About 15 years ago I was introduced to a show called Dexter by a cousin of mine. You know how sometimes you tell someone else the premise of a show or a movie, and you realize while you’re explaining it that you just aren’t doing it justice by your explanation?
That’s how it was for me when my cousin gave me a brief overview of the show. Her restrained excited tone did not match the show’s seemingly odd and somewhat morbid description. At this point in my life, I had never seen a show like Dexter, so I’ll admit the initial idea of this type of show was a new idea for me and something I perhaps didn’t quite grasp.
After all, Dexter is a serial killer. He murders people. Lots of people. And he is the main character of the show.
I don’t understand the science behind YouTube and how they recommend videos to watch, but for whatever reason, as I was scrolling through YouTube today, some Dexter shorts started popping up. Of course since now I’ve seen the entire series (several times) and absolutely love this show, I clicked on the shorts and watched a few. Just these little 20–30 second long shorts got me so excited, and reminded me that there is a new prequel show coming out next month called “Dexter: Original Sin.”
The original Dexter actor, Michael C. Hall, who I think is absolutely brilliant in this role, is now too old to be playing a younger version of Dexter (although it looks like he will be providing the narration, which is very exciting and something I’ll talk more about in a few minutes). Instead, the younger version of Dexter will be played by Patrick Gibson, an actor who is still new to me and I only know from his appearance as Steve Winchell in the incredible series “The OA” (another amazing show I’ll have to discuss another time).
Anyways, back to Dexter. As I watched these YouTube shorts of Dexter today, I found some time later tonight to satisfy the urge to re-watch the first episode of the first season of Dexter.
I absolutely LOVE this show. And I just had to hop on and write down a few reasons why. FIVE reasons, to be exact. But first I’ll give my brief rundown of what the show is about.
Yes indeed, Dexter is a serial killer. But not only that, he is a serial killer that works in forensics for the Miami Police Department and he is an expert blood spatter analyst. So boy oh boy does he know how to clean up his own crime scenes. However, Dexter isn’t just any serial killer. He’s a serial killer that lives by a certain code…
Ok, now my reasons for why I love this show:
1. Michael C. Hall. He IS Dexter. Some people just embody characters so well and understand them so completely that they not only bring that character to life, but also look like they are having so much fun doing it. I don’t have to watch interviews of Michael C. Hall talking about how much he loves this role, I can just see it in his face on screen. What an incredibly fun character to play.
Now I’m no movie or TV star, but years ago, I had an opportunity to play a villain in a play (Mordred from “Camelot”). It’s my only experience playing a villainous character in my short lived high school acting career, but I will never forget it. I was new to acting at the time and especially being able to play a character who is nothing like me was a new experience. But the more I dove into a character who behaved, spoke, laughed, and even sang so differently than me and my own mellow personality, the more I realized that being a villain is much more fun than being a hero.
As a general rule, a movie, show or play is only as good as its villain. Which brings me to my next reason (and also reason #5)
2. Dexter is an interesting and exciting character. We all know murder is wrong. That simple morally sound idea means that everything Dexter does, no matter how he justifies it, is wrong. He’s a murderer. He’s a liar. He’s a bad person. Well, if so then why do we, the audience, continue to cheer Dexter on? We root for him. We are impressed by how smart he is. How resourceful he has to be. We WANT him to get away with it. We’re grateful when he finally gets rid of the scumbags who got away with whatever atrocity was committed. We feel a sense of satisfaction that against all odds and at tremendous personal risk, Dexter delivers much needed justice. It’s dark and terrible, but we can’t wait to watch Dexter figure it out, deceive the good guys, and stop the bad guys.
3. The entire show is not only delivered from Dexter’s perspective, but it’s also narrated by Dexter. We hear his thoughts, live, as the episodes play out. Things he wants to say in the moment, but can’t. So he invites us, the audience, into his mind to get his real reactions and thoughts, and then we watch how he navigates the lie that is his life. Having this kind of exposure to the mind of Dexter naturally means that we are with him along for the ride, and we start to understand his perspective.
We also start to see the flaws in his thinking. Where he might justify his actions, or tell himself he is in control, we can see the cracks in Dexter’s armor start to form. He might not actually be in control. He might be lying to himself. He’s not as careful as he thinks he is. He may not actually be justified in what he’s doing. We start to question our misguided faith in a severely morally flawed human being, and this in turn makes us question ourselves. How did we get lured in? How did we ever think Dexter was justified in his actions? Why do we keep wanting him to get away with it? Why are we feeling satisfied after he himself commits a horrible act in return?
These kinds of inner turmoil questions we start to ask ourselves, wavering back and forth through this hypothetical grey area of justification and morality, is what really makes the show interesting for me.
Any movie or television show that can get you to root for the bad guy is a pretty good sign that it’s worth watching.
Dexter takes all that and then goes one step further…
4. Dexter is a comedy. A Dark Comedy. The theme is heavy. You can feel the weight of everything going on. It’s intense and puts you on the edge of your seat. However, mostly through narration from Dexter, I find myself laughing out loud at some point during every episode. Dexter is awkward. He’s kind of a nerd. He lives in his own world and it makes it hard for him to interact naturally with everyone around him. Therefore his attempts to imitate what he believes is “normal” personality and conversation, are often laughable. And because he has some kind of understanding of who he is and why he is the way he is, flawed though that understanding may be, he’s also somewhat charming. And it’s genuinely enjoyable to watch.
5. The final reason why I enjoy Dexter is because it’s extremely well written. Seasons 1–4 are significantly better than seasons 5–8 (as well as Dexter: New Blood, the sequel season that aired several years later). While Dexter is what we might call an “Anti-hero”, rather than the villain, the actual villains in each season are very intriguing. We get to know them, we get to see Dexter interact with them. We get to see the “real” Dexter have “real” connections with these villains as they play cat and mouse with each other, or become friends, and start to trust each other. Our misguided sympathetic feelings we have for Dexter are slightly relieved when we start to get glimpses that maybe Dexter can get some help, change, and become a better person. After all, watching how characters change is another sign of a great movie or show. But could someone so far gone like Dexter actually change for the better?
As the series progresses, the overall looming question is:
“How will this all end?”
Dexter has to get caught, right? He can’t just keep doing this. He belongs in jail, or a mental hospital, or the electric chair.
Maybe, like “Catch Me If You Can,” he has so much insight as a criminal that he can still serve some value to the Miami Police Department from within a padded cell?
Or maybe he gets in over his head and has to skip down and continue to satisfy his dark urges elsewhere?
Or maybe he dies and never has to truly face the consequences of his actions?
I won’t say how the show actually ends, obviously, because it’s that looming question that keeps you watching. Keeps you coming back to see what he’s going to do next.
Yes, I believe Dexter is TV’s Greatest Dark Comedy. There just isn’t another show like it.
Some people are skeptical of the prequel series “Dexter: Original Sin” that comes out next month. Many people weren’t thrilled with the last few seasons of Dexter, or the sequel series “Dexter: New Blood.” In fact many people are straight up angry at how the story ended.
I’m not angry. If you’re looking for outrage at how Dexter ended, you won’t find it here. My love for this show and this character vastly outweighs any negative feelings I may have.
I’m just excited to dive deeper into the world of how it all started.
But I mostly hope we get to see more of Dexter’s morning routine.
Mikey He Writes It 