In Which The Second Season of Dexter Brings Us the Pure Joy of Irony Without Any of That Signification Garbage

Dexter website.

After slapping Entourage across the face the other day, it’s time to move on to one of the best shows you’re not watching, Dexter.

You can finish off the story of the Ice Truck Killer and all the drama in between here. As I mentioned the first time around, Dexter’s a unique serial killer in that he focuses entirely on eliminating those who are evil.

Every killer usually believes what they are doing is right, but in Dexter’s case, he’s not sure what’s right or not. Faced with an inexorable compulsion to kill others, he has decided to wring his vengeance on those who might merit it. He usually confronts them with their crime before the end, and you can sense it’s largely to make himself fell better about what he knows he must do.

While many in Dexter’s life have some idea of how not normal he is, none of them know his real self, and Dexter does not believe they could. The only one who ever accepted Dexter for who he was, was Dexter’s adopted father, and eventually a character in the first season of the show. If I gave you season 1 spoilers, I’d have to have someone kill me.

IRRRREGARDLESSSSSS

Dexter is currently in a relationship with a chick who from all evidence was Maria Bello, until it was found out that it was not Maria Bello. That’s too bad, because this is a powerful awesome role for a woman. She’s both strong enough to deal with Dexter, the specter of her violent ex-husband whose life path Dexter couldn’t help inserting himself in, and two adorable little kiddies.

The following track takes highly recommended to a whole new and more important level.

“So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears)” — Spacemen 3 (mp3)

“Rated X” — Spiritualized (mp3)

“I Want You” — Spiritualized (mp3)

“Oh Baby” — Spiritualized (mp3)

The show is now introducing its greatest storyline, the entire point of this character.

In the first episode of the second season, the basic outline of what this season is going to be about is revealed in a seemingly innocuous scene. We come across two divers in what we presume to be the ocean. They happen across a bag that looks like a dead body. When opened, body parts fly out to and fro. 30 bodies are discovered. Dexter and his Miami PD cohorts are summoned to the scene. Dexter realizes–he has been found.

Citizen Cope myspace

Thus the entire rest of the season will be devoted to the joy and pain of Dexter watching himself get analyzed and tracked down. He knows he is doomed, he knows that eventually he will be caught–he is as excited as all get out to find out how.

This is one of the great storylines and I cannot believe it has never been done. Michael C. Hall is so funny that he carries overdone performances of everyone from his sister…

to his co-workers and just keeps being Dexter. He deserves an Emmy for this show, and for being the only thing remotely interesting on Six Feet Under.

I have been slamming Six Feet Under since its inception. Is it because I hate American Beauty and the vapid studio-making it represents and that Sam Mendes almost made it good? Yes.

(Mendes is of course working on the real version of what American Beauty could have been, Revolutionary Road. )

Mendes and Alan Cumming, who I am shocked Molly has never mentioned in this space

Is it because the people that I knew who liked Six Feet Under invariably took their support of the show so self-seriously (say that five times fast) that I wanted to destroy them for ever suggesting Peter Krause was a credible male lead?

Michael C. Hall, on the other hand, should have been the central character of the show. The directors haven’t even allowed him a full-on freak-out yet; once Dexter gets boxed in–as you tend to do when you’re the top serial killer in all of Florida–that’s when the fun really begins.

Alex Carnevale is the editor of This Recording.

PREVIOUSLY ON THIS RECORDING

We discussed the import of John Cage’s prose work.

A-Rod just hit two homers in an inning. Mmm, A-Rod.

Chloe Sevigny