Popping Cherry

This very enjoyable episode of the series gives us even more insight into the character of Dexter, showing us more scenes from his past. Michael C. Hall is as engaging as ever, and the rest of the cast is equally fun to watch. The ice cream truck killer is still at large and has left their latest victim propped up in the net at a hockey arena. After looking at the security camera footage, the cops think that they've got their man but Debra isn't convinced. One of her old acquaintances from her days of working vice offers a lead, which she aggressively pursues. Meanwhile, poor Rita has to deal with the mess left by her ex-husband and has her car taken away by a criminal associate as payment for an old deal. Doakes is set up by his fellow officers to take a fall. And Dexter moves on to his latest target, a kid who'd killed years ago and is now out on probation. What happens when Dexter finds out the truth about the kid is just one nifty moment in 'Popping Cherry'. We see a flashback with Dexter and Debra interacting with foster father Harry who believes that he's uncovered a human monster, a person who would make the ideal first human victim for Dexter. It's nice to see guest star Denise Crosby in this chilling role. Dexter, naturally, is a little sloppy at the beginning of his murder spree, so it's cool and interesting to see some of his humble beginnings. There's not that much overt violence in this episode, which may disappoint some viewers; it's all about developing the characters and the story here. There is some raunchy humour, as Detective Batista and Masuka explain the aspect of sex "bronco" style. All in all, things move along very well here.

The very first episode already made clear "Dexter" definitely wouldn't become the greatest show on television ever, but at least it had several things going for it. Michael C. Hall is a terrific actor, there was a lot of blood and gory set-pieces and it had cynical humor and a seemingly fascinating ongoing search for a serial killer that drains all the blood from his victims' bodies. In between all his forensics work, supporting his cop-sister and upholding appearances with a divorced mother of two, Dexter found the time to personally go after criminals that somehow escaped their legal punishment. "Popping Cherry" is only the third episode, but all the aforementioned good stuff has already vanished. This episode represents 50 minutes of sheer dullness, as all Dexter and his colleagues do is talk, talk and talk. The Ice Truck Killer made a new victim and proudly exhibits her bloodless leftovers in the Miami ice hockey stadium. Debra's supervisors think they found a suspect in the sport dome's night watchman but they're wrong. Meanwhile, Dexter – suffering from long & tedious flashbacks as always – observes a youthful criminal who's released from prison but will kill again. There are no blood analyzes in this installment, no pitch-black jokes or witty remarks and no action! It was boring and the main story lines feel like they're stretched needlessly, because there's nothing else to tell. I hope the show will get better again really fast, otherwise I'm giving up.

That haircut on Dexter is actually so funny and they cut back to it so many times it made me burst out laughing everytime I saw it cause look at his dumb face in it. This is a pretty good episode with some exceptions like I do not really get Laguerta at all as a character but maybe shell be explained more.

This is another blah episode.

I don't need there to be a killing every episode, as another review stated...and I even remember recommending the show to people back when it was airing originally. The serial killing is essentially like what...less than 5% of the show? Yes...it's the main jist of the show...but it isn't just 60 minutes of blood and gore. It's like any other crime procedure show. You could probably edit out a lot of the serial killer stuff and still just have a show about a blood spatter analyst who catches bad guys in his spare time...and use 90% of the footage.

I hate that amazon prime doesnt allow me to take screenshots. I like turning the captions on capturing some great quirky or unique lines. Those are peppered throughout the series. This one was good.

"If I had a heart, it'd be breaking right now."

I dont even feel like ranking these. It's not a 10 or 9 or 8. 7 is usually my...good enough to watch again rating. Dexter just doesnt seem to fit that mold. There arent (that I can remmeber) GREAT episodes or really bad ones. They're all just....Dexter. maybe as I rewatch the rest, I'll see the better or worse ones.

So...I dont what to rate them a 6...that's too low. And 7 would theoretically suggest that this episode is worth watching again if it popped up randomly. But Dexter isnt like the office or a sitcom...or an episode of law and order that can stand alone...and that there are clearly better and worse episodes. Dexter is about the entire story... the entire season. Every episode covers a bit more...reveals a bit more. So to rate an individual episode almost seems pointless. Itd be like rating individual scenes of a movie as stand alone things. No. So I think I'm going to try and refrain from rating episodes of Dexter unless they are really good or really bad.

3 episodes in usually means I'm invested in the show. I still think Dexter is a very fascinating character and I think the plot needs more support because other characters are not really that interesting. I hope they don't drag out the entire season about the ice truck killer because that'd be a downer.