Parents' Guide to Dexter

Parents need to know that Dexter is a violent TV drama starring Michael C. Hall as a blood-spatter expert by day and serial killer by night. It's based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay and is extremely dark and gory. Blood is shown so often that it's almost a secondary character, and the main character's vigilante actions raise complex, ethical questions that younger viewers might not be ready to deal with. Expect to see graphic close-ups of severed arms, legs, and heads; bloody injuries; and decomposing corpses. There's shooting, fighting, stabbing, and drowning. In addition to the violence, expect a lot of language: "c--t,", "f--k," "s--t," "t-ts," "damn," "bastard," and "bitch," as well as "God" and "Jesus Christ" as exclamations. Sex is occasionally portrayed, and there's partial nudity, with bare breasts and buttocks. Corpses are often seen fully naked, though genitals are mostly obscured. Characters drink alcohol and sometimes get drunk. A main character smokes pot, others smoke cigarettes, and there are references to drug deals and addiction. Teens drink and smoke on a couple of occasions. The show deals with disturbing content and mature themes throughout, including domestic violence, rape, pedophilia, suicide, trauma, cannibalism, and black market organs, among others.