexter’s struggles in fitting in with other people, and especially how to communicate and handle himself in his relationship with his emotionally crippled girlfriend Rita.
There is an impressive character development in this show, especially on Dexter, Rita and even his sister Debra.
Having recently watched season 1 of “Veronica Mars”, I realise that the two shows share a similar structure.
*Both main characters narrates throughout the show.
*Dexter’s “1 kill per episode” versus Veronica’s “1 case per episode”, although Dexter’s kills make up less of the plot of the episodes than Veronica’s cases.
*And last, but not least, they both share an ongoing “mystery plot” through out the season, though Dexter features a MUCH larger focus and intensity on its mystery.
The show features mostly solid acting, with the excellent Michael C. Hall as Dexter at as the cream of the crop. The actor playing the Ice Truck Killer was also pretty damn brilliant. It was also cool to see “Dr. Gloria Nathan”, “Enrique Morales” and “Moses Deyell” from “Oz” as “Lt. LaGuerta”, “Angel” and “Sgt. Doakes”, respectively.
Dexter is VERY well produced, featuring an imagery that is absolutely superb, not holding back on the violence, and making even the bloodiest and goriest of scenes, artistically beautiful. It also features an excellent score, with the incidental part of the soundtrack being reminiscent of Jesper Kyd’s work on the game “Hitman: Contracts, or the score featured in Luc Besson’s “Nikita”.
All in all, this is pretty much one of the very best TV-shows I have ever seen.
I have to extend an enormous thanks to Amras and my dear brother, for recommending me this work of brilliance.
If I have to rate it, then it has to be:
10/10
