Dexter

[Corrin]

Any fans here? I love the show...it may just be my favorite TV show!

In case you don't know what "Dexter" is...

Dexter is an American television drama series that airs on the premium channel Showtime. Set in Miami, the series centers on Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a covert serial killer governed by a strict moral code who works for the Miami Metro Police Department as a blood spatter analyst.

It's quite a unique and amazing show...my best comparison would be somewhere between "Saw" and "Phoenix Wright"...lol.

[Vector]

Watched the entire first season on DVD at my friend's house and enjoyed the hell out of it, but I heard from many people that Season 2 was lame...haven't really watched any of the show since then.

[Carnivol]

Dexter's a sweet guy.

In general, I'd say a few things in the show have always been a tad bit predictable, but that fact hasn't really gotten in my way of enjoying it very much. It's pretty much more about Dexter and how he handles the events of each season, than about the main events of each season themselves.


Currently following Season 4. Got Season 1 on DVD, with 2 somewhere in the mail. Season 2 is okay, but if someone had a problem with it, it's probably related to amount of "woman trouble" in it (Besides, no matter how you look at it, Dexter's girlfriend is terribly self-centered and annoying when it comes to a lot of things.)

[MeganGrass]

Love it. I really like how Dexter manages to juggle two radically different lifestyles, so well. The use of thought-commentary is great, as well - it really gives an insight as to how Dexter is just trying to 'find himself'. On top of all that, Californication airs on a similar timeslot.

...missed last night's episode(s). I'll have to catch up with Trinity and Mr. Moody, later...

[REmaster]

Oh then your in for a treat. Spoiler:

show spoiler

Dexter finally kills an innocent man

[Corrin]

Oh then your in for a treat. Spoiler:

show spoiler

Dexter finally kills an innocent man

Actually Spoiler:

show spoiler

he did this in the first episode of season 3...the set up for that boring-ass season

Watched the entire first season on DVD at my friend's house and enjoyed the hell out of it, but I heard from many people that Season 2 was lame...haven't really watched any of the show since then.

I don't know what is wrong with the people you talked to, but me and all my friends agree that season 2 was the best so far. If you liked the Dexter/Doakes cat & mouse at all...you are in for quite an awesome treat in season 2.

[Vector]

I don't know what is wrong with the people you talked to, but me and all my friends agree that season 2 was the best so far. If you liked the Dexter/Doakes cat & mouse at all...you are in for quite an awesome treat in season 2.

It was Season 3 then. I guess I got them mixed up, I just remember hearing from friends that one season was not good.

[YamiYumes]

I adore the books the series is based off of, but it seemed to me like they were trying to make Dexter more...human, instead of keeping with the fact that he's a completely emotionless sociopath who manages to hide it well.

The first few seasons were alright, but the moment Rita had a baby, I was out. lol

[Corrin]

I adore the books the series is based off of, but it seemed to me like they were trying to make Dexter more...human, instead of keeping with the fact that he's a completely emotionless sociopath who manages to hide it well.

The first few seasons were alright, but the moment Rita had a baby, I was out. lol

They've stated before the series is meant to be a wholly different thing than the books. The series is more about Dexter discovering his humanity he didn't know existed.

It's too bad you gave up on the show because season 4 is really great. I'd put it on the same level as season 2...and they've finally made that cookie-cutter, bland-ass Quinn an interesting character.

[YamiYumes]

They've stated before the series is meant to be a wholly different thing than the books. The series is more about Dexter discovering his humanity he didn't know existed.

It's too bad you gave up on the show because season 4 is really great. I'd put it on the same level as season 2...and they've finally made that cookie-cutter, bland-ass Quinn an interesting character.

Well, the thing that made the book series so interesting to me was the fact that Dexter was wholly comfortable with what he was: a monster. The moment they tried to rewrite him as a redeemable character, it lost a lot of the original pull for me.

It was fascinating for me to read about how he could so easily manipulate those around him, and yet never wholly dissolve into a 'true' monster. He still had codes, still had ethics...yet he felt no emotion. He saw people as things to be used or things to be discarded. He knew Rita was essential for him to continue doing what he was doing, yet he would never go so far as to say he loved her because he knew he was incapable of it.

The closest he gets is with Cody when he realizes that Cody is almost the same as him. Yet, still. It's not love.

That's the reason I was rather hesitant towards the television series to begin with...redeeming a sociopath is impossible, yet they write it as such while trying to keep the rest of the universe as realistic as possible.

[Bertha]

Actually Spoiler:

show spoiler

he did this in the first episode of season 3...the set up for that boring-ass season

Well... Spoiler:

show spoiler

Dexter eventually found reason to rationalize why killing him wasn't so bad after all. The "code" was broken, but Dexter began to grow and form his own code.

I loved the books and the first, third, and so far the fourth seasons...season two though...not so much. I thought it was terrible. Rita was turned into a character I found to be completely annoying, Lila was just...ugh. Terrible foreshadowing made her fate so obvious. Doakes...I liked where things were going but sadly most of the tension between Doakes and Dexter took a back seat with the whole Lila situation. I had hoped season two or three would swing back a little closer to the books and have Dexter reveal his secret to either the children or at least his sister.

And I agree with Yami....I like book Dexter better than his series portrayal. However, I think some of the background characters in the show are much better than their book counterparts, so it slightly evens out. Everyone should have a friend like Masuka.

[Corrin]

Masuka should have his own TV show. Like, what he does outside of work. It'd be a comedy...or a horror. Or both.

[MeganGrass]

I had hoped season two or three would swing back a little closer to the books and have Dexter reveal his secret to either the children or at least his sister.

He knew Rita was essential for him to continue doing what he was doing, yet he would never go so far as to say he loved her because he knew he was incapable of it.
...
redeeming a sociopath is impossible, yet they write it as such while trying to keep the rest of the universe as realistic as possible.

With that said, exactly how would someone confront a loved one (whether they can solely identify the emotion of love within themself, or not), sit them down and tell them, "I kill people". No matter how hard he could try to explain his misplaced sense of justice, in our world, they would lock this guy up and throw away the key, or even worse, the death penalty - something that noone Dexter knows nor any amount of money could save him from. I think that's part of the, dare I say "beauty", of the Dexter TV series - his character has developed, aided by the self-discovery that he too has normal thoughts/emotions/feelings+issues (love for his family, for recent example) while being completely aware of, burdened and hiding what he really is - all of this while trying to lead a "normal" life as a father, husband, and to have success in his work enviroment.

I can think of some good points how Dexter was played-out better as an emotionless human being... but the bottom line, as Yami said, plain socio/psychopaths are unredeemable. They offer nothing. They are nothing. No emotion, no hope for the person's character to develop in any other aspect of life, and even worse, no true answers as to why they are fucked up and how they got to be in that state of mind (then again, I guess that's the "beauty" of the original mystique of Dexter). Personally, I like to know/somewhat understand atleast a slight bit of reason, too, and the television series still delivers that for me - not redemption (I really don't think that's what the producers are aiming for), but rather an insight into the [especially rare] humanistic side of a sociopathic, viglante serial killer.

[YamiYumes]

With that said, exactly how would someone confront a loved one (whether they can solely identify the emotion of love within themself, or not), sit them down and tell them, "I kill people".

Well, he never really tells Rita in the book series. He realized Cody acting a lot like he did when he was a child, and instead begins to teach him Harry's Code. Everyone else, for the most part, remained blissfully unaware, just as he meant them to.

No matter how hard he could try to explain his misplaced sense of justice, in our world, they would lock this guy up and throw away the key, or even worse, the death penalty - something that noone Dexter knows nor any amount of money could save him from.

Well, you seem to forget that some people believe in eye for an eye, which is essentially what Dexter is doing. So if he waits and observes what kind of a person they are, he could very well tell someone and (depending) they not freak out. He wouldn't tell someone like Doakes, naturally, since people like him are very black and white about murder, but other people may sympathize. Especially if they witness the unjustice of the justice system on a daily basis and grow frustrated with their inability to truly bring an offender to justice.

I think that's part of the, dare I say "beauty", of the Dexter TV series - his character has developed, aided by the self-discovery that he too has normal thoughts/emotions/feelings+issues (love for his family, for recent example) while being completely aware of, burdened and hiding what he really is - all of this while trying to lead a "normal" life as a father, husband, and to have success in his work enviroment.

I can think of some good points how Dexter was played-out better as an emotionless human being... but the bottom line, as Yami said, plain socio/psychopaths are unredeemable. They offer nothing. They are nothing. No emotion, no hope for the person's character to develop in any other aspect of life, and even worse, no true answers as to why they are fucked up and how they got to be in that state of mind (then again, I guess that's the "beauty" of the original mystique of Dexter).

Well, they give us reason. When Dexter witnessed that horrific incident when he was a child, that was pretty much the catalyst. And I don't entirely agree upon them being unable to develop as a character. While sociopaths don't feel emotion, they can still continue to grow and learn. I think it would have been interesting to see Dexter deteriorate slowly from strictly following Harry's Code to starting to justify smaller offenses, and beginning to kill more and more.

Something like that enables his character to grow, albeit in a negative way, and still not need emotion or a family to move forward, although the family would be a challenge to this new growth. Especially Cody lol

Personally, I like to know/somewhat understand atleast a slight bit of reason, too, and the television series still delivers that for me - not redemption (I really don't think that's what the producers are aiming for), but rather an insight into the [especially rare] humanistic side of a sociopathic, viglante serial killer.

You had me until the mention of humanistic. There is no humanistic side to a sociopath, really. They are what they are: Emotionless shells of a human being that can, at times, mimic the emotions and personality of one of us, but ultimately feels nothing for anyone other than himself.

And they also gave a reason for Dexter being the way he was, since he witnessed Spoiler:

show spoiler

his parents being brutally murdered in front of him, and he had to sit in that warehouse in their blood for hours.

[Humor Tumor]

I've watched season 1 so far and I love it. It's probably among my top 4 shows next to Battlestar Galactica, Bones and Firefly