Dexter: This Material is Not Suitable for Children

I frequently post on movies, DVDs or TV shows I think you would like, and generally they are family-friendly offerings.

But sometimes you want something you can watch together as a couple, or even on your own, something juicy that you can dig into when the kids are in bed and you're sitting up late unchaperoned. ; )

Definitely not for children, Dexter was available first only to Showtime subscribers, which is why I missed it the first time around. And there's good reason for the exclusivity, because Dexter is a dark, pushing-the-envelope series that really is best seen only by discriminating adults who know exactly what they are getting into from the beginning.

Dexter (played masterfully by Michael C. Hall) is, on the surface, a likeable guy, a forensics expert with a steady girlfriend who works for the Miami Police Department helping find the truth behind crime scenes.

That's nothing we haven't seen before in a series--except that's not the real Dexter.

Because this seemingly normal guy actually hides a dark secret: he's a serial killer who channels his murderous tendencies into pursuing and killing the criminals he knows, through his work in forensics, to be guilty. Taught by his foster father to harness his lust for blood and killing, Dexter's unique strict moral code allows him to prey only on those killers who, though guilty, escape justice through a technicality, whom he tracks down methodically and ruthlessly dispatches.

That's right: the protagonist is, himself, a cold-blooded killer.

I'm cluing you in on Dexter (see what I did there? Cluing you in? get it?) because now the entire first season is available on disc, and the best way to see it is definitely on the Blu-ray DVD version.

DEXTER: The Complete First Season is a three-disc set. It's presented in 1080p High Definition with English 5.1 Dolby True HD (and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital), with a total running time of 10 hours, 51 minutes.

Here's what's on each disc:

Disc One:
• Dexter
• Crocodile
• Popping Cherry
• Let’s Give The Boy A Hand

Disc Two:
• Love American Style
• Return To Sender

Special Feature: Audio Commentary with Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, Lauren Vélez and Erik King

• Circle Of Friends
• Shrink Wrap

Disc Three:
• Father Knows Best
• Seeing Red
• Truth Be Told
• Born Free

Special Feature: Audio Commentary with Producers Sara Colleton, Clyde Phillips and Daniel Cerone

BD-Live Special Features:
• The Academy Of Blood - A Killer Course
• Witnessed In Blood - A True Murder Investigation
• Michael C. Hall Podcast
• First Episode of DEXTER, Season 3
• First two episodes of UNITED STATES OF TARA --word to the wise, apparently Showtime has not released these two episodes (as of today) to the BD-Live server yet. Not sure what the delay is?

The suggested retail price is 54.98, but you can get Dexter: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] from Amazon for 34.99.