A peek inside Showtimes’s hit TV show, “Dexter,” and why it was such a powerful show and intriguing character. The show, which lives on in the Netflix world, leaves you wanting to watch it over and over again solely due to the development of the main character Dexter.
Image courtesy of Google; Graphic by Ashley Van Camp
__________________________________________________
The Spanish tunes that start off each episode will have you salsa dancing throughout the night as you binge watch, or have you shivering in disbelief after each episode. Michael C. Hall, who plays Dexter and is also known for his role in “Six Feet Under,” really grasps the chilling personality that Dexter holds. Dexter is a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who lives a double life where he is hunting down fellow murderers because he lives by a code that was created for him by his adopted father for his darkness of needing to kill. This dark and deadly code that Dexter lives by is for his other half as Dexter has a split personality, allowing him to balance a social and love life with his need to kill. The code is that he only kills people who deserve to die in his eyes, like other serial killers. The backstory is that as a baby Dexter was found in a dock crate sitting in a pool of his murdered mother’s blood. The gruesome incident is what shapes the character into what we seem to love, even if he is an emotionless murderer.
Yet Dexter is able to have a semi-normal life, with a wife and kids, though he soon realizes in the series that it is hard to juggle a double life such as being a serial killer and being a family man all at the same time. Throughout the bloody series your only hope is that this colossal character does not slip in his own blood. From season one to season eight, our hearts beat and race for Dexter in ways where we are confused, angry, excited, anxious, sad or even numb. Numb would be a perfect way to describe how I felt with the series finale. I had a different idea on how the series would end, thinking it would bring closure to how such a man like Dexter could really have a normal life. The ending was fitting to the series but I would never think a show would leave me numb and limp from uncertainty. Sure, he was no knight in shining armor, his attire was more of a butcher apron and a syringe needle was his weapon of choice, but he deserved a happy ending too. So did the audience, but instead I was left on the couch, feeling cold and alone as if I had a syringe needle of my own stabbed through me.
Alexa Tippett 
Jack Gienke 
Emma Tihen