For those who don't know the premise of the show, it's about this guy named Dexter Morgan. Yeah, he's a serial killer... Who kills other serial killer! *gasp shock* Basically, he saw his parents [?] murdered when he was a child and was essentially trained to follow some sort of moral code of killing given to him by his adoptive father [who spotted his sociopathic tendencies]. Before now, I had never watched one episode of this show [because of the Showtime status]. Naturally, I wiki-ed the show to get a summary of seasons 1-4.
Basically, Dexter seems to be well into his own serial killer phase at the start of the series, from what I gathered. He does blood spatter analysis for police or something. He was In order to appear normal, he dated a woman named Rita, who has 2 kids and previously had an abusive husband [who eventually was killed in jail]. At some point, Rita and Dexter get married and have a baby [Harrison]. In the 4th season, Dexter is after the Trinty Killer [Arthur], who he befriends at some point. Eventually, Dexter finds out that Arthur has been deceiving him and eventually kills Arthur. Unfortunately, it's too late for his wife Rita. She was killed in the Trinty Killer fashion supposedly by Arthur before he died. Dexter walks into the bathroom to find her bled to death in the tub while their son, Harrison, is crying in a pool of her blood.
This season, Dexter is trying to cope with his loss. But it seems like he doesn't realize what exactly has happened and how he should be feeling. His lack of emotion makes people suspect of him at first but eventually he is cleared. However, Astor [Rita's daughter] calls Dexter out on his lack of emotion. She hates that he doesn't seem to care that Rita is dead. But we find out that Dexter is human deep down inside but he takes it out in a different way. Instead of crying or screaming, he goes against his code and kills a man in a public restroom. It's an act of anger and emotion that makes him more human than he has ever been before.
Either way, Astor is not happy with Dexter and moves back with her grandparents. While Cody, Rita's son, wants to stay with Dexter, his pseudo-father tells him he should stick with his sister. Dexter used his relationship with his adoptive sister to tell Cody this. Again, it shows a slightly more human side to Dexter.
The show is interesting but probably not enough to make me want to buy the previous seasons. It's nice for a free Showtime weekend but definitely a little gruesome for me. I'm someone who cannot stand watching people get cut up, whether for killing or medical purposes. And that's kind of the way everyone seems to be killed on this show. Oh, or stabbing. That seems to be Dexter's favorite.
Another issue is that I don't really care for all the side stories. I don't care about Debra and her whole drama. I don't care about the people on the force and their drama. I really just like the Dexter focused stuff, which is good I guess... But again, I feel like that really isn't enough reason to get the whole series. It's just interesting enough to keep watching but not enough to buy.
Though I must admit, the baby in this show is adorable. And the way that Dexter handles his baby boy. It's just... Awkward but not quite. It's exactly how you would expect the man who is a serial killer of serial killers would act. You can see that he loves his son but he doesn't realize that is what he feels for Harrison. It's amazing the quality acting in these scenes, so props to Michael C. Hall for that.
This show is worth maybe renting but I can't speak for the first 4 seasons. The 5th one has drawn me in and is keeping me interested.
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| Promo poster for season 5 |
Part 2
So I'm on episode 11 right now. For those who haven't already wiki-ed the 5th season, we have this group of guys who raped, brutally beat and electrocuted girls to death in a barrel and dumped the barrels in a swamp. Dexter found one of the guys [the one who did the electrocution and the dumping] and kills him. What he didn't plan for was a witness who happened to be the 13th victim... Who happens to be Julia Stiles' character, Lumen. And they become close... And I wasn't really planning on adding much more to this post but then...
Dexter and Lumen have sex right after she made her first kill in the kill room they prepared. And it makes me cringe and gag with disgust. For some reason, I just can't stand the thought of them together. I have this... Loyalty to Rita in a way... Which is completely crazy considering I haven't watched any of the seasons with her really in it. But in the flashbacks in the first few episodes and the whole mother thing [especially with baby Harrison], I guess I've become incredibly attached to the idea of her and Dexter. Seeing him with Lumen makes me sick.
It could be the fact that I simply don't like her. She wants revenge, which is something I usually like with a female character. I guess it's her recklessness and weaknesses that make me dislike her so. It shows that she can't be in the know and work with Dexter. She causes way too many problems and works purely on instinct, which throughout the season has proven to be wrong in some instances.
With Rita, she knew nothing about what Dexter did and was kind of oblivious to everything from what I gathered. And I guess that's what makes her more likable. And she was the mom of Harrison, the most adorable baby on television. And the whole victim of the Trinity killer makes her story all that more sad.
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