I love DEXTER.  The show turns the serial killer/ cop format on its head and combines it with a little dark humor as our hero serial killer Dexter Morgan (MIchael C. Hall) narrates his story each episode.  Dexter Morgan (a forensics investigator specializing in blood/ serial killer) starts the third season where he is after his next bad guy target (a drug dealer named Freebo) to add to his collection of his dead bodies.  His Dark Passenger is on the prowl, but instead he kills the brother of Assistant D.A. Miguel Prada (Jimmy Smits).  It begins a chain of events that leads to Dexter believing Miguel can be his friend and partner in his dark deeds.  Can Miguel be trusted or should Dexter listen to the voice of Harry (his long dead adopted Dad- a cop)?   Should he teach Miguel the Code of Harry?

Meanwhile, Dexter’s sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter)  is on the verge of becoming a detective.  First, she must investigate the murder of Miguel’s little brother and then the serial killer known as the Skinner.  Freebo disappears off the radar thanks to Dexter.  Also Deb falls for her new partner Quinn’s criminal informant Anton (a musician).   The Miami-Dade homicide unit has its own drama for each person in the unit with Angel Batista becoming a Detective Sergeant and finding romantic interest in a Vice cop.  Finally, Dexter has to deal with the fact that his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) is pregnant with his child and whether he should marry Rita.

DEXTER’s third season is like every other season of the show as it lets the characters drive the story.  Their choices take the episodes and storylines in various directions.   Some episodes have their happy endings only to be bust apart by events in the next episode.  Dexter mixes cop drama with character development and dark humor.  It is a gripping and exciting show.   You really can root for a serial killer as he dispenses justice to the murderers according to the Code of Harry.  The end of the third season makes you wonder where they can go from here with Dexter being a Dad in season four.   Will he have to choice between his dark secret and family?  Will Rita find out what really lurks in Dexter’s soul?

SPECIAL FEATURES:

I wish we can actually see extras relating to the show other than cast bios and not having to use eBridge technology to connect to interviews with the cast and more via a PC.  The only real extra on Disc 4 are the first two episodes of THE UNITED STATES OF TARA while I rather have the first two Season Three episodes of THE TUDORS on the disc instead (which can be viewed for free via eBridge on the internet).  Sorry, the eBridge tech is lost on me.  I like extras you can access on the DVD without having to use a PC and an internet connection.

FINAL ANALYSIS:  Season Three of DEXTER is excellent while the extras on the set are extremely disappointing.

This DVD review is (c)8-16-2009 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com