About the Author
By Chris Snellgrove | Published 26 seconds ago
What To Know About Dexter
If you’ve never watched Dexter before, you should know its wild premise (ripped straight from Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter novels) before you add it to your Netflix queue. Our title character is a forensic specialist with the Miami Police Department who has a startling secret: he’s a serial killer who has been driven by the violent urges of his “Dark Passenger” since seeing his mother brutally murdered. He was raised by a cop who trained his adoptive son to only kill bad people, and Dexter must now navigate a double life as both a mild-mannered blood-splatter analyst and a ruthless vigilante murderer.
The Cast
Dexter (unlike many shows on Netflix) has a great cast, including Michael C. Hall (otherwise best known for Six Feet Under) who won a Golden Globe for his powerful performance. Other great cast members include Julie Benz (of Buffy and Angel fame) as Dexter’s love interest and Jennifer Carpenter (horror fans will know her from Quarantine and The Exorcism of Emily Rose) as his potty-mouthed sister. And without getting into spoilers, later seasons bring in great guest stars, including Jimmy Smits, Edward James Olmos, John Lithgow, and many more.
Awards and Accolades
If the cast of Dexter doesn’t inspire you to pull up your Netflix account, you may be interested in how many awards and nominations this show about a quirky killer has received. The show was nominated for an impressive 24 Primetime Emmys and took home two of them, just as it was nominated for 10 Golden Globe awards and took home two statues. As for Hall, he personally took home one of those Golden Globes as well as Satellite, Saturn, and Screen Actor’s Guild awards for his sublime performance as Dexter.
The Right Time To Revisit
For the most part, Dexter impressed critics and fans alike long before it landed on Netflix. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a critical rating of 71 percent, and audiences gave it (via the Popcornmeter) 81 percent. This goes to show that even though the series has a legendarily terrible ending, most who watched it felt that it was more than the sum of its parts and that its creativity and clever execution for most of its eight seasons outweigh the show pretty epically stumbling over the finish line at the end.
Conclusion
Plus, New Blood really did its best to redeem the original show’s bizarre ending, and Original Sin has proven to be a clever prequel that adds some crunchy context to our title killer’s earliest adventures. Collectively, these two follow-up shows did what I once thought was impossible: make me interested in the original show despite its extremely flawed finale. And now that Dexter is on Netflix, I’ve been enjoying rewatching one of premium cable’s boldest and bloodiest creations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Dexter a good show?
A: Yes, Dexter is a critically acclaimed show with a great cast and impressive awards and nominations.
Q: Why is the ending of Dexter so bad?
A: The ending of Dexter is widely considered to be one of the worst series finales in television history.
Q: Is it worth rewatching Dexter despite the bad ending?
A: Yes, despite its flawed finale, Dexter has many great episodes and a unique premise that makes it worth watching.
Q: Can I watch Dexter on Netflix?
A: Yes, Dexter is currently available to stream on Netflix.