Is Dexter killing for a reason ??
By fred | November 26, 2007
It was really bad, and I tried to watch it over & over but it never got any better, and it was so annoying - to say the least - that I couldn’t take it anymore. I just couldn’t, I felt insulted every week by such a lame thing, so I dropped it about halfway through the season.
Now I should make sure to point out the exception : I do think that the character of Dexter is absolutely great - well, as I said he could be even better, but that’s a taste issue I guess - and I would be the first to admit that Michael C. Hall’s performance on that show is pretty fantastic. Nominate the guy, give him the award, he’s doing an amazing job!
On that one we all agree I think. That said, I’m afraid to say it stops there. Every other character is nothing but a stereotype, a stupid cliché, or an awful mix of the two. Dexter’s sister acts and sounds like she’s actually retarded, I can’t believe she is really working for the police department. Is she allowed to carry a gun ? Because I think she’s probably as dumb as Paris Hilton’s feet !
And what about the Lieutenant, who besides the lack of brain as well seem to be unable to agree to anything as soon as it will come from Dexter’s sister. Jesus Christ!
I’m sure Jennifer Carpenter can act, but based on that show only I’d say she’d be more successful trying to go to the moon riding a bike with some E.T. puppet by her side, because acting she can’t do. Truth is, I know Lauren Velez can act, I’ve seen her for years on Oz and she was great, so why does she look like she can’t act either this time ??
The writing! Back on Oz the writing was fucking great, but here it’s such a mess they can’t do nothing else but crap. It’s not really their fault, I guess, because their characters are stupid clichés who can’t act or behave like, you know, any human brain with a functioning brain would.
To best explain what I’m trying to say, I will use one moment from the third episode to describe what I’m talking about. But before going any further, I need to correct something I said before : there is actually more than one character well written on the show. Besides Dexter, another one is a “real” character. As far as I’ve seen I don’t know who he is or what he looks like, and so far so good, he’s great. I’m calling him the Ice Truck killer.
The Ice Truck Killer is a very smart person, one who’s been killing people over & over and never left anything else than the “packages” he intended to left for the police behind me. They have no idea of who he is, not a single clue, no DNA, not a drop of blood from his victim, they have absolutely nothing. Nada.
So when they find the latest victim on ice in a Hockey stadium, and the security guard goes missing, there’s one thing that is obvious to anyone with a brain : that missing guy is a victim, maybe the next one to be found in pieces.
Yet no one is able to get that, on the show. The guy is missing, they go to his place and found a video tape left here for them, on which the guard can be seen putting the packages on the ice, and everyone then thinks : that guy is going to be next very soon that’s our killer. WHAT. THE. FUCK. !!??
No really, the more we learn about this the more it is obvious he is a victim, but they can’t see that, somehow. When the sister comes up with an idea, if it’s not stupid why say no ? Because her character has to say no to everything coming from Morgan, because they hate each others. Is that good writing ? Or acting ?
When the cops are going over the tape, they should realize that because the killer has always been so smart and meticulous he obviously never in a million years would have used the Hockey stadium he works at (he most likely doesn’t have such a shitty job, one could suspect…), not do that in front of the camera, not looked scared, not disappeared to raise suspicions, not left an incriminating video tape for the cops, I mean how long does that list have to be for one of them to put two and two together already !!?
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.
DEXTER, DEXTER, DEXTER! What else can I say? Someone recently recommended that I watch this show, so I rented Season 1 and was finished it in two days. I immediately rented Season 2 that was even better than season 1 and I was finished in two days (Yes, I took a personal day during one of the series and spent a weekend watching the other). This series is as addictive as it gets. It is interesting, intriguing, entertaining, sadistic and funny. Showtime has made being bad into a very good show. The writing is clever, smart and engaging. Let’s just all hope and pray that we don’t know any “Dexter’s” and that the real “Dexter’s” are being vigorously pursued, identified and caught. Needless to say, GREAT SHOW!