BlogHer - A Word From "Dexter" - Comments

Dexter Duff

JenInShanghai — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:01:43 -0600

I just read another blog and it mentioned getting "Bloggers Butt"... I will force myself to go out to avoid "Dexter Duff" today, but tonight it is 'GAME ON buddy'! Dexter and I have a date. (that sounds a bit scary... I think I would get the creepy vibe from him if he were real).
Thanks again for the tip!
Jen

I miss my girls...

JenInShanghai — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 17:57:54 -0600

I have all of them on DVD though so I love to have an episode of pre-Yale Rory and Lorelei before bed!
Haven't seen Survivor since the first season. I can't find that one on dvd here.

I am forcing myself to go out and about today to avoid my new friend Dexter. With any luck my hubby will have to go out to dinner for work tonight and I can curl up with a few episodes before bed:)

I also have a new episode of October Road waiting for me on Itunes.....Bryan Greenberg ahhhhh.

Just Don't Become A Shut-In

Megan Smith — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:07:59 -0600

Hi Jen,

I'm glad you're enjoying our mutual friend.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Dexter and Gilmore Girls

Denise — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:11:22 -0600

My two favorite TV shows, in fact I only have watched three tv shows regularly in about seven years. Gilmore Girls, Survivor and Dexter.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings

Creepy Yet Addicting

JenInShanghai — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:29:15 -0600

I did not exercise today thanks to Dexter. Breakfast AND lunch were consumed while sitting on the sofa thanks to Dexter.
I bought seasons one and two on DVD and am addicted. I did have to stop to work a bit this afternoon and I am making myself watch a couple of old Gilmore Girl episodes just so I don't have bad bloody warped sleep tonight.
Thanks ( I think) for the suggestion to watch!

I'm Not So Sure About The Darkness Part

Megan Smith — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:50:58 -0600

Hi Zoe,

I do think we all have darkness in us, some more that others, but I don't believe we all have some of the darkness of a serial killer. I think those qualities are two very different things. Two very different levels of consciousness.

And so far, I don't have a lot of sympathy for Dexter either. What little sympathy I have for him, has to do with how he grew up. As an adult, I find him charismatic and I'm very interested to see what happens to him, but sympathy, not so much.

I'd equate it somewhat to the way I feel about Meredith in "Grey's Anatomy." I can't stand her, but I believe her as a character and I'm fascinated enough by her that I want to see what happens. I sympathize with how she grew up and the baggage she brings, but most of the time I think she's a jerk.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

My Dark Passanger loves Dexter

no_I_am_zoe — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:29:32 -0600

I love Dexter. The show is fantastic, as is the series of books it's based on. I think we all sympathize with him because he is just like all of us. And I think he represents a bit of the darkness that none of wants to admit is lurking in all of us.

zoe
www.gaymo.blogspot.com

Thank You

Megan Smith — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:21:15 -0600

Definitely give it a try.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Great post, Megan!

SocalMom — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:40:29 -0600

As big a TV junkie as I am, I cannot believe I still haven't caught Dexter -- you've convinced me I need to watch. (I think I will settle for the edited CBS version).

iTunes

alyssaroyse — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:14:14 -0600

There's also iTunes. Good for all Showtime shows, and gives you 45 minutes to focus on something else while doing cardio machines at the gym.....
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com

It's great, but

alyssaroyse — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:12:42 -0600

Prepare yourself for all manner of misogyny, reckless drug use, kinky sex (yes, they'll pretty much show it to you.) But if you can just watch it as a character study and extraordinarily well written drama, it's a winner. it is fantastically good.
___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com

mmmm, David Duchovny

alyssaroyse — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:09:55 -0600

That's all. yum. yes, i think it's time for me to call a shrink.

If you can handle Californication, you can handle Dexter. Really.

mmmmmm, Dexter. yes, shrink time.

___________
Alyssa Royse
JUST CAUSE
make some good news!
www.JustCauseIt.com

Don't Deny Yourself

Megan Smith — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:50:25 -0600

Thank you.

Yes, Showtime was short sighted not allowing our northern neighbors a preview, but don't let that keep you from seeing an excellent show.

My compromise? Buy a set of used DVDs on Amazon, pay as little as you can for them, and beat Showtime out of some pocket money.

That'll show 'em.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

I Really Appreciate That

Megan Smith — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:46:10 -0600

Thank you so much.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

Dexter and I Thank You

Megan Smith — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:44:50 -0600

Hi Denise,

From such a devoted fan, I take that as a great compliment. And if I ever get a chance to read a book again, I'll give the books a try.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/YouTube

Megan's Minute
Video Runway

A Word From "Dexter"

Megan Smith — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:58:49 -0600

My name is Dexter Morgan and I'm a serial killer. Megan's allowing me to write her post this week because I make her uncomfortable. She had mixed feelings about writing about me, because she finally saw my show and liked it.

You see, Megan finally broke down, cheapskate that she is and got Showtime. So she's gotten to know me very well in anticipation of my CBS network debut. While she's fascinated by me, and that other guy, Michael C. Hall, she's terribly embarrassed by her attraction to me. She really shouldn't be. We are what we are.

I'm a forensic blood spatter specialist for the Miami Police Department. My job is to help catch killers. But since I was a young boy, I've had those urges myself. The only time I ever feel anything is when I kill. I've developed good techniques for appearing normal to everyone around me, but make no mistake about it, I feel nothing. Except of course when I can add another slide to my blood collection.

Even though I work in a police department the only cop that even remotely suspects what I do is Sgt. Doakes (Erik King). I may have to do something about him one day, but for now, he adds some spice to my work.

If I could love anyone, I would love my sister, and I might even have strong feelings for my girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz).

Megan's like my sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter), too emotionally involved in her work. Deb's a cop, but she's stuck playing hookers in vice when she really wants to work homicide.

Like helping solve the Ice Truck Killer murders. But it seems he found me first. Throwing that dead hooker's head at me from the ice truck, and then leaving that replica of his crime scene in my own
refrigerator. A stroke of genius.

But back to Megan, when Showtime advertises my DVD with the phrase "that sexy serial killer" she gets squeamish. The whole dismembered women thing, all those lovely closeups of dismembered body parts. They get to her. We talked about it for quite a while.

It's important because I'm no longer being relegated to the backwoods of pay cable. I'm on a real network now. I've joined the stable of CBS's slice 'em up crime shows: the grisly "Criminal Minds" and the riveting "CSI."

Oh, how I would relish pitting my skills against my law enforcement counterpart, Gil Grissom one day. Too bad that probably won't ever be possible.

The problem is, poor Megan wonders what does all this clinical talk of killers and killing mean to my audience? I told her it means nothing. Men and women have been presenting violence as entertainment for centuries. This is simply the most modern expression of it. She didn't believe me. Not totally anyway. There's a part of her that feels the telling of my stories and those like mine belong in the backwoods of pay cable.

Ha. Good luck getting that genie back in the bottle.

I'm not a bad guy. In fact I have very good qualities: I'm a great bowler and I bring my co-workers doughnuts every morning. I simply have urges I can't control.

My adopted father, Harry was a homicide detective and taught me to channel my urges more productively. He taught me how to calm the chaos, and how not to get caught. He also gave me certain rules to live by. I only kill killers, those who deserve punishment.

But that doesn't mean I can't admire their skill.

Oddly enough, there are parents out there who don't like me. I don't understand why, since I'm especially nice to children. Jill at Showtime Fan quoted that Tim Winter of the Parents Television Council:

“The biggest problem with the series is something that no amount of editing can get around: the series compels viewers to empathize with a serial killer, to root for him to prevail, to hope he doesn’t get discovered."

Conservative blowhard. What does he know? Patti of Patti's Blog however, loves me. She "darkly dreams" about me:

"Even though he’s a man who lives on his own, his apartment is spic-and-span. Everyone who meets him instantly likes him. You should see him and his sister together; he really cares about his family."

Now, Patti gets me. At "Ramblings Of A TV Whore," they love me as well, though their assessment of me is almost insultingly clinical:

"We’re forced to sympathize with our protagonist, a serial killer who
walks among us, pretending to be a regular guy. And as we get inside his head, we start to wonder. The many things Dexter does to pass as normal are things we ourselves do to pass as normal, posing the question of what society-defined “normal” truly means, whether it’s necessary, and how good or bad it is that we all have a little bit of Dexter in us.

Megan's thought about all these things, and yet, she still likes me. She loves good mystery and at the heart of it, my work involves mystery. Who will I kill next, why will they deserve it, how will I do it? Will I ever get caught?

We all know the answer to that, don't we?

Megan Smith is a BlogHer Contributing Editor covering TV/YouTube, and though "Dexter" disturbs her on several levels, she's hooked. Her other blogs are Megan's Minute and Video Runway.