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==Cultural references==
==Cultural references==
*Frequent references are made to the novels and films of [[Bret Easton Ellis]]. Dexter uses the [[pseudonym]] "Dr. Patrick Bateman" to receive animal tranquilizers. [[Patrick Bateman]] is the main character and serial killer from the novel and film ''[[American Psycho]]''. Dexter also uses the pseudonym of Sean Ellis for a session with a murderous psychiatrist, which references both [[Sean Bateman]], the brother of Patrick Bateman and the protagonist of ''[[The Rules of Attraction]]'', and Ellis himself.
*Frequent references are made to the novels and films of [[Bret Easton Ellis]]. Dexter uses the [[pseudonym]] "Dr. Patrick Bateman" to receive animal tranquilizers. [[Patrick Bateman]] is the main character and serial killer from the novel and film ''[[American Psycho]]''. Dexter also uses the pseudonym of Sean Ellis for a session with a murderous psychiatrist, which references both [[Sean Bateman]], the brother of Patrick Bateman and the protagonist of ''[[The Rules of Attraction]]'', and Ellis himself.

*Dexter possibly references Fight Club when, in the episode 'An Inconvenient Lie', he attends a support group under the name of Bob.


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 14:13, 3 November 2007

For the Hanna-Barbera animated series, see Dexter's Laboratory.
Dexter
File:Dexter intro.png
The title screen for Dexter
Created byJames Manos, Jr.
StarringMichael C. Hall
Julie Benz
Jennifer Carpenter
Erik King
Jaime Murray
Lauren Vélez
David Zayas
James Remar
C.S. Lee
Devon Graye
Dominic Janes
Christian Camargo
Theme music composerRolfe Kent
Country of origin United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes17 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersDaniel Cerone
Clyde Phillips
John Goldwyn
Sara Colleton
Running time50 min. (approx.)
Original release
NetworkShowtime
ReleaseOctober 1, 2006 –
present

Dexter is an American television drama series. It is based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay and was adapted for television by Emmy Award-winning screenwriter James Manos, Jr.. The show premiered on the premium cable network Showtime on 1 October, 2006.

The show stars Michael C. Hall as title character Dexter Morgan, a Miami-based serial killer, who works for the Miami Metro Police Department as a blood spatter analyst.

The first season finished airing on December 17, 2006. On November 2, 2006, Showtime renewed the series for a second season,[1] which began shooting on May 21, 2007 and premiered on September 30, 2007.

Plot

Main article: List of Dexter episodes

Season 1

Orphaned at the age of three and harboring a traumatic secret, Dexter (Michael C. Hall) was adopted by a Miami police officer named Harry Morgan who recognized his sociopathic tendencies and taught him to channel his gruesome passion for killing and dissecting in a "constructive" way: by killing only heinous criminals (such as mob assassins and serial killers of the innocent) who have slipped through the justice system. To satisfy his interest in blood and to facilitate his own crimes, Dexter works as a blood spatter analyst for the Miami police. Although his drive to kill is unflinching (he begins to become overcome by a feeling of "emptiness" otherwise), he is, through extensive instruction from Harry, able to fake normal emotions and keep up his appearance as a socially-responsible human being. He is well-liked by most of his colleagues (with the exception of Sgt. James Doakes), his girlfriend, and her children. The complete season one of Dexter was released in a 4 disc DVD package on August 21, 2007.

Season 2

This season is not based on a Lindsay novel in the Dexter series. However it does borrow a few plot points from the second Dexter novel, Dearly Devoted Dexter.

Dexter begins the season unable to satisfy his urges for over a month due to the constant surveillance of Sgt. Doakes. When the opportunity to kill arises, he has problems executing his victims, something he attributes to his inability to let go of his brother, his final victim of the previous season.

To further complicate matters, treasure hunters discover Dexter's underwater dumping ground for his victims. As the police extract body after body from the ocean, the media dubs the killer the "Bay Harbor Butcher." A cult following begins to form behind the "Butcher" when it's discovered who his victims are.[2]

Rita's relationship with Dexter becomes more tense as she and her children are dealing with the death of her ex-husband Paul, the result of a prison fight. Her late ex-husband's suggestion that Dexter was to blame for his imprisonment eats at her conscience and eventually Rita accuses Dexter of setting up her ex-husband. Dexter admits to setting up Paul, but Rita refuses to believe that Dexter premeditated the crime. She assumes that Dexter is a heroin addict. He acquiesces to being an 'addict,' though he characteristically allows the double entendre to go without clarification; in return, she vows to stay with him while he goes through Narcotics Anonymous.

Deb continues to struggle with the trauma of her experience with the Ice Truck Killer. For a sense of safety and comfort she stays with her brother, another new source of stress in Dexter's life.

New cast members include Keith Carradine as FBI Special Agent Lundy, and Jaime Murray as Lila, an ex-junkie artist who becomes Dexter's ally.[3] The role of Rita's son Cody has now been re-cast with another child actor.

Season 2 premiered on September 30, 2007, but on July 17 the first two episodes of the season were leaked on the internet.[4]

Cast

File:Dexter cast.jpg
The Cast of Dexter
Main article: List of Dexter characters

Plot differences from the novel

There are numerous differences between the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter and the Showtime series based on it; they range from extra subplots to rearrangements and modifications of elements from the source material.

The novel is narrated exclusively from Dexter's point of view and focuses mostly on his pursuit of the "Tamiami Butcher" (renamed the "Ice Truck Killer" for the series). With the exception of adoptive sister Deborah and adoptive father Harry, much of the supporting cast (Doakes, Angel and LaGuerta) have minor roles in the novel. The TV series expands on their characters with subplots not present in the original, such as Angel's rocky relationship with his ex-wife.

Another addition is the inclusion of Rita's abusive ex-husband. Although he is mentioned in the novel, he is never actually seen. In the show, he becomes a full-fledged supporting character who professes love for his children, but nevertheless still treats Rita violently.

The biggest change is the lead-up to and revelation of the identity of the Ice Truck Killer, called the Tamiami Killer in the book. In the novel, Dexter (and to a certain extent, the reader) is led to believe that Dexter himself might be the one committing the murders, due to a series of strange dreams that connect him to the murder; the possibility that Dexter's "Dark Passenger" is committing crimes when Dexter is asleep is brought up. The final clue is a blurry photo, taken from surveillance footage, of a man who resembles Dexter at a crime scene. After the Tamiami Killer kidnaps Deborah, Dexter (who is followed by Detective LaGuerta) finds and confronts him. It is subsequently revealed that the killer is actually Dexter's nearly identical long-lost brother, Brian, who, like Dexter, witnessed their mother's brutal murder. In the ensuing conflict LaGuerta is slain by Brian, Deborah finds out her brother is a killer and Dexter helps Brian to escape, an act referenced in the next novel.[5] As a morbid trophy, Dexter adds a drop of LaGuerta's blood to his collection.

In the television series, Brian is introduced under the fake name 'Rudy,' a prosthetist who becomes Deborah's boyfriend, and his relationship to Dexter only revealed late in the first season. Here, Dexter hesitantly kills Brian instead of letting him escape, Deborah does not discover her brother's secret and LaGuerta is not present at all in the confrontation. Furthermore, while in the novel Dexter and his brother are nearly identical, the actors playing the two characters are distinct from each other in their looks.

Some of the characters have had their names changed. Detective LaGuerta is named Migdia in the novel and Maria in the show while Doakes' first name is changed from Albert to James. Doakes' first name is not revealed in the first novel, but in the sequel Dearly Devoted Dexter.

The character of Angel Batista is a lab tech in the books while in the television series he is a homicide detective.

The character of Vince Masuoka is Eurasian in the books and appears even less socially aware than Dexter is.

In the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dexter references his urge to kill as being controlled by a Dark Passenger, and when in his killer trances he tends to refer to himself as We or Us, in the series however, only one reference is made to this "Passenger," as Dexter stands at the scene of Angel's stabbing by Brian alias Rudy, which also never occurred in the book. Although in Season 2 episode 3 they finally explain Dexter's urge to kill as his Dark Passenger and make multiple references to it throughout the episode. The Dark Passenger is also called his Shadow, just as in Dexter in the Dark.

UK Mobile Phone Issue

In preparation for the UK launch of the series, FX (UK) experimented with an SMS-based viral marketing campaign. Unsuspecting mobile phone owners received unsolicited SMS messages identified as being from "Dexter," with no other identification or originating phone number. The SMS messages contain the following text, referring to the phone owner by name:

"Hello (name). I'm heading to the UK sooner than you might think. Dexter."

Some time later, an email is received directing the user to an online video "news report," about a recent spree of killings. Using on-the-fly video manipulation, the user's name and a personalised message are worked into the report—the former written in blood on a wall by the crime scene, the latter added to a note in an evidence bag carried past the camera.

Whilst the marketing campaign has succeeded in raising the profile of the show, it has proved unpopular with many mobile owners who saw this as spam advertising aimed at mobile phones. In response to complaints about the SMS element of the campaign, FX issued the following statement:

"The text message you received was part of an internet viral campaign for our newest show Dexter. However it was not us who sent you the text but one of your friends. We do not have a database of viewer phone numbers. The text message went along with a piece on the net that you can then send on to other people you know. If you go to www.icetruck.tv you will see the page that one of your friends has filled in to send you that message. Therefore I suggest you have a word with anyone who knows your mobile number and see who sent you this message. For the record we did not make a record of any phone numbers used in this campaign."[6]

Critical reception

The initial response to Dexter was positive. The website Metacritic calculated a score of 77 from a possible 100 based on 27 reviews, making it the third-best reviewed show of the 2006 fall season. This score includes four 100% scores from the New York Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Sun-Times and People Weekly.[7] Brian Lowry, who had written one of the two poor reviews for the show, recanted his negative review in a year-end column for the trade magazine Variety after watching the full season.[8] On the CNET Networks website TV.com, Dexter has an overall rating of 9.3/10.[9]

On December 14, 2006, Michael C. Hall was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the category Best Actor in a Television Drama Series for playing Dexter.

DVD release

DVD Name Release Date Ep # Additional Content
The Complete First Season August 21 2007[10] 12
  • 2 Audio Commentaries by the Cast
  • The Academy of Blood – A Killer Course!
  • N Technology
  • 2 episodes of Showtime’s Brotherhood

    • Awards

    2006

    2007

    Nominations

    2006

    2007

    Cultural references

    • Frequent references are made to the novels and films of Bret Easton Ellis. Dexter uses the pseudonym "Dr. Patrick Bateman" to receive animal tranquilizers. Patrick Bateman is the main character and serial killer from the novel and film American Psycho. Dexter also uses the pseudonym of Sean Ellis for a session with a murderous psychiatrist, which references both Sean Bateman, the brother of Patrick Bateman and the protagonist of The Rules of Attraction, and Ellis himself.

    References

    1. ^ the futon critic: Showtime's Dexter Takes A Stab At Season Two
    2. ^ IGN.com, "Dexter Gets Ready for Another Killer Season"
    3. ^ IGN.com, "Dexter Makes Friends"
    4. ^ "Massive Leak of Pre-Air TV Shows: Piracy or Promotion?". TorrentFreak. 2007-07-24. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
    5. ^ Jeff Lindsay. "Chapter 1 except of Dearly Devoted Dexter". Dearly Devoted Dexter. Random House. Retrieved 2007-03-17. Doakes was convinced that I'd had something to do with LaGuerta's death. This was totally untrue and completely unfair. All I had done was watch – where's the harm in that? Of course I had helped the real killer escape, but what could you expect? What kind of person would turn in his own brother? Especially when he did such neat work.
    6. ^ "Dexter Text Message discussion". Designate Online. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
    7. ^ "Dexter (Showtime) - Reviews from Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-07-27.
    8. ^ Looking forward, some no-no's for the New Year
    9. ^ TV.com highest rated shows
    10. ^ DEXTER - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

    External links

    Wikiquote has quotations related to Dexter (TV series).
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