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95 of 103 found the following review helpful:
 Best Season Yet! Dec 16, 2009
By TessClare
Dexter fans are reeling from the shocker of a season finale that aired last Sunday Dec. 13th, and rightly so. Yet for people curious about the show, Season 4 is a great place to start. Season 4 begins with Dexter adjusting to life as a new dad and a married man. As a viewer, I didn't want the show to turn into 'Dexter changes a diaper' or 'Dexter Buys Formula' and the writers exposed Dexter to those things and Dexter reacts to them as best and as humorously as he can. Dexter is still in there, with his Dark Passenger, leading a double life and trying to cope in his own way with new challenges. It seems like Dexter doesn't do a lot of killing in Season 4, it's more of a tense cat and mouse game leading up to the season finale. Season 4 stars John Lithgow as father/deacon/volunteer/serial killer Arthur. A great casting decision as Lithgow can act the gamut of emotions. His portrayal of the character will perhaps go down as one of the most complex and notorious bad guys in TV or movie history, right along side with Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal had many sides, too).
Season 4 has a movie length plot cut into a serial format. It's a great place to start for new fans because in a way, the events of the season are clearing the way for Dexter to decide if he wants to be a family man, a normal guy next door or embrace his Dark Passenger once again and without looking back.
Strong performances (as always) from Jennifer Carpenter as Dexter's sister Deb.
The only negative I can comment on is the subplot of the relationship between La Guerta and Batista. I love Angel but the fling with La Guerta seemed distracting. Liked him better with the vice detective ;)
For fans who didn't like Season 3, Season 4 will bring them back into the Dexter fold certainly. Excellent fiction all around. As Jennifer Carpenter said in an interview w/E Online "I hope you have a good time talking to your therapists about it because it's beyond whatever you may think." Fans of the show are a mix: those who like blood and violence period, those who like the characters and storylines, those who analyze the themes, those who revel in their ability to compartmentalize their reactions and emotions. However, Dexter is a show that makes you think and in the season finale, it's a show that makes you feel things in your gut, things that you forgot a tv show could make you feel, things that you will be forced to feel whether you like it or not...
Keep up the good work writers!
57 of 62 found the following review helpful:
Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow as Antagonists--Heavenly Hell! Dec 15, 2009
By carol irvin
"carol irvin"
Update: both Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow won the Golden Globe for their performances this season. Michael C. Hall also won the Screen Actor's Guild Award.
The success of this type of show, serial killer crime, is usually dependent on how good the villain is. Dexter is, of course, semi villainous since he is a serial killer himself but he kills bad guys. So the series needs a "real" bad guy as well. John Lithgow is that bad guy this season and quite simply, you couldn't ask for a better one. It is a very complex role of a supposedly ideal father, husband and dedicated volunteer for the homeless who also is the serial killer Trinity. He is a very nuanced and layered character. These two characters are not the whole show but they firmly anchor it and everyone else revolves around them. There are surprising twists this season and none more so than the ending. But this is how Dexter always works as a tv show. All the other characters are quite good again too, especially Dexter's sister, who has a significant role in unmasking Trinity too.
A note of warning: if you are also a reader and want to read the four Dexter novels, it is a somewhat bizarre experience to do it side by side with watching the tv show. This is because the books and tv shows kill off and emphasize different characters. Both are excellent but they are different. Imagine Sherlock Holmes where Moriarty lives in the tv version but dies in the books and then change around Watson, Le Strade and the "The Woman", et al, and you begin to see the difficulty. Dexter is also more villainous yet also more comic in the novels than in the tv show.
Another added note: if you are an audiobook fan, the Dexter audiobooks are some of the very best audiobooks around. The narrator is superb.
16 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Riveting! By far the best season since season 1!! Jan 19, 2010
By pele5474
How can you even begin to describe the brilliance, talent and surprises that are Dexter: Season 4?? Mere words do it no justice. You want to run out and tell everyone who isn't watching it to sit down and pull up a chair. Each season has it's own flavor, some a little less palatable than others but I always enjoyed the show. Season 4 is just out of the park good. John Lithgow is so amazing as the Trinity Killer (not a spoiler) but the depth of his madness goes so deep its unlike anything Dexter could even imagine for himself. The interaction with his family and slowly revealing the true story was brilliantly told. The "Hungry Man" episode (also known as the Thanksgiving episode) is hands down the best episode of the entire series. I have never been on the edge of my seat from beginning to end of an episode like I was with that one. Just as you think the finale is going to be a little on the disappointing side, you're hit with the final scene. All Dexter fans know that the lid has been blown off and the rulebook is out the window as far as what kind of man we're going to see coming into season 5. All I know is I can't wait to watch!
15 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Brilliant, just brilliant Feb 25, 2010
By Nick Campbell
I have watched every episode of this series and I have to admit, season four has been the best. How often do you watch a show in which every, single episode, hell, every single scene has you on the edge of your couch holding your breather? None--with the exception of Dexter.
This season Dexter is juggling a lot--family, a home, work, finding time for his passion, and a new rival. He's got pressure from all sides. Watching him masterfully keep it all together was one of the best acting endeavors only someone as gifted as Michael C. Hall could pull off.
You know, so many people complain about how much crap is on TV. But, by far, Dexter is better than any movie I have seen in years.
15 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Check this one out! Aug 03, 2007
By Benjamin C. Bernard
Dexter is an extremely good show. Michael Hall does a knock out job as an extremely twisted serial killer. The other characters in the show weren't quite as good, but Dexter himself is enough for hours upon hours of viewing fun.
The plot is well paced, especially once you get towards the middle (and on through the end), and the trip through Dexter's mind just leaves you shivering and wanting more. I worked through Dexter in about 3 days of solid watching, and I don't regret that time investment.
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![Dexter: The Fourth Season [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51upMQVUsuL._SL350_.jpg "Dexter: The Fourth Season [Blu-ray]")
