Dexter’s Mad, Mad World
Before diving into details, it’s worth noting that the show is based off of novels written by Jeff Lindsay. Jeff’s novels are “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” and “Dearly Devoted Dexter.” “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” was published in 2004. That said, Dexter Morgan, played by Michael C. Hall, is a forensics specialist for the Miami Metro Police Department. He specializes in blood spatter, the science of examining blood loss and patterns at crime scenes to determine all kinds of useful facts about the crime including things like how the victim was attacked and so forth. He works along side fellow detectives and officers including Angel (David Zayas), Vince Masuka (C.S. Lee), Lt. Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Velez), Sgt. Doakes (Erik King), and his foster sister, Deb Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter). Dexter’s life is complicated, and the story of his childhood and how he became who he was is unraveled over the twelve episodes of season one.
Over the course of these twelve episodes, we learn a great deal about Dexter. When he was only three he was found at a crime scene and soon after adopted by a police officer. Dexter had powerful urges to kill from a very young age, but rather than be scolding or angry at his adopted son, Harry Morgan, James Remar’s character, tries to channel Dexter’s strange urges and help him use them for good. He trains Dexter to be investigative and how to avoid being caught. Dexter follows what he calls the Code, Code of Harry, or Harry’s Code as he targets violent criminals who have ‘beat the system’ and disposes of them, literally, but capturing them and surgically dismembering them, something he has to keep all to himself which is a source of tremendous stress for Dexter.
Dexter’s ‘projects’ are subplots to most of the episodes in this first season. The overarching storyline that involves all of the major characters in one form or another is that of the ice truck killer, a serial killer on the loose in Miami that has police and even Dexter baffled. This killer takes a personal interest in Dexter and weaves an intricate plot to get deep into Dexter’s life. This primary storyline is supplemented by several others involving the other members of the cast: for Angel, it’s trying to save his marriage; for Deb, she has challenges on many levels including her career and personal life in trying to get closer with Dexter as a brother-sister relationship and to also find a good boyfriend, too. Sgt. Doakes manages to get himself involved in two or three short story arcs throughout the season and is the only one that is truly suspicious of Dexter. Dexter meanwhile not only has a lot to lie and fake about to everyone he is in contact with, but also has his ‘projects’, the ice truck killer, and Rita’s (Julie Benz) life and problems to worry about. Rita’s abusive ex-husband gets out of jail due to overcrowding about halfway through the season and tries to reconnect with her and their kids, placing Dexter in yet another awkward situation.
There are many more details about this first season that I could dispense, but honestly the series is so well written and acted that you should really see it for yourself. The writers and producers have done an amazing job in giving the viewer great episodes time after time, but always leaving so much to look forward to for the next show. Truth be told, I watched all twelve of these fifty-two minute episodes in two sittings in one day, it’s that good. On a side note, for those gamers that played through Condemned: Criminal Origins or Condemned 2: Bloodshot, and were fans of the spooky atmosphere and clever serial killer (in the first game), this show will definitely appeal to you. As a huge fan of the Condemned games, I often found myself thinking about those games as the show unfolded.
Dexter Season One On Blu-ray
The Blu-ray release of Dexter Season One comes in typical three disc keep-case. Each disc has four episodes on it and the third disc also contains the BDLive extras. In terms of quality, for the most part, all twelve episodes look great with vibrant colors, sharp edges, and so forth – like a typical good Blu-ray release. However, several episodes feature scenes with a lot of grain or compression; it’s not a deal breaker, but it was a little unsettling going from great picture to sub-par. As far as the audio, Paramount utilizes it’s typical Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround Sound and it sounds just fine.
I was disappointed in the extra features. The first disc doesn’t contain any, the second disc features one audio commentary for the episode “Return To Sender” which includes actors Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, Lauren Velez, and Erik King. The third disc contains and audio commentary for the “Born Free” episode that includes producers Sara Colleton, Clyde Phillips, and Daniel Cerrone. There are also a few BDLive features that at the time of this writing are not live or working just yet:
-The Academy of Blood – A Killer Course
-Witnessed In Blood – A True Murder Investigation
-Michael C. Hall Podcast
-First Episode of Dexter, Season 3
-The first two episodes of Showtime’s ‘United States of Tara.’
Given how great the show is, it’s a shame that there aren’t more features included. The original DVD release didn’t have many features either, so it’s a shame that amends weren’t made with the Blu-ray release.
With that, let’s get to the summary.
