Parents' Guide to

Dexter

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Bloody drama for adults only -- we mean it!

TV CBS, Showtime Drama 2006
Dexter Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

See all
age 16+

Based on 53 parent reviews

GrayEtheel
GrayEtheel Parent of 9, 10 and 13-year-old
April 23, 2022
age 10+

I don't understand why parents say its so bad?

It's a amazing show! My son recommended it to me. And it's awesome. I binged it with him and my daughter. I thought It was a bit to graphic for my 9 year old, so I didn't let him watch. Give it a try!

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
2 people found this helpful.
NickC9000
NickC9000 Adult
December 4, 2021
age 16+

My Review Age 16+

I'll start off with I am a proud father of 2 (11,7) me and my wife normally let our 11 year old son watch TV-MA depending on sex,nudity and drug use we watch other things with our 7 year old anyways back on topic we decided to let him sit this one out because there is a lot of sex, nudity is frequent for example one scene shows a reporter giving a massage to another character breast are shown in this scene it than transitions to another inappropriate scene let's just leave it at that, more language than I can count from his sister I could go on all day on why to not let any younger than 16 watch this but let's just stop there thanks for reading

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
2 people found this helpful.
See all 53 parent reviews

What's the Story?

As the macabre titular character of DEXTER (which is based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay), Michael C. Hall plays a man who metes out his own brand of vigilante justice on pedophiles, thieves, murderers, and the like by tracking them down and brutally killing them -- in the vein of Hammurabi's "eye for an eye" code -- which his adoptive father instilled in him when he saw the evil that was in his son. But the real catch is Dexter Morgan's day job: He's a blood-splatter expert for the Miami Police Department, which further assists him in his clean technique of taking care of his own victims. Of course, the other people in Dexter's life are clueless about his sick hobby.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (53):
Kids say (74):

Dexter has a provocative premise and succeeds at being original by using blood and violence as a morbid punch line. But unlike American Psycho on the big screen (starring Christian Bale), fans of the series are drawn to the likability of Dexter himself. Hall delivers again (much like his character in the hit HBO series Six Feet Under) and leaves viewers wondering, "is what Dexter's doing really so wrong?"

Every character is well formed, and each season delivers enough twists, humor, scares, and cliff-hanging moments that fans keep coming back for more of a good (albeit bloody) thing.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the fact that killing another human being, no matter what your motives might be, is 100 percent wrong. But is committing a less-drastic act that you know to be illegal ever OK if the person you're committing it against is a bad seed?

  • How far is too far when it comes to revenge? Is there a point when your actions become just as reprehensible as the people and bad deeds you're targeting? Do the ends ever justify the means?

  • Why do we sometimes root for the bad guys? Is Dexter a "bad guy"?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended tv lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate