It is sad that we Americans would be so harmed by adult entertainment. We must be protected from the world.
I can’t get on board with the supporting cast slagging. The only one who’s exceptionally weak is the one playing Deborah.
Actually, the fabulous opening sequence was missing from the CBS version, unfortunately. Maybe edited due to time constraints? The weak-ass replacement was much shorter.
The part that gets me is the shoelace sliding through the hole… Argh! I don’t know why it creeps me out, but it makes my skin crawl.
As interesting as it was to hear a curse-less Deb, I don’t think I can keep watching it on CBS. Although I was surprised at the level of violence (and the number of dead body parts) that they showed on network tv.
I’d imagine the credits are cut for time. They’re trying to cram a 50-55 minute show into 42 minutes of ad-loaded TV. They cut out some other parts… when he kills his second victim, you skip past it. I don’t know what else they cut out.
Rewatching the first episode, it was a little rougher than I remembered it. People settle into their roles a little bit and the show becomes smoother.
I’d recommend anyone interested in the series to get the DVDs so it’s uncut and unedited. It really is a good show.
And yeah, the opening credits are totally sinister. Random related question: Does the part where he deliberately pulls his shirt over his face represent him putting on the figurative mask of humanity and normal interaction he uses to disguise himself in society?
I think it represents him covering his body in a shroud of cloth to conform to social conventions and protect his pink skin from the hard Miami sun.
Agreed. And even she has - certain - qualities - to recommend her, to at least a portion of the viewing audience.
very funny! could be both though…he wears a lot of short sleeves.
i think the writing on this show is amazing and made me very symp. to the strike. the writers deserve every penny they can get and more.
Meh = average. Take it or leave it. Picture shrugging one shoulder, cocking your head to the side a little, and saying, “Meh.”
That’s Dexter, to me. Very networky (except for the profanity), and not at all the level of any number of HBO shows.
I thought the shirt pulled over the face was supposed to evoke someone being suffocated with, e.g., plastic wrap. Most of the opening credits are evocative of something grisly or murderous – the floss is garrotte, he’s pulping a blood orange, the shoelaces are like he’s tying someone up, etc. The shirt pulled tight over a face fits with that.
I suppose that makes sense.
All of the other things I interpreted the same way of course. I always thought the sequence was designed to evoke those things and then, at the end, he puts on his shirt - deliberately covering his face as if by a mask - and then in the very next scene he’s walking out of his apartment smiling and waving at a neighbor.
The floss/cooking/etc. were the primal acts that reflect what he does, the shirt scene was the transition representing the effort he has to make to act normal and put on his mask, and the final scene was of him looking like a pleasant happy neighbor - he may even help the little old lady next door take out her trash. A transition and contrast.
But I’m bad at interpreting meaning.
I watched online, and it clocked in at 49 minutes and change. Closing credits came on after 47+ minutes. I don’t know if online is the Showtime version, and they chop more minutes for TV.
The Showtime version of the first episode – which I somehow seem to have in avi form on my computer – is 51:40. That includes the opening sequence, but the ending credits are cut. So figure 52 minutes total.
I noticed that the network version was scheduled for 63 minutes, which I’m sure helps a lot.
I wonder if the “woodenness” of the other actors are because it’s supposed to be how Dexter perceives them, rather than how they really are?
I liked the show. The premise is certainly out there. But I have a complaint:
Here’s his foster dad, teaching him how to cover his tracks.
Here’s him, talking about how careful he has to be to cover his tracks.
Here’s him, breaking into the snuff film guy’s home, picking the lock and opening the door with his bare hands, leaving lovely finger and palm prints behind. And other types of transfer, too, probably, but those are the obvious ones. I mean, jeez. Talk about an elementary precaution!
It’s especially odd because the moment he steps through the door and closes it, he puts on gloves.
The Ice Truck Killer strikes again!!!
Explanation below:
These were taken in a greenhouse where we had a party for my step-MIL… very eerie seeing as how the party was the day we finished watching Season 1
If they quit the police, will Doakes ‘n’ Deb do something agricultural, maybe becoming melon farmers? 
Did I miss an episode last Sunday? I don’t remember seeing one, but the fact that there’s one coming up this Sunday makes me think I might’ve forgotten last weekend.
Just watched the first season on Netflix. It’s on the “watch instantly” page, which means that I tore through it in about four days. I’m slightly mystified at the recently emerged genre of “men who have some sort of major issue, that helps them solve crimes,” but I can’t stop watching! (In the back of my mind: Why no “women with issues that help them solve crimes” shows?) I’m pretty sucked in to this one and can’t wait to find a way to watch Season 2.
I was only slightly disappointed that I saw the Season 1 finale’s “Big Twist” coming about a half mile away. 
Oh, and I agree that Dexter alone makes the show worth watching. I’d watch a show that was just him reading the phone book. In voiceover.
I’ve been watching this, and am slightly disappointed that it’s been edited. This is Canada! We watched the Sopranos uncensored!