Dexter Season 4

If you’re just finding out about cable channel Showtime’s Dexter, yes, you’ve been missing  out.

Sometimes quirky, sometimes moving, and often scary, the keep-you-on-the-edge of your seat horror/drama began it’s fourth season Sep. 29.

The series focuses on Dexter, a serial killer who lives by a code given to him by his adoptive father, who was a Miami Police Department cop. To sum up the code, if you’re going to kill, make sure you kill bad people.

Since Dexter works as a blood splatter analyst, he’s able to find new victims who usually have a criminal past, and hide his own killings at the same time. The character is constantly trying to balance his moral code with his desire to kill. This portrayal is really done masterfully by lead actor and executive producer Michael C. Hall.

Over the last three seasons, Dexter has gotten away- often just barely while someone chases him – with dozens of murders, and the viewer is led to believe this is only a small fraction of what he’s actually done off screen. If there’s one weakness that the show might fall prey to, it’s that the audience might get tired of seeing the same formula used over and over again. Dexter finds a victim, who is actually a bad criminal who really, really, escaped justice, has some dilemma over his moral code, kills said victim/criminal, and barely gets away.

To be honest, that makes the storyline sound simple, and is a little unfair. The show has managed to throw enough curve balls into the mix so that the basic premise doesn’t seem repetitive.

This season’s twelve episodes will include acting veteran John Lithgow, who plays another serial killer who doesn’t live by the same moral code as Dexter. Lithgow plays the character extremely well, and although he’s not on screen that much in the first few episodes, makes you believe he’s really messed up in the head.

To add an additional curve ball, Dexter just got married and is now dealing with a new baby. He’s trying to be normal, to fit in with his neighbors and family, (even ironically taking part in a neighborhood crime watch), while feeling very uncomfortable in any situation that requires any kind of intimacy or real communication.

Dexter is a must see show. If Hall and the writers can avoid repeating what they’ve done and keep things fresh, it will stay that way. Its a big challenge for any show to achieve, but so far they’ve managed to pull it off with serious style.