Is Dexter killing for a reason ??
By fred | November 26, 2007
This is a message, or more a question, to all fans of the Showtime’s hit drama Dexter. This is something I have really been wondering about for a few days now, and so I have to ask, because it really got me thinking. So, Dexter is a show about Dexter (!), a nice guy it seems at first. A guy who’s a cop by day, and a serial killer by night - basically.
Now when I first heard about such a show, I will not lie I was pretty excited. I really wanted to see how it would go, because I think after so many years of good guys on TV and series glorifying the good cops always doing the right thing because, well, it’s the right thing to do… not that I don’t enjoy a good CSI or Law & Order: SVU from time to time, but we need more realistic shows, and more shows and bad guys, if you ask me.
So pretty obviously Dexter looked like the kind of guy I would love to meet every week, you know, as long as he stays on the other side of the screen of course.
The show premiered last season and I was delighted to be watching, especially given that I heard nothing but great things about it before I got to watch it myself. Then, sure, I was disappointed to find out he was a good guy after all. I mean sure, the guy kills people, but only the bad kind, those who are murderer or rapist or the likes, and who for one reason or another escaped their due punishment from the justice system.
When this would happen, Dexter would come out of the shadow and correct things. You know, a good guy, just not in a Superman kind of way.
Never mind that, that was not enough to drive me away from what could be a great show, obviously. But then, I had to face a brutal reality. At first I didn’t want to believe it, it seemed way too much to be real, I had to be wrong. Or maybe it was just the pilot, pilot episodes aren’t always the best, they’re not always done like the rest of the episodes will be, they’re always special in their own way.
But sadly, episode after episode I couldn’t escape it : the show sucked.
Oh yeah, I know you’re maybe a fan and you’re insulting me right now, I know that. In fact, it’s because there’s over 1.2 million of people like that out there that I am writing this. Last Sunday, Showtime reported that the episode of Dexter averaged 1.23 million viewers, making it the best numbers ever for a single run series on Showtime since 2004. Which, needless to say, is quite impressive.
So I wonder, did the show evolve from last season and grew into something else, or at least something (much) better, or are all those people blinded by their love for Dexter ?
Please hear me out : Last year I watched the show, and I really wanted to like it. But every single character on that show is so badly written it physically hurts when you watch it, it really does. The writing on that show is incredibly bad ! I’m sorry to say that, but it really is. 20 or 30 years ago, maybe, it could have been acceptable, there was nothing but such crap on the air. But not today.
Boy talk about bad writing, for someone who can’t put a corherant sentence together you sure bitch alot about writing. You should go back to grade 3 to learn how to construct a sentence.
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Wow. I am not for one minute going to try and defend Dexter’s writing as it is for me just a slightly smarter update of Scooby Doo that I watch for kicks, but the shows you mentioned… not exactly shining examples of good writing let alone great writing. Pushing Daisies is well written but not really the same genre of writing or style so comparison is a moot point. Sopranos is possibly the only show you mentioned with half way decent writing, but even that show is little more than a charicature made up of pilfered lines and plots from many pieces of literature. As for the rest, barely worth more than two words so I’ll try to stick to one word “answers” and pare down the syllables wherever possible. Lost - Dinosaurs, grey’s anatomy - melrose place lite, CSI - dull, House - shit, The Office - hollow.
And if you’re really going to try and pour vitriol on a show or just randomly spit bile at least learn from real reviewers like Charlie Brooker.
I actually agree with your argument — I’ve been thinking the very same things while I’ve watched Season One (on dvd).
Hall is brilliant, but beyond that, the other characters are cardboard. The writing is achingly bad, sometimes, full of sentimental claptrap that beggars belief. Almost every time the action shifts from Dexter, I yawn.
Dexter’s sister is intensely annoying — perhaps that’s the writers’ fault, too, but I can’t help but think that the actor playing her is pretty sub-par.
The police officers are also extraordinarily dull — I don’t give a damn about any of them. When the writers try to make subplots using them, I go to sleep. In the book, La Guerta is moderately interesting because she’s such a hopeless narcissist. When the series tries to make her sympathetic (when she apologizes to Tucci’s mother, or hugs that Cuban kid found in the car trunk) I just want to gag.
Except for Hall’s performance, the whole thing is disappointing, with occasional flashes of inspiration and power.
Thanks :)
Yeah, I really don’t get why this show is praised so much, and for its writing even, because apart for Michael C. Hall’s performance, there’s nothing good in there.
And it’s a shame, because if everything was as good as when it comes to Dexter, it could have been a (really) good show.
But, as I said, I’m really not sure any of the actors could do anything better than what they do given the material they have to work with…
Oh puleeeze. Do you people even work alongside anyone at all? I used to work with someone like dex’s sister and she even had the same body language. She really was pretty smart, just a little shy and goofy but she still came up with several good ideas. As a matter of fact the reason I like this show not just because of M.C.H. but the other characters are more like real people in the workplace instead of the cardboard types as was on Bionic Woman . And just how many television shows have you written for?
I think you should watch the whole series.
I must admit, I was very much on the fence watching season one when it aired on ITV over here. Stuck it on to record the series but often found myself weeks behind and not really overly enthusiastic to catch up.
But by about the end of episode 10, I think it suddenly clicked with me. I realised I was watching something much *better* than I’d previosly realised. And then watching the whole season again on DVD, it just made more sense and I suppose I’ve grown into a bit of an obsessed fan. In a way I found it a steeper learning curve than The Wire, even though initially it’s more approachable.
I think it really does need to be seen in its entirety. It is structured more like a film than an episodic drama series in many ways and Christian Camargo’s performance, later on, is easily up there with Hall’s in my opinion.
I suppose you even learn to appreciate the more superficial, comic-book style cariactures too, as they create such a stark contrast with Hall’s character. It’s an unusual style of TV drama and I think it’s a mistake to judge it on initial impressions.
Brian Lowry - for Variety - actually re-wrote his initially poor review after watching the entire series. I think even Brooker changed his mind as it progressed.
Season two I’m still undecided on. But then I’m only half-way through it.