10 Greatest Villain Introductions In TV History
8. Arthur Mitchell - Dexter
Dexter's brilliant fourth season wasted no time at all in introducing viewers to its ferocious, quietly terrifying new villain, Arthur Mitchell aka The Trinity Killer (John Lithgow).
At the very beginning of the season's first episode, we see Arthur running a bath, which seems harmless enough, until a woman enters the bathroom and a nude Arthur attacks her, revealing that he's in fact broken into her house.
Arthur then chokes the woman unconscious in the bathtub, slices her femoral artery with a knife, and grabs a mirror to watch her facial expressions as she quickly bleeds out.
Everything about this is absolutely chilling, from the calm manner in which Arthur whispers to her, "It's already over," to the quiet thrill Arthur clearly gets out of watching the woman struggle in her final moments.
Though John Lithgow has certainly played his fair share of villains over the years, for younger audiences who best knew him for his role in sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, it was completely shocking to see him playing a villain this depraved.