DEXTER (2006 - 2007)

The demise of the infamous Ice Truck Killer culminated a riveting roller coaster ride of the first season of SHOWTIME's acclaimed drama series DEXTER. Throughout Season One, series star Michael C. Hall brought to life one of television's most complex and talked-about characters, turning the crime drama into a bona fide hit.

The first season was a critical and audience sensation that became SHOWTIME's most-watched series. "The challenge of breathing an authentic sense of life into someone who claims to be without the capacity for that was a challenge that I couldn't pass up," admits Hall. Along with appearing on more than 30 "Best of 2006" and Top 10 lists, Hall's portrayal of Dexter Morgan earned him a Golden Globe® nomination for ‘Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series - Drama.' He was also nominated for a 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance By a Male Actor In a Drama Series. Additionally, DEXTER was named one the American Film Institute's (AFI) ‘Top 10 Television Programs of 2006.'

The twelve new episodes of Season Two premiere on Sunday, September 30th at 10p PT/ET.

This time around, we delve further into Dexter's tortured past, as well as his uncontrollable need to kill while remaining true to his foster-father's twisted brand of vigilante justice, "Harry's Code." We pick up more than a month after the team has cracked the Ice Truck Killer case and Dexter is still reeling from the revelation that the killer was in fact his own biological brother, Rudy. "In the Ice Truck Killer," says Executive Producer Daniel Cerone, "Dexter saw someone who he could really reach out to and who could understand him."

This season, although Dexter remains committed to carrying out "Harry's Code," he begins to doubt his murderous capabilities. Things are further complicated when new details about Harry's (JAMES REMAR) past come to light and he begins to realize that his foster father was more complex and his motives not as pure as he was led to believe. "Going into Season Two," continues Cerone, "we see Dexter's search for meaning. And that's going to come down to questions, for him, of good and evil."

But things will get even more complicated for Dexter when evidence of his deadly after-hours activities begin to emerge. The city now has a brand new serial killer skulking about and he's far more sadistic than the Ice Truck Killer. Due to this new, insidious threat, FBI agent Frank Lundy (KEITH CARRADINE, starring in 11 episodes) flies in from Quantico to spearhead the case. With a legendary reputation for nabbing serial killers, Lundy enlists Batista (DAVID ZAYAS), Masuka (C.S. LEE) and Debra (JENNIFER CARPENTER) in a heated search for the newly dubbed "Bay Harbor Butcher."

In other going-ons at the Miami Police Department , Lt. Laguerta (LAUREN VELEZ) after losing her leadership of the homicide division, has to readjust to life as a field detective in the bullpen, but she has long-range plans to regain her leadership and get her office back. She begins to buy into Doakes' (ERIK KING) suspicion of Dexter and becomes concerned for Doakes and his obsessive nature.

Dexter's step-sister Debra is wrestling with her own demons and is trying to heal after being so betrayed by her love for Rudy. How could a savvy cop fall so in love with a psychotic killer? She's now taken up residence in the only place she feels some sense of safety, Dexter's apartment. "Occasionally, something bubbles up for Dexter and some emotion or love will emerge and we see that in his feelings for Deb," says Executive Producer Clyde Phillips. "In the finale, he had to make a decision between his blood brother and his non-blood sister, and he chose Deb."

On the romance front, in the final episodes of last season, wounded bird Rita (JULIE BENZ) had progressed from battered, insecure mother to a more confident, take-charge woman. Her relationship with Dexter had given her a newfound courage to confront her ex-husband, and she had finally seemed to free herself from his chokehold. Dexter cannot help but care for Rita, explains Hall, "Rita is perfect for him. She has two kids, so her focus is not exclusively on him. Their relationship is what Dexter presents to the world to give the impression that he's normal, human." This season, Dexter and Rita will continue their sweet, unusual courtship, but Rita remains wary as to what Dexter's true role was in the re-incarceration of her ex-husband. Compounded, she mistakes his unusual behavior for some kind of addiction and forces him into rehab, where he meets a mysterious woman, Lila (JAMIE MURRAY), whose own dark past may prove to be a kindred spirit with Dexter's.

This season, Dexter will find himself more embroiled in the heat coming from all sides than he could imagine and the questions keep mounting. Will he be able to continue his undercover serial killing ways while keeping tabs on Lundy and the task force? Will Doakes uncover his dark past? Will Dexter finally come to terms with his own past? Executive Producer Sara Colleton explains, "Every human being has goodness and evil in them. When you take a case like Dexter that is so to the extreme, so out of normal conduct, it allows us to look at our own conduct. When Dexter grapples with some aspect of humanity of trying to fit in, how to behave in a certain situation, what's the right, human thing to do, it forces us to go through his thought process." Cerone concludes, "Dexter's search for connection was the theme of the first season. For Season Two, we examine something equally compelling, and that's Dexter's search for meaning."

Season two picks up 38 days after the cracking of the Ice Truck Killer case. Dexter (MICHAEL C. HALL) is still wrestling with the extraordinary revelations of his childhood trauma that were uncovered by his warped run-in with the Ice Truck Killer, who happened to be his brother Rudy. "Last season the Ice Truck Killer took Dexter on an emotional journey and a discovery of connection," reveals Executive Producer Daniel Cerone. "In the Ice Truck Killer/his brother, Dexter saw someone he could really reach out to and someone who could maybe understand him. That was really the theme of the first season - Dexter's search for a connection. Going into to season two, we have something equally as compelling and that's Dexter's search for meaning. Who am I? Why am I here? And that's essentially going to come down to questions of good and evil."

Although Dexter remains determined to carry out "Harry's Code" of justice, he begins to start doubting his murderous acumen. Further complicating Dexter's already complicated life, are details of Harry's (JAMES REMAR) past that come more into focus for Dexter. He soon realizes his iconic image of his foster father and "Harry's Code" is more complex and possibly not as pure as he once thought.

Meanwhile, Debra (JENNIFER CARPENTER) tries to put the horrific ordeal behind her and is anxious to get back into her police work, but still can't get herself to leave the relative safety of Dexter's apartment and move back on her own. "The pilot from the first season Dexter explains that he's empty inside, but we realize as the episodes unfold, he's not wholly empty," commented Executive Producer Clyde Phillips. "Dexter has an extraordinary history and occasionally something will bubble up and some emotion of affection or love and you see it in particular for his feeling for his step sister Deb. In the finale, he has to make a decision between his blood brother and his non-blood sister and he chooses Deb."

Last season, Rita progressed from a battered, insecure woman into a more steady , strong mother who was able to stand up to her abusive husband and take charge of her life thanks in no small part to her seemingly "normal" relationship with Dexter. This season, Dexter and Rita continue their sweet, but unusual courtship although Rita is still unsure as to whether Dexter was responsible for putting her ex-husband behind bars. Cerone remarked "Rita represents Dexter's humanity. There's that side of us that roots for Dexter and sees ourselves in Dexter and what he's trying to do." Hall adds, "Rita is someone who is a perfect person for Dexter, she has 2 kids, so her focus as a result is not exclusively on Dexter, it takes a bit of the pressure off, its one of the primary things Dexter builds for himself to present to the world, that impression, that he is a normal person, it's those structures that Dexter creates to give the impression that he is human, but when that crumbles, his humanity emerges."

Dexter's difficulties multiply when evidence of his murderous activities surfaces in Miami. Soon, the city has a new serial killer to focus on, far more prolific than the Ice Truck Killer. Frank Lundy (KEITH CARRADINE in 11 episodes this season), an FBI Agent famous for catching serial killers, flies in from Washington to spearhead the search for Dexter. Lundy forms a taskforce, which includes detectives Batista (DAVID ZAYAS), Masuka (C.S. LEE) and Debra, whose sole purpose is to uncover the identity of the newly dubbed "Bay Harbor Butcher."

Meanwhile, Rita mistakes Dexter's suspicious behavior for drug addiction and pushes him into a recovery program, where he meets a mysterious woman with a dark past named Lila (JAIME MURRAY). If Rita is the perfect woman, Lila just might be the perfect woman for Dexter. As the two of them bond over their inner demons, Dexter's tortured history comes back to haunt him. Executive Producer Sara Colleton stresses that "every human being has goodness and evil in them. Or it's that sort of juggle of what's good what's bad has been a subject of all literature, and art and religion and when you take a case like Dexter that is so to the extreme, so out of normal conduct, it allows us to look at our conduct." [Edit]