In our constantly fluctuating society, there is a strong hunger for narrative. Culture is replenished with new commodities and things to trade, such as Youtube videos or viral memes, constantly. We never run out of new things to talk about or new little stories to tell your friends. Needless to say, that television has fed into this desire very heavily and owes its success to our love of a good tale. Also, we demand that TV be a reflection of our real world, so that it feel intellectual and contemplative rather than escapist. Through this constant struggle for realism, we are shown many respected character’s faults uncovered, or at least exposed to the viewer, and many villains exalted, or at least forgiven by the show.
To explore this phenomena, I plan to evaluate the show Dexter, focusing on episode 5 of season 2, in which Dexter connects his modus operandi to that of a comic book character. Connecting two forms of contemporary expression that desire the seen as valid by the general populace, rather than merely forms of entertainment. Besides exploring the implication of this kind of media interaction, I also hope to discuss Dexter‘s use of satire and mystery and its connection the police procedural genre.