Dearly Departing Dexter

 



Dexter: America's Contemplative Serial Killer. 

 Although this falls a little out of the Comic book realm I usually dwell in, I want to talk about one of my favorite shows, Dexter, since it's right in the middle of it's final season.  I was turned onto the show by a friend and though it took a while for me to get invested, primarily because I didn't think I could watch a whole show about a serial killer, once I did, I was hooked.  The show's based on a series of books by Jeff Lindsey, but I haven't gotten the chance to read them.  For those who haven't seen the show, be warned: there are some massive spoilers in here.  "How can you root for a serial killer?" That's the big question facing those hesitant to check the show out.  The answer lies in the way the character is written, as a man from tragic beginnings who's taught to focus his urge to kill, which he calls his "Dark Passenger", into taking out other killers.  Add in his tragic origin story in which as a three year old he watched his mother brutally murdered in a shipping container, then sat for two days in her blood, and he almost becomes a Batman type vigilante, minus the whole no killing thing.  Still, this doesn't change the fact that his motivations are those of a serial killer: he is drawn to blood and enjoys the thrill of hunting and killing. 
After his mother's murder, he was adopted by the cop who found him, Harry Morgan, who gradually notices that something is off about Dexter when he starts killing small animals.  Fearing Dexter will inevitably become a serial killer, Harry tells Dexter that he should go after bad people who deserve it and teaches Dexter a code of conduct to ensure that his victims are indeed guilty and that more importantly, Dexter can get away with it.  Initially, Dexter follows the code religiously,  never leaving a trace behind and sending his chopped up playmates to the bottom of the sea.  When the show begins, Dexter's been successfully killing for more than ten years while also balancing a job as a blood spatter expert for Miami Metro, where he works with his adorably foul mouthed foster sister Deborah.  What really makes Dexter ultimately "rootable" as well as likable is that we get to hear Dexter's inner thoughts throughout the show.  Michael C. Hall plays Dexter with such detail and nuance, infusing the character with a mix of humor, quirkiness, and icy resolve.  His observations while navigating the bizarre labyrinth of social rituals are spot on and funny.  For a serial killer, he contemplates a lot, primarily about how he doesn't feel emotions like regular people and is a very neat monster because of the procedural way he goes about killing.  For someone supposedly devoid of emotion, Hall often conveys the subtlest of hints regarding Dexter's feelings towards those in his life.  In the early seasons he repeatedly claims not to have real feelings for anyone (although he says if he could have feelings for anyone, they'd be for Deb).  Perhaps at first this is true, but as the series progresses, we see Dexter begin to care for people in his life.  His girlfriend Rita and her two kids Astor and Cody, at first used by him essentially as a cover of normalcy, gradually become very important to him.  Throughout the seasons, we see Dexter struggle to balance his cover life with his secret life, which becomes harder as the cover becomes more important.  He gets more serious with Rita, eventually marrying her and pseudo-adopting her kids, whom he clearly loves with all his heart. 


Will Dexter be wrapped in plastic when season 8 wraps?

In addition to his personal struggles, we see him hunt down other serial killers who are just as proficient as him yet operate without a code.  In the first season he gets involved in a game of cat and mouse with the Ice Truck Killer, a prostitute killer who displays precisely cut up body parts in elaborate crime scenes.  What's interesting is seeing how Dexter is initially impressed and even envious of the killer's technique.  On most levels, he is drawn to the same things as killer's like this, even though they represent unchecked versions of himself.  Undoubtedly Dexter's greatest adversary is the fourth season's Trinity Killer a.k.a Arthur Mitchell, played with such frightening conviction by John Lithgow.  Initially Dexter is impressed to find out that Trinity's been killing successfully for over thirty years and has a seemingly stable family life, which appeals greatly to Dexter as he tries in his way to be more emotionally available to Rita.  Eventually though, Trinity's normal family life is revealed to be a lie and Dexter risks his own family's safety trying to hunt Trinity down.  He does, but not before Trinity murders Rita and leaves Dex to find her in the tub with their infant son Harrison on the floor in a pool of his mother's blood.  This is hands down one of the most shocking twists in television history and even to this day I still get chills watching it.Each season has it's own unique feel and usually centers around a major theme.  Although it's hard to pick, if I had a gun to my head and had to pick a favorite season, I'd have to say the fourth because of Lithgow's absolutely terrifying portrayal of Trinity and the twist ending.  Having said that, season 2 and 7 are right on season 4's ass.  Through each season, we see Dexter grow from a remorseless sociopath into a genuinely conflicted and contemplative person whose cover life becomes as important, if not more so, than his secret life.  As his relationships with his sister Deb, his wife Rita and later his son Harrison, become more complex, he realizes that he feels very deeply for these people, he just doesn't have access to these feelings in the usual way. Watching his mother die essentially cut him off from feeling anything and therefore the emotions are harder to access, but they are there.  For someone who so often claims to be without feeling, Dexter really craves emotional intensity in his relationships.
In season 7, Dexter does something he never thought he'd be capable of: he falls in love, appropriately enough with another killer named Hannah Mckay played by the gorgeous Yvonne Strahovski.  Of course, Dexter loves his son Harrison with all his heart as well as Deb, who at the end of season 6 stumbles upon Dexter killing someone and soon learns all about his extracurricular activities.  Even though Deb's the Lieutenant of Homicide, her love for her brother is so strong that she can't bring herself to turn him in and instead tries unsuccessfully to rehabilitate him.  The major theme of season 7 is love and the crazy things it can make us do.  We see how love affects everyone, leading the usually cold and logical Dexter to spare Hannah's life when she's on his table and continue seeing her even though it puts him and his loved ones in danger.  Deep love is also what keeps Deb from not only not turning Dex in, but also lying for him and covering his ass.  What Dexter does so well is explore how universal concepts such as love, family, faith, and morality look to a serial killer such as Dexter.  The show also explores the fact that even those who are not knife wielding serial killers are usually horribly flawed.  All the supporting characters have their own share of skeletons at the bottom of the sea.  The concept of "normalcy" is revealed to be mostly smoke and mirrors in Dexter.
Not only does each season find Dexter in increasingly complex situations, but each finds him growing in his relationships with those closest to him and discovering how important these things really are.  The show's in the process of ending and I for one haven't the slightest clue as to how it'll end, which I love.  The fact that it could go a hundred different ways it what keeps it so captivating; just when you think you've got it figured out, they throw a curveball your way.  The show's not afraid to tackle grittier and more uncomfortable subject matter and always does so in a way that's honest to the complex characters who are so compelling to watch.  Nothing's black and white in Dexter and that's where the show's strength lies; it gives you so much more food for thought when nothing is simple and morally clear.  I for one hope that Dexter can put the Dark Passenger behind him much like Bruce Wayne moved past Batman in DKR.  I'd like to see him be able to have a somewhat stable if not normal life for the sake of Harrison and Deb, but there's no way to know for sure.  One thing's certain though; America's favorite serial killer will go out with a bang when Dexter wraps up for good.