Hey, Dexter Buffs! Click the EasyEdit button to take a stab at the wiki guide to Dexter! (Don't see the EasyEdit button above? Sign in or sign up.) | | EPISODE 1: "Dexter"
Episode summary: Dexter Morgan, Miami Metro Police Department blood spatter analyst, has a double life. When he's not helping the Homicide division solve murders, he spends his time hunting and killing bad guys who slip through the justice system. His sister, Debra, a vice squad officer, pulls Dexter into her world when a series of hookers are being murdered around Miami. With his help, she sees a chance to get on the good side of Lt. LaGuerta, thereby strengthening her request to transfer to Homicide. Meanwhile, Dexter's girlfriend, Rita Bennett, a single mother of two whose abusive ex-husband is in jail, suddenly wants to take their relationship to the next level. Dexter has to cope with her more-urgent physical demands on him at the same time the killer leaves him a cryptic invitation to "play."
Original air date: 10/1/2006
Written by: Timothy Schlattmann
Directed by: Michael Cuesta |   Description of crime: A serial killer is targeting prostitutes, dismembering and displaying their blood-drained bodies. The third of his victims is discovered in the pilot episode.
Victim(s):
 |  | Name: La Perla
Body found: Third victim of the serial killer, found in the drained pool of a cheap motel frequented by hookers | Name: Jaya
Body found: Near a restaurant/club |
Assigned officer(s): Angel Batista
Suspect(s): None
Clue(s): No prints, no witnesses
Blood evidence suggests: Victims have been entirely drained of blood
Killer signature(s): Flesh of bodies is clean, dry, bloodless; body parts cut in pieces with clean, symmetrical cuts; some body parts are wrapped and tied; bodies are posed with body parts assembled; heads are missing.
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 Description of crime: "Hotel coke head murders" -- a drug dealer and a woman are found murdered in a hotel room.
Victim(s): Man and woman are believed to be slain by a rival drug dealer
Assigned officer(s): James Doakes
Crime scene: Hotel room
Suspect(s): Rival dealer; Dexter points Doakes to look for the woman victim's boyfriend, who is arrested for the murders.
Clue(s): Killer used a sharp knife, killing the man quickly with a slash to the carotid artery; blood spatter from woman's murder suggest a crime of passion, with numerous sprays of blood from multiple stabs.
Blood evidence suggests: Dexter disproves Doakes theory that the murders were committed by a rival drug dealer, instead suggest the "crime of passion" blood signatures of the woman's murder suggests a spurned lover/former boyfriend.
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 Victim name: Mike Donovan
Age/Occupation: 40s; boy's choir leader
Where/how Dexter stalks victim: Outdoor pavilion where the choir performed
Why victim deserves it: Killed at least three pre-teen males; possibly sexually assaulted
Victim's victims:
Young boys
Dexter's kill methods and rituals: Shrink wrapped to rubber-sheeted table; electric saw. Dug up young victims for display
Victim's last words: "Why?"
Location of killing: Abandoned building where he buried three bodies
Close calls/slip-ups: No witnesses; wife comes to the station the next day to report Donovan's disappearance | |  Victim name: James Jaworski
Age/Occupation: 20s-early 30s; valet
Where/how Dexter stalks victim: Outside the hotel where he valets; breaks into his home and finds a fetish website that Jaworski frequents; views an online video that positively identifies Jaworski and his victim
Why victim deserves it: Killed at least one woman in a snuff film; was arrested but freed on a technicality
Victim's victims:
Jane Saunders, mother of two small boys
Dexter's kill methods and rituals: Duct taped to rubber-sheeted table; cleaver. Lured him with a photo of Jane Saunders
Victim's last words: "Yeah I did her. In a movie. But you know what? I'm not sorry."
Location of killing: Construction site for future condos, where victim has come to steal copper piping to sell
Close calls/slip-ups: No witnesses; Dexter comments that there is no security patrolling the site | | |
FLASHBACKS
- 11-year-old Dexter and his foster father Harry are out on a boat alone when Harry confronts him with finding a grave littered with many bones of small animals.
- Pressing him further, Harry asks if he has ever wanted to kill people. Young Dexter replies yes, but didn't because he thought his parents wouldn't like it.
- Later in Dexter's teen years, Harry again confronts his son with a set of bloody knives; Dexter immediately confesses to killing animals only. Apparently, Harry has been working with him to suppress these urges, but with this evidence, he realizes that he must teach Dexter to channel these urges. Harry begins telling him about criminals that the police can't catch and how to cover his tracks; most importantly, he praises Dexter for his innate goodness and reminds him that his is loved.
| CLUES TO DEXTER'S PAST
- At the time of Harry's first confrontation with Dexter's urges, his wife, Doris, is ill with cancer and presumably died within a year or two.
- At the beginning of the show, Harry has been dead for the past ten years.
- Judging from Dexter's slide collection, there appears to be 30 - 40 victims.
- Initially stalks his victims by viewing cold cases supplied by the police department's records supervisor, Camilla, who knew his father; garnering from her reaction after he leaves, she is smitten with him.
- There is a visible scar on the middle on his left side, covering his ribcage.
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DEXTER'S RELATIONSHIPS
Developments with Rita:
- Minor setback when Dexter caresses her thigh while describing the Ice Truck Killer's methods, which immediately triggers Rita's fear of intimacy and flees.
- Possibly desperate not to lose Dexter, Rita nervously initiates a sexual encounter but is thankfully interrupted. They part on good terms.
| Interactions with others:
- Has a jovial, relaxed relationship with all of his co-workers except for Doakes (outright hostility) & LaGuerta (who hits on him).
- Enjoys the company of children and understands their differences (i.e. complimenting Astor, roughhousing with Cody).
- Acts very much like a big brother to Debra -- providing encouragement, dating advice, guidance -- despite telling himself that he has no feelings for her.
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| SIGNIFICANCE OF EPISODE TITLE |
| The title of this episode is easy enough to interpret. This is the pilot episode of the series, so the name is simply Dexter, named after our hero in the show. |
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Best Moments:
- When young Dexter tells his foster father that he resisted killing humans because he didn't think his parents would like it, Harry draws him close, realizing that while all the love and attention he and his wife gave had instilled some goodness, Dexter's earlier trauma has now come to light.
| Best Lines:
- "I don't know what made me the way I am, but whatever it was left a hollow place inside. People fake a lot of human interaction, but I feel like I fake them all -- and I fake them very well. And that's my burden, I guess. I don't blame my foster parents for that: Harry and Doris Morgan did a wonderful job raising me. But they're both dead now. I didn't kill them -- honest."
- "Blood. Sometimes it sets my teeth on edge; other times it helps me control the chaos."
- "The Code of Harry -- my foster father -- is satisfied. And so am I. Harry was a great cop here in Miami; taught me how to think like one, taught me how to cover my tracks. I'm a very neat monster."
- "That's my foul-mouthed foster sister, Debra. She has a big heart but won't let anyone see it. She's the only person in the world who loves me. I think that's nice. I don't have feelings about anything, but if I could have feelings at all, I'd have them for Deb."
- Camilla: "You have a morbid sense of fun." Dexter: "That's probably true."
- Harry: "It's okay, Dex. You can't help what happened to you. But you can make the best of it. Remember this forever: you are my son, you are not alone and you are loved."
- "I suppose I should be upset, even feel violated. But I'm not. No, in fact, I think this is a friendly message, kinda like 'Hey, wanna play?' And yes, I wanna play. I really, really do"
- "I'm a very neat monster."
- "Dogs don't like me. I think they don't approve of what I sometimes do to their masters."
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EPISODE TRIVIA
- At the beginning of the episode, Dexter drives by The Crescent Hotel, a popular Miami beach resort.
- Dexter has a very large scar, located on his side, under his left arm about the height of his nipple.
- Dexter's boat is named "Slice of Life".
- Dexter keeps a case of slides, each one containing a blood drop sample from each of those he has killed so far, hidden in the wall unit air conditioner of his apartment.
- Dexter cuts each of his victims on their right cheek with a scalpel to extract a drop of blood for his collection
- Dexter works with the Miami Metro Police
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ORIGINAL VERSUS NETWORK BROADCAST
This one is for the superfans, tell the newbie fans what they're missin' out on!
 IN THE SHOWTIME SERIES | |  IN THE CBS BROADCAST | | - Doakes frequent use of the word "f uck"
| - Debra use of the word "f uck"
| - Scene after the second crime scene has Dexter and Rita talking in the car for about a minute before Dexter touches her inappropriately.
| | | Doakes using the word freakin' instead | - Also replaced with freakin'
| - That scene is cut to about ten seconds before he touches her inappropriately.
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