by Keith Staines

Created on: January 04, 2009

I'm going to start off by talking about the show that first popped in to my head when thinking about this, and the one that I almost stuck with.

Lost.

I got into Lost late, catching up a couple seasons on DVD. Then I watched the third season as it aired, and the only word to describe it was abysmal. I absolutely hated it. When anyone asked me about the show I described it as 55 minutes of nonsensical schlock to get to the good 5 minutes in every show. I almost gave up on it, but felt that I had too much invested. And the fourth season redeemed itself. The constant jump forward gimmick to when they were off the island saved it. Yes, it spoiled some of the mysteries, but presented a bunch of others. I will say that the ending with what happened to the island may have gone too far, but it was still great.

I was all set to put that in as my entry, and then I remembered what was the actual best dramatic show on TV. One that a lot of people haven't seen because it is on Showtime.

Dexter.

Far and away. Hands down. No contest. Put a fork in it.

This show is amazing. Who would have thought that it would even have a chance. A serial killer who works for the cops, kills only bad guys, and is someone that you actually cheer for vigorously? The character of Dexter is the best one that is on TV these days. Michael C. Hall is amazing. He was good in Six Feet Under, but he is an absolute perfect fit for this role.

So the basic concept is that Dexter Morgan is a blood splatter analyst who works at a police department. But it's all just a cover as he really is a serial killer, who makes a habit of killing people who get away with murder. The best part is that he gets to do a lot of the research for this through his job with the cops. You cheer him every time he kills someone as you know that they deserve to die and it feels like justice.

Some of the best parts of the show are Dexter attempting to fit in, and appear to be "normal". The thing about his character is he doesn't actually feel any emotion at all. He's always trying to figure out how to act, mimicking people, and just totally look awkward. They also throw in voice-overs that have him mocking people, mocking the way he's acting, and just acting generally bemused.

This year's season had Dexter breaking away from his father's code; the rules that he was taught to make sure that he never got caught but could feed his "hunger" for killing people. In the process, his girlfriend winds up pregnant, causing a lot of issues as he struggles

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