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next_to_normal) wrote2010-06-08 10:13 am
next_to_normal) wrote2010-06-08 10:13 am
Entry tags:
Dexter
I've finished watching season 1 of Dexter, so I figured it was time for some reaction posting. The short version is that I like it, and season 2 is already in the Netflix queue. The long version is under the cut.
First, let me say that this show definitely makes me think, "Wow, this is clearly on a premium channel," and you know why? It's not the nudity or the gore or the f-bombs - it's the insanely long intros. Only a show without commercials could spend five whole minutes on previouslies and the opening credits sequence. I know that a lot of people love the opening credits, and I give them kudos for being innovative and creepy, but damn. Longest. Credits. Ever. I have to admit, after the first couple episodes, I just started skipping straight to the beginning of the episode.
Anyway, I am a big fan of the morally ambiguous protagonist. (See also: Angel, Don Draper, Patty Hewes, Dr. Horrible.) However, while I am entertained and somewhat fascinated by Dexter, I can't really say I like him as a character in the way that I like the others. And I think that has less to do with him being a serial killer and more to do with his emotional detachment. Because I feel detached when watching him, like I'm intrigued about what happens next, but not terribly invested in whether Dexter gets caught or someone close to him dies or whatever. (Just for comparison, I also watched this week's episode of Friday Night Lights this weekend, and the emotion just POURS out of that show. And I can't help loving the characters, because I feel exactly what they feel. Dexter doesn't allow that kind of connection.)
I enjoyed the season-long arc with the Ice Truck Killer. I thought it was well paced, and even though there wasn't much mystery about the identity of the killer, there were enough unexplained clues that I kept watching because I wanted to know WHY. I like bad guys who play mind games, and this one had a really good payoff. It might've turned out cheesy that Dexter has a long-lost brother who's also a serial killer, but it ended up making the most sense, because it provided a reason for how he knew so much about Dexter and why he was so fixated on him personally. Though it does make me wonder if this show will fall into the same trap that Veronica Mars did, where the later seasons' mysteries are somewhat less compelling because they are less rooted in who the main character is and the stakes aren't as important to him/her.
I also hope they don't try to put too much weight on the comings and goings at the police station, because as much as I liked the individual characters when they were working on the Ice Truck Killer and other cases, I wasn't terribly interested in their personal stories. Like Doakes' problems with the drug cartel or his shooting the Haitian guy - did not care. Batista's marital problems? Bah. Only if it leads to him hooking up with Laguerta. Who, by the way, seemed really inconsistent, as if a few episodes in they decided they didn't want her to be totally incompetent and irrational and completely changed her character. I like her more now that she's a good detective who just happens to care too much about her reputation, so I don't mind too much, but it's still disconcerting. And all the office politics with her and the captain and the new lieutenant can just go away now, please.
Oh, and I really don't like Deb. She got less annoying as the season went on, but never stopped being annoying completely. She's just so obnoxious, and it seemed like they spent a lot of time establishing that she's a pretty dumb cop, and that she needed Dexter's help to solve cases - and then she started having some good hunches on her own, only to be the dumbest person ever and get engaged to the Ice Truck Killer and not even notice. (I, for one, pegged Rudy as shady as soon as he showed interest in Deb.)
On the other hand, I loved Rita right from the start. Partly because I love Julie Benz like candy, but also because Rita just breaks my heart in the beginning. I love how she's progressed from being so damaged at the start of the season to now being so much stronger, that she's fiercely protective of her kids and reclaiming her sexuality and even standing up to Paul. I don't care if it was a felony, I frickin' cheered when she whacked him with the baseball bat. Speaking of which, ever since the scene when the drug dealer took her car and Dexter just stood there, I had a feeling Dexter would end up killing somebody for Rita. As it turned out, he did get rid of Paul for her, but he didn't have to kill him.
The one criticism I have is with the suspension of disbelief needed for Dexter's upbringing. It's one thing to have a character who was traumatized at a young age and thus needs to satisfy his sociopathic urges in unorthodox ways. The part I can't buy is that Dexter's foster father was so accepting of it and trained him to pretend to be normal and how to kill without getting caught. I dunno, I think the typical parental reaction would've been to send young Dexter for some industrial-strength therapy. I wouldn't mind it so much if it were just an established premise that we had to accept, but then moved on and focused on Dexter and didn't dwell on the unbelievable stuff. But because Dexter's methods are so intertwined with his father's teaching, and there are flashbacks in every single episode, it's a constant reminder of how bizarre I find the whole thing to be.
But overall, I am definitely enjoying it enough to want to keep watching. Season 2 is also available for streaming, but season 3 is mail only, so that will probably slow me down. Maybe then I'll switch back to Rome.
First, let me say that this show definitely makes me think, "Wow, this is clearly on a premium channel," and you know why? It's not the nudity or the gore or the f-bombs - it's the insanely long intros. Only a show without commercials could spend five whole minutes on previouslies and the opening credits sequence. I know that a lot of people love the opening credits, and I give them kudos for being innovative and creepy, but damn. Longest. Credits. Ever. I have to admit, after the first couple episodes, I just started skipping straight to the beginning of the episode.
Anyway, I am a big fan of the morally ambiguous protagonist. (See also: Angel, Don Draper, Patty Hewes, Dr. Horrible.) However, while I am entertained and somewhat fascinated by Dexter, I can't really say I like him as a character in the way that I like the others. And I think that has less to do with him being a serial killer and more to do with his emotional detachment. Because I feel detached when watching him, like I'm intrigued about what happens next, but not terribly invested in whether Dexter gets caught or someone close to him dies or whatever. (Just for comparison, I also watched this week's episode of Friday Night Lights this weekend, and the emotion just POURS out of that show. And I can't help loving the characters, because I feel exactly what they feel. Dexter doesn't allow that kind of connection.)
I enjoyed the season-long arc with the Ice Truck Killer. I thought it was well paced, and even though there wasn't much mystery about the identity of the killer, there were enough unexplained clues that I kept watching because I wanted to know WHY. I like bad guys who play mind games, and this one had a really good payoff. It might've turned out cheesy that Dexter has a long-lost brother who's also a serial killer, but it ended up making the most sense, because it provided a reason for how he knew so much about Dexter and why he was so fixated on him personally. Though it does make me wonder if this show will fall into the same trap that Veronica Mars did, where the later seasons' mysteries are somewhat less compelling because they are less rooted in who the main character is and the stakes aren't as important to him/her.
I also hope they don't try to put too much weight on the comings and goings at the police station, because as much as I liked the individual characters when they were working on the Ice Truck Killer and other cases, I wasn't terribly interested in their personal stories. Like Doakes' problems with the drug cartel or his shooting the Haitian guy - did not care. Batista's marital problems? Bah. Only if it leads to him hooking up with Laguerta. Who, by the way, seemed really inconsistent, as if a few episodes in they decided they didn't want her to be totally incompetent and irrational and completely changed her character. I like her more now that she's a good detective who just happens to care too much about her reputation, so I don't mind too much, but it's still disconcerting. And all the office politics with her and the captain and the new lieutenant can just go away now, please.
Oh, and I really don't like Deb. She got less annoying as the season went on, but never stopped being annoying completely. She's just so obnoxious, and it seemed like they spent a lot of time establishing that she's a pretty dumb cop, and that she needed Dexter's help to solve cases - and then she started having some good hunches on her own, only to be the dumbest person ever and get engaged to the Ice Truck Killer and not even notice. (I, for one, pegged Rudy as shady as soon as he showed interest in Deb.)
On the other hand, I loved Rita right from the start. Partly because I love Julie Benz like candy, but also because Rita just breaks my heart in the beginning. I love how she's progressed from being so damaged at the start of the season to now being so much stronger, that she's fiercely protective of her kids and reclaiming her sexuality and even standing up to Paul. I don't care if it was a felony, I frickin' cheered when she whacked him with the baseball bat. Speaking of which, ever since the scene when the drug dealer took her car and Dexter just stood there, I had a feeling Dexter would end up killing somebody for Rita. As it turned out, he did get rid of Paul for her, but he didn't have to kill him.
The one criticism I have is with the suspension of disbelief needed for Dexter's upbringing. It's one thing to have a character who was traumatized at a young age and thus needs to satisfy his sociopathic urges in unorthodox ways. The part I can't buy is that Dexter's foster father was so accepting of it and trained him to pretend to be normal and how to kill without getting caught. I dunno, I think the typical parental reaction would've been to send young Dexter for some industrial-strength therapy. I wouldn't mind it so much if it were just an established premise that we had to accept, but then moved on and focused on Dexter and didn't dwell on the unbelievable stuff. But because Dexter's methods are so intertwined with his father's teaching, and there are flashbacks in every single episode, it's a constant reminder of how bizarre I find the whole thing to be.
But overall, I am definitely enjoying it enough to want to keep watching. Season 2 is also available for streaming, but season 3 is mail only, so that will probably slow me down. Maybe then I'll switch back to Rome.
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Honestly, I got the impression that Book Dexter is the author's Mary Sue...
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