"A serial killer to fall in love with..."
Nov. 11th, 2007 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustSome of you already know how much I adore Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the Jeff Lindsay novel about a serial killer who is a good guy - sort of - because he only kills other serial killers. Forensic analyst by day, ruthless vigilante by night, on the outside completely charming, and on the inside not nearly as empty as he believes he is.
I was delighted when I heard that a TV series was being made, and even more pleased when I learned that Michael C Hall (David Fisher, Six Feet Under) was cast as Dexter. The series has been running in the US for a year, but in Australia it only starts this December, on the new pay TV channel Showcase.
Last week, to promote it, event organisers Popcorn Taxi arranged a preview screening of the first two episodes along with a Q&A session with Michael C Hall. Of course, I had to go check it out.
The show:
It was great to see it at last, after all the rave reviews, and it was everything I expected - suspenseful and funny and intriguing. It was cool seeing not only Michael C Hall but also other familiar faces, like Julie Benz (Darla, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Lauren Velez (Dr Gloria Nathan, Oz).
The novel mostly focuses on the Ice Truck Killer arc, so each Mystery of the Week was like, yay, new Dexter story! I also liked how the show fleshed out the supporting characters and gave them more depth.
The one thing I had some trouble with was the violence - although the show is reasonably discreet, watching Dexter kill someone on the screen is more disturbing than reading it on the page. So, yeah, the show is not for everyone. But I'm in, and will probably pick up the DVDs sometime.
The interview:
It was filmed, presumably to air on Showcase when the series starts. First there was a chat session with an interviewer, and then the floor was thrown open to questions from the audience. Michael C Hall was articulate and thoughtful, even in the face of questions like, "Did you feel like playing a serial killer affected you in real life?" But I guess he must have been answering similar questions all year.
The audience questions were surprisingly intelligent, numerous, and not inappropriate. I suspect some of them were plants by the organisers - it's what I would do in their place, to avoid the embarrassment of dead air, especially since they were filming.
Best question of the night goes to a young man who flew in from Melbourne to attend, since the Melbourne session sold out and he was devastated. "So like you, I'm here for one night only too." His first question was "Can you sign my book?" and his second question was "If Dexter went on the run to Australia would he go to Sydney or Melbourne?"
Most disturbing question of the night was from the woman who asked what his reaction would be to someone who named their baby Dexter. Because she had. Now, I'm very fond of the character, and Dexter is a pretty cool name. But I am picturing this kid growing up to discover he has been named after a fictional serial killer.
Funniest anecdote of the night was when Michael C Hall was talking about Dexter's lack of interest in sex, and how the character was originally supposed to be completely celibate, and how the network execs said, "But that's so creepy!" To which his response was, "What about the whole slicing people up thing?"
I was delighted when I heard that a TV series was being made, and even more pleased when I learned that Michael C Hall (David Fisher, Six Feet Under) was cast as Dexter. The series has been running in the US for a year, but in Australia it only starts this December, on the new pay TV channel Showcase.
Last week, to promote it, event organisers Popcorn Taxi arranged a preview screening of the first two episodes along with a Q&A session with Michael C Hall. Of course, I had to go check it out.
The show:
It was great to see it at last, after all the rave reviews, and it was everything I expected - suspenseful and funny and intriguing. It was cool seeing not only Michael C Hall but also other familiar faces, like Julie Benz (Darla, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Lauren Velez (Dr Gloria Nathan, Oz).
The novel mostly focuses on the Ice Truck Killer arc, so each Mystery of the Week was like, yay, new Dexter story! I also liked how the show fleshed out the supporting characters and gave them more depth.
The one thing I had some trouble with was the violence - although the show is reasonably discreet, watching Dexter kill someone on the screen is more disturbing than reading it on the page. So, yeah, the show is not for everyone. But I'm in, and will probably pick up the DVDs sometime.
The interview:
It was filmed, presumably to air on Showcase when the series starts. First there was a chat session with an interviewer, and then the floor was thrown open to questions from the audience. Michael C Hall was articulate and thoughtful, even in the face of questions like, "Did you feel like playing a serial killer affected you in real life?" But I guess he must have been answering similar questions all year.
The audience questions were surprisingly intelligent, numerous, and not inappropriate. I suspect some of them were plants by the organisers - it's what I would do in their place, to avoid the embarrassment of dead air, especially since they were filming.
Best question of the night goes to a young man who flew in from Melbourne to attend, since the Melbourne session sold out and he was devastated. "So like you, I'm here for one night only too." His first question was "Can you sign my book?" and his second question was "If Dexter went on the run to Australia would he go to Sydney or Melbourne?"
Most disturbing question of the night was from the woman who asked what his reaction would be to someone who named their baby Dexter. Because she had. Now, I'm very fond of the character, and Dexter is a pretty cool name. But I am picturing this kid growing up to discover he has been named after a fictional serial killer.
Funniest anecdote of the night was when Michael C Hall was talking about Dexter's lack of interest in sex, and how the character was originally supposed to be completely celibate, and how the network execs said, "But that's so creepy!" To which his response was, "What about the whole slicing people up thing?"
