Where do you even begin with Dexter? He has to be the stupidest killer in any serious drama, and probably dumber than most comedy criminals. The show tries to make out that its protagonist is careful, cautious and wily, more than capable of hiding in plain sight. In fact, hes exactly the opposite. Dexters public persona is intended to be affable and friendly to put people at their ease, exemplifying the normal family man next door except hes actually socially awkward, repressed and tongue-tied around pretty much everyone, and this, coupled with his professional obsession with blood, makes him more than a little creepy. This is the kind of guy people would automatically suspect, simply because hes well, a little buggy. This is a serial killer, working for the police in forensics as a blood spatter expert, who s been killing bad guys for years with an almost identical MO and body disposal method, a troubling pattern for a supposedly ferociously intelligent, highly experienced and qualified expert who was trained by his police officer father. Half the time he investigates his prey at work using a police workstation, and his idea of security while doing so is pulling the blinds in his office. The server and the computer are police property: they wouldnt even need a warrant to examine them, even if they didnt simply happen upon him in mid-search. Theres also the question of why on earth a forensic tech has access to every single database the Miami police have, but thats just the slipshod attitude of the police, not Dexter himself. And thats the problem, isnt it? Dexter has stayed at large, not because hes a stealthily silent predator, a shape in the night, yadda yadda yadda. No, its because his colleagues in the force including his own sister are a bunch of clueless clownshoes. Despite the fact that he or his family are involved, often publically, with the antagonists of every season, and despite the fact that no less than four police officers privately suspect Dexter and mount their own off-the-books enquiries into him in their spare time, no formal investigation is ever sanctioned by the police. Its simply Dexters very, very dumb luck that he isnt caught or killed long before the series limps to its lame duck finale.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
