2. What is Dexter
• Dexter is an American television drama series which
debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006.
• The series centres on Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a
blood spatter pattern analyst for the fictional Miami Metro
Police Department who also leads a secret life as a serial
killer.
• Set in Miami, the show's first season was largely based
on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the first of the
Dexter series novels by Jeff Lindsay.
• It was adapted for television by screenwriter James
Manos, Jr., who wrote the first episode. Subsequent
seasons have evolved independently of Lindsay's works.
3. Institutional
• In February 2008, reruns (edited down to a TV-14 rating) began
to air on CBS, although the reruns on CBS ended after one run
of the first season. The series has enjoyed wide critical acclaim
and popularity.
• Season 4 aired its season finale on December 13, 2009 to a
record-breaking audience of 2.6 million viewers, making it the
most-watched original series episode ever on Showtime.
Michael C. Hall has received several awards and nominations
for his portrayal of Dexter, including a Golden Globe.
• On November 18, 2011, it was announced that Dexter had
been renewed for two more seasons. Season 7 premiered on
September 30, 2012. The Season 7 premiere was the most
watched Dexter episode ever with over 3 million viewers.
• On January 12, 2013 it was revealed that Season 8 of Dexter
would be moved from its originally planned Autumn airing to the
Summer of 2013. Season 8 will begin on Sunday, June 30,
2013.
4. Genre Hybridity
• Dexter takes the form of several genres. The fact that he works
for the Police department categorises the film under a
detective/noir genre or more definitely a crime drama.
• However, the excessive violence and large quantity of blood
coupled with unanswered questions means the show can take
the form of a mystery/thriller.
• The deep dark characters that surface throughout the seven
seasons add to the thriller genre yet play on the readers mind
therefore classing the show as a psychological thriller.
• Also, there are elements of satire and parody, giving it a light
hearted almost ironic feel. This means that instead of
categorising it as a drama, it would be easier to say that Dexter
was a black comedy.
• This reinforces the difficulty to put Dexter into a genre as it
focuses on several key theme, disallowing us, as an audience,
to categorise it.
5. Satire/Irony
• The show takes the form of a black comedy, which is a
comic work that employs black humour, which, in its most
basic definition, is humour that makes light of otherwise
solemn subject matter. For example, the main character is
a police blood spatter analyst who pursues an alter ego in
murdering rapists, paedophiles and ironically other serial
killers.
• The fact that his primary job is to capture villains and
criminals in Miami is ironic as he himself is one of these
villains that he is tasked to capture.
6. • Moreover, his family life is peculiar in the sense that it is
somewhat perfect until season 4. He joins marries a
single mother with two children and they live a relatively
happy family life considering their father was an abusive
drug addict.
• Furthermore, the protagonists sister, Debra Morgan,
works for the police department and she, as well as
Dexter’s friends in the police are tasked (in Season 2) at
capturing the ‘Bay Harbour Butcher’, who is in fact Dexter.
This parodies many other crime shows like NYPB Blue
who create aliases for the criminals they do not know the
name of. Also, the irony of this is profound as, as soon as
the police get near to capturing the villain, Dexter
removes evidence or diverts their attention in order to
save himself.
7. • The main character as a serial killer evokes that the
television show focus on a negative character, however,
Dexter’s warm and loving personality is ironic as he
brutally murders people in a grotesque ritual.
• Dexter acts as the anti hero as a serial killer who captures
and kills other serial killers. However, the audience do not
see the negative side of Dexter’s character only seeing
the side in which he protects Miami from dangerous
figures.
8. Self Reference / Breaking the Fourth Wall
• Throughout the seasons there is a constant narration from
the protagonist himself. Here, he speaks to the audience
and occasionally looks directly into the camera, looking
directly at the audience, thus, breaking the fourth wall.
9. Hyperreality
• Baudrilliard in his book Simulacra and Simulation defined
many postmodern texts as a hyper reality.
• This is prominent in Dexter as the situation the characters
find themselves in are unusual and do not fit into the
audiences perception of reality.
• Dexter, a serial killer working for the police department,
who lives a relatively perfect life, never finds himself on
the other end of the law, something that the audiences
perception of reality cannot believe.
