First off, be aware that the series is massively far-fetched. If you start to question certain events with any degree of depth you will certainly run into plenty of holes; not least when you consider how on earth Dexter is able to transport and dispose of bodies so easily and how the hell the most wanted man in the state of Florida can break into Dexter's home so freely and on so many occasions. These, however, do not compare with how a certain object is exhumed from a highly hard-to-get-to location, and what is done with it afterwards without anyone wising up to the fact of where it had been.
Take Dexter as a bit of fun, do not nit-pick too much and you'll eagerly be looking forward to each episode to see what absurd thing the ice-truck killer is going to brew up next.
With an effective red and white colour motif present in the merchandising and within the main menus, each episode of Dexter opens with our man's morning routine along with the most catchy and springy tune you'd want to hear at the beginning of a show about a serial killer (reminiscent of those 1970s spy films and shows). A wash, a shave and an egg with a smattering of ketchup later and he's on his way.
As he goes about his business of attending crime scenes involving the ice-truck killer and knocking off the odd peado and oddball, along with dating the previously abused and battered Rita, our friend Dexter interacts with a cast of characters who have their own set of strengths and weaknesses.
Rita, his girlfriend, is recovering from a previous relationship where she was sexually abused and assaulted. She is annoyingly fragile, needy and weak and her continuation to let her ex-husband run all over her makes me cringe. She also has one of the most bizarre looking daughters I have seen; not her fault, obviously, but it was a strange casting decision methinks. The ex-husband, looking like a washed up pop-star from the 1970s is by far the most odious and obnoxious character in the show. He may not be one of the serial killers that Dexter wipes out but he is definitely a guy who you wish would be.
We then have his foster-sister, Debra - she of the appalling dress sense. Really, I have never seen an actor seem so awkward in such clothes. Nevertheless, at first I just didn't find this character very believable. She was supposed to be an inexperienced rookie yet she soon seemed to be solving the ice-truck killer case single-handedly. It just didn't seem to fit. But then, as the season unfolded, her character developed more interestingly and I'm looking forward to seeing how she gets on with her brother in Season #2. I just wished she'd do something with her clothes.
We then have those in the police department. Angel, the bog-standard copper who can't say his Rs properly, just kinda moves the plot along but the later bits involving his estranged wife just become a bit boring and you just want to get back to the juicy bits. Maria is almost convincing but her decision to unleash a man-hunt for the porter (who she thought was the ice-truck killer) was so obviously a mistake that her character took a bit of a hammering credibility-wise after that. James Doakes slips into massive walking cliche mode, with all the stereotypical stuff thrown in, but who then becomes a bit more interesting later on; especially when he starts to suspect that Dexter is not all that he appears to be. Vince, Dexter's Korean-American side-kick forensic expert, who joins him at the crime scenes, offers a suitably comical angle on the proceedings.
Finally, there is Dexter himself. Now apart from a few overly-hammy facial expressions, I think Micheal C. Hall does a fine job. The character is supposed to be devoid of emotions and has to pretend to feel such passions as love and affection which is a tough role to play. A few of my favourite scenes are his comical interactions with Doakes when he is feigning sorrow or remorse and when Doakes sees straight through it and tells him to cut it out - good stuff.
In some places though, it doesn't really work. One of the most uncomfortable scenes was where he is watching a weepy with his girlfriend. There they are in front of the TV screen with Rita crying her eyes out and Dexter sitting there emotionless. Dexter looks over and notices her distress. He remembers the time she had given him a blow-job and reasons that it might be the right time to reciprocate and so goes to perform oral sex. Now I may be way off here but someone who works as a blood specialist in the police's forensic department and who is able to kill so many people and get away with it has to have some degree of intelligence, right? But this is just so wrong on so many levels that it just all appears to be well out-of-place.
One other slight criticism is that it can overdo the drama to a too-ridiculous degree at times. In one episode, Doakes has broken into the funeral of a gang-member and told the twelve year old daughter of the gang's boss - very loudly and for all to hear - that her dad is a cop-killer. A little unprofessional you may agree but maybe not particularly that heavy on the drama. However, when he goes out on the town with his police-chums later that night and his pals then suddenly don crazy clown masks in order to break into the house of the boss to wreak their own form of revenge, it does stretch believability. Also, when one of them shouts back angrily to Doakes, "You fucked my sister!" You really have to wonder what they are about. This is then soon followed by another dramatic scene when it could really have done with being slowed down a little.
Nevertheless, Season #1 is a definite thumbs up and certainly has me looking forward to Season #2. I'll need to knock a few marks off for it stretching credibility to breaking point a few times, along with the drama being laid on with a trowel in parts but overall I can forgive it this and take it for what it is.
17
20 (VERY GOOD)
P.S. As I am half-way through the first season of Lost, this will be the next one I'll review.
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