Dexter Season 4 Review

I know I am a little late with this review, but after the finale of Season 4, I needed a little time to recover. I won’t give anything away, but to say that the writers are courageous would be an understatement.

If you are unfamiliar with the basics of Dexter, here is a quick synopsis. Dexter is a cold-blooded damn killer that puts on the persona of a charismatic, forensic blood specialist for the police department. He limits his murdering to the evil-doers and satisfies his serial tendencies by dispatching of the scum of the earth. As a borderline genius, forensic specialist, he evades his co-workers who only see him as a lovable shy-guy. He is the only serial killer you will likely ever root for. Yeah, he is the hero of the story, believe it or not. Showtime doesn’t pull any punches, so if you are not a fan of the “potty talk”, get over it. You still need to watch this series, although Debra’s mouth will likely have you choking up a little bile. Nudity, yes. Gore, you betcha. Thank you again Showtime.

The major change to this season was the addition of one of my heroes, Jonathan Lithgow. “Pulling a Lithgow” has been part of my vocabulary ever since watching “ The Twilight Zone - The Movie” back in the 80’s. He plays the guy on the plane that freaks out after seeing a gremlin on the wing. (You remember, Shatner played the same character 20 years earlier in black and white; “Therrrre’s some….thing on the wing.”) Hence, when somebody freaks out they are, “Pulling a Lithgow”. I think after season 4, this colloquialism has changed dramatically. “Pulling a Lithgow” now means so much more and probably requires a Heafty bag and a shop vac to clean up. He is also a family favorite for his Marsupial Sue kiddies series of books and songs. Those too now have a sinister creepiness after watching the latest season of Dex. I guess that is a testament to his acting. He can pull off the goofy dad on 3rd Rock from the Sun, the anti-dance preacher in footloose, and the most demented of serial killers as “Trinity” in Dex, and it is all quite believable. I’m hoping he gets an Emmy, Grammy, Pulitzer, Nobel…or whatever the “prize” is for best kick-ass killer in a Showtime series.

Trinity or the trinity killer, like Dexter, carries on every day life like a normal shmo, and has done so for 30+ years, killing the whole time. This intrigues Dex so he entangles his life with Trinity as a interloping protégé. Soon enough, Dex finds that this guy is nothing like him, and I can say that the series of events that follow make for an amazing season. I respect the series too much to give more spoilers, so I will just leave it at that.

One of the other great things about Dexter is that although every season bleeds into the next, you actually have closure on the main storyline for each season. You may not like what happens, but you don’t have to wait for another year to find out the culmination of the finale. You could almost watch each season independently and follow an entire sub-story line and not really be lost, although I would never recommend such a thing. You should start out with Dexter in the beginning and follow every minute of “The Dark Passenger’s” journey.

To be fair I have to tell you that I have loved all of the Dexter seasons. I actually order Showtime for the sole purpose of watching Dexter. That being said, wow was season 4 worth the money. Jonathan Lithgow is a god and complements Michael C. Hall very well. The writing is fantastic and I can’t wait for season 5. Well done guys, I can’t think of anything that could have made this season better.