Dexter (Dexter)

Member Name: jesperado

Product:	Dexter
Date:	06/03/09 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting idea, good characters and acting

Disadvantages: Some annoying characters, gets a bit too ridiculous

WHAT IS IT:
Dexter is an American drama series based on the novel 'Darkly Dreaming Dexter' by Jeff Lindsay. It follows blood spatter analyst Dexter Morgan and his sister Deborah in their work in the homicide department of the Miami police department. But Dexter is leading a double life as he seeks revenge on the guilty who have escaped justice somehow. Things get even more tense for the charming sociopath as the Ice Truck Killer - whose bloodless murder victims inspire Dexter in their professionalism - starts to communicate with Dexter hinting that he knows his secret.

GOOD POINTS:
Michael C Hall is absolutely superb as Dexter and his performance gives credibility to what would otherwise be a completely ridiculous basis for a TV show. He delivers some great deadpan comedy and very rarely falls into the cliché of a psycho/sociopath. Jennifer Carpenter is also excellent as Dexter's sister Deborah who is desperate to prove herself as a cop. The family storyline is especially well written and believable in this but I don't want to give too much away by going into it too much. Sufficed to say, the relationship between Dexter and Deborah is complex, full of rivalry, love and resentment just as a real sibling relationship would be.

There are some really great characters in this show who provide brilliant moments of comedy. Angelo Batista is the closest thing Dexter has to a friend and is a very well formed character full of love, despair and laughter. The dialogue in this series is really well written with a seam of dark comedy just below the surface of this tense thriller.

I must also mention the title sequence which is not something I usually even remember from a TV show. The sequence shows a number of mundane events which take on a darker edge in the context of the show; a blood orange being squeezed suddenly makes you wince, the tightening of shoelaces makes you loosen your collar just in case. It is one of the best title sequences I have ever scene and encapsulates the idea of the show perfectly mixing the everyday with the macabre to comic effect.

BAD POINTS:
I really enjoyed the first season of Dexter but I felt the second series lost its way a little. It started to get a little too ridiculous and the introduction of a very annoying main character didn't help matters. Dexter started behaving in ways that didn't really fit with his character and dropped the attention to detail that had served him so well for so long and so it became more difficult to suspend disbelief.

Dexter is very bloody in parts and obviously there are scenes of murder which some people may find unpleasant. But if you can get past this, it is a very enjoyable show.

Summary: Good darkly comic TV