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Dexter: Season 1
  • Network: Showtime
  • Series Premiere Date: Oct 1, 2006
  • Season #: 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6
Metascore
77 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 27
  3. Negative: 1 out of 27
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Doug Elfman
    100
    Fantastic, fascinating, creepy, charming and gruesome.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    100
    It's bold, different and exciting, with a central character and performance that take your breath away.
  3. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    100
    Daring and original.
  4. People Weekly
    Reviewed by: Tom Gliatto
    100
    If you want edge, here's Dexter. [9 Oct 2006, p.41]
    All this critic's reviews
  5. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Maureen Ryan
    90
    To deny yourself the engrossing "Dexter" based on its subject matter would be to miss out on one of television's most fiendishly intelligent new dramas.
  6. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    90
    Fiendishly excellent.
  7. Newark Star-Ledger
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    90
    Sick, twisted and darkly funny, "Dexter" is easily the best drama in Showtime history.
  8. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Adam Buckman
    88
    "Dexter" is a proficiently produced crime drama. Its best feature is its star, Michael C. Hall, who applies just the right touch to playing the nice, polite serial killer who lives next door.
  9. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Paul Brownfield
    80
    From the start, it's mostly on Hall to seduce us, and he's so artful with the material that he consistently elevates it.
  10. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    80
    A perverse pleasure to watch.
  11. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Alessandra Stanley
    80
    Violence, like deficit spending, is a very American vice. "Dexter" is yet another temptation that is almost impossible to resist.
  12. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Storm
    80
    One of this season's best new series.
  13. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    80
    The series quickly establishes itself as an elegant study in horror.
  14. Time
    Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    80
    The morals of this provocative show are as intriguing as its cases.
  15. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    80
    [A] macabre gem.
  16. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Diane Werts
    80
    "Dexter" knows what it's doing, and savors its skill immensely.
  17. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    80
    Enjoyably challenging TV.
  18. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Michael Endelman
    75
    Though his cliche hard-boiled voice-over doesn't work, much of this series... does. [29 Sep 2006, p.73]
    All this publication's reviews
  19. Detroit Free Press
    Reviewed by: Mike Duffy
    75
    Dexter is... one of the most compelling new characters on TV.
  20. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Adam Sternbergh
    70
    Dexter treats extreme violence much in the same way that GoodFellas did: as something horrifying, intoxicating, seductive and thrilling, all at the same time.
  21. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Barry Garron
    70
    Hall... is brilliant at conveying the subtle complexity of Dexter.
  22. Arizona Republic
    Reviewed by: Bill Goodykoontz
    70
    There are reasons not to like Dexter, but thanks to Hall's winning portrayal and the cool, creep-out idea, it's almost impossible not to.
  23. San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times
    Reviewed by: Charlie McCollum
    70
    I won't pretend "Dexter'' is for everybody. If you wince during scenes on "CSI,'' the series isn't for you.... But if you like the idea of a very good show that wrestles each week with moral dilemmas and the nature of good and evil, "Dexter'' is just the thing.
  24. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Ed Gonzalez
    63
    A good drama but an average psychological study.
  25. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Robert Abele
    50
    Dexter is too chilly to be chilling, too affected to be affecting.
  26. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    40
    If brilliant, psychotic lunatics are your bag, by all means, climb aboard.
  27. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Nancy DeWolf Smith
    30
    The grotesqueries of "Dexter" are not something that can easily be dismissed with the old "you don't have to watch" line. We don't have to watch. We do have to live among the viewers who will be desensitized, or aroused, by this show.
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User Reviews

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User Score
9.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 773 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 349 out of 362
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 362
  3. Negative: 10 out of 362
  1. realitychekmate
    10
    Buying Michael C. Hall as a serial killer of serial killers was hard to imagine, well that lasted all of one episode and I was sold. This well written series left me fiending for more through every season. Amazing plot twist and creativity throughout will leave you wondering will come next week as you anxiously await the next episode. My only criticism is of the casting of the sister Debra Morgan (Deb) played by Jennifer Carpenter who differs completely from the books and is simply put the worst actor of the regular cast which is outstanding. It's my only real negative check on this otherwise superb series.… Full Review »
  2. MichaelD.
    10
    A finely drawn character study masquerading as a blood-splashed procedural, Dexter explores what it means to feel human—or simply to feel at all—through the eyes of it's eponymous main character. Is it possible for someone without conscience or emotion to live by a code that allows murder but protects the innocent? Tune in and find out.… Full Review »
  3. FurionL
    10
    I absolutely love Dexter. I'll admit that the first few episodes aren't that great (but I'd still rate them rather high), and that there is quite a bit of... well. Monologue, with Dexter talking to himself. But as the main plot of the season picks up, the show REALLY picks up. You get more into the characters -- not only Dexter, but all the people around him. His girlfriend, his sister, Angel, and his superiors (most specifically his Lieutenant seems to change a lot) all have their bits where Dexter isn't always the in the spotlight... In fact, you will find yourself knowing more than Dexter the more it progresses. I guess I have a sardonic sense of humor, which is why I enjoy this, and find myself laughing at a few dark part (specifically at parts where he snags the person, or does something completely out of character for his usual self -- such as acting on emotion and smashing someone in the head with a frying pan). If you've watched the first two episodes in it or so, and dropped it because it didn't seem so interesting... I suggest picking it up again and giving it a chance again. I really enjoyed this. 9.5 out of 10 with 119 votes can't be bad, eh?… Full Review »
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