I am one of the most squeamish people I know and the older I get, the more squeamish I've become. I can't watch Horror films - although I do like a good thriller and am alright with a little bit of gratuitous violence now and again. I can't do out and out graphic violence, I can't watch real life medical shows, I can barely watch Casualty for that matter!
Now, readers of this blog could be forgiven for being slightly confused, as I've previously posted about my love of TrueBlood. After all, there's plenty of blood and gore in that, isn't there?
This was the view of one of my friends who was so convinced I would like Dexter, she bought me the first series for my birthday. I was still very apprehensive about watching it - TrueBlood involves suspending disbelieve and embracing a world of Vampires, Werewolves and Fairies but Serial Killers are real. Creatures of the night are fictional, killers in the night are all too real.
The show is built around the eponymous Dexter, a Blood Splatter analyst within the Miami PD. But Dexter is also a serial killer who has managed to control his instincts, thanks to the advice and support of his late Father. Well, I say control... he applies a strict rule of only killing those who truly deserve it. The arc storyline involves the police force (for whom his sister is an officer) investigating a serial killer. But the killer in question seems to be engaging in his own mind games, teasing Dexter at every turn...
I finally started watching it at the beginning of this year and I was soon hooked! The series is intelligent, witty, well scripted, acted and directed. As the show is on the Showcase subscription channel, the episodes are made to be viewed without adverts and the pacing isn't timed to provide cliffhangers every ten minutes. This allows each episode to unfold in a more unnatural fashion, adding greatly to my enjoyment.
Yes, there are some gory moments, but for the most part the violence is stylised and/or suggested. There's an underlying menace at times but there are also moments of pathos and tenderness as well as drama, tension and intrigue.
It won't be for everyone but if you think you've got the stomach for it, I'd thoroughly recommend it.
The show is built around the eponymous Dexter, a Blood Splatter analyst within the Miami PD. But Dexter is also a serial killer who has managed to control his instincts, thanks to the advice and support of his late Father. Well, I say control... he applies a strict rule of only killing those who truly deserve it. The arc storyline involves the police force (for whom his sister is an officer) investigating a serial killer. But the killer in question seems to be engaging in his own mind games, teasing Dexter at every turn...
I finally started watching it at the beginning of this year and I was soon hooked! The series is intelligent, witty, well scripted, acted and directed. As the show is on the Showcase subscription channel, the episodes are made to be viewed without adverts and the pacing isn't timed to provide cliffhangers every ten minutes. This allows each episode to unfold in a more unnatural fashion, adding greatly to my enjoyment.
Yes, there are some gory moments, but for the most part the violence is stylised and/or suggested. There's an underlying menace at times but there are also moments of pathos and tenderness as well as drama, tension and intrigue.
It won't be for everyone but if you think you've got the stomach for it, I'd thoroughly recommend it.
Here are a couple of videos to give you a flavour:
Enjoy!
Andrew
1 comment:
I'm with you on the 'squeamish scale' but find such scenes easier to take when you can see an element of 'fun' - if that's not a contradiction. E.g. in the 'Final Destination' series of films although all the deaths are grisly in the extreme and you can see them coming a mile off (though when they happen I find that my expectation has been wrong-footed in the actual manner of death) they are so very funny that it 'softens the blow', as it were. Even so, must admit that I often have to look away from the screen.
I've not seen 'Dexter' but from what you say there wouldn't be much humour in it. However, when you describe the violence as being "stylised/suggested" then there would seem to be scope for enjoyment on a certain level.
Never seen 'TrueBlood' either, though vampires, werewolves and fairies are so disconnected with reality that they surely must help towards a relatively non-stressful viewing? (Maybe not for you, though?)
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