Sunday, October 5, 2008

Dexter

I'm not fortunate (read: wealthy) enough to have Showtime as part of my satellite service (I choose to subscribe to Netflix instead) so I was unfamiliar with the tv show "Dexter"...


So when a friend of mine told me about it - told me it was right up my alley - I looked it up on Netflix to see if I could get Season 1 - and it was right there on the 'instant viewing' list! Which means I can watch the entire first season for free because I belong to Netflix. Yee-ha!

No, this is not a plug for Netflix - though it could be, cause I'm tellin' ya - they ROCK!
yes, you should subscribe!!!

So anyway, I sat down in front of my lovely 19 inch monitor at my computer and thoroughly enjoyed the first episode.

Dexter (for those who don't know) is a crime scene analyst - a specialist in blood splatter patterns.
And there is real reason why he is such an expert at this job.

He works nights as a vigilante serial killer.

A serial killer who kills serial killers and other bad perps. People who evade justice.
People who, in other words, deserve it.

Of course no one knows he does this, as he is quite good at his job. He covers his tracks so well and is obsessively methodical, no one seems the wiser.

By day he hangs at the office, where everyone seems to just love him. He's a likable guy! He brings donuts! The upper crust but wretchedly unintelligent female dept. head is in lust with him.

His sister works there as a cop as well. She's stuck working on vice as an undercover prostitute and is just dying to get into the homicide division. She appreciates Dexter's unique insights on crime and is hoping to use his smarts to her benefit to get ahead. She, of course, has no idea he goes all Bundy in the evenings.

There only seems to be one dude (a police sargeant at his station) who is creeped out and wary of Dex. But he is unable to catch him doing anything out of the ordinary, so Dexter goes about his business of weeding out the super creeps (i.e. pedophile murderers, rapists, snuff film producers, etc...)

Dexter and his sister were adopted as young children. There are flashback scenes to his childhood - scenarios with his detective father after Dad discovers Dex's penchant for killing small animals in the neighborhood. Dad knows Dex has problems. He knows he will escalate to killing humans and so he begins to teach Dexter how to recognize the 'bad guys' and use his homicidal urgings for the greater good.
Seriously.

Dex even has a girlfriend. She is perfect for him. Psychologically damaged from both mental and physical abuse from her ex-husband, Rita has no interest in sex. This benefits Dexter, because he cannot wrap his brain around caring about sex enough to get around to it. He is too busy plotting, scheming, and killing people to get emotionally involved with anyone.

"Yeah, honey.... I'll be there soon, I'm just finishing something up..."

This show is extremely well written and entertaining.
You cannot help but to like Dexter.
You find yourself actually rooting for him NOT to get caught.
Played with absolute perfection by Michael C. Hall, this is one show that if you are a horror fan, you are bound to LOVE.

So if you have Netflix, give it a shot.
If not, it is also for sale on Amazon for like, 20 bucks or so.
It's worth it!

1 comment:

Chris Koterba said...

Hey Christine,
I have been enjoying your blog which I discover via "Day of the Woman"! I was pleased to hear you enjoy "Dexter". I watch very little TV because I am bored by most of it. I just finished watching the 4th season of Dexter and was blown away. The writers' ability to set tension is brilliant and I have never been as shocked by plot twists as I am with this show. I look forward to reading more of your post. Keep up the good work!