The Thousands

We love DEXTER.

Even as he’s butchering his victims and gathering his blood-trophies, you can’t help but love DEXTER. He’s been the star of his own series of okayish books since 2004, but now he’s the bona fide heart-throb of his own unmissable pay TV series.

DEXTER has the smartest credit sequence on TV and a high concept to match: he’s a serial killer, but he only kills bad people. While voiceovers usually just prove that television thinks you’re idiots – “Oh, why don’t I announce the episode’s themes in case you weren’t paying attention?” – Dexter’s monologues are indispensable, showing the gulf between his everyday actions and his disturbing inner landscape.

**And, yeah, he’s hilarious, too. Why is he so damn lovable? Michael C. Hall (David from SIX FEET UNDER) imbues Dexter with a perfect, offbeat charisma. Between stalkings and blood-splatters, he tries so hard to act like a regular human with regular feelings, happily rationalising away the monstrous behaviour sitting underneath his secret identity.

Well, maybe not everyone loves DEXTER – right now the US Parents Television Council are organising a boycott – but trust us. By the end season one, you’ll be cheering him on.