Weekly Review 3 - Dexter

Dexter lives in a world of police by day, and serial killer by night, until in this episode he is contacted by another serial killer who is being investigated by the police, and claims to know about Dexter's double life. Meanwhile, Dexter's sister, Debra begins investigating the murders with Dexter's help, but he kindly lets her take the credit for the sake of her career. She then finds a stolen refrigerated truck which contains a gruesome message from the serial killer. Dexter also begins stalking his next victim, a wealthy businessman who gets accused of a drunk driving charge. Also, Dexter’s unsure girlfriend Rita tries out intimacy with him after they have a get together with Debra and her blind date, who turns out to be married.

Once again in this episode flashbacks of interaction with his father as a child are used to explain certain aspects of Dexter's personality or background story that aren't completely clear. There is a restrictive narrative to Dexter as we as an audience only find out information at the same rate that he does as a character, keeping the viewers enticed. Some other iconography used in this particular episode are the crime scenes, as there are many included in Dexter. Typically of crime dramas there tends to be blood splatters, police tape and investigations taking place in crime scenes. None of the victims are introduced to the audience until they are dead, so their character type is unknown although there appears to be a pattern of women across the first two episodes of this series, and their stories are barely explained but are presented in a vulnerable manor. Identification of the victims is somehow left behind by the killer in some creative way, for example the frozen fingertips of one victim, however evidence of their own identity is always kept very discrete. In comparison to other crime dramas, there is less action used in Dexter. The upbeat music sometimes played throughout the episodes keeps the audience curious for more but not emotionally attached to the losses caused by the criminals, as Dexter has no emotional attachment whatsoever, so we are able to identify with his complex character.

Weekly Review 2 - Dexter

Dexter very simply differs from other crime dramas as for the majority of an episode the mood to it is more positive than the typical crime drama, with the humour used amongst characters and the fact that the protagonist, Dexter, works very much against the law rather than alongside it. In this episode, the case of a serial killer of several prostitutes in Miami is being investigated. As a forensic, Dexter takes part in investigation but also has his own 'projects' that he attends to. The audience learn alot about his past in this episode as it involves flashbacks of his childhood, of conversations with his father about his mental issues and urges to kill, which gradually reveal more and more about his character. The serial killer featured in this episode has a unique way of achieving murder, as he cuts up body parts and somehow removes all trace of blood from the dead body. Dexter is amazed by this, as though he admires the murderer, illustrating just how twisted his character is. Throughout the episode there are several ways in which the crime drama appears typical - firstly through set pieces such as crime scenes, which allow the audience to find out more detail of the crime itself visibly. Dexter's character however is not so typical. Inside he is dark and twisted, yet on the outside he manages to act his way through life, manipulating people into believing that he is your average forensic investigator. His girlfriend plays the typical nervous female, as she is aware of Dexter's dark side but chooses to look past it, as does his sister - who Dexter's character claims is the only person he has feelings for, if he were to have feelings at all. In this way Dexter differs from other crime dramas, such as CSI, where the protagonist Heratio expresses a large amount of emotion towards others and into the work that he does. I enjoyed watching Dexter because of this, as he is such a complex character.

Similarities and Differences between Sherlock, CSI and Luther

Weekly Review 1 - CSI: New York

A friend of the singer of a band is killed after the couple go back to his apartment after a gig. The singer awakes to find him shot dead, and calls the police. The CSI team are suspicious of her because originally she lies about the happenings of the night prior to his murder, but eventually explains that she broke the window to get into the apartment due to the fact that he’d left his key at her gig. The next suspect is his roommate who was absent the night of his murder, but before all of this the victim had bought the singer a guitar as a gift and it is later discovered by the CSI team that the money he used to pay for it was fake. Towards the end of the episode it is revealed that the shop owner, who was given the fake money, shot the victim.

In this episode many conventions of crime dramas are obvious, for example flashbacks are used to display the scene of the crime when evidence is collected (lots of pieces of evidence is also typical of crime dramas). As well as this, multiple suspects are included as more than one character is questioned. Some of the characters involved are stereotypical – for example the victim comes across as an innocent character; we then later discover that he has done wrong and is not completely innocent. The criminal is a stereotypical bad guy, as he has the dodgy appearance that makes the audience suspicious of him. An obvious set piece used in this episode is the lab, where the CSI team investigate and discover scientific evidence.

Horatio!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeeyWvo1rNg

Characters of Crime Drama - Case Studies

Audiences