Dexter on SHO - Page 2

Good show.

With all these favourable reviews the execs at Showtime are going to cancel this show
very soon.


Doug

Great start for a show with a great premise.

I was laughing my butt off at that line as well. Everyone seems to love Dexter, he's able to fake his way through human interaction very well. The only one he creeps out is someone with no people skills whatsover (that guy has a serious bug up his *ss about something). That may be why. He doesn't waste time being faked out by Dexter's 'charm' and just sees the looks on his face when he thinks noone is paying attention.

Funny, in real life we'd all be rooting for the cop to find him out and take him down. On the show I'm going to get a kick out of Dexter outsmarting him at every turn. :-)

True, but he has no moral compass that demands this. He's just trying to honor a promise to a stepdad who went out of his way to care. What happens when he gets 'bored' with hunting bad guys? Or if someone innocent person finds him out? He has no morals to stop him from silencing them. If his sister the detective finds out, do you think he'll let her take him down? Or will he remove her from the equation? He admitted that he has no feelings for her. And once he crosses that kind of line, will he stick to killing bad people only?

This new serial killer is obviously trying to 'seduce' him to the dark side (or darkER side), and he's seriously intrigued by it.

I don't think they'll let him succumb to it however, the premise of the show requires him to have SOME redeeming quality in order for us to root for him.

Oh, I disagree. He certainly has a "moral compass", odd as it may be, and his stepdad taught that to him. In fact, it's become the guiding force in his life. In a way, it's all he has.

Sorry I disagree. A code of conduct is very different from morality. Following a set of rules in order to avoid punishment isn't morality. It's just self preservation.

Dexter seeks gratification for his blood lust, and his stepdad pointed him in a direction that would allow him to do so without being caught (by teaching him how to cover his tracks).

His stepfather understood that it was only a matter of time before Dexter started killing people, and that left alone with his bloodlust he might not discriminate as to the victim. So he set up rules for his killing which satisfied Dexter's need to kill but also the stepdad's own ideas about justice. I'm sure he was frustrated as a cop watching guilty people go free, and turning Dexter loose upon them was a way for him to see his version of Justice done.

If his stepdad hadn't intervened, Dexter might just be another sociapathic murderer, killing at random or when he was annoyed by someone. But he's still just following a set of rules that allow him to gratify himself. There's no morality behind it.

As far as his Dad's code being all Dexter has, I don't think Dexter HAS anything except murder. The only topic that excites him is murder. When he was talking to his girlfriend in the car and was talking about cutting people up, THAT excited him. Nothing else interests him.

I don't think that there's any question about it. Indeed, if Dexter DIDN'T have a moral compass there would be no show. He is honorable by his own lights and retains his self respect by killing those who are evil. Fun stuff! What a Great idea, and who better to carry it out than that eminently weird charm boy, Michael C. Hall?

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. He lives by a strict moral code: only the bad guys get killed, and he "has his standards". That's a moral code, unique as it may be.

Most importantly, he doesn't view his actions or desires as justifiable - he acknowledges that he is warped.

I read the 2nd book first this spring (before I knew of show)...and am starting the is first book second...couldn't get it because it was out of print.. which of course is isn't now... follow? and I can say IMHO Michael C Hall...pretty much exactly what I imaged this Dexter like...

Anyways this is gonna be my new decadent show for sure...no more Deadwood
Looking forward to next week...

EDIT: Edited content

I was most impressed with the opener. The premise is great and they did an excellent job of introducing the characters and how they fit into the overall story. Can't wait till next week!

larry

I like the voice over...a lot of times it doesn't work or its cheesy... but in this case I think it works (I think MCH voice works for it) and is needed so you know what Dexter is thinking...you get the Outside rest of the world view ... and the voice over gives us the inside view... it would be pretty hard to have such a "dual" character otherwise...

If you listen to him carefully while he's preparing for a kill, he loves the whole ritual of making sure the guy is guilty and planning how he is going to take the guy. he won't kill unless he knows the guy is guilty. To expand upon that, in a clip for future episodes it shows that dexter's stalker leaves a guy for dexter to kill. The guy was prepared just how dexter does it but dexter won't kill the guy because he doesn't know if the guy is guilty.

I know, but again, there is no moral imperative for this. He's following rules his stepdad put forth. That's it. No morality, no right or wrong. Just following a code. Determining guilt is part of the ritual and his enjoyment, not a moral choice to make certain he's doing the right thing. He's a hunter and he enjoys going after other hunters, not bambi's.

I think we all like to project that morality upon him...(I feel myself doing this too). It makes it easier for us to root for him. But if you were to ask him he'd tell you he probably didn't care either way. If he found out he'd made a mistake, a past victim was innocent...how much sleep do you think he'd lose over it?

Foster/adoptive dad. Not stepdad.

Nothing they do will make me "root for him". IMO, he's a fascinating character which will make the show itself fascinating. S*** happens, and the "good guys" don't always win - that doesn't make the stories any less entertaining.

Much like Hannibal Lecter.

Indeed, Dexter does bear some similarity to Hannibal Lecter. I think Dexter's standards may be a bit higher than Dr. Lecter's and Dexter isn't a cannibal but both have a weird core of decency - with the accent on weird.

Definitely a fascinating character, and certainly different than anything else on TV. His stunned and uncomprehending reaction to the bloodless murder scenes was some great acting on MCH's part, nothing else existed in the world for him at that point other than "how did he do that?".

Definately something unique and cool about this show. Thank god Showtime is picking up HBO's slack and making some good shows.

I really enjoyed this. It is a bit morbid but entertaining. A story about a vigilante serial killer; interesting.

I am boycotting it, not because of Pop-ups during other programming, but because of Shotimes cancelling of Huff and Dead Like Me. I refuse to watch any of their original Programming, except Boxing. Which is the only reason I have SHO now.

I agree that SHO's cancellations of Huff and Dead Like Me were inexcusable. If I were ever going to boycott a network, especially a premium movie network, that would be reason enough for me to do so. Nevertheless, I have kept my SHO subscription because it and HBO are the only HD movie channels I subscribe to. I suppose I could drop SHO HD and pickup Starz HD but I don't like Starz' absence of original programming.

I had mixed feelings until the second half. Nice setup of the cast. What a great Cliffhanger - I'm hooked.

E

It's not Primetime. It's Showtime.

It's going to be very difficult to make the protagonist, a true sociopath, a semi-likeable character and therein lies their biggest challenge and even in Miami he can't commit 2 murders a show. Hall is amazing as usual and Dexter along with Friday Night Lights are the two best shows of this year.
I also miss Huff although the first season was far better than the second.

i just bought the books, I'm debating whether to read them now, or wait and judge the remaining shows on their own merits. (Movies/TV almost always disappoint after having read the books)

I can only justify one premium to my wife, so I'm switching from HBO to Showtime because of this and Weeds. I thought it was great, even blown up to fill my screen from letterboxed SD on the weekend promo. Great character development for a first episode.

I really liked the show, but its not worth the $36 to sub to Showtime for 3 months for the 12 episodes. I'll probably end up renting the DVDs when they come out though.

My wife and I are now attached to this series, what great writing, HD PQ looked fantastic like CSI quality on CBS. My wife was commenting how odd it was seeing Michael C. Hall not clean shaven like in Six Feet Under.

But Showtime enough with the F%&ing pop-ups, your a premium channel, ACT LIKE IT!!!

Thanks now fire your staff for the idea.

I thought it was very good and a great addition to the Sunday night line-up now that HBO is done for a bit and Brotherhood has concluded. As for all the posts about rooting for the bad guy - what makes you think they want you to root for him? Stories aren't always about heroes or morally upright people. Sometimes you need a different viewpoint (do you think Tony Soprano is a "hero" or someone to root for?).

It's TV, it's entertaining and it isn't pandering or simply graphic to be graphic. It's well done television that couldn't be done on the networks. To those it offends with its grisly aspects - don't watch it. But to suggest that the rest of us not watch bcz you personally find it unpleasant is silly.

And remember (if it's really important to your moral viewpoint) - they are not portraying him as heroic or even sympathetic really. His voice-overs often mention that he finds his own actions reprehensible. He just "can't help himself" as he told one victim, who also claimed the same motive. So in truth, he equates himself to a degree with those he would terminate for their crimes. It will be interesting to see how they develop this vs. how many ways they can creatively kill someone. That's the challenge.