The announcement of a "Dexter" revival has inspired us to go back and watch the series again. I watched three or four seasons the first time, before stopping as I moved house and didn't have the channel any more. I remembered a lot about this first season, including the identity of the Ice Truck Killer and why, but things get much vaguer for me from here.
Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall) is a serial killer, but one with a code embedded in him by his adopted father, to only take the lives of other killers. He maintains a normal life, working as a blood splatter specialist for Miami PD alongside his Police Officer sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) and even has a girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) and the makings of a surrogate family. Miami though is plagued by a new serial killer, one who leaves exsanguinated body parts for the police to find but also one that seems to know Dexter's secrets.
Watching "Dexter" again, the first thing that struck me was how grainy the opening episodes and especially the pilot looked. I guess I'm just used to the high definition of today and take it for granted. Either my eyes became accustomed to it, or this didn't last though, and the visuals reached a higher standard as the series ran on. I like Michael C Hall as Dexter. He narrates the story in voiceover, in an often-deadpan style. He's very good at keeping Dexter's emotions skin deep, until the aspects that really affect him towards the end of the run. The rest of the cast is pretty solid, perhaps Erik King takes Sgt Doakes a little far at times, he gets so close to Dexter it feels like they should kiss rather than argue.
It's unfortunate that I remembered so much about the Ice Truck Killer storyline going into this series as that rather took the wind out of a lot of the run, given that there are a couple of red herrings across the season. Looking forward to less familiar stuff going forward though.
