DVD Review: Dexter - The Second Season

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As you have probably surmised by now from the DVD cover image, this is NOT the cute and lovable Dexter from that most enjoyable Comedy Central show Dexter's Laboratory. Nope, this show is simply titled Dexter, and is about a very talented blood analyst that works for the Miami police department, and by the by he just happens to be secret serial killer that loves cutting people open, completely draining their blood, and then slicing up their body parts into neat little easily disposable packages. Thankfully, the execution of the series is every bit as cool as the premise. Since we don't have Showtime, we weren't able to catch the show when it originally aired. Later we discovered it as streaming video through NetFlix, and that got us hooked. The streaming video quality, however, left us wanting, so for season two we decided to go the DVD route. And thus, here I am now sharing it with you all.

Each episode is an hour in length, and typically takes on a format with a murder that needs to be solved by the department, and Dexter investigating some suspected bad guy to make sure the killing he will bring is deserved. Sometimes the two are related, and sometimes they're not. Additionally, each season has a plot thread woven through the twelve episodes. In the first season, this came in the form of a serial killer that also drains the blood of his victims and cuts them up into pieces, except unlike Dexter, this one likes to flaunt his work. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll just say that it was a good story and concluded nicely, which got me wondering what kind of plot thread they could come up for the second season, and made me think that whatever it was, it probably wouldn't be as gripping.

But I was wrong, because the overall story for the second season was just as suspenseful and energized as the first, if not more so. We start a few months after the concluding events of season one. Dexter's sister, following her extremely traumatic experience, is now staying at his place. This doesn't give Dexter much time to himself, and it doesn't help that Detective Doakes is highly suspicious of Dexter and follows him everywhere. Not having a fresh kill in a while starts to get to the guy, and unfortunately, both his first and second attempt at craving his hunger doesn't go over so well, which agitates him even more, and causes him to think that he may be losing it. And if all that isn't stressful enough, some scuba divers stumble upon his disposal pit, kicking up an investigation headed by the FBI to find this new serial killer.

Basically, this season finds Dexter having to work with the people who are unknowingly trying to hunt him down, and he still has to find ways to break free of watching eyes to fulfil his hunger. There may be something he can do about that, however. Through a set of certain circumstances, Dex finds himself in a 12-step program for addictions, and when he gets a beautiful, sexy sponsor named Lila, she somehow gets past his guard and convinces him that perhaps he can use the program to help cure his addiction. Recovery from addiction is never easy, and apparently this also applies when your addiction is murder. But Lila is there to help, and as we get to know her we begin to feel like perhaps she's Dexter's soul mate. Could she be the one, or will she end up causing more harm that good? And how will Dexter get Detective Doakes off his tail long enough to do what needs to be done. And how will Dex escape the ever shrinking net of the serial killer task force? This is definitely an exciting season, and difficult to discuss without giving too much away.

The extra features in the set mostly include episodes from another Showtime series, Brotherhood. We get two episodes from the second season of Brotherhood, and other than that, I think there was just like a photo gallery and text biographies. There's also some online thing where you can apparently access a couple episodes of The Tudors and Californication, but I haven't tried that out.

Disc 1

• It's Alive!
• Waiting to Exhale
• An Inconvenient Lie

Disc 2

• See-Through
• The Dark Defender
• Dex, Lies, and Videotape
• That Night, A Forest Grew

Disc 3

• Morning Comes
• Resistance Is Futile
• There's Something About Harry
• Left Turn Ahead

Disc 4

• The British Invasion