After the huge success of the season 1, expectations for the second seasons were much higher. But, the things were not exactly as you might expect. First season was based on the book, but for the second, series creator and writers decided to write the story of their own. And in the end that proved to be much complicated task than they anticipated. First season was just too good too follow, and that was the big problem.

Storyline

Second season puts Dexter in very difficult position to avoid investigation after the discovery of the bodies he dumped in the ocean. A new man Frank Lundy (played by Keith Carradine) is brought from the FBI to lead the investigation into a killer named Bay Harbor Butcher. And while this setting for the story had a lot of potential, problem was that this needed to last for the whole season. So, the story is expanded with Dexter joining the Narcotics Anonymous program and meeting Lila (played by Jaime Murray). Dexter will explore his past and will eventually find the truth about his adopted father Harry and his birth mother.

Many elements of the story are good, but nowhere near the quality of writing in the first season. I still believe that this season might turned much better if they decided to once again use the original books. Only few elements were the part of the second Dexter book, and for me that was the only part making sense.

Characters

They added too many new characters, split the story into too many pieces in hope that the series will became more dynamic. But that also was not a good idea, and they went too far with some characters (Lile for instance). And even with Dexter in the center still, I feel that too much time is wasted on minor characters.

Conclusion

This is not totally bad season, but is far from the quality of season one. For me it was primarily boring, and I had a hard time keeping concentration on the story. Good thing is that third season will be back to the original formula and will be much better.

Well, Dexter is something else. It’s very refreshing to see the series like this, unlike anything you had chance to see on television. Dexter is based on the Jeff Lindsay first novel in the book series about Dexter called Darkly Dreaming Dexter. First season is the only season based on the book and later seasons have their own original (but not that great) storyline. Dexter is a dark tale about the serial killer that also narrates the story.

Characters

This is a story about  Dexter Morgan, forensic investigator specialized in blood spatter and in the same time he is a serial killer. But, he kills only bad guys that police couldn’t get to or courts set free. Dexter is played by Michael C. Hall, and he does a truly wonderful job with the role. As we get to explore Dexter’s dark side we will learn about his past, his strange nature that made him into the cold blooded and calculated killer that plans and carefully executed all the killings.

Dexter and company

Dexter has a girlfriend Rita (played by Julie Benz), but they relationship is sort of a cover up for Dexter so that he appears normal. He also has a half-sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), she is a detective working in the same department with Dexter. Dexter often remembers the past and the things his adopted father was teaching him (his father Harry is played by James Remar). Cast is completed by the police detectives and colleagues.

Story

During the first season we will learn a lot about Dexter’s past, his reasons and motivations for the killing, the twisted sense of justice that drives him. In the center of the story is the pursuit for the so called The Ice Track serial killer.

Production

Showtime did an excellent job with the series, but I didn’t liked some of the visuals used for the Ice Track killer murders because they didn’t looked right to me, but they were very effective nonetheless. Series has interesting soundtrack that really outlines the dark tone of the show.

Conclusion

This is not to be missed. First season is really excellent. I didn’t liked season 2 that much, and I am yet to see season 3, but this first one is great. So, grab DVD or Blu-Ray and start watching.