Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under fame) is, on the surface, your average blood splatter forensics investigator. He is meticulous, great at his job, and pretty much everyone at his precinct thinks he's an all around good guy. What none of them know (not even his vice cop of a sister) is that he is actually a serial killer. When he was young, he was taken in by a cop, Harry (James Remar), who noticed early on that Dexter had tendencies that were the telltale signs of a killer. So instead of condemning the young boy, he teaches him how to survive and channels little Dexter's urges so that he would only kill those that deserved it. This set of rules instilled on him is what Dex refers to as the Code of Harry, and before he is allowed to let his dark passenger out for some fun, his victim must satisfy this code.
Typically, Dexter's victims are themselves murderers, and he chooses most of them as people who have already escaped justice through the more legal means. But where the series starts off, a new killer has appeared in the Miami area, and Dexter is mighty impressed by his M.O. (especially the way he leaves absolutely no blood anywhere). To make matters more interesting, it seems this "Ice Truck Killer" has identified Dexter and recognizes him as a fellow killer, and throughout the season, the two play a bit of a game through the dead bodies the Ice Truck Killer leaves behind.
One of the things that makes Dexter a great show is how much of it takes place in the title character's head. That isn't to say that events aren't happening, but that a lot of it is narrated by Dexter and you get a real sense of how hard he works to fit in and act like he is normal. If it wasn't for these glimpses into the serial killer-killer's mind, you could easily think that the character was simply normal. Instead, Hall's deadpan and emotionless narration really sells the character. Because of the Ice Truck Killer's games, as the season progresses, it becomes harder and harder for Dexter to hide what he really is. This is especially true to those closest to him like his sister, Debra (Jennifer Carpenter, Quarantine), his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz, TV's Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and his co-workers.
Okay, now comes the tough part. Dexter: The First Season has quite a few featurettes listed on the back of the box. All of them sound interesting, like a podcast by Hall or a "True Murder Investigation." The bad part is that none of these are actually on the discs. Instead, you have to log into BD-Live to see them. When I first saw this, I thought it was a bad idea. My immediate thought was, "What if my Blu-ray player isn't hooked up to the Internet?" Since BD-Live requires you to go online and get updates on the latest features, a lack of network connection could mean that you don't even get the featurettes. Well, to make matters worse, at the time of this writing (the day the product was released), these special features aren't available yet. When I connected to BD-Live, the Special Features section of the menu simply said "Coming Soon" and the "Additional Features" only had the first episode of Season Two for download (when the box claims it is the first episode of Season Three.) So besides the fact that I can't actually comment on the features themselves, I just want to say the idea of having them all behind the BD-Live curtain is just bad. I would hate to pick up a Blu-ray movie a couple of years after its release and see that the back of the box claims to have some special features on it, only to go on BD-Live and find that the promised features haven't been available for download for quite some time. Put simply, I have no problem with extra special features being available on BD-Live, but what is on the box should be on the disc.
Okay ... I'm off of my soapbox now, but I have to say that this feature (or lack thereof) really hurts my view (and the score) of Dexter: The First Season on Blu-ray. While the series is awesome and I love the show (it really is brilliant), that failed promise of special features could really turn people away. I hope those special features eventually show up for download, but quite frankly, they shouldn't have to be downloaded (dang it... how did that soapbox get under my feet again). Anyway -- great show but issues with the special features means that the show is a must see, but if you love features and don't want a possible hassle, the Blu-ray prettiness might not be enough to sell you on the more expensive release.
