Product Details

• Actors: Michael C. Hall
• Format: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Showtime / Paramount
• DVD Release Date: August 17, 2010
• Run Time: 632 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002N5N5M0
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #7 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

  #1 in	Movies & TV > Television > Showtime > All Showtime Titles
  #1 in	Movies & TV > Television > Crime > Dexter

• For more information about "Dexter: The Fourth Season" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Unfolding with tragic inevitability, Dexter's fourth season is a taut game of cat and mouse between Dexter (Emmy nominee Michael C. Hall) and Arthur Mitchell, "a very special kind of monster," unnervingly portrayed by John Lithgow in his Emmy and Golden Globe-winning performance. Whoever guest stars in seasons to come has a very hard act to follow. (Never mind all the blood, Mitchell's greeting, "Hello, Dexter Morgan," from the episode of the same name, will disturb your sleep.) But let's not forget Hall's consistently cutting-edge work. The Dexter saga has a rich back-story and mythology, but for those new to the series and lured to this season by Lithgow's justly celebrated performance, season 4 is a good place to start, because it represents something of a new beginning for Dexter himself. Married at the end of season 3, he is now dreaming of "having it all" as a husband and father, trying to juggle the demands of his job as a Miami Metro Police Department blood-spatter analyst, his new family, and his other calling as a serial killer. But he is more conflicted than ever. His new baby keeps him up nights, and the normally precise and methodical Dexter finds himself exhausted to the point of making mistakes in court. "Who knew life could get so unsimple?" he asks early on. Dexter and Mitchell are not the only characters harboring secrets. Some we can mention (Lieutenant Maria LaGuerta and Detective Angel Batista are in a relationship), but others we dare not even hint at (the episode "Hungry Man" has a doozy of a cliffhanger revelation). As the season unfolds, an incognito Dexter insinuates himself into Arthur's life and discovers disturbing parallels in their lives. Meanwhile, now-retired serial killer hunter Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine), who nearly uncovered Dexter's identity back in season 2, returns to ask for his help in catching the Trinity Killer. His reappearance upends the life of Dexter's sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), a homicide detective and Lundy's former lover. Debra has also been digging into the past of her late policeman father Harry (James Remar) and learns more about her twisted family tree. Disappointingly, interviews with Hall, Lithgow, and other cast members can be accessed only on a PC, but the DVD does contain episodes of Californication, Lock 'N Load, and The Tudors. --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

The Showtime Original Series DEXTER™ is back with an all-new season, and this time America's favorite serial killer has gone from freewheeling bachelor to responsible husband and doting dad. Maintaining an average-guy facade while satisfying his need to kill has never been easy. But now, with wife and kids in tow, Dexter's got more to lose then ever, as he gets drawn into a deadly game with a killer every bit as dangerous — and conflicted — as he is.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 147 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dexter is freaking awesome, December 20, 2009

By	Naomi (Storm) (Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

If you haven't watched seasons 1 - 3 of Dexter yet, you have no idea what you're missing out on. For three days after the season 4 finale of Dexter aired on Showtime, the phrase "Dexter" was constantly in the top ten trends for most searched, most Tweeted, most blogged according to both Google and Twitter. Once you finally see the last episode of season 4, you'll completely understand why.

Season four started in a bit of controversy among Dexter fans when it was announced that John Lithgow was tapped to play the season's arch-villain, the Trinity Killer. For those of us who were used to Lithgow's comedic performances in shows like Third Rock and Harry and the Hendersons, he didn't seem to fit the normal profile of a Dexter guest star. However, like the casting of Jimmy Smits as Miguel Prado, Lithgow pulls off the demeanor of a "Normal, everyday kind of guy" serial killer to a tee.

The show starts up by reminding us that Dexter is now the family man - a brand new baby, a brand new wife, a brand new home in the suburbs, but the same ol' Dark Passenger. The struggle to constantly balance his false family facade with the urges of his darker side is the general theme of the season; and through most of the season it seems as if Dexter is doomed to failure as his family starts to fracture and his kills get sloppier. Enter the Trinity Killer - someone, who in Dexter's eyes is another possible mentor for himself. The Trinity Killer has been an enigma for over thirty years; never caught, never seen, and not even entirely believed to be real. Dexter finds the possibility of learning from the Trinity Killer as an opportunity he cannot let pass by.

As with all of the seasons, there are quite a few subplots involving the other Dexter cast members, but all-in-all, other than the one including Quinn and Debra, they feel somewhat tacked on. However the main plot line this season is such a driving force that the weak subplots are quickly forgotten and forgiven. The subplots are all mostly of an romantic nature, including one between Capt. LaGuerta and Angel Batista, the reappearance of a retired Frank Lundy, and the romance between Quinn and Christine Hill. This season also finds Debra digging into her past and discovering what kind of man Harry Morgan really was - which needless to say, also leads her to learn more about her brother, Dexter.

At the beginning of Season Four, you find Dexter juggling so many faces to figure out who he really is, and who he can be. By the end of Season Four, Dexter learns that the very act of juggling the different personas has changed his life forever. Season five has some big shoes to fill.

Addressing the subject of DVD versus Blu-Ray, having been forced to watch Dexter on standard definition on various occasions when the cable company had some "glitches," I can safely recommend the high def over the standard versions. While you won't really "miss" anything by lacking the sharpness of the HD presentation, the atmosphere just seems much more poignant and dramatic in the high def videos. I should also mention that Dexter does take full advantage of surround sound, and it's pretty creepy when you can hear sounds off and around corners when watching Dexter sneak around to grab his next kill.

78 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Season Yet!, December 15, 2009

By	Tess Clare (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dexter: The Fourth Season (DVD)

Dexter fans are reeling from the shocker of a season finale that aired last Sunday Dec. 13th, and rightly so. Yet for people curious about the show, Season 4 is a great place to start. Season 4 begins with Dexter adjusting to life as a new dad and a married man. As a viewer, I didn't want the show to turn into 'Dexter changes a diaper' or 'Dexter Buys Formula' and the writers exposed Dexter to those things and Dexter reacts to them as best and as humorously as he can. Dexter is still in there, with his Dark Passenger, leading a double life and trying to cope in his own way with new challenges. It seems like Dexter doesn't do a lot of killing in Season 4, it's more of a tense cat and mouse game leading up to the season finale. Season 4 stars John Lithgow as father/deacon/volunteer/serial killer Arthur. A great casting decision as Lithgow can act the gamut of emotions. His portrayal of the character will perhaps go down as one of the most complex and notorious bad guys in TV or movie history, right along side with Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal had many sides, too).
Season 4 has a movie length plot cut into a serial format. It's a great place to start for new fans because in a way, the events of the season are clearing the way for Dexter to decide if he wants to be a family man, a normal guy next door or embrace his Dark Passenger once again and without looking back.
Strong performances (as always) from Jennifer Carpenter as Dexter's sister Deb.
The only negative I can comment on is the subplot of the relationship between La Guerta and Batista. I love Angel but the fling with La Guerta seemed distracting. Liked him better with the vice detective ;)

For fans who didn't like Season 3, Season 4 will bring them back into the Dexter fold certainly. Excellent fiction all around. As Jennifer Carpenter said in an interview w/E Online "I hope you have a good time talking to your therapists about it because it's beyond whatever you may think." Fans of the show are a mix: those who like blood and violence period, those who like the characters and storylines, those who analyze the themes, those who revel in their ability to compartmentalize their reactions and emotions. However, Dexter is a show that makes you think and in the season finale, it's a show that makes you feel things in your gut, things that you forgot a tv show could make you feel, things that you will be forced to feel whether you like it or not...

Keep up the good work writers!

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow as Antagonists--Heavenly Hell!, December 15, 2009

By	carol irvin "carol irvin" (United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dexter: The Fourth Season (DVD)

Update: both Michael C. Hall and John Lithgow won the Golden Globe for their performances this season. Michael C. Hall also won the Screen Actor's Guild Award.

The success of this type of show, serial killer crime, is usually dependent on how good the villain is. Dexter is, of course, semi villainous since he is a serial killer himself but he kills bad guys. So the series needs a "real" bad guy as well. John Lithgow is that bad guy this season and quite simply, you couldn't ask for a better one. It is a very complex role of a supposedly ideal father, husband and dedicated volunteer for the homeless who also is the serial killer Trinity. He is a very nuanced and layered character. These two characters are not the whole show but they firmly anchor it and everyone else revolves around them. There are surprising twists this season and none more so than the ending. But this is how Dexter always works as a tv show. All the other characters are quite good again too, especially Dexter's sister, who has a significant role in unmasking Trinity too.

A note of warning: if you are also a reader and want to read the four Dexter novels, it is a somewhat bizarre experience to do it side by side with watching the tv show. This is because the books and tv shows kill off and emphasize different characters. Both are excellent but they are different. Imagine Sherlock Holmes where Moriarty lives in the tv version but dies in the books and then change around Watson, Le Strade and the "The Woman", et al, and you begin to see the difficulty. Dexter is also more villainous yet also more comic in the novels than in the tv show.

Another added note: if you are an audiobook fan, the Dexter audiobooks are some of the very best audiobooks around. The narrator is superb.