Ten minutes into the first episode of Dexter, and I was hooked. Usually it takes a couple of episodes, but Dexter is so wonderfully crafted that from the onset one can’t help but become wrapped in Dexter’s world. The first episode give you a taste of what we are in for, a very different take on a serial killer. While at first glance the show may seem a little formulaic, like your standard police fare such as CSI, the show is far from it and it develops multi-layered overlapping stories episode after episode with twist and turns that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), due to a dramatic experience at a very young age, is a man without feelings. He fakes all of his emotions to appear normal, taught to fake them by his adopted father Harry (James Remar), who discovers early on Dexter’s condition. If it weren’t for Harry’s love and understanding, Dexter would have killed just to feel something and long ago been incarcerated. However, Harry teaches Dexter to satisfy his hunger to kill, he will kill but only those who deserve it. Harry, a policemen, teach Dexter how to find and kill evil individuals and how to remain undetected.
It doesn’t hurt Dexter’s night job, that his real occupation is that of a forensics expert for the Miami Police Department. He works along side his sister, Harry’s daughter, Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter), a detective. The team is made up of Lieutenant Maria Laguerta (Lauren Vélez) who has a mild crush on Dexter, Angel Batista (David Zayas) a detective who is having problems with his wife, Sergeant James Doakes (Erik King) the only officer who finds Dexter’s behavior unusual, and Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee) who seems to have sex on his mind most of the time and provides most of the comic relief.
The first season focuses on the Ice Truck Killer, a serial killer that Dexter admires for his techniques. The Ice Truck Killer takes an interest in Dexter and begins to leave him clues, a game that Dexter is very eager and excited to play. Each episode of this 12 – episode season reveals a little bit more about Dexter’s younger years and his lessons with Harry. Each episode also reveals a little more on the Ice Truck Killer and with each episode you can’t help but get more and more drawn in.
The casting of Michael C. Hall as Dexter is pretty much what makes the show so good. Who would have thought that the guy who played David Fisher in Six Feet Under would have had it in him to play a serial killer. But Michael, shows episode after episode what a talent he is, as he makes his take on Dexter simply irresistible.
I saw all 12 episode in the span of three days. Initial seating down to just watch one episode, led me down the path of watching all four episodes on a disc. This is the type of series that keeps you wanting more. Watching the series on Blu-ray is memorizing. Each disc contains four episodes that look absolutely stupendous. Having developed a liking for Dexter, I couldn’t help but rent the first disc for season 2 on DVD, but I was very disappointed. Having been spoiled with how season 1 looks on Blu-ray, watching season 2 on DVD just doesn’t do the show justice. The Blu-ray version blows the DVD version out of the water and if you have a Blu-ray player, the Blu-ray version is the one to own.
Granted even on the Blu-ray edition a few of the darker scenes do look a like grainy. However, these scenes are few and far between and most of the scenes look clear and vivid. The audio is just as good and supplements the eerie feeling you get when you are watching the show. The feeling and power behind the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is fantastic. The Blu-ray edition also has a number of features, sadly they are only available via BD LIVE and aren’t available until January 6, 2009 and therefore were unavailable for this review. The BD LIVE features look interesting with titles like The Academy of Blood – A Killer Course and Witness In Blood – A True Murder Investigation and even features a look at the first episode of Dexter season 3 and the first two episodes of United States of Tara.
Review By Brad Peterson
Release Date: January 6, 2009