Dexter Returns for Fifth Season

TV has become rather boring without a regularly scheduled murder each week to keep things entertaining. Thankfully, Showtime has offered up the perfect remedy for the fall season with Dexter returning for its fifth season. Dexter picks up exactly at the point of season four's dramatic plot twist, which serves as a central plot device for the episode and will remain as such for the entire season.

The season premiere focuses exclusively on Rita's (Julie Benz, Saw V) death, which now forcefully shoves everyone's favorite serial killer into the spotlight of a high profile police investigation. As far as the police know, the Trinity Killer from last season is still alive and is a person of interest in the case. However, Dexter (Michael C. Hall, Paycheck) has never been particularly skilled at letting any real emotion show, so his colleague Detective Quinn (Desmond Harrington, Gossip Girl) immediately brands him as a suspect. Though Quinn's superiors initially dismiss his suspicions, this does not stop him from pursuing his own investigation into Dexter's family life.

Dexter must now play the role of the mourning husband. With the help of his sister Debra, he spends the episode preparing for Rita's funeral and breaking the bad news to the rest of his family. Dexter must bury his murderous tracks and sort out his true feelings for his departed wife: Did Dexter really love Rita? Or was she just part of the elaborate act?

Debra's involvement in helping Dexter leaves her stressed and vulnerable. Since it is a new season, that means Debra needs a new boyfriend; what better way to blow off steam than for her to get intimate with her partner Quinn all over Dexter's kitchen? This will definitely play a bigger role as Quinn's investigation progresses.

This particular episode of Dexter is different, not only in that it focuses heavily on Dexter's emotional conflict, but also in that the inconceivable almost happens: It seems as though he was actually going to go through the entire episode without killing someone. Even so, it was committed with his usual M.O., but rather in an angry, emotional rage.

As always, Hall fails to disappoint. He does an excellent job in characterizing Dexter: from the almost depraved emotional indifference he initially feels for his murdered wife, to the confusion over his feelings, the rare display of emotion and Dexter's dry wit. Hall makes Dexter real.

This upcoming season promises to put Dexter in a unique situation, where he has to juggle several different personas: the single father, the professional blood spatter analyst and the serial killer. The real question this season will be whether Dexter will be able to keep up his charade, or if he will crumble and become exposed. In the end, the premiere of Dexter serves as a great start to a promising new season and provides questions that will hopefully be answered as the weeks progress.