Dexter (First Season) Part 1 of 2

Dexter (First Season) Part 1 of 2

Back in 2006, Showtime wanted to start competing with HBO with their own exclusive first-run series. One show was Dexter. Like many paid cable shows before it they gave us an interesting hero/anti-hero in the form of Dexter Morgan.

Dexter, played masterfully by Michael C. Hall, is a serial killer, but he is not your average serial killer. He is a killer that tracks down other serial killers and murders them. He has a sense of honor, in his own twisted way, that his stepfather taught him when he was a boy. He kills bad people and fulfills his own thirst for blood, while saving lives. His late stepfather, played to perfection by James Remar, was a cop and taught him the methods of investigating a crime scene and tracking down killers. He uses these skills to kill these people.

It’s twisted, but that’s what makes Dexter so interesting to watch. It turns what’s conventional on its head and dares us to cheer on Dexter in his dirty deeds. The people he kills are bad, but that doesn’t mean what Dexter is doing is right as well. The TV format works well in giving us the complex inter-workings a serial killer that thinks he’s the good guy.

The show usually opens with a monologue from Dexter’s mind as he logically attempts to figure out the latest murder. (Oh, I should mention that Dexter works for the Miami Metropolitan Police Department as a crime lab guy.) He sometimes helps solves a police murder while trying to track down a lead to a completely different murderer. All that, plus having a girlfriend who happens to be a MiLF.

Michael C. Hall handles the character amazingly well. Coming off playing a gay guy from “Six Feet Under" for all those years, Hall transformed himself into a menacing character on Dexter. I have a hard time believing it’s the same actor. Dexter puts on mask of a caring guy with feelings, but behind the mask is cold-blooded killer. You have to watch the show for Hall’s performance. It’s that good.

However, he is not the only one that shines in this show. Moreover, most of the rest of the cast starts to find their grove toward the end of the season.

End of Part 1

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I guess I could make a Back to the Future joke, but I won't.