Dexter 20062006 [work]

is a dark subversion of the classic superhero trope. Dexter Morgan is a forensic blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department by day, and a vigilante killer by night. Guided by "The Code of Harry"—a set of rules instilled by his adoptive father—Dexter only targets other murderers who have slipped through the cracks of the justice system. This "code" is the show's genius stroke; it provides the audience with the moral scaffolding necessary to justify their empathy for a man who lacks it himself.

Filmed in Los Angeles and Miami, Dexter introduced a sun-drenched noir palette. The opening credits—shoelaces, hot sauce, a mosquito landing on skin—were a masterpiece of mundane horror. That visual language, born in 2006, has been imitated by countless thrillers since. dexter 20062006