Fifteen minutes into the phenomenal season premiere of DEXTER, I was hooked. Yet as the season wore on — and my love of the series grew — one thought trickled into my head, “I probably shouldn’t be enjoying a television series about a serial killer so much!” Of course, as last night’s finale proved, there’s a big difference between killers, and revealing that Dexter and Rudy were brothers was the perfect ending to a fantastic first season.
Dexter was essentially a super-hero, albeit one who took justice to the extreme (loved the fantasy sequence where everybody was cheering for him). Rather then let the ‘judicial system’ deal with the bad guy, Dexter played judge, jury and executioner, doling out the ultimate punishment. Thanks to his foster father Harry, Dexter had a ‘code’. He knew he had to act normal, fit in and most of all — only kill those people who really deserved it.
Harry’s code was what made last night’s finale so enthralling. We got to watch as Dexter struggled between saving Deb’s life (his foster sister) and killing his new found biological brother Rudy, the one man who Dexter could actually be himself around. Thankfully Harry’s teachings paid off [yet again] and Dexter made the right choice, saving Deb and killing his brother. It will be interesting to see how this decision effects Dexter next season. Will Dexter feel any resentment towards Deb for forcing him to kill his only remaining family member? Will Harry hiding the fact that Dexter had a brother lesson the strength of his teachings and the code? Will Dexter feel any guilt having had to kill his own brother?
Moving away from last night’s main event, there are a few other plot threads that will no doubt provide for an excellent start to the second season.
Dexter and Doakes: From the start of the season, Sgt. Doakes suspected something wasn’t quite right with Dexter. Ending off last night’s episode, it’s clear that Doakes has his eye on Dexter (literally!). Will Doakes ever find out the truth about Dexter? Will Dexter have to kill Doakes to save himself? Is there any chance Doakes could discover the truth, yet applaud his use of vigilante justice? How cool would it be to see Doakes actually helping Dexter?
Dexter and Rita: Poor Rita, she sure knows how to pick ’em. First an abusive drunken husband, now Dexter. With the discovery of Paul’s shoe, Rita has taken her first step to the discovery of Dexter’s true nature. In season two, how much more will she discover? and more importantly, how much more can this relationship evolve until Dexter has to put an end to it? Realistically, I doubt there are wedding bells in their future.
Laguerta and Esme: I absolutely loved how the new boss wasn’t in fact that stereotypical ball-buster that she initially was painted to be. So nice to see Laguerta actually have an ally in the office rather than another enemy. I can’t wait to see how all this office politics play out in season two.
And finally, the biggest question of all: As we’ve learned from shows like VERONICA MARS, the best mysteries are those where the lead character is in some form or another personally attached to the crime. Unless Dexter has another undiscovered brother with serial killer tendencies, how on earth is the show going to top itself for season two?
That said, this TV Addict can’t wait for the ride to begin. DEXTER is currently slated to return in the Fall of 2007. 