On Dexter

So my friend Jeanne has been raving on and on about this show Dexter. Dexter is her Desert Island DVD. That’s intense.

Dexter—in the titular role—is a serial killer. As a protagonist. Like a vigilante, he hunts down people who has done society wrong and whacks ‘em. Except he doesn’t do this out of some inner, noble sense of justice or vengeance like V for Vendetta or anything. He only does it to “channel” his insatiable need to kill. Unique (and possibly disturbing) premise for a show, and not one would typically choose as a favorite to live out the days of one's life with on a desert island.

Anyway, since I cough up $8.99 per month for Netflix DVDs, I figured I’d add it to my queue, and over the weekend I got through Disc One. Mind you, not only was my opinion of the series on trial, my estimation of Jeanne as a human being also was on the line. Haha.

Here is my review, episode by episode:

Episode 1.1. “Dexter”: Jeanne is sick. SICK. I find Deb (Dexter’s sister and aspiring cop) kind of annoying, which does not bode well for my opinion of the show since she is closest emotionally to Dexter. This show is shaping up to be one huge ethical mess.

Episode 1.2 “Crocodile”: Hmm this show is kinda crazy. Hope they catch that Ice Truck Killer guy. Okay, so Jeanne’s not sick. She just has a black, black heart. My question is how they are going to make the audience continually sympathize with an emotionless, conscienceless killer?

Episode 1.3. “Poppin’ Cherry”: The character of Deb is starting to grow on me. In fact, I thought my heart might burst with pride when Deb was granted her deepest wish and was promoted from Vice to Homicide. I am feeling like I’m going to have to embrace some ethical paradigm shift in order to accept the premise of this show. Also, I think I need a line by line explanation of Dex’s “Code of Harry” which supposedly allows him to kill some people under certain circumstances and not others. Despite these misgivings, I am starting to appreciate the genius of the writing and also the complexity with which Michael C. Hall portrays Dexter. The voiceover narrative is unavoidably crucial to the show. I also have mixed feelings about that. Necessary evil, ay?

Episode 1.4. "Give the Boy a Hand": I am starting to finally get Dexter. This is his most psychologically revealing episode thus far. Last four seconds of the episode: “I am neither man nor beast. I am Dexter.” Freaking awesome. I’m sold. Jeanne is also turning out to be one of the most wonderfully complex people I know.

Black heart notwithstanding.

I can’t wait for the next Dexter DVD to come;)