Donnerstag, 17. Juli 2008

Dexter. Takes life. Seriously.

Someone has to say it:
Dexter is by far the coolest thing that has been on TV for a long time.

How do I explain this?
Okay, remember Six Feet Under? How every week before it started you get all euphoric and giddy in the head? Yeah, that's how Dexter makes me feel. I'm in love again.

Dexter is the story of Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a charming man who works for the police. There's one problem: Dexter doesn't feel any emotions. But he does feel the need to kill.
So his foster father, Harry (the wonderful James Remar) taught him to use this urge for something good.
So while officially, Dexter is the "splatter expert" under the Miami detectives, in his free time, he hunts the bad guys, in his own, well, special way.

Okay, this all sound itchy and like another of these Moonlight (did anyone watch that? I stopped after 20 minutes, because my lunch was coming up...) genre rip-offs, but it's not.
Dexter is a smart, edgy, great, funny, smart, sad, smart, extraordinary, smart show, with great actors and actresses, and even though I've only watched the first six episodes so far, I am totally hooked.
Michael C. Hall is a totally charming guy (any Six Feet Under watcher will agree), but the pulls off something that isn't the typical psycho killer act.
Dexter's thoughts are hilarious - the way he copies human emotions, because he can't feel them himself, the way he tries to understand why humans do things - grieve, have sex etc. - and you have to love him, no matter what.
The other characters are amazing as well - Dex's foster sister, Deb (The Exorcism of Emily Rose's Jennifer Carpenter - who'da thunk it?) is such a crazy, witty and uber-hard working tomboy.
Dexter's "girlfriend", Rita (played by Julie Benz, who was on Angel a couple o' years back) is turning into one strong lady after she has been broken by her ex, who repeatedly beat and raped her.
Angel (David Zayas) and Masuka (C.S. Lee), two of Dexter's colleagues are frikkin' hilarious, but they're no jumping-jack's, either.
Sergeant Doakes (Erik King) is funny and interesting to watch, and the at first very unsympathetic Lieutenant Maria Laguerta (Lauren Vélez) - love the name - is turning into one of my favorite female characters on TV.

So, this show is great. If you can stomach some blood and strong language, I suggest everyone should watch it. It's not a soap or anything, but if you like mystery with some personal drama thrown in there (as seen above: like Six Feet Under, maybe Angel), you should love it. There's a turn around every corner (or Dexter waiting behind it - who's to say?), and this show keeps me fascinated every single second. Did I mention how smart it is?

Oh, I have to tell you about this one scene: Dexter and Rita are watching a sad movie, and while Rita is crying her eyes out, Dexter is completely unmoved.
She turns to look at him and sees how collected he is, somewhat surprised.
Dexter's voice-over, while staring at Rita with his eyes wide open: "Maybe if I don't blink, my eyes will tear up." It was funny, even though it doesn't really sound like it. Narf.


Also, the credits-song is mighty creepy.
Check it out here.

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