Dexter [TV Series] on AllMovie

Onetime Six Feet Under regular Michael C. Hall stars in this characteristically kinky, cutting-edge crime series from Showtime, based on a character created by novelist Jeff Lindsay. Hall was cast as Dexter Morgan, a likeable, self-effacing Miami police forensic expert specializing in blood-splatter analysis -- who secretly moonlighted as a serial killer. Early on, Dexter's homicidal tendencies were detected by his adoptive police officer father, Harry (James Remar), who encouraged his son to channel his violent impulses in a positive manner, and also pounded a strict moral code into the boy. As an adult, Dexter vowed to "take out the trash" and continue "honing his craft" by murdering other serial killers, and similar miscreants who would have otherwise slipped through the fingers of justice. Remarkably, Dexter managed to emerge a sympathetic figure via inner monologues wherein he explained his motives and modus operandi, all but encouraging the viewer to cheer him on in his bloody crusade against crime. Such was Dexter's harmless-looking veneer that no one suspected him of being a killer: not his adoptive sister, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), a Miami cop; nor his emotionally scarred girlfriend, Rita (Julie Benz), who'd only recently escaped an abusive relationship with her ex-husband; nor his police superior Lt. LaGuerta (Lauren Velez). Only his colleague Sgt. Doakes (Erik King) had an inkling that there was something...er...strange about the personable Dexter -- an inkling that earned Doakes Dexter's respect. Dexter began its weekly Showtime run on October 1, 2006.