I've loved it from episode one. A friend shoved the DVDs at me three-odd years ago, made me watch the pilot, and I didn't stop for eight hours. For this I am forever in Josh's debt. And he knows it.
There's something about Michael C. Hall (aside from my raging infatuation with him) that makes it impossible for me to look away when he's onscreen. (Admittedly, the crush helps with this.) Whether he's playing David Fisher on "Six Feet Under" (an amazing show that I'm slowly making my way through - and will be writing a ton about once I finish up), an utter psycho in what I maintain is the stupidest movie ever made, "Gamer,"or a serial killer with a heart of gold, I'm riveted by how well he can inhabit a role and make me care about the character. Especially impressive as Dexter Morgan, a man who has to kill in order to satisfy his 'dark passenger.' After all, it's no easy task to make someone feel compassion for a man whose past-time is to systematically slaughter people. Which is sort of the point. The question we, and Dexter, are forced to grapple with throughout all of the first season of the show is whether or not a murderer has to be a monster. (The exploration of this topic is one of the many areas in which the source material - Jeff Lindsay's Darkly Dreaming Dexter series - and the show depart paths. But I digress...)
It's a good question, and it's a credit to Hall that he can bring enough humanity to the role that we don't dismiss it immediately upon seeing him kill his first victim of the series - all of three minutes into the pilot.
To be fair, "Dexter" has changed a lot since season one. I'm glad the excessive melodrama has been replaced with a wry, sarcastic wit, and I'm happy that the voice-over from the days of olde has ceased to be a crutch for the writers and has become an enjoyable story-telling device, truly a character all its own.
That being said, not all of the show has been good. I hated season two, was bored to tears by season three, and was suspicious of season four until John Lithgow proved just how much of an acting bad ass he was and jumped up to my favorite series guest star in the history of ever. (I would have never guessed how brilliant he is just from watching "3rd Rock From the Sun." Go figure.) Good characters (and actors) were squandered, stupid characters were expanded upon in far too much detail, story arcs were plain idiotic, and many a filler episode was to be had.
But dammit, I haven't been able to stop watching.
And thank goodness, because season five and the role Julia Stiles's character is playing in Dexter's life would have been a shame to miss.
(Spoilers for the whole series. Back, yee who do not watch!)
