Blood splatter, does it matter? (Dexter - The First Season (DVD))

Member Name: paulhanton

Product:	Dexter - The First Season (DVD)
Date:	20/08/09 (137 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unique, brilliant, dark.

Disadvantages: Bit gory at times.

Dexter Season 1 (Box set).

So many people told me or Mrs H that we should really watch Dexter that we ended up getting the first season on box set to watch over the holiday period, figuring that if we liked the first episode, it could become a nightly feature until the twelve episodes were seen.

Four DVD's in the box set, don't pay more than a tenner for them, shop around, Certificate 18.


~~The Plot & characters~~

Or should I say 'plots' plural? There are two main plots that run concurrently throughout the twelve episodes, and several glorious sub plots.

Dexter Morgan is a forensic 'blood splatter' specialist working with the Miami Metro Police (Played by Michael C. Hall), he also happens to be a serial killer and here we have the main plot, which is in fact the unravelling of the man; his motive, his past, his present and his psyche. This is really absolutely fascinating and from almost the first episode we cannot help but warm to him, killer or not. Alongside the current screenplay of events we get snippets of his past in flashbacks interspersed with his 'out loud' thoughts which are, at times, absolutely hilarious. Dexter may be a killer, but he has this very specific 'code' by which he selects, kills and disposes of his victims, which could be called 'amoral' and we learn to almost respect him for this.

The other 'plot' is that a new serial killer 'The Ice Truck Killer' is in tow, disposing of prostitutes in bizarre ways. Dexter is on the case for the police and is fascinated by the work of this killer and even admires his work. Is there a connection between the Ice Truck Killer and Dexter beyond that of the obvious? Well that alone is worth watching the show for, as we see some quite unexpected twists and turns throughout the twelve episodes.

Debra Morgan (played by Jennifer Carpenter) is Dexter's sister in the show, also a cop and in real life, his wife. She is feisty, impulsive, emotional and totally the opposite of the cold and calculated Dexter. She becomes increasingly central to the plot but I won't spoil things by telling you how.

Then there is the plot surrounding Dexter's girlfriend, an emotionally damaged woman with two young children, fresh from an abusive relationship, with the monster ex still on the scene.

One of the sub plots is that of the office politics in the Police station which is quite fun and a good antidote to the brevity of the other parts of the show (even though they are made 'light'). Erik King plays Sgt. Doakes who has a real dislike of Dexter and is always on his case, trying to find out what he thinks Dexter's 'secret' is. Nearly all the characters are 'necessary' to the plot(s) and we see very few bit players, I liked that too.


~~Unique~~

I could not think of a more apt sub title. The show is just that, I have never seen anything like it. It is graphic in both its violence and it's scenes of gore, hence the 18 certificate, and yet.....yet...it is, as the Mail on Sunday describes it...'Deliciously Dark'. We grow to love Dexter, a man killing with impunity, over and over again. There are parts of some of the episodes where I found myself willing him to kill certain people and totally siding with him.

The relationships between Dexter and the other characters is fascinating, not least his own relationship with his inner thoughts, spellbinding.


~~Final Thoughts~~

I loved; the complexity of the plots and sub plots, the characters, the forensic lessons that are woven into the show, the very, very dry humour and the juxtaposition of that humour and the clear horror and gore that raises its head often. Most of all I love the fact that we can sink into this amoral tale with delight and without guilt, wonderful. This is actually helped by the way by the circus type soundtrack which seems to make light of even the most horrific of situations, very cool.

The season itself needs to be viewed as a whole, these are not stand alone episodes, each one leads gloriously into the next, and I have to confess that on one evening we watched three episodes, one after the other as it was just so good. Likewise, season two is not going to be worth watching (I have started) before viewing season 1, no way.

I would normally list the episodes, but it feel unnecessary this time as it would mean little unless you see the whole series, and two give a synopsis of each episode will be too much of a plot spoiler.

This is probably the best TV series I have seen out of USA for a long, long time and is a definite rival in 'cult' status to Soprano's or any other the other 'biggies' of the last decade.

I'll leave the last words on this utterly brilliant, must see series to Dexter himself:

"Let's just say, I'm not exactly the boy next door"

Summary: Brilliant series.