I am so late to the party here. Now, I had heard how awesome and addicting this show was, but I had so many other thiings to watch that this got pushed to the back for the time being. Over the years, I kept hearing nothing but good things and I would always excuse myself and move on due to spoilers. I'm coming into this one with no knowledge of any storylines or actors or actresses involved.

As for the Pilot episode: Dexter, I immediately got why it's so popular and well received among fans. The actor and writing was pretty sharp. I wasn't expecting a VO narration of the main character Dexter (Michael C. Hall). But it makes sense that there would be one because we are after all, following a Serial Killer and we need to have his inner monologue so that we can better understand what makes him tick, as f ucked up as that may be.

There's plenty of interesting things going on here from the flashback scenes with his father Harry (James Remar), who basically try's to help him curtail his urges. But when that doesn't work, he convinces himself and Dex that if he needs to act out on these urges, then better to "put them to good use" on bad, corrupt people. Other things that I found interesting was his relationship to his half-sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) and his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz), who I have been a fan of since Angel and most recently No Ordinary Family. Also, it was cool to see Lauren Vélez who plays Lt. María LaGuerta. I haven't seen her in anything since Oz went off the air.

This is gonna be a interesting series for me. Looking forward to seeing how Season 1 plays out. I will vote in the Poll at the completion of this set.

Th hunt continues for the Ice Truck killer. I'm convinced it's one of the guys on the force, be it Angel or the other forensic guy. The bald Asian guy. And I think the killer is purposely leaving the bread crumbs for Deb. Why? So I think it's one of those two and they have a personal relationship with her, what better way to help her get promoted within the Police force? Yes, they think what they are doing is a good deed. This is f ucked up. I don't have a clue who the killer is. It's the f ucking alligator!!!!

Up till now, even though Dexter is the main character and star of the show, I think I have been more interested in Deb, but for all the wrong reasons, waiting for her to justify her being a Detective. She has been....childlike. It wasn't until this episode where she FINALLY thought outside the box and made a useful contribution to a case when she wanted Tony Tucci (Brad William Henke) to try being blindfolded to recapture the moment of being held captive by the Ice-Truck Killer. But her reaction to when they found potential evidence reverted her back to being all gung-ho and childlike about it, the complete opposite of her partner Doakes, who is so jaded having been doing the job much longer than her.

Also, I think I know who the Killer is. It's the doctor, Rudy Cooper (Christian Camargo) that was flirting with Deb at the hospital. It's gotta be him. He gives me the creeps.

This is easily the best episode so far, if a bit predictable. If it stands pat in my prediction of who the killer is, then it stands to reason the writers would follow certain formula to shift the obvious light off of one character and onto another. The slight of hand trick so to speak. Distract with one hand to take the focus off the other hand. Misdirection. Need I go on? So, Neil Perry (Sam Witwer) is arrested and confesses to being the Ice-Truck Killer, giving the police information about the killings that were never released publicly to back up his claims. With the focus now on the "killer', this would be the perfect time for the writers to gently work in Deb and Rudy's budding romance. Come on! It's so obvious that Rudy is getting closer to Deb for the sole purpose of learning as much as possible about her brother Dexter, since he knows exactly what he is and is probably enamored by his ability.

Getting back to Neil....

*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*

Spoiler (hover to show)

....I knew exactly what he was going to say to Dexter when he sat down in front of him in the interrogation room.

Neil: Who the f uck are you?

This confirms that he isn't the Ice-Truck Killer. Duh!!

This just keeps getting better and better because it's making me come up with some wild guesses to where this is heading. After watching Father Knows Best, I'm going to take another leap here and say that Rudy and Dexter are Half-Brothers. Why? Glad ya asked. So Dexter gets a notice to identify the body of Joe Driscoll, who turns out to be his biological father. It's later revealed (implied) that he may have been injected a lethal dose of drugs to make it appear that he had a heart attack. We the viewer know that this is the case because we see Rudy going back to "get rid" of the witness that can identify him being at Joe's place the week before. Okay, that' doesn't explain how they are half-brothers.

My rationale is that Rudy is the son of Joe, and has always known about Dexter and has now sought him out because they both share that Serial Killer DNA. It's the only thing that explain how he knows about Dexter, where he lives and the fact that he knew about Joe being his father to the point of killing him to set up a meeting of the two, by way of his sister Deb. It's a stretch, I know. But it''s plausible and something I can see the writers coming up with for that ultimate Season Finale twist.

Damn, this show is firing on all cylinders right now. This is leading to a showdown for the Season Finale now that....

*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER*SPOILER

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... Rudy has revealed himself to Deb as the Ice-Truck Killer, just before knocking her out. Last seen heading out to sea. It doesn't look good for Deb, that's for sure. I don't see how Dexter and company can figure out that they are on a boat and....well, they will figure it out, they always do. Anyway, looking forward to the Finale. I did get a kick out of the fact that Rudy called Deb out on her horrible Detective work, the one that I was making light of the entire season. Seriously, how could she not see all the pieces lined up right in front of her face. I like her and hope she will survive and make it to Season 2.

This was a fantastic series and it lived up to the hype I have been hearing about for the last few years. I've heard that the last couple of seasons are the best in it's history. I can only imagine where they are going to top Season 1. Yikes. One thing I gotta point out while watching Season 1 is how much it reminded me of Nip/Tuck. There are similarities between the two, the most notably the Carver storyline. But the pacing, writing and characters could easily fit into each other series. And that's a good thing I'm pointing out.

This is definitely a Buy for sure. I have Season 2 on hold at the Library, 5th on the wait list. So not a long wait for me to pick up where I left off. Looking forward to it. Also, adding overall Series Rating to Post #1.