There was a chill of excitement tonight as Dexter Morgan uttered the first words in ITV/Showtime’s new series: “Tonight’s the night…”

You first see Dexter in silhouette as he drives through the streets of Miami. He next appears in the back seat of a businessman’s car and promptly wraps some string around the man’s neck. He directs him to a secluded place which has a series of shallow graves outside it.

He takes the man into the building where three badly decayed corpses are laid out. Dexter’s hostage is a serial killer who has killed a number of small boys. And now Dexter is about to exact his own brand of justice. In a short while, the man is naked and tied to a table with cling-film.

Dexter nicks the man’s face with a scalpel - his signature move (pay attention folks) - before cutting him up with his handy power tools.

OK, so you’ve got an idea about Dexter by now. If not, check out the profile of Dexter I posted a while back. He kills, he seemingly has no emotional attachments, but paradoxically he only kills people he knows to be serious criminals.

This first episode introduces us to all the main characters in Dexter, as well as the overarching plot of the series. That body, the neatly packaged one with no blood? Well, that’s the first sign of another serial killer working the Miami area. But more on that another time.

Dexter becomes most animated when examining crime scenes or doing blood spatter analysis. But he’s aware that, despite his secret, none of the homicide officers he works with can seemingly tell that his hobby is killing bad guys by night.

Other Characters

Except James Doakes, that is. Doakes is a brilliantly conceived character - a kind of BA Baracus on steroids. With tourettes. Doakes pulls no punches when it comes to Dexter - he knows there’s something wrong with him, but not what exactly. So, for the time being he resorts to gruff insults and names like ‘freak’.

Actually, having watched the entire series in advance, I can tell you Doakes is one of the best characters in Dexter - he’s the only one who suspects Dexter. Doakes is potentially Dexter’s nemesis.

Dexter’s sister Debra is equally foul-mouthed, but much warmer and more human. She’s working in vice, but wants to get into homicide. However, despite her deceased father Harry’s legacy in the department, she can’t seem to break through, mostly due to bitchy Lieutenant LaGuerta.

The Code Of Harry

You’ll find Dexter repeatedly wittering on about The Code Of Harry. We’re not sure if Harry was a raving egomaniac and insisted on his code being called that, but it’s the reason Dexter doesn’t extend his serial killer instincts to the more innocent members of society.

Harry Morgan was a detective in Miami Metro, a legend on the force, or so we’re told. He adopted Dexter as a child after finding him at an horrific crime scene. The trauma from the crime scene is the point where we suspect Dexter got his desire to kill.

Harry Morgan recognised this in Dexter early on and taught him to deal with his urges. Harry taught Dexter how to use police techniques to find criminals and avoid detection. These rules - to avoid getting caught and to only kill other killers are the core of ‘Harry’s Code’.

Summary

By the end of the first episode, Dexter has discovered that the serial killer his homicide buddies were looking for was storing the bodies in a fridge unit.

Driving around Miami at night, Dexter is blinded by headlights behind him. An ice-truck passes him on the road. On a hunch, he follows the truck, which rounds on him and drives straight at his car. As the truck passes for the second time, the severed head of another victim is thrown at Dexter’s car and bounces onto the road.

The coincidence is hard to believe. Was Dexter singled out? And why? Matters take an even more sinister turn when he gets home and finds that the killer has left a memento - the severed head of a plastic doll attached to his fridge, and the broken up body stored in the freezer.

What does it all mean? Plenty to keep you thinking until next week, that’s for sure.