if it's blood you want

i'm pretty sure that i am the last person on earth to start watching the show dexter.

i had seen a few episodes here and there, but never really got hooked.  honestly, i hadn't watch an episode since the beginning of season 2 when bockmed started talking to me about it.  he insisted that it was a brilliantly written show and one well worth watching.

his sentiment was reaffirmed by a few of my buddies at our casino trip.

as all luck should have it, one of our good buddies brought his external hard drive to the casino.  on it, he had all 5 seasons of dexter.  he asked if i wanted to look through his hard drive to see if i wanted to copy anything to my desktop...naturally, the boys gave two big thumbs up for dexter.  so i copied all 5 seasons onto my computer.

since then, i'm proud to say that i have finished the entire first 2 seasons of dexter.  (what can i say, i have no life.)

here are my thoughts.

i think the show is well written.  the characters are complex, there are twists that you don't easily see coming, and the overall plot is pretty sweet.  i have to honestly say: if there were a real-life dexter--someone who actually killed murderers/the scum of the earth--i would probably support him/her.  (i suppose i should put an asterisk next to that comment: i'd only support him/her if the murderer got off completely free via some loophole in the justice system...if they served their time, i don't think it would be "just" to still murder them.)

anyway, i'm starting to digress.  the point i'm trying to make: it's hard not to support someone who tries to take care of their addiction in a socially beneficial way.  this is especially true given the fact that i LOVE vengeance.  i hate shows where the villain/evil person always escapes appropriate punishment.  thus, the work of dexter = something for me to cheer about.

that being said.  i reaaalllllllyy hate shows where the main character avoids getting into trouble by tampering with evidence.  i think it's somewhat of a cop-out for the writers.

writer #1: "how do we make the main character escape trouble so that we can get re-signed for another season?"
writer #2: "an alien could kill anyone with evidence against him."
writer #1: "i don't think that would ever happen in real life."
writer #2: "a natural disaster could destroy all of the evidence against him."
writer #1: "i got my degree from an ivy league school, not a community college..."
writer #2: "we could just have him tamper with the evidence."
writer #1: "YES!  why didn't i think of that before?"

now...i know i can't judge a book by its cover (especially since i've only "read" two seasons of said book) but seriously.  first he cleaned his boat....then he destroyed the video tape...then he cleaned all of the fingerprints off of the samples....then he took the GPS from evidence after the doakes explosion....

i just think it's lazy writing.

now.  ALLLLLL of that being said.  i've spoken with some good friends here in fargo who are dexter addicts.  and they all have assured me that the first 2 seasons are basically meant to set up dexter as a deranged psychopath who has an insatiable need to kill/see blood.  they have all told me that the upcoming seasons are even better.

so.  for that fact, i think i will continue to watch.  but if i see more evidence tampering...i'm just going to shake my head in disappointment.

it's time to crack open a cold one.  after all, i'm on spring break.

let season 3 begin...now.