STUDIO: Paramount/Showtime
RELEASE DATE: August 19, 2008
STARRING: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Julie Benz, Keith Carradine, Erik King, Lauren Velez, David Zayas, and James Remar
CREATED BY: James Manos Jr.
FEATURES: Two Second Season Episodes of Brotherhood
Via E-Bridge Technology: Michael C. Hall Podcast, Michael C. Hall Interview

My love for Dexter is well-documented on The Deadbolt, having named it the 4th best show of 2007 last December. With one of the shows above it on my list already gone (The Sopranos) and another about to enter its final season (The Shield), by the time the dust settles on 2008, Showtime's Dexter could be the best drama on television. Isn't that amazing? Showtime has developed into a television powerhouse, producing one of the best comedies in Weeds and arguably the best drama in Dexter, a show that the Emmys finally caught up with regarding its second season and awarded the show nominations for Best Dramatic Series, Best Actor, and more. Honestly, it wasn't enough. Jennifer Carpenter and Keith Carradine both deserved supporting nods for their great work in season two, one that definitely matched and possibly surpassed the perfect first season of this already-classic. A few new shows really took over the Emmys this year with Mad Men and Damages becoming the first basic cable series ever nominated for Best Drama. Dexter got in there too, further proving that there's been a changing of the guard in television in 2007-2008 and a serial killer is leading the way.

As great as "Dexter the show" is, "Dexter the DVD" kind of sucks. Why on Earth would a studio like Showtime/Paramount take one of the biggest word-of-mouth hits in their arsenal and give it such a lackluster treatment? Unlike Mad Men, the show's competition for the Best Drama Emmy that was just released on Blu-Ray with dozens of special features, Dexter has a purely average, standard-definition treatment with no real special features to speak of at all. No commentaries, no deleted scenes, no featurettes - no justice for Dexter fans. And what's truly shocking is that it isn't a pattern. Season one had featurettes and audio commentaries. Did fans complain? Why not get someone to comment on season two? And, no, two free episodes of Brotherhood, which most Dexter fans have not only seen but could probably download for free on Showtime On Demand do not count as special features. Fans can also use E-Bridge Technology to get a podcast with Hall, an interview with the actor, and two episodes of The Tudors and Californication, but there's not a single commentary to speak of and the studio's not releasing the show on Blu-Ray. For those of us who saw it in glorious high-definition when it was first broadcast on Showtime, it seems a shame to not be able to own it in the same technical quality.

So, season two of Dexter is a mixed bag. It depends on what's important to you. If you want more Showtime series in high-def and with an amount of special features that could at least be called adequate, you might want to make this a rental and show the studio that they need to do more to get your purchase dollar. However, if you're one of those fans who watches TV solely on DVD and haven't caught up with season two of Dexter yet, just buy it. You're gonna burn through the episodes so fast that you won't want to have to go back to the store to rent each disc. Maybe if sales are high enough, season three will be on Blu-Ray. A Dexter-holic can dream.

Watch for a review of the upcoming third season of Dexter next month on The Deadbolt.