Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Dexter
Ever seen the titles of the books that inspired Showtime’s Dexter?
They’re things like “Dearly Devoted Dexter” and “Darkly Dreaming Dexter.” All these really kind of lame, over-clever alliterations. Titles that don’t just announce an author’s presence behind them but pretty much scream it. They set up from the outset a light-hearted, almost cutesy style that the show has adopted as well, one that sooner or later almost always gets me on the fence wondering, really, how much do I even like this?
But I do. Like it, I mean. The first season’s a lot of fun and Season 2 was great, the whole sociopathic existential crisis of it, a kind of serial killer’s coming of age. Even Season 3, which I’ve read a lot of negative about, I thought was awesome: Dexter losing control, being the manipulated instead of the manipulator. Naysayers wrote that the show had lost sight of the fact that Dexter, no matter how likable he is, is a monster. Period. And that all of his repulsive qualities were transferred over to Prado, the “mad dog.” Turning Dex into a kind of hero when he finally “puts him down.”
And they were right. One of my favorite scenes in the whole series is one where Dexter’s the ugliest. The one where Harry walks in on him chopping someone up. He’d taught Dexter everything he knew but it was the first time he’d actually seen him in action, behind goggles and a dripping electric saw. And in that second abstractions like “justice” and “codes” came crashing down, his own garage dressed from floor to ceiling in plastic tarps, his son covered in blood and smiles, as if Harry should be proud.
Even the way it was shot, not as shiny or controlled as usual. It was like the show was saying, “Remember, Dexter kills people. No, no, seriously – kills them.” Which is what, I think, the ideal was going in, to create an absurd contradiction, a person and a monster, despicable but relatable.
I loved the implications of that scene but in all fairness, the show never really went that way, committed that fully to the dichotomy. It’s always been sensationalized, playing off of the novelty of its idea to weave mystery yarns. It’s a plot show, not character. And I can deal with that. They might have let loose a bit in Season 3, but who cared? I was loving the power struggle, too wrapped up in Jimmy Smits and that incredible scene where Dexter realizes he’s been had, analyzing bovine blood. And he loses it–close-up on his angry eyes–and throws his chair out his office window. Ah….really great stuff.
But now it’s Season 4 and it’s been 2 episodes and I’m bored. The whole style thing I was talking about earlier, the heavy-handedness of the book titles–well, to me that style is the show’s own “Dark Passenger.” They could have a good thing going, a smart, solid character-y plot, but it’s only so long before a useless side-story is hatched or Dex’s narration kicks in again to reiterate the obvious or say something ironic.
[SCENE]
Detectives working a crime scene. Deb leans over, says something like: “Man, Dex, what a fuckin’ mess, huh? You’d have to be a real sick sonuva-mother-fuck to do something like this. I mean, not you. ‘You’ as in whoever did this. I know you’d never hurt a fly.”
Dexter smiles, his narration says clever something like: “Yeah, except criminal flies who slip through the cracks of the system.”
Or maybe something simpler like: “You’re right. I prefer humans.”
[SCENE OVER]
Seriously?
This is getting long so I’ll cut short by saying that I’m still pretty excited about Season 4, but just kind of worried about it. I’m ready for the show to be a little less soap opera and just a little more cerebral, just enough to surprise me. I mean, Angel and Maria now? That’s more desperate than surprising. And Sunday’s missing body routine, with Quinn pocketing cash from a crime scene and rockstar serial-killer-hunter Lundy stopping Dexter every 2 seconds to chat? I just didn’t care.
Let’s face it, we watch things like Dexter for their melodrama, not subtlety. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But shows only work as long as their characters keep growing; there needs to be some kind of medium. So I even though I can’t wait to spend more time with Trinity (his dog-walking scene was arguably the best of last episode), Dexter can’t rely on its villains for change. I need to see a new side of Dex, and soon, to prove to me this season is legit. Because there comes a point when shocking isn’t shocking anymore, when tension gets tedious.
Just ask True Blood.
New Dexter tonight, and every Sunday, @ 9PM on Showtime
This entry was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 2:37 pm and is filed under television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
