Dexter, Season 1 - “A Very Neat Monster”
Showtime’s “Dexter” - based on the novel “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” by Jeff Lindsay - came highly recommended to me, and so, when season 1 hit the shelves at my local DVD pusher, I was quick to snatch up a copy. It turned out to be one of the best purchases I have made in the tv-show realm.
On the surface, Dexter Morgan appears to be living a normal, and a very neat life. He is good looking, sympathetic and caring. He has a job as a blood-spatter analyst at the forensic department of Miami PD, a loving girlfriend, a caring sister and loyal friends at the Miami PD.
But it’s all a sham, for beneath the surface beats the heart of a calculating and highly skilled serial killer. His job, his appearance, and even his girlfriend, Rita, are all covers to hide who he really is. Compassion, empathy, love and remorse are alien emotions to Dexter, and his only true friend is his inner voice, aptly named “the Dark Passenger”, urging him to kill.
Due to a childhood trauma, Dexter developed sociopathic tendencies, stripping him of his ability to feel normal human emotions, and leaving him with an aching urge to kill. Noticing this, and realising the urge would never go away, his foster father Harry - a Miami police detective - taught Dexter everything about killing, and laid down the rules of who he is allowed to target.
Following the “Code of Harry” , Dexter knows who to kill, how to kill them, and how to get away with it. Faking human emotions, he is able to appear normal to the world by day, while carefully targeting his victims at night. He takes his time with them and collects “blood trophies” to appease the Dark Passenger.
Dexter is in complete control of his life, and all is well.
That is, until the mysterious “Ice Truck Killer” is brought to the attention of the Miami PD. Upon the crime scene, Dexter finds himself greatly admiring the work of his fellow colleague , feeling like a student watching the master at work. His fascination only grows, when the Ice Truck Killer is quick to entangle Dexter in his game.
Dexter is also forced to delve into his past and come face to face with the incident that shaped him.
I think the the quote “I can kill a man, dismember his body and be home in time for Letterman. But knowing what to say when my girlfriend’s feeling insecure… I’m totally lost” by Dexter describes the show pretty good. It describes Dexter’s struggles in fitting in with other people, and especially how to communicate and handle himself in his relationship with his emotionally crippled girlfriend Rita.
There is an impressive character development in this show, especially on Dexter, Rita and even his sister Debra.
Having recently watched season 1 of “Veronica Mars”, I realise that the two shows share a similar structure.
*Both main characters narrates throughout the show.
*Dexter’s “1 kill per episode” versus Veronica’s “1 case per episode”, although Dexter’s kills make up less of the plot of the episodes than Veronica’s cases.
*And last, but not least, they both share an ongoing “mystery plot” through out the season, though Dexter features a MUCH larger focus and intensity on its mystery.
The show features mostly solid acting, with the excellent Michael C. Hall as Dexter at as the cream of the crop. The actor playing the Ice Truck Killer was also pretty damn brilliant. It was also cool to see “Dr. Gloria Nathan”, “Enrique Morales” and “Moses Deyell” from “Oz” as “Lt. LaGuerta”, “Angel” and “Sgt. Doakes”, respectively.
Dexter is VERY well produced, featuring an imagery that is absolutely superb, not holding back on the violence, and making even the bloodiest and goriest of scenes, artistically beautiful. It also features an excellent score, with the incidental part of the soundtrack being reminiscent of Jesper Kyd’s work on the game “Hitman: Contracts, or the score featured in Luc Besson’s “Nikita”.
All in all, this is pretty much one of the very best TV-shows I have ever seen.
I have to extend an enormous thanks to Amras and my dear brother, for recommending me this work of brilliance.
If I have to rate it, then it has to be:
10/10
Posts
I’m somewhat faint of heart, so, I’m unsure if I’ll like this. But we’ve decided to give Dexter a go as soon as we’re done with Rome this summer, and as of yesterday we have only two episodes left, so this review was well timed.
Worst case scenario is it freaks me out and I STILL love it. Then I’ll keep watching and keep being freaked.
23. June 2008 @ 04:55 ( Permalink )
Hooray! I hope you’ll like it as much as I did.
I don’t think you will freak out too much, though. In the violence/gore department, a few of the scenes in Rome features some of the most graphic violence I have seen, barring films such as “Hostel”. The darkness of the series is often countered by Dexter’s humorous approach to in his narration.
Anyway, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, and I hope to read the your verdict of the show on your blog.
23. June 2008 @ 10:55 ( Permalink )
You’ll get to read the verdict there, no doubt, though no guarantees about how long the wait for that verdict’ll be. I suck at making time to write reviews.
I hope we’ll get through it quickly, though, as I have a not-so-secret-ambition of showing her Deadwood before the summer’s done as well. I was pleasantly surprised at how much she’s enjoyed Rome, so I’ve got hopes up now.
Anyway, thanks for the review, I particularly found the comparisons with Veronica Mars interesting. Hope to see one on VM as well!
23. June 2008 @ 11:44 ( Permalink )
I agree quite fully with this review, but would add that while this is Damned Good Television, it features a very underdeveloped supporting cast and one very irritating (and poorly acted) sister.
All this is much better come season 2, though.
23. June 2008 @ 14:18 ( Permalink )
“Anyway, thanks for the review, I particularly found the comparisons with Veronica Mars interesting. Hope to see one on VM as well!”
I will definitely write a post of VM eventually, as well as including it in the next “Eating my own Words” post.
“I agree quite fully with this review, but would add that while this is Damned Good Television, it features a very underdeveloped supporting cast and one very irritating (and poorly acted) sister.
All this is much better come season 2, though.”
I agree, Debra was pretty annoying, and I felt that Dexter carried the entire show on his own, at some points. Thankfully not anywhere near as bad as shows like “House”, which features some of the most boring supporting characters I have ever seen, serving only as props to improve the main character’s hilarities.
Yeah, Debra pleasantly improved in season 2.
23. June 2008 @ 16:09 ( Permalink )
I don’t know how much of House you’ve seen, but I felt the supporting cast grew - very slowly, true, but grew nonetheless - quite a lot during the course of the show so far. Especially Wilson (who admittedly was the strongest one from the get go) has been almost as fabulous as House himself for a good season now. I find Cuddy and especially Chase (ironically the one I felt had the least personality in season 1) have improved a lot as well, but it’s a general trend.
Glad to hear that Dexter gets even better. Excited to see if I’ll like it as much as everybody else seems to do.
And a VM-post sounds grand!
23. June 2008 @ 16:40 ( Permalink )
I have so far only seen the first two seasons, and I’m a few episodes into season 3. Wilson and Cuddy have always enjoyed a status as the most interesting supporting characters in my book, and I’m pleased to hear that they only get better.
Your statement of Wilson becoming almost as fabulous as House sounds very, very promising. I’ll probably finish season 3 once I have watched the last season of “Oz”.
24. June 2008 @ 12:52 ( Permalink )
Damnitalltohell! I suddenly found myself wanting to write a long post about season 4 of House, but I don’t want to spoil you, Shirgaal.
Suffices to say that I do NOT think highly of Chase in season 4, and can’t see for the life of me see why anyone else would
24. June 2008 @ 15:26 ( Permalink )
Chase is not very interesting in season 4, but that’s for obvious reasons that I can’t mention here without spoiling Shirgaal. In season 3 and towards the end of season 2, however, when he last had a decent chance to shine, I found him to have improved on a much steeper curve than Cameron and Foreman had.
“Your statement of Wilson becoming almost as fabulous as House sounds very, very promising.”
But yeah, I think so - mind you, proportional to the amount of screentime he has, anyway. He obviously never gets as many chances to be fabulous per episode as House does, so quantitatively he’s not in that league at all. They do however keep giving him a lot of very fun or cool moments, and I think that’s a slowly increasing trend throughout the show’s third and fourth season in particular. Having only watched through the show once, though, I might be wrong, so… again, Amras?
Might be a slight overstatement, I’d like Amras to comment that comment for you.
We watched Dexter’s pilot yesterday, by the way. Looks very good, but I’m rather skeptical that this might be too strong stuff for me. For once a week it might be okay, but we’re looking for a show to watch an episode or two of practically every day (like we’ve done with “Rome” so far this summer), and we’re both a little worried that this might be much too heavy for that. We’ll see when we’ve gotten a little further in, though.
That said, looks very good. I’m particularly fascinated by his relationship with his girlfriend, by the way. That looked like a very promising plot-thread.
25. June 2008 @ 03:17 ( Permalink )
“Damnitalltohell! I suddenly found myself wanting to write a long post about season 4 of House, but I don’t want to spoil you, Shirgaal.”
Haha, don’t let my slowpoke-tendencies stop you from posting exactly what you want. I can simply postpone reading it until I’m up to par.
“We watched Dexter’s pilot yesterday, by the way. Looks very good, but I’m rather skeptical that this might be too strong stuff for me.”
Personally, I watched season 1 over a course of 2-3 days, but I’m pretty morbid. It all boils down to personal preference, the darkness and heaviness can be countered by throwing in an episode of a more “lighter” show, such as such as “Spaced” or “Firefly” (Which I’m planning to do a re-watch of) in between Dexter episodes.
Dexter’s relationship with Rita only gets more interesting, especially in season 2.
Hope you’ll keep on watching.
26. June 2008 @ 10:05 ( Permalink )
“Firefly” is not always that light. There’s a pretty broad gap between some of its darkest episodes (”Out of Gas”, “Serenity”, “Bushwacked”, “Objects in Space”) and some of its lighter ones (”Shindig”, “Our Mrs. Reynolds”). But I get what you’re mean. We’re probably going to do that with “How I Met Your Mother”. The problem is that our routine is to watch a short show early in the afternoon, whilst having supper, and then at some point in the evening watching an episode of an hour-length show like “Dexter”. The lightening it up-effect is kind of gone when you watch the lighter thing first in the day. And afternoons simply aren’t long enough to watch a second “How I Met Your Mother” every evening.
And switching around really isn’t an option. Don’t think either of us would retain much appetite if we watched “Dexter” whilst eating.
I’ll definitely keep watching, we both will. (We’ve seen the first two episodes now. Really seeing your similarities with VM, by the way, nice catch) It’s just… an inconvenient show for our routines is all. It’s the kind of show that basically only fits to watch once or twice a week for us, and at that rate we won’t get through it this summer, which we really want to.
It feels weird to say this, but - I’m starting to think about alternating with _Deadwood_ for lightening up our evenings. XD
26. June 2008 @ 10:13 ( Permalink )
“Firefly” has its dark moments, there’s no doubt about that. One of the things I love about the show is the way it blends humour, action/adventure and drama without compromising either.
Hehe, “an inconvenient show” made me chuckle.
I can see how Dexter could screw with the routines. Personally, due to my slacker lifestyle I currently possess very little routine in my life. No finesse, no class, I just plow through most shows in a highly irregular manner. This is probably due to me usually watching TV-series alone.
“It feels weird to say this, but - I’m starting to think about alternating with _Deadwood_ for lightening up our evenings. XD”
It sounds weird as well, and yet, in a strange way, it makes a little sense.
26. June 2008 @ 14:45 ( Permalink )
Or, you know, you could give “Weeds” a try. *whistles innocently*
26. June 2008 @ 14:58 ( Permalink )
I have usually no routine either, for the parts of the year when I’m on my own my life’s probably relatively identical to yours. But Sarah works 8:30-5 five days a week and has 45 minutes commute each way - without routines our evenings together vaporize.
“Weeds”? Maybe next summer.
26. June 2008 @ 15:06 ( Permalink )
By the way, Amras, you didn’t weigh in on my sweeping remarks about House.
27. June 2008 @ 11:11 ( Permalink )
They weren’t all that sweeping, really, but if you insist, then I’ll agree with you on Chase in season 3. However, as I remember it, if he hadn’t been *better* that season, with the extra familiarity (pun!) he had going, then I’d be more surprised than I was with his actual performance.
Which was at best a little over average, if that.
29. June 2008 @ 16:01 ( Permalink )
Suppose I should be happy you agree to a certain extent, at least.
We’re just done with episode 7 of Dexter, by the way. It’s been less yucky and gory lately, so the incentive to watch on has been unhindered. Pretty good. No “Rome” or “Battlestar Galactica” yet or anything, but I assume that as a season-mystery-show like VM it’ll probably have a season finale that makes a lot of the preceding episodes better retroactively.
30. June 2008 @ 03:15 ( Permalink )
Glad to hear that you kept on watching. Though I consider Dexter to be in the same league as “Rome” and “Battlestar Galactica” I’m not going to hold that against you.
And the season finale is pretty damn great.
1. July 2008 @ 04:55 ( Permalink )
It got way less yucky, and we got sucked in. Finished season 1 a couple of hours ago. We’re still in agreement that it’s a far cry from Rome or BSG, but it’s very good indeed. I think that of recent shows I’ve watched I’d put it next to “The Sopranos”, but beneath “The Wire”. Yet. It could get better still, of course.
On that note, I wonder how they’ll pull of season 2. They have the same issue VM struggled with in season 2 and even more so season 3 now - the protagonist’s dark past has been pimped out and played out in the plots already, and whatever new shenanigans they come up with will have a hard time feeling as big and important for the main character and thus the viewer.
1. July 2008 @ 10:16 ( Permalink )
I fear nothing can quite compare to something like “Rome” in Loki’s book. He is, to put it mildly, an avid fan of the era (though I’d also be hard pressed to say “Dexter” is better than BSG, which is a show that’s obviously so much up my alley that they went ahead and named the whole city after me
)
And, Loki, trust me when I say that season 2 won’t dissappoint you.
At all.
1. July 2008 @ 13:08 ( Permalink )
“It got way less yucky, and we got sucked in. Finished season 1 a couple of hours ago. We’re still in agreement that it’s a far cry from Rome or BSG, but it’s very good indeed. I think that of recent shows I’ve watched I’d put it next to “The Sopranos”, but beneath “The Wire”. Yet. It could get better still, of course”
Good to hear you liked it. Though I must say, I am surprised that you rate “The Sopranos” below “Rome” and “BSG”. Probably due to me having grown up with the show, and being bit of a “Sopranos-nerd”
“On that note, I wonder how they’ll pull of season 2. They have the same issue VM struggled with in season 2 and even more so season 3 now - the protagonist’s dark past has been pimped out and played out in the plots already, and whatever new shenanigans they come up with will have a hard time feeling as big and important for the main character and thus the viewer”
I thought the exact same way when I first finished season 1. How on earth would season 2 live up to the plot of the previous installment? I was, however, dead wrong, because season 2 gets even more intense, more personal and features a lot more development. In short, it only gets better!
“I’d also be hard pressed to say “Dexter” is better than BSG, which is a show that’s obviously so much up my alley that they went ahead and named the whole city after me
)”
I’d probably rate BSG higher than Dexter as well, though it’s fierce competition.
1. July 2008 @ 19:03 ( Permalink )
I think that The Sopranos is the kind of show that sucks you in more if you watch it once a week for years than if you watch it twice a day for a couple of months, and that probably makes me a just little less enthusiastic about it than you. The growing up-with-factor is huge too, of course.
Glad to hear about season 2. Brian was a rather interesting character, and losing him overnight hurt the show beyond the plot-angle of his role. So if they manage to compensate, awesome.
Amras is dead wrong, by the way, “Rome”, though awesome, isn’t even in my top five.
2. July 2008 @ 03:16 ( Permalink )
“I think that The Sopranos is the kind of show that sucks you in more if you watch it once a week for years than if you watch it twice a day for a couple of months, and that probably makes me a just little less enthusiastic about it than you. The growing up-with-factor is huge too, of course.”
You might be right there. Though I have watched the entire series on DVD over a semi-short period as well, watching it once a week creates a tradition, and it grows very close over the years.
“Glad to hear about season 2. Brian was a rather interesting character, and losing him overnight hurt the show beyond the plot-angle of his role. So if they manage to compensate, awesome.”
I really liked Brian. And loved the delicious irony of how the one who received no training, having been confined for over two decades, is the most successful in blending in, faking emotions and their “hobbies”.
“Amras is dead wrong, by the way, “Rome”, though awesome, isn’t even in my top five.”
I thought the same way as Amras, and out of curiosity, what exactly are your top five?
2. July 2008 @ 06:35 ( Permalink )
“You might be right there. Though I have watched the entire series on DVD over a semi-short period as well, watching it once a week creates a tradition, and it grows very close over the years.”
Indeed. The every-week-for-years-point is probably why I love “Angel” so much. (Of all the high quality shows I love, it’s the only one I both watched while growing up AND that went on for several years. Well, barring “Zorro” and “Friends” of course.) It’d be an awesome show no matter what, of course, but it’d hardly be my favourite if I didn’t have the sentimental attachment and the years of speculating what would happen next with the characters.
Brian was very interesting. The problem was, of course, that I felt pretty confident that he was the Ice Truck Killer the second the character came on scene. You could tell that the man in the white coat was a character actor, and not just some random guy, and that was really enough. When they started heaping on hints on him in addition, I actually started thinking he might not be the guy after all, but an intentional mislead. So that the Big Mystery Of The Season really only ever had one real candidate among the cast was saddening. The character himself, though, was awesome, as was the actor. I have to admit that while I obviously realized he had some connection to Dexter’s childhood, once I saw how young he was I stopped thinking about that and thus, unlike my girlfriend, didn’t see his being Dexter’s brother coming until just a short while before it was revealed. So at least they got me a little there. I should stop talking about this, though, or I’ll have nothing left to write in my review.
My top five? Well, it shifts around of course, but… barring comedy shows (because a show focused on humour can never compete with one focused on drama and characters anyway, no matter how brilliant) I guess it’d be these:
Angel, Battlestar Galactica, Deadwood, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Admitting a certain sentimental attachment to the last and especially first of those that could artificially bump them a little. I’m sure Angel’d be on my top five anyway, but Buffy was a good bit weaker and more uneeven in some of her seasons to usually get as good an opinion from me as she has. Still, the show rocks insanely when it’s good, which it is much more often than not.
Honourable mentions to “Veronica Mars” and childhood favourite “Zorro”, both of whom is sabotaged by a last season far weaker than what came before. (Not bad at all, just much weaker), and “The Wire”, who if it had been set a couple of centuries earlier and included just a dragon or two would no doubt try to squeeze in as well. (Read: an excellent, excellent show that I’ll never love as much as, say, Angel or BSG, because of having a premise and a genre that appeals to me less)
Now you give me your top five?
A short show-tip to you, by the way. If you like “Dexter” and you like stuff Tim Minear’s done (Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls, and while I’ve never seen any of it, he was a writer on the X-files) then you should really try out the first-season-cancelled show “The Inside”, which I as I wrote this and I considered good shows I’ve seen realized has many similarities to “Dexter”.
2. July 2008 @ 07:11 ( Permalink )
“both of whom IS”?! I get the “whom”-thing right but I can’t figure out when what I’m writing is plural?! I’ll go hide under a rock now.
2. July 2008 @ 07:14 ( Permalink )
It was almost the exact same situation for me as well, regarding the Ice Truck Killer’s identity, and the final revelation. Although I didn’t fully suspect Brian until Tucci’s release from the hospital.
My first three suspects were Rita (I know, pretty far out, but that’s me), Harry Morgan (Hey, you never know) and Dexter (Not that far-fetched, I mean we’ve all seen “Fight Club”).
“Angel, Battlestar Galactica, Deadwood, Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
All five are excellent shows. Though Buffy is a show that I have watched a tad inconsistently, I have recently began watching it properly from beginning to end (Currently 1/3 into season 2, and have to say I’m amazed by the huge step-up in quality from season 1).
“Now you give me your top five?”
Certainly. In no particular order.
The Sopranos. Having watched it since my father got me hooked at the age of 12-13, it’s safe to say that I have a pretty close relationship to the “glorified crew” of New Jersey.
Battlestar Galactica. One of the shows I have absolutely enjoyed watching the most. It’s got politics, action, drama and spaceships. What more can one possibly ask for? Though it has it’s flaws, it hardly makes a dent in the show’s overall brilliance.
Deadwood. Me and my father caught this one relatively early, when it first started airing on TV2 (Who probably bought the rights, in order to spite NRK, the cunts), 3-4 years ago. It’s one of those shows that makes it extremely hard to point out flaws.
The Wire. This show is made of win. It features a plethora of interesting characters, as well as a staggering realism. It’s a show that demands a lot from its viewers, should not be watched at times when you are unable to direct all your focus on the show.
Oz. I don’t know a single soul that has seen more than a few episodes of this show. I picked it up without any recommendations, and have not regretted it since. Oz only gets better, and better and better for each season. It is probably the show with the most extensive character development.
It also features staggering amount of “The Wire” characters. Almost the entire Major Crimes Unit has made an appearance.
“A short show-tip to you, by the way. If you like “Dexter” and you like stuff Tim Minear’s done (Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls, and while I’ve never seen any of it, he was a writer on the X-files) then you should really try out the first-season-cancelled show “The Inside”, which I as I wrote this and I considered good shows I’ve seen realized has many similarities to “Dexter”.”
Thanks for the tip! I’ll make sure to check it out.
I’ll probably write a spoiler-free post of season 1 of Dexter, as well as an eventual “Oz” post. Though not until after the VM post, which I’ll probably write tonight/tomorrow.
2. July 2008 @ 09:11 ( Permalink )
“My first three suspects were Rita (I know, pretty far out, but that’s me), Harry Morgan (Hey, you never know) and Dexter (Not that far-fetched, I mean we’ve all seen “Fight Club”).”
Up until Rudy showed up, mine were Harry Morgan (obviously), and, way behind, Angel (he’s TOO nice) and the skeptical cop whose name escapes me (as it’d explain why he can tell Dexter’s bad news). Never suspected Dexter, I must embarrassedly admit, but then again, I’ve never seen “Fight Club”…
“(Currently 1/3 into season 2, and have to say I’m amazed by the huge step-up in quality from season 1).”
The quality of Buffy-seasons… season 2 is a HUGE step up for the season-arc-episodes, but honestly, some of its standalone-fillers are worse than anything in season 1, so it’s quite uneven. Luckily, the season-plot fills the majority of the episode-slots and it is _excellent_.
Season 3 is amazing. The season plot is only a slightly bit weaker than that of 2, but there’s almost no drop in quality in the fillers.
Season 4 is my least favourite after 1. It’s often overly cheesy, the season plot is unengaging, and the season villain is interesting but unimpressive. Still, they know what they’re doing after season 3, and season 4 has some of the best single-episodes the show ever had. (It’s also got one of the worst, but…)
Season 5, with the exception of the incredibly (purposefully) cheesy opening episode “Buffy vs. Dracula”, is AMAZING. My favourite season and probably one of the best seasons of television I’ve ever seen.
Season 6 is very soapy, but also very dark. With one or two exceptions, I find this season to be a very good one when it comes to average quality of the episodes. In my book, it competes with season 3 for the second place after season 5.
Season 7 is a very good end to the series, with a very good plot and some very good episodes. It doesn’t quite manage the intensity of seasons 5 and 6, though, and thus lags a little behind.
So the show is VERY good. But weaknesses like the uneven episodes in season 2 and the less-than-hoped-for season 4 would probably have pushed it a little bit further down on the list if I didn’t love the characters and the writing so much.
Hope you’ll enjoy your end-to-end-watch of it. (I see no reason you wouldn’t…)
“Deadwood. Me and my father caught this one relatively early, when it first started airing on TV2 (Who probably bought the rights, in order to spite NRK, the cunts), 3-4 years ago. It’s one of those shows that makes it extremely hard to point out flaws.”
Well, there’s the utter lack of conclusion… a travesty if there ever was one.
“Oz. I don’t know a single soul that has seen more than a few episodes of this show. I picked it up without any recommendations, and have not regretted it since. Oz only gets better, and better and better for each season. It is probably the show with the most extensive character development.
It also features staggering amount of “The Wire” characters. Almost the entire Major Crimes Unit has made an appearance.”
They’re a shared universe? Eeek! Must-watch-now. (I am a continuity-freak…)
Looking forward to that VM-post!
2. July 2008 @ 09:25 ( Permalink )
Oh, and very good list.
2. July 2008 @ 09:25 ( Permalink )
Doh! I was supposed to write actors, but got too carried away with my own mind, and wrote characters in stead. Sorry to raise your enthusiasm on a false alarm.
The thought of a spin-off series of The Wire, featuring imprisoned characters such as Barksdale, Wee-Bey and Shamrock sounds appealing.
I am pleased to hear that Buffy maintains its brilliance through out most of its run.
I remember shouting “Yes, Gods! Yes!” when Spike and Drusilla, two of - in my opinion - the best characters characters seen on television arrived in Sunnydale at the beginning of season 2.
“Well, there’s the utter lack of conclusion… a travesty if there ever was one.”
There is definitely that. Of all the shows to suffer cancellation, why did it have to be Deadwood? At least throw the fans a bone in the shape of a tv-film.
“Up until Rudy showed up, mine were Harry Morgan (obviously), and, way behind, Angel (he’s TOO nice) and the skeptical cop whose name escapes me (as it’d explain why he can tell Dexter’s bad news). Never suspected Dexter, I must embarrassedly admit, but then again, I’ve never seen “Fight Club”…”
How could I not suspect Doakes! He’s a perfect candidate! Special ops background, experience in law-enforcing, picking up on Dexter..
Glad I’m not the only one that suspected Harry.
Oh, and you should definitely watch “Fight Club”. It’s superb.
“Oh, and very good list.”
Same you, sir.
2. July 2008 @ 10:21 ( Permalink )
“Doh! I was supposed to write actors, but got too carried away with my own mind, and wrote characters in stead. Sorry to raise your enthusiasm on a false alarm.
”
No worries. *laughs*
“The thought of a spin-off series of The Wire, featuring imprisoned characters such as Barksdale, Wee-Bey and Shamrock sounds appealing.”
Indeed. Especially Barksdale, though Stringer was always my favourite character. (The last two seasons suffered during his absence - and then we lost Prop Joe and Omar too… Fucking bastards killed all my three favourite characters. Thankfully Rawls made it out unscathed so I kept my number four man.)
Mentioning all the components of BSG earlier, I have to say, if I have one complaint about that show, it’s the politics-front. Waaaay too little focus on intrigue and maneuvering for my tastes. If I had my way, half of BSG’s episodes would be “West Wing” in space with evil religious androids and Gaius Baltar sprinkled on top.
2. July 2008 @ 10:39 ( Permalink )
Ugh, probably should have told you that I haven’t finished season 5 yet. Omar… dies..? Someone actually bests Omar Little? Gods, sure hope it’s a worthy opponent.
I liked how Barksdale and Stringer complimented each other, both being relying on the other in order to run the organization as effective as possible. Avon being the soldier/warrior, Stringer being the politician/business man. Prop Joe was also pretty cool, as is Bunk. But my number one favourite has to be Omar.
“Mentioning all the components of BSG earlier, I have to say, if I have one complaint about that show, it’s the politics-front. Waaaay too little focus on intrigue and maneuvering for my tastes. If I had my way, half of BSG’s episodes would be “West Wing” in space with evil religious androids and Gaius Baltar sprinkled on top.”
That would be cool, indeed. Though they would have to cut back on the action or drama.
Gaius Baltar is of course spectacular.
“You think this is over!? This isn’t over! No more Mr. Nice Gaius!
2. July 2008 @ 16:38 ( Permalink )
“Ugh, probably should have told you that I haven’t finished season 5 yet. Omar… dies..? Someone actually bests Omar Little? Gods, sure hope it’s a worthy opponent.”
AUCH. Sorry. The way you talked about it I assumed you’d seen the entire thing. So so so sorry! But you’re far in enough that I didn’t spoil Prop Joe? Thank goodness.
Yeah, I liked how they complimented each other too. And how Barksdale in s5 in the end seems to have accepted a little of Stringer’s policies and attitudes in his suddenly being very pragmatic about dealing with Marlo.
Baltar is awesome, but the characters that own BSG are Adama sr. and Saul Tigh.
2. July 2008 @ 17:54 ( Permalink )
Don’t worry, mate, it’s not your fault at all. Idiotic of me to go on, and on about the show, without mentioning that I hadn’t finished it.
Prop Joe’s death wasn’t spoiled, at all. It was sad to see the one of the coolest characters, and most laid-back gangster get offed.
I absolutely loved when Marlo attempted to meet with with Sergei, and in pops Avon. “Surpriiise!
I think Avon respected Marlo for his heart, especially as the their earlier war escalated.
“Baltar is awesome, but the characters that own BSG are Adama sr. and Saul Tigh.”
Adama and Tigh rocks. Tigh deliverered - in my opinion - one of the coolest quotes in the season 3 finale. Certainly sent shivers down my spine.
3. July 2008 @ 07:42 ( Permalink )
Avon and Marlo were very much two sides of the same coin, while Stringer was always much more of a man in the style of Prop Joe. Their approaches to and views of crime could almost be viewed as a scale, going from Stringer, via Joe, past Avon, to Marlo. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on them all when you’ve finished the show.
Tigh’s been my favourite character since time immemorial. I just love the unflappable yet flawed number two man who not only accepts being somebody else’s shadow and second fiddle, but actively takes pride in it. And Tigh is one of, if not the, best such character I’ve ever seen.
3. July 2008 @ 07:47 ( Permalink )
Oh, and my own Dexter-review is up. Just to combine some self-pimpage with a half-hearted attempt at scurrying back on topic.
3. July 2008 @ 07:49 ( Permalink )
I think the Barksdale organisation’s main problems were when Avon and Stringer disagreed to the point where they backdoored each other, and when the flaws of one of them surfaced beyond the compensation of the other.
Avon’s flaws being his solder/street-wise attitude, rash behavior and his concern for his street-image, such as when he intensifies the hunt for Omar, and in the war against Marlo.
While Stringer’s flaws on the other hand, is his lack of street-wise and his over the top business-man attitude, such as when he orchestrates the move against Brother Mouzone, and prioritizing product over real-estate.
I’ll do some extensive posting at some point once I have finished season 5.
“Tigh’s been my favourite character since time immemorial. I just love the unflappable yet flawed number two man who not only accepts being somebody else’s shadow and second fiddle, but actively takes pride in it.”
I know how you feel, I loved those features in his personality. It’s so refreshing to see a character comfortable as second-in-command, with no ambitions whatsoever to wear the crown themselves.
“Oh, and my own Dexter-review is up. Just to combine some self-pimpage with a half-hearted attempt at scurrying back on topic.”
Cool, looking forward to reading it.
3. July 2008 @ 10:24 ( Permalink )
And I’ll look forward to that post you’ll be coming with on The Wire.
3. July 2008 @ 11:19 ( Permalink )
And there’s the review of season 2.
8. July 2008 @ 05:04 ( Permalink )