AM I WRONG FOR LOVING THIS SHOW?

Television has been called a vast wasteland. I've heard people rant and rave for years about having so many channels and nothing to watch on TV. And then I started looking at two things. The first was my television watching schedule which has actually begun cutting into my DVD watching schedule (so little time, so much to watch). Then I looked at my shelving unit and noticed the number of TV series collections there. People are wrong. There is plenty good to watch on TV. And DEXTER is an example of it.

For those who aren't aware, DEXTER is a series on Showtime, so many of you might not have seen it. If that's the case you're in luck because the series has been released on DVD. While season two has just hit shelves in blu-ray format, the focus here is season one.

Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is a forensics blood splatter expert for the Miami police department. His job is to help collect and understand evidence found at the scene of a crime that involves blood and blood splatter patterns. Oh, and on the side, Dexter is a serial killer.

Stay with me here because he's not a bad guy really. Well...then again maybe he is. After all he is a murderer multiple times over. The difference is that Dexter only kills bad guys. Dexter kills murderers, pedophiles, arsonists and the like that got off due to some technicality. But he always verifies that they were guilty before taking them out of the picture.

Dexter's foster father Harry (James Remar) was a police man who found Dexter at the scene of a crime before adopting him. Harry recognized the killing instinct found in Dexter at an early age so he helped him to channel that, to use rules that he established for Dexter, to get through life. And via Harry's rules, Dexter now kills bad guys using his job as a means to find just the right victims.

So there is the basic set up for the series. But it's so much more than that, filled with layer upon layer of subtext and inner meaning that is revealed as the series progresses.

Season one focuses first on letting us know who Dexter is and who the surrounding cast of characters involved with him are. First off is his sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter), a seemingly spastic patrol officer dying to become a homicide detective. Deb's enthusiasm for the job is off set by her self deprecating ways and the giddiness she exhibits for all things.

At the stations there are two main characters who affect Dexter. The first is Lt. Maria Laguerta (Lauren Velez) his direct supervisor who at times seems to have a personal interest in Dexter. A woman who's made it where she is by hard work, she has a storyline of her own involving police office politics as the series progresses.

The second is Sgt. James Doakes (Eric King), Dexter's apparent nemesis. Doakes is a hard boiled cop from top to bottom, a no nonsense sort who wants answer and wants them now. Doakes is constantly badgering Dexter, offering everything from name calling to in your face attitude. One would think that eventually the two of them would reach a point where there wouldn't be room for both of them in Miami. One would think.

Along with these major players there is an assortment of cast members in the squad who round out the ensemble in the best way possible. And each gets enough screen time in season one to make them a character to care about. The interaction between them on a personal level comes into play as the layers of Dexter unravel.

On the personal side, Dexter actually has a girlfriend. Normal on the outside, but not within. It seems Dexter has taken her as his girlfriend to help appear normal. It is through his thoughts (voice over into Dexter's mind runs throughout the series) concerning her that he lets us know he is devoid of emotion, that he has no feelings. His involvement with her is purely as a means to offer him cover.

Rita (Julie Bienz) is a battered wife, or at least she was. Dexter's sister was on call when her ex was arrested. Paul, her ex, was a wife beater extreme and a drug user to boot. Now in prison, he gets release part way into season one and a subplot here involving him trying to reinsert himself into his family's life crosses Dexter's life as well.

With characters and plot lines established, you would expect the series to kick off with Dexter showing what he can do. Instead, Dexter finds himself in a competition of sorts when a new serial killer hits Miami. And this killer is leaving calling cards that Dexter not only finds discomforting but amazing as well. He's impressed with the style and artistic ability of the killer who leaves his victims in pieces and drained of blood.

As each episode continues the tale, we find that this new killer referred to as the Ice Truck Killer (when it's discovered that he uses one to haul victims from their murder location to where he leaves their bodies) knows something about Dexter. He leaves small clues at first for Dexter to find. Eventually he leaves Polaroid's of Dexter's past as well. It seems that the perfect serial killer is being stalked by his own serial killer.

Season one not only defines who the character of Dexter is it offers the world he lives in and tosses in his biggest match to boot. How Dexter became who he is and what influences him is told in flashback. His motivations are shown by the end of this season as is the identity of the Ice Truck Killer. But will that change who Dexter is? Doubtful since season four begins soon.

What makes this show so unique is that it combines one of the most frightening characters one can imagine, a soul less who cares serial killer, with one of the wittiest funny line spouting people seen on TV. Dexter tosses off subtle one liners non-stop and each one offers a glimpse behind the mask and a laugh as well.

But the amazing thing is that not only do we find ourselves repulsed and attracted to the same character, we find in the writing that there is more to him than is even he realizes. The character of Dexter may think he possesses no emotions whatsoever but his emotions run deeper than he realizes. And it seems as though his journey of self revelation may be what's driving the series forward in later seasons.

Also Dexter offers something that many of us would never want to admit we seek. An avenging angel out there doing what so many would love to know is going on but at the same time turn their head and condemn on the outside. Like Jack Bauer of "24", a hero who uses tactics we claim to hate while hoping someone like him exists to protect us, Dexter is the privately admired solution for those who feel that the worst of criminals are let lose on technicalities. We would fear someone like Dexter while at the same time would love to see someone who doesn't let the bad guy get away with murder. Even though this is what Dexter does, murder.

There is no way to offer up in this short space just what it is that Dexter is about. Police procedural. Police politics. Serial killer. Murder mystery. Family complexities. Killing tutorial. Hilarious dark comedy. All are a part of Dexter and all come together in a fantastic package.


If you're not afraid to try something a little different, then you need to give Dexter a try. I know the season one set I watch belonged to my son. After watching I intend to get a copy of my own. And to continue with it down the line. I'm already hard at work watching season two on blu-ray to write about. Unusual, quirky, off beat, scary, normal...all are words that define Dexter. And yet none can explain what this series is all about. Watch and see.