‘Dexter’ evolves from cold killer to family man

There was something strikingly definitive about the end of the third season of “Dexter.” The picturesque scene of blood-spatter analyst and vigilante serial killer Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) and his new wife Rita (Julie Benz) dancing together in the afterglow of their wedding seemed to tie a nice bow around all of their previous problems.

Oh how quickly things can unravel.

If the purpose of season premieres are to pique interest in following the show for the rest of the season, the season four premiere of “Dexter” greatly excels, launching (and, in some cases, progressing) plotlines that may have serious ramifications for the future of the show. The writing makes the plot look effortless and natural.

Dexter is now a family man, tied down to the ol’ ball-and-chain and, for the first time, raising his own biological child (and weathering all the hardships that can entail). As a result, the viewer gets a glimpse into a Dexter we don’t normally see. The clean-cut, meticulous Dexter of old is starting to yawn at work because of sleep deprivation, brought on by a certain newborn’s cries in the middle of the night. Suddenly he’s falling asleep at inopportune times. He’s making mistakes at work, a notion that makes his sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) do a double take. “Should I be worried?” she asks.

Hall plays this off as naturally as the writing, hardly spending more than a minute not looking conflicted, tired or annoyed. Dexter’s had life-defining choices to make before, but rather than the what-should-I-do mentality, this is more of a what-have-I-done mentality. In season one, Dexter didn’t understand relationships. He’s come a long way since then, but now he’s wondering if there are enough hours in the day to continue his “eccentric” hobby of killing bad guys who escape justice.

Hall also has a knack for making the viewer emotionally invest in him as a character. As Hall is in the middle of a kill in the premiere, he struggles to stay awake, slapping his face and jumping up and down, preparing himself for the act. His face is unusually drenched in sweat, he’s speaking in an adolescent, high-pitched voice and he’s unconvincingly asking himself, “Can I do it? Can I have it all?” Hall pulls off being psychologically on the edge of a cliff and making the viewer hope he doesn’t fall this time.

“Dexter” is also a show that loves to play on ironies. Promotional material for the series’ fourth season had Dexter’s new son with blood on his forehead and a “My dad is killer” bib around his neck. The fourth season premiere begins with Dexter looking like he’s about to confront someone for a somber kill, but the illusion is broken when a baby cries from the backseat. Like out of a cheesy ‘50s sitcom, Hall belts out, “OK, Harrison, the driving thing didn’t work; the singing thing didn’t work; you plannin’ on both of us not sleepin’ for another three months?” Shockingly, this elicits more crying.

There’s also something vaguely disconcerting about singing your child to sleep over the phone, while clicking through police photos of a murder victim. This kind of dark humor, which has become a staple of the show, always wins a wry laugh and never feels like it’s trying too hard to pull off the effect.

Dexter’s life itself is the most obvious juxtaposition. How can someone juggle two distinct and totally opposite lives at the same time? It seems, as the episodes stack up in the series, Dexter adds more and more variables into the equation.

Life’s become one emotionally complicated mess for the once simple, cold killer.

The season four premiere is available for free viewing online at Showtime’s official Web site, http://www.sho.com. “Dexter” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on Showtime.

Five stars!