Dexter : Complete Season 1 [DVD]

An interesting and original idea that's very skillfully executed, Dexter is never less than watchable, often quite compelling and sometimes thoroughly riveting. As the 12 episodes from the show's first season reveal, it's also the epitome of "high concept," a kind of Silence of the Lambs for the C.S.I. generation. Creator-executive producer James Manos Jr.'s title character, one Dexter Morgan (played by Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under renown), works for the Miami Police Department as a blood spatter analyst, visiting crime scenes and helping figure out what happened. He has an avocation, too: during his off hours, he tracks down some very, very bad people who for various reasons have eluded the proper authorities. Seems his adoptive father, a cop himself, taught the kid how to channel his dark side in a 'positive' direction and so, having captured these evil doers (including a child molester-murderer and a recidivist drunk driver with a trail of bodies in his wake), Dex dispatches them with clinical precision, thus making him a serial killer who snuffs serial killers.

But there's more--much more, as it turns out. By his own description, Dexter is 'a monster,' an empty shell who fakes all human interactions and admits to no real feelings for anything or anyone, including his foster sister (Jennifer Carter) and his nominal girlfriend (Julie Benz), a former crack addict and battered spouse who's as uninterested in sex as he is. There's an explanation for Dexter's weirdness, of course, one so deep and traumatic that even he isn't aware of it. It's gradually revealed over the course of the season as he and the cops (who include Erik King, Lauren Velez, and David Zayas, all first-rate) track down the so-called 'Ice Truck Killer,' a fellow monster whose grisly m.o. both fascinates and taunts our hero, leading to a genuinely shocking and squirm-inducing finale. Dexter can be a bit arch, with an ironic, too-hip-for-the-room tone that get a little old. Still, it's a safe bet that anyone who views this first season will be salivating for the second. --Sam Graham

The Emmy award-winning and Golden Globe nominated TV series Dexter is based on the story of Dexter Morgan. Orphaned at the age of four and harbouring a traumatic secret, Dexter (played by Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actor Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under fame) is adopted by a police officer who recognises Dexter's homicidal tendencies and guides his son to channel his gruesome passion for human vivisection in a constructive way – working for the Miami Police Department as a blood spatter analyst, visiting crime scenes and helping to solve murders. However, during out of hours (and with the support of his father), Dexter focuses on capturing the heinous perpetrators (including a child molesting-murderer and a drunk driver with a trail of bodies in his wake), and dispatches them with clinical precision, thus making him a serial killer who murders serial killers. By his own admission, Dexter is "a monster", an empty shell who fakes all human interactions and admits to no real feelings for anything or anyone, including his foster sister (Jennifer Carpenter, The Exorcism Of Emily Rose) and his nominal girlfriend (Julie Benz, Rambo), a former crack addict and battered spouse who's as disinterested in sex as he is. There's an explanation for Dexter's weirdness, of course, one so deep and traumatic that even he isn't aware of it. It's gradually revealed over the course of the season as he and the cops track down another fellow monster whose grisly motives both fascinate and taunt our hero, leading to a genuinely shocking and squirm-inducing finale. This box set features all 12 episodes from the show's first season. Extras include audio commentary on two episodes, a featurette about real-life blood spatter analysis, and a variety of DVD-ROM items.

Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter, Erik King, Lauren Velez