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Dexter - The Complete Second Season | 
 enlarge | Actor: Michael C. Hall
Studio: Showtime / Paramount
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.98
Buy New: $18.99
You Save: $20.99 (53%)
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Rating:  147 reviews
Sales Rank: 57
Format: Ac-3, Box Set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 4
Running Time: 636
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: PARD892514D
UPC: 097368925144
EAN: 0097368925144
ASIN: B000V86OKG
Theatrical Release Date: November 2006
Release Date: August 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Ships first class. NEW
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Product Description
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/19/2008 Run time: 636 minutes Rating: Nr
Amazon.com
Dark and sinister is the new sexy, thanks to Dexter, which in its second season has proven to be the most successful series Showtime has offered up yet. Remember how much you squirmed in your seat during the season one finale? Believe it or not, the premiere of season two felt like it could have been a season finale--because jaws were on the floor when the credits rolled. For being a supposed sociopath, Dex is pretty broken up about the gruesome events that concluded last season. The one and only person who could possibly understand him is six feet under, and it seems our unlikely hero is losing his homicidal grip. He's even having a little trouble slicing up a few of his latest victims (from a murderous gang member to a chainsaw-wielding fiend from his past). Enter Lila (Jaime Murray, Hustle), a lady with a sweet British accent and a few dark secrets of her own. She seems to accept Dex for who he really is, and he finds himself feeling relaxed for the first time in his life. In contrast, his relationship with his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) has been stretched almost to a breaking point. The problem is, he should be anything but relaxed. Someone picked a poor place to go scuba diving off the Florida coast, and came across an underwater graveyard: Dex's primo spot for dropping dismembered bodies wrapped in heavy-duty trash bags. Word about the "Bay Harbor Butcher" gets out quick, and the F.B.I. sends the best of the best, Special Agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine, Deadwood) to work alongside the police to sniff out Miami's latest serial killer. This guy is no schlub, and Dex may have met his match. And, yes, Dexter gets to work with Lundy on a daily basis, which provides some wonderfully awkward moments. It certainly doesn't help that the intuitively paranoid Sergeant Doakes (Erik King, Oz) is hot on Dex's trail. Season two of Dexter is all about decisions. Lila or Rita? Old code or new code? Run or fight? Right or wrong? Well, one thing's for sure: When it comes to writing, casting, acting, and production, the makers of this show made all the right decisions. Michael C. Hall is simply superb as the title character. You'll never find yourself more willing to genuinely root for a serial killer. It's bloody liberating. --Jordan Thompson
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| Customer Reviews: Read 142 more reviews...
 Long live Dexter! July 19, 2008
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
Season two of this Showtime piece of excellence is just as good as the first season, if not better. If you haven't already met Dexter Morgan (played by Michael C. Hall), he's a Miami police forensic expert - he specialises in blood spatter - with a taste for murder all of his own. By twist of tale, Dexter's past comes back to haunt him this season and Dexter the hunter becomes Dexter the hunted. This takes the excitement and suspense up to new heights.
Dexter is still coming to terms with the season one's shock ending and initially finds (to his horror) that his killing skills are not what they used to be. And as if he didn't have enough worries, Sergeant Doakes (played by the lovely Erik King), the only one around who senses that Dexter is not all that he seems, is still very much on his case. Add to that the fact that his sister Debra (played by Jennifer Carpenter), who is still recovering from her own trauma from season one, is asked to join the FBI manhunt for him. The team is being led by Special Agent Lundy (played by Keith Carradine) and this is a development, Dexter remarks sardonically, that "makes for an awkward family dynamic".
Also very interesting to see this season, is the relationship between just-demoted Lt. Maria Laguerta (played by the brilliant Lauren Velez) and the new Lieutenant parachuted in over her head to take over her shift command, Lt. Esme Pasquale (played by Judith Scott). The cracks in Dexter's seemingly perfect relationship with girlfriend Rita (played by Julie Benz) that began to appear in season one, also begin to get wider this season so look out for Jaime Murray, fresh off her stint on BBC's drama "Hustle", playing the sexy, free-spirited Lila.
There's much more but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it. Twists and turns abound and each episode seems to bring a new shock for the viewer to take in. The humour is dark but it is hysterically funny - a shock in itself, considering the over-arching subject matter. Unless you're someone who gets squeamish easily (most of the violence is implied rather than shown but there's still violence and there's still plenty of blood) this is a definite must-see. I never thought the day would come when I would be rooting for a serial killer - even a fictional one - but here we are. That I'm doing so is more down to the excellent writing and Hall's easy charm, than to anything else. I'm as happy as Larry to know that there's already a season three on its way and I hope they take this series as far as is logically possible.
I say long live Dexter!
Are Dexter's days finally numbered? April 5, 2008
40 out of 46 found this review helpful
I didn't think the second season of "Dexter" could even come close to to the brilliance of the first season, but I was wrong. Instead of the Ice Truck Killer, Season 2 begins with the Miami P.D. hot on the trail of another mass-murderer dubbed as the Bay Harbor Butcher. Dexter (Michael C. Hall) already knows the identity of the killer right off the bat, because it happens to be him. The FBI is brought in to help investigate the case, and Dexter is under pressure to stay off the radar and figure out how to get himself out of this huge mess.
Season 2 introduces some great new characters, including Special Agent Lundy (Keith Carradine) and the mysterious Lila (Jaime Murray), a woman who interferes with Dexter's relationship with Rita (Julie Benz). Meanwhile, La Guerta (Lauren Velez) pulls some very dirty tricks out of her hat in an effort to get her job back, and Dexter's relationship with Doakes (Erik King) escalates and is finally put to the ultimate test.
There are some exciting twists and turns in Season 2, but everything wraps up very nicely at the end. I have no idea what will happen to Dexter in Season 3, but I can't wait to find out!
No Sophomore Slump for America's Favorite Serial Killer November 19, 2007
34 out of 39 found this review helpful
Miami blood-spatter analyst and moonlighting serial killer Dexter Morgan spent the first season of Showtime's groundbreaking drama helping his police department track the Ice Truck Killer, a man who turned out to be the brother Dexter never knew. In Season Two, he helps hunt someone even closer...himself. When his Glad-bag graveyard is discovered at the bottom of the ocean, all of Miami buzzes about the Bay Harbor Butcher, the nocturnal crime fighter who litters the sea with body parts of bad guys.
The search for the Bay Harbor Butcher (and the ensuing cat and mouse game between Dexter and his colleagues) provides the overarching glue for Season Two. The middle episodes of the season feature the slippery Dexter trying to wiggle his way out of the grasp of the investigation, lead by new character FBI Special Agent Lundy (Keith Carradine), a professional everyman as unassuming as he is brilliant. Lundy's dedication and focus rival Dexter's and present a challenge for our hero even greater than his "game" with the Ice Truck Killer. Lundy's ritual and disciplined life of cucumber sandwich lunches and Chopin interludes clears his mind, giving him almost clairvoyance into the heart of his target.
The second principle plot centers on Dexter's new love interest, Lila. Early in the season, Dexter is able to explain away his erratic behavior to Doakes and Rita by pretending to be a recovering drug addict. His relationship with his sultry and insightful sponsor sparks tension between Dexter and his girlfriend and forces Dexter into chambers of his mind that have been closed for decades. In the arms of a troubled figure with a past nearly as dark as his own, Dexter feels understood for the first time.
Dexter's "improvements" in rehab, coupled with the relentless investigation of him by Doakes causes a reduction in body count for Season Two. Just as Season One established the winning formula of building a 12 episode serial plot accentuated with weekly self contained subplots with payoffs, Season Two also has small stories to keep the viewers entertained as the search for the Butcher continues. The difference between Seasons One and Two is that these small plots don't always involve Dexter killing someone. Season One almost had a reality-tv consistency with Dexter "voting someone off the island" each week. But sometimes Season Two episode plots are about his relationships with Rita, Lila or Doakes.
This is part of the more human Dexter presented in Season Two. His conscience gets to him a few times; he underestimates one of his victim's strength and then walks into a trap; he routinely gets outsmarted by Lundy; and he's unable to control his feelings toward Rita and her kids. He's come a long way from the unemotional science project of the first season. The extra dimensions to his character and a season-long plot that amazingly trumps the edge-of-your-seat plight of Season One's Ice Truck Killer are only two reasons why the series has improved since its sublime debut season and now fills the void left by The Sopranos as television's finest hour.
Now all his secrets are floating to the surface December 12, 2007
78 out of 95 found this review helpful
The dead bodies of 18 victims are accidentally found in an underwater graveyard. The killer, who becomes known as The Bay Harbor Butcher, has dismembered his victims' bodies and wrapped all the pieces in plastic bags. Soon a task force of FBI agents and police officers is assembled to investigate the case and one of their first discoveries is that The Bay Harbor Butcher only kills other killers. If you watched season 1, then you already know who the Butcher is: Dexter Morgan. And you might also be able to tell that this story is really tense. Special Agent Lundy, leader of the task force, is brilliant and usually able to outsmart Dexter. Sergeant Doakes becomes Dexter's archenemy. He is sure that Dexter is hiding a secret and won't give up until he finds out what it is. In a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Dexter meets a beautiful and unconventional woman, Lila, who has a dark side of her own and makes Dexter feel good about himself, because she believes no one is all evil. Rita, on the other hand, isn't very happy about Dexter's new friend. New relevations about Harry will make Dexter even more uncomfortable, as if he didn't have troubles enough.
In my opinion, this season managed to be even better than season 1. Under federal investigation, Dexter's cool facade cracks and he becomes much more human. He makes a lot of mistakes and in a sense becomes a worse person. In season 1, the Ice Truck Killer was the bad guy, but in season 2, Dexter is "the root of all evil," as he himself said. When compared to honest police officers, Dexter's criminal activities look more criminal than ever. This was a nice change of perspective. Yes, Dexter only kills other killers, but it turns out that when his survival is at stake, all his masks fall and we can finally see the monster.
Dexter may be loosing his killer touch, but the show sure isn't July 30, 2008
26 out of 30 found this review helpful
Showtime has blown HBO off the map with the these two seasons of Dexter. Now that The Sopranos, Deadwood and Rome no longer around, HBO will need a miracle to compete with the quality of this show.
Season two is all about conflict and questions. Lila or Rita? Serial killer or turn himself in? There isn't as much "Dexter Morgan justice" this time around, but the suspense and top notch acting are here in bucket loads. Just give Michael C. Hall an award already!
If you liked the first season (how could you not?) then the second will take you to a different place. They change things up a bit to add freshness, but they never veer too far off course. I think season one was a bit stronger overall, yet I found this one more interesting. I guess it just means that this show is full of surprises.
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