Dexter (2006 — 2013)

Dexter is an American crime drama television series that aired on Showtime from October 1, 2006, to September 22, 2013. Set in Miami, the series centers on Dexter Morgan, a forensic technician specializing in bloodstain pattern analysis for the fictional Miami Metro Police Department, who leads a secret parallel life as a vigilante serial killer, hunting down murderers who have not been adequately punished by the justice system due to corruption or legal technicalities. The show’s first season was derived from the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter (2004), the first in a series of novels by Jeff Lindsay. It was adapted for television by James Manos Jr., who wrote the first episode. Subsequent seasons evolved independently of Lindsay’s works.

Orphaned at age three, when his mother was brutally murdered with a chainsaw by drug dealers, Dexter was adopted by Miami police officer Harry Morgan. Recognizing the boy’s trauma and the subsequent development of his sociopathic tendencies, Harry has manipulated Dexter to channel his gruesome bloodlust into vigilantism, killing only heinous criminals who slip through the criminal justice system. To facilitate covering his prolific trail of homicides, Dexter gains employment as a forensic analyst, specializing in blood spatter pattern analysis, for the Miami Metro Police Department. Dexter is extremely cautious and circumspect; he wears gloves and uses plastic-wrapped “kill rooms”, segments the corpses, and disposes of them in the Atlantic Ocean’s Gulf Stream to reduce his chances of detection. Dexter struggles to juggle his double life.