Dexter: Serial Killing as a Public Service

Last night's episode of Dexter ended on a twist that sharply reminded me of why I love this show so much. I was afraid I was slipping into a Dexter comfort zone, where I religiously watched every new episode each Sunday but didn't feel as tantalized or desperate to see what the next episode would hold. Well, now that has changed.

First, a little blurb on my history with the show. I discovered it in my senior year of college when I was in desperate need of a distraction from my thesis. The show had completed two seasons, and over the course of one week, I proceeded to watch all 24 episodes at a blinding pace. I concluded my Dexter marathon with a back-to-back viewing of the last 6 episodes of Season 2. At the end, I was extremely satisfied, although definitely over blood and gore for a while.

The show's premise is marvelous. Based on the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, the show follows Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department (yes, that is an actual job), who harbors a dark secret. He is a serial killer. He was adopted at the age of three by police officer Harry Morgan, who quickly discovered his son's "Dark Passenger" and taught him how to behave and blend in like any normal kid. Recognizing Dexter's mounting need to kill, Harry imparts to his son "The Code," a set of moral rules for serial killing. He teaches Dexter to investigate people who have gotten away with murder or other heinous crimes and kill them. He reasons that this will sate his son's desire to kill and rid the city of its more dangerous inhabitants. After Harry's death, Dexter continues to follow "The Code," and his job with the Police Department gives him ample access to tracking criminals and investigating potential leads. And as each season unfolds, Dexter is faced with tracking down serial killers who are terrorizing Miami and need to be punished by his scalpel.

I will maintain that Season 1 of Dexter is a contender for the most superbly crafted 12 episodes you will ever see on TV. The season told us everything we needed to know about Dexter's background, the origins of his psychopathic tendencies, and featured twist after twist in every episode. The next 2 seasons were fine, and then John Lithgow brought a whole new level of malevolence as the Trinity Killer in Season 4, whose final kill was the a season-ending twist that changed the landscape of the entire series. Last year's season, guest- starring Julia Stiles was great, but seemed slightly more rote. After all, there's only so much serial killing you can take before you start wanting more suspenseful plot developments. And that brings us to the current Season 6.

The overarching villain this year is the Doomsday Killer (DDK), a man who has begun killing people and placing them in elaborately constructed tableaux to prophesize the coming End of Days. DDK is a Bible-devouring ex-college professor James Gellar (played with fanatic creepiness by Edward James Olmos) and he has enlisted a submissive and impressionable former student Travis Marshall (played with tortured intensity by the always stellar Colin Hanks) to help him in his mission. Dexter has been tracking them, and after turning the murder-free Travis over to the good side, he is seeking to kill Professor Gellar. Last night was the showdown, when Dexter came face-to-face with his prey. And therein lies the twist that I will not tell you about. Because any self-respecting TV enthusiast needs to just rent this season of Dexter and find out what happened themselves. Needless to say it was pretty phenomenal and I simply cannot wait to see what happens in the last few episodes of the season.

Obviously Dexter is a dark and gory show, but it also finds a surprising amount of humor in its bleak material. Last night, Debra Morgan (Dexter's sister, who is a police Lieutenant) was talking to her new therapist and proceeded to list a series of horrific events that had happened to her, culminating with the fact that earlier that day she was doused in a bucket of blood courtesy of DDK. Horrified, her therapist's response is, "Do you think we should meet  more than once a week?" The show consistently mines both the humor and the drama in Dexter's peculiar life, and frankly it is just a marvel to have a show in which the audience is firmly rooting for a serial killer. Full credit to Michael C. Hall, the actor who has imbued Dexter Morgan with such likability and logic in the face of his demons that you start despairing every time he's in danger of being caught.

Dexter is a perfect example of the daring programming on cable TV and has consistently gone from strength to strength in every season. They make impeccable use of their guest stars, feature an unimaginably talented cast, and come up with crazy stories and characters that are still somehow believable. So if you haven't already, give Dexter a try. Serial killing is much more entertaining than you could have imagined.