(S04E06) "We both have skeletons, which means we both get a closet to keep them in." - Dexter on him and Arthur Mitchell, the Trinity Killer
Now that Dexter and his faithful followers have discovered Trinity's true identity as a family raising, student teaching, hymn congregation leading all around nice guy, it's made him twice as creepy. The fact that he can turn such a blind eye towards causing so much painful mayhem and in the blink of that eye pretend that everything is all rainbows and jellybeans twists my spine into a monkey fist. John Lithgow has not only reached into the bloody depths of this depraved character, but he's done a marvelous job of walking around in his skin, both figuratively and (I sure hope not) literally.
Now that Dexter is on the hunt, he seems more reserved, held back and less willing to pounce on his weakened prey. I'm sure part of him feels the need to put this man out of our misery and avenge the attack on his sister, but now he sees him as a mentor, a role model, a zen-like Yoda who can teach him how to strengthen his mask while he's doing the bidding of his "Dark Passenger." But will this moment of philosophy for madmen drag things down to a screeching halt?
Rules are meant to be broken... especially for these ten television characters. For them, the rest of the world has one standard to live by and they have another. It makes them interesting and fun to watch... you just wouldn't necessarily want to be the person having to deal with them because they could drive you to distraction. Here's my ten pack of characters who live in a world of their own, according to no rules except their own. From the not-too-bad to the really bad.
10. Patrick Jane, The Mentalist
You would think that as a consultant to the CBI -- California Bureau of Investigation -- Patrick Jane would be compelled to uphold the rules and regulations of the department. However, Jane is a free spirit when it comes to office protocol. He does his own thing. For instance, bugging the office of a CBI higher-up is definitely not kosher. Jane doesn't care; he did it anyway and will probably get away with it.
This season of Dexter has the most share of downs than seasons past, so much so that it's actually turned the audience against the strife and struggles of their longest running characters. But whoever thought that one of them would be sweet, lovable Rita?
Entertainment Weekly critic Ken Tucker said in his most recent review at his "Watching TV" blog that the three things he wouldn't miss are the Batista/Laguerta relationship, Quinn's touchy relationship with a scoop hungry reporter and Rita, played by Julie Benz.
His issue isn't with Benz's performance, but he said he feels "dubious" about the fixes that have to be made to Dexter and Rita's relationship. All this talk of working out issues could turn an edgy show about a body chopping serial killer into an episode of The View with less screaming and violence.
(S04E05) - "If anyone has ever deserved to be on your table, it's this son of a bitch." - Harry to Dexter
Shows like Dexter are like Heinz Ketchup, good things come to those who wait.
The last few episodes, well, weren't the best of the season, maybe even of the series. They interspersed bits and pieces of the Trinity Killer's true identity with a bunch of dry and pointless plots surrounding the rest of the characters from Batista and Laguerta's closed door relationship to Quinn's "back door" policy with his nosy reporter girlfriend (not that kind sickos).
But it's finally starting to pay off with this week's episode. Some of those dull plotlines have brought together what appear to be some much needed closure and we finally learn another piece of the Trinity Killer's picture and it's starting to look like a Normal Rockwell as opposed to a blood-spattered Jackson Pollock.
A recent episode of Showtime's Dexter titled "Blinded By the Light" was probably one of the weakest episodes in recent memory, but one moment saved it from becoming a total yawn-fest: Masuka's bad ass truck.
For those who don't know the backstory, Dexter got in a very serious accident while driving home from a recent kill and fell asleep behind the wheel. He suffered a concussion and doctor's orders prevented him from driving. So one night, Masuka drives our boy home in the biggest, most bad ass 4-by-4 with lighting painted down the sides, suspension that reached the sky and a stereo system that could let him listen to loud, obnoxious country music from space.
Sounds like Dexter isn't the only one trying to wear a "mask" to hide a deep, dark secret.
(S04E04) - "You're the one who wanted a challenge ... and now you've batted the beehive." - Harry to Dexter
That quote sums up this season in a blood spattered nutshell and really all of good television, for that matter. How do you reinvent a show that works without completely reinventing the wheel on which it got there?
In Dexter's case, it's giving America's most squeezably soft serial killer an opponent truly worthy of his skills and talent without boring the audience or completely overpowering or outing him. In other words, keep the shark in the cage so you don't even have the inkling of an opportunity to jump over it.
One of the joys in reviewing the new season of Showtime's Dexter has been in the preparation. I did just re-watched the previous season. I watched all the other seasons, read every interview I could find and even dove into a couple of reviews, both good and bad. I even got an advanced copy of the Dexter video game for the iPhone.
But while watching that iconic opening of Dexter's mourning routine, I noticed the credit to Jeff Lindsay, the author of the first Dexter novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter on which the whole show is based. I picked it up in the library and even though I knew most of what happened from the show's first season, it was still a very enjoyable read. It was dark, funny, foreboding and every other adjective you would expect to hear from a review of a great mystery novel.
The best part is that even if you watch the show, you can still enjoy the books since they take very different paths that still provide plenty of good twists and turns. Any Dexter fan would enjoy them.
For some reason, Showtime's original series have been attempting to reference every major song on the Billboard '70s and '80s rock chart in their episode titles. Last night's Dexter titled "Blinded by the Light" kept sticking in my head and then I remembered why.
Just as the Kids in the Hall were coming to a close in Canada, Lorne Michaels brought a lesser known comedy troupe called The Vacant Lot to the CBC and Comedy Central. It only lasted one season, but one of their very funny inaugural sketches "Blinded by the Light" got stuck in my brain. Thankfully YouTube is required to save every memory ever recorded, and that includes the Vacant Lot's sketches. Enjoy.
(S0403) - "This neighborhood's going to kill me." - Dexter
Dexter's move to the suburbs seemed like a perfect way to keep Dexter's mask, but it's starting to become the perfect way to ruin an otherwise decent episode.
Rita and the kids have always been part of his plan to keep his true feelings hidden from the universe, even if he has more than a few shimmers of love for his new family. Moving to the suburbs was just part of the plan and a good move for the script, especially if one of his future prey includes a homeowners' association president who chastises tenants for keeping their lawns higher than three-fourths of an inch.
But now that he's in the thick of deranged suburbia and trying to keep his sane face in front of a whole neighborhood who always have their eyes peering into every open window, it just feels like a distraction from the truly interesting relationship that Dexter may or may not have with the Trinity Killer.
(S0402) - "You've got a family to support and people to dismember. You're spinning too many plates, Dexter." - Harry Morgan
One of the most interesting reasons to watch shows like Dexter are the ways the characters manage to wiggle their way out of complete destruction after pushing more than their fair share of luck.
But unlike shows like The Shield or The Sopranos where most of the luck pushing is done by the main character, the people behind Dexter like to spread the carelessness around. Just about everyone in this twisted tale has some skeletons in their closets, both figurative and possibly literal.
Both Dexter and Californication scored some huge opening numbers last Sunday with Dexter setting a new opening record for the cable network.
More than 1.5 million sets of eyeballs tuned to the season four opener for Dexter and 821,000 stayed to watch the opener for Californication. That's 3 million single eyeballs for Dexter and more than 1.6 million for Californication.
Every now and again (mostly now), something small and insignificant will waft in front of my snark radar and won't go away until I point it out to someone. Right now, something with the new season of Showtime's Dexter has found its way through my skull and is gnawing on parts of my brain, and the only way to kill it is to expose it for the brain sucking parasite that it is. This is exactly like the first time I voluntarily watched Blossom.
So Dexter 4.0 kicked off last Sunday and the episodes I've seen are highly entertaining on just about every level (emotional, comic, spiritual, etc.). It's interesting watching Dex play the role of daddy in a non-fun stepfather kind of way while trying to juggle the needs of his dark side, which lead him and his other relationships down all sorts of roads you don't see coming.
(S0401) "Who knew life could get so ... unsimple?" - Dexter Morgan
Moving an unsuspecting serial killer to the burbs sounds like a pitch for a UPN sitcom. "What happens when a wacky serial killer moves into the wackiest suburban neighborhood in the wackiest town in America? You've got 'A Real Cutup.'"
Instead, this is where we find loveable ol' Dexter Morgan, played by Michael C. Hall, at the beginning of the fourth season of Showtime's most popular Sunday night drama that isn't all drama. It still plays heavy on the complex emotions and relationships that make Dexter's life so interesting, but it also features shimmers of laughter as Dexter tries to juggle the life of a father, wife, blood spatter expert, and avenging serial killer without relying too much on one device or character.
The promos for the new season probably made you think, as did I, that Dexter would go from kill room to kill room with a baby slung across his torso in a cute little mini rubber smock and welding mask.
Fans of TV's Dexter have been clamoring for the release of the video game version for quite awhile, ever since news of the game's development first hits the stands. But just like the show's title character would say, patience and preparation pays off when you're trying to execute the perfect kill.
Dexter the Game would feel like just another run-of-the-mill TV to video game translation if it hit the Xbox Live Arcade or the Playstation Network. But this slice and dice retelling of the Showtime show's first season is special because it's on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
That's right, the touch screen manna from Steve Jobs' heaven now lets you cut up evildoers with a bone saw with the flick of your finger. Now you can fulfill the needs of your own "Dark Passenger" without having to max out your Home Depot card on visqueen and power tools or thin the pet population of your neighbors' backyards.
The introduction of a baby into the plot is usually a sure fire sign that a television show has jumped the shark with a pair of Acme rocket powered water skis.
But things are different for a twisted little space of pay cable called Dexter. The mere thought of putting a cute, adorable and affable little tyke into the mix sounds like something that would inspire the furious typing of a thousand angry Parents Television Council members' Selectric typewriters.
The latest addition to the Morgan clan is just a small addition to the newest season of Showtime's seriously macabre drama. It doesn't overtake the show and turn its serious moral tone into something ridculously psychotic like Three Madmen and a Baby. It's just one of many obstacles the world's most huggable serial killer has to deal with to feed the John Pinette sized appetite of his mysterious "dark passenger," and it's not all dark and drenched in blood.
This season of 
One of the joys in reviewing the new season of Showtime's Dexter has been in the preparation. I did just re-watched the previous season. I watched all the other seasons, read every interview I could find and even dove into a couple of reviews, both good and bad. I even got an advanced copy of the 
(S0401) "Who knew life could get so ... unsimple?" - Dexter Morgan 
The introduction of a baby into the plot is usually a sure fire sign that a television show has jumped the shark with a pair of Acme rocket powered water skis. 
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