The List: #13 Dexter

#13
Number of Seasons (To Date): 2
Years Active: 2006 - Present
Network: Showtime

I think that this show was the one that proved to me that I should start paying attention to series on premium cable. Yes, I'd seen Entourage and Weeds before this, but they were almost like an escape from the normal. They were opportunities to push the envelope on certain issues farther than was possible on networks where (to paraphrase a friend) adults are unable to speak or act the way adults truly do in real life. Weeds began to show me what could be achieved by shows without boundaries, but it was Dexter that showed me just how powerful and high-quality these shows that I was practically ignoring actually were (since watching Dexter, I've since started watching Six Feet Under, which can be found on this list, Deadwood, and The L Word, which I started after beginning this list, but I can assure you are worth checking out).

Dexter asks us to take a huge leap of faith; it asks us to root for a serial killer. Granted, Dexter Morgan hunts and kills only people who have themselves killed innocents, but I think it's safe to say that Dexter's form of "justice" isn't exactly moral (especially since he does it not for moral reasons but for compulsory ones). By day, Dexter is a mild-mannered blood spatter analyst for the Miami police.

The series examines what it means to be human; Dexter believes himself to be an incomplete person, one who lacks a soul. He claims he has little to no interest in the affairs of others, but he engages in relationships in order to "pass" as human. And yet, he seems to fit in a little too well for someone so convinced that he is a misanthrope (one of my favorite lines has to do with him wondering how his relationship with one of the detectives progressed into "friendship").

Dexter combines elements of mystery, drama, and procedural shows (shudder) and the result is nothing short of fantastic.

Up next: #12...