Since 2006, Showtime has intrigued viewers with the blood splattering activities of Dexter Morgan.

Dexter is a complicated individual who lives a double life. Professionally, he is a blood-spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, but in his spare time, he performs extracurricular activities as a serial killer. Dexter Morgan appears to be normal to most people he comes into contact with on a regular basis. However, he has learned how to adapt to his environment like a chameleon. When Dexter is three years old, he witnesses the execution of his mother by three men. Harry Morgan, the policeman who discovers him sitting in a pool of his mothers blood, decides to adopt him. Harry identifies that his adoptive son has an insatiable desire to kill even from an early age and teaches him to use his tendencies to rid the world of other serial killers. Dexter is not just your average serial killer or psychopath; he has standards or a code he uses to determine whether or not his prey deserves death. He obtains irrefutable evidence that proves that his victims have killed others without reasonable cause and will likely continue murdering. Dexter Morgan is a controversial character in that his killing activities are considered by all social and moral standards to be unacceptable. However, the Dexter storyline emphasizes the fact that individuals live in a society today where many times criminals who are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for heinous crimes get paroled within a couple of years and then go back to their previous law breaking behaviors, escape incarceration or death penalty sentences based on mere technicalities, good behavior, or police negligence, or are just never pursued in the first place. The writers for Dexter begin the opening credits of every episode with Dexters getting up in the morning and moving through his morning rituals in terms of breakfast, personal hygiene, and dressing. The camera lens, which is set up close and at a variety of angles, captures each activity. Although on the surface each ritual seems normal, it is obvious that there are darker, more sinister implications which parallel the duality of Dexters persona. For example, the simple cutting and juicing of a blood-red grapefruit for consumption seems to become more like human skin being sliced and a body gutted. In season four, Dexter focuses his attention on a serial killer nicknamed Trinity because he kills in threes. Trinity has evaded not only local law enforcement agencies, but also the FBI for thirty years. Trinitys longevity reinforces the tenet that there are inherent loopholes and flaws in the system of justice which make the actions of Dexter more credible. Throughout this season as well as the whole series, the script is uniquely written so the audience can not only hear the inner monologue of Dexters reactions to other people and circumstances, but also be privy to Dexters personal thoughts and plans. The audience knows before Dexter makes a kill why his victims are on his radar, how they committed their crimes, his premeditated plans for their capture and subsequent demise, and how their guilt has been determined. Because most individuals have inner monologues of intimate thoughts which are never communicated but perpetually play through their minds, hearing Dexters unadulterated thoughts makes viewers feel like they are intimate with him. As a result, viewers really relate to Dexter; they get inside his head so to speak and empathize with him. Dexters interior monologue reveals a kind of dark humor and sarcasm which make him endearing. For example, in the Slack Tide episode of season four, as Dexter is trying to find a balance between being a family man and a serial killer, the viewer hears Dexters conflicted thoughts say, Dear Abby, Im a serial killer and need advice on how to keep my kids from taking over my life. In the same episode, during a police briefing, Dexter views graphic pictures of abused women and his inner reaction is, Even Im disturbed by this. The irony of this statement is very amusing to the viewer since Dexter would presumably be accustomed to seeing disconcerting images given his line of work. The methodology and rationale of Dexters thoughts

and actions challenge the logic of adhering strictly to the let justice prevail ideal because the audience is well aware that in reality those guilty of committing senseless murders often never serve justice; an actuality which the Trinity killer exemplifies. The scripts for Dexter amplify the vast ineptness of traditional methods of law enforcement and support the unconventional techniques of Dexter. Dexter knows time is essential when pursuing suspected murderers, so he resorts to alternative methods to expedite justice and protect society. When Sergeant Bautista says he needs to obtain a search warrant to look through a suspected murderers apartment, Dexters inner monologue states, Fortunately, unlike Bautista, I dont need a search warrant. Statements like this by Dexters inner monologue contrast the inefficiency of following requirements imposed by bureaucracy as opposed to the efficiency of eliminating red tape. By the time the victim is on Dexters table, viewers discover their own sense of morality is being questioned. Should Dexter be hunted down and incarcerated for his deviant behaviors, or should he be applauded as a hero, an advocate for the innocent who is deceased, for performing a valuable public service similar to an exterminator? Additionally, an argument inevitably arises from this conflict. Can the eye for an eye mantra overrule the innate moral sensibilities and social boundaries established by our judicial system, or will order and indoctrination continue to dominate our thought processes as we turn the other cheek so to speak? With each successive season and episode, the series gets more explicit in order to really exaggerate the possible necessity for someone like Dexter to exist given the imperfections in the justice system. The directors design gruesome crime scenes, dismembered corpses, and bloody sets to raise the sensibilities of the audience against the criminals and applaud the efforts of Dexter. For example, in Slack Tide, one crime scene involves a dead alligator whose belly has been cut open to reveal the dismembered arm of a woman. The blood all over her arm combined with the muscles and tendons hanging out of the severed section evoke feelings of disgust and vengeance for whoever is responsible for killing the woman and dumping her body in the Everglades. The make-up and design team of the Dexter crew have made effective decisions on how to make corpses and body parts look realistic and especially horrific. Season four ends with Dexter bludgeoning the Trinity killer but not before Trinity murders Dexters wife. The vision of Dexters wife lying lifeless in a porcelain bathtub overflowing with her own blood and Dexters son sitting in the middle of their white tiled bathroom floor in a pool of his own mothers blood is more than appalling to viewers and makes them want to abandon their own moral code in favor of Dexters code. The series often pairs the red color of blood with a stark white background to intensify the emotional aspects of a crime scene. Lighting also plays a large role in establishing the overall tone of a scene. Generally, Dexter kills his victims at night. The kill room is not full of bright light. The directors have chosen to place lights behind the hanging plastic which covers the kill chamber and to shine a bright beam of white light on the criminal lying on a table in the middle of the room. This disparity in light levels strengthens the viewers emotions of wanting to see retribution carried through by Dexters execution of the victim. Occasionally, the writing team will deviate from its usual lighting formula for the kill room. In the Slack Tide episode, the rapid light impulses of a camera taking flash pictures in his dark apartment lures the victim who is a professional photographer to the site of the kill room. In addition to the remarkable lighting, make-up, and sets, the original musical score composed for Dexter involves many different instruments and styles designed to enhance a variety of moods or actions at any given time during an episode. Some occur only once while others take place more often. During stalking times, the music is low, cold, and sinister, oftentimes involving drumbeats which accelerate from the originally established tempo when the action starts moving faster in a

scene. Each of the main characters has a music motif with which he can identify. For instance, Dexters pre-killing music, Tonights the Night, involves a mixture of eerie sounding female vocals singing unintelligible vowels with an echo effect added to them, electronic keyboard sounds, and Dexters character motif which consists of four different notes. This song evolves into several variations throughout the episodes. In order to stress the duality of Dexters existence, the music many times will alternate the frigidity of the Dexter motif with the spicy sounds of Cuban inspired music. This music is warm and upbeat, with its strongly syncopated rhythms and use of bongos, brass instruments, and the piano. In almost every episode of the series, the creators of Dexter point out that the conventional system society uses to track, convict, and sentence criminals is inefficient, delinquent, and negligent. Through creative script writing, sets, lighting, music, props, and make-up, they contrast the continuous failings of the Miami Metro Police Department with Dexters reliable system of justice in order to try and give credibility to the notion that serial killing can be positive if done for the right reasons. Viewers not only relate to the average side of Dexter because they see themselves in him but they also identify with his desire to see righteousness prevail. The purpose of Dexters existence is multifaceted. His conception signals the lack of confidence society places in the justice system of this country while also making society question whether it is really such a negative moral breach to see criminals reap what they have sown no matter the means. The rationalization Dexter makes and verbalizes to the audience is an effective tool for blending his ideas with individuals in the audience and for obtaining their approval for his lawless activities. The fact that Dexter is a blood spatter analyst for the police department while he also commits murders himself is ironic. The use of gory sets, make-up, and dismembered bodies for these episodes unilaterally and successfully capitalizes on the audiences emotions in a way which favors Dexter. Dexter causes individuals to look within themselves to see if they could ever overrule the moral code they have all been taught and try to adhere to on a daily basis. It is evident from the millions of fans and viewers that Dexters actions are far from condemnation by the public.