By Buzz Byrne

Season one of DEXTER was easily the best thing on TV last year. The groundwork that HBO pioneered with THE SOPRANOS, SIX FEET UNDER and THE WIRE was furthered by Showtime’s effort with this show. It was serial television writing at its best with a perfectly conceived and executed 12 episodes. The story arc was brilliant, the humor dark, the action crisp and harrowing and there was not one single wasted moment. The story last season was of forensic analysis/ avenging angel/ serial killer Dexter Morgan’s pursuit and gamesmanship with fellow murderer The Ice Truck Killer. As Dexter struggled to discover who he was (an ongoing act for a sociopath with a code) he also discovered how he was created. The Ice Truck Killer turned out to be his biological older brother, bent on freeing Dexter from the rules imposed by his adoptive father. Dexter was offered the choice of fully embracing his nature and living a free life with a brother who he might actually come to love- a feeling, like all of them, that Dexter has heretofore been incapable of. All he had to do was kill his adoptive sister Sergeant Debra Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter).

Dexter killed his brother instead. He chose his “fake family” over his real one and turned his back on the chance to finally live, as the season finale was aptly named, “Born Free.” Why would he do this? The closing montage of season one was Dexter imaging a heroes welcome, people cheering and confetti flying as the city of Miami acknowledged his acts as those of a vindicator and savior. Could it be that with all his talk of finding a true connection in the world, of wanting to shake off the shackles and emerge from the darkness all Dexter really wants is a pat on the back? Mix in a little Christ complex and I think so.

Season one was so well written, so evenly conceived and built for the exact number of episodes, so perfectly tied together I was almost dreading season 2. There is nowhere to go but down, right? Can you have a long lost relative come out of the woodwork each season?


My hopes are soaring after seeing the first episode. What if Dexter has to help the police find the most prolific serial killer in all of Miami, namely Dexter himself?

The story picks up a little over a month after Dexter has killed his brother and wrapped up The Ice Truck Killer. The tightly coiled mound of muscle that is Sergeant James Doakes has decided to use all his free time to follow Dexter because he knows he was more involved with The Ice Truck Killer than he ever let on. This puts a crimp in Dexter’s style when it comes to needing to kill. When Dexter finally gives Doakes the slip he gets his chance to off a blind Haitian witch doctor that has been killing his own people. When it comes to the moment of finally getting to kill, well, Dexter can’t perform. This trend extends to the bedroom when his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) tries an impromptu seduction that has less than rigid results.

When a gangland chollo enforcer is set to walk because of weak witnesses, Dexter sees this as the perfect opportunity to get his swagger back. Having trouble duck hunting? Why not go after a rhino? This gangsta is a behemoth. This time Dexter gets to the point of execution but something goes wrong as his hands begin to shake. He hasn’t used enough drugs for a man this size, or enough tape to hold him down. Paying homage to the great SOPRANOS episode, “The Pine Barrens”, Little Chino breaks free and runs away. Will he reappear? Did the wounded Russian?


The home life doesn’t get much better. Debra has moved in with him because she can’t sleep alone (still reeling from her fiancé almost murdering her- again, the Ice Truck Killer). Rita’s ex-husband, who Dexter set up to return to prison, dies in prison. Rita suspects Dexter was responsible for the prison stint but was happy enough to have the man out of her life. Does this change things?

And finally, random chance leads a diving team to the grisly discovery of trash bag after trash bag filled with body parts along the sea floor. Dexter’s personal watery graveyard. He sees the discovery on the news and for the first time, maybe ever, he feels exhilaration.

Funny, gruesome and crisp; Dexter is back.