Observation Assignment Site Location: Dexter Observation One Monday January 27, 2014 Season 1, episode 1 Time: 0 min.

53 min.

Kuhn 1

Note: This observation takes place in a television series on Netflix so each episode involves more than 24 hours in the actual show even though each episode is only 53 minutes long. My observation starts at the beginning of the episode which would be at 0 minutes. The times I point out are parts of the show I thought were important to the overall observation. Description of Location: This episode takes place in Miami. It starts off with Dexter in the car at night driving around the city. It takes place in this large city where a lot of crime is committed. There is a Metro Police Department that the characters meet up at throughout most of the show. Figured World: A figured world is a community that shares the same ideas. Characters evolve throughout the figured world. The figured world that I am observing is three episodes from a television series called Dexter. I chose this because I recently started watching the series after it was recommended by one of my friends. It takes place in present day Miami and the main character, Dexter, is a forensic blood spatter analysis and has a secret he has to hide from the world; he is also a serial killer. The episodes I chose are from the first season. Each episode involves a crime scene and a puzzle piece to figuring out the mystery of the season. In the first season, Dexter comes across a crime scene where the body is cut up into pieces but the blood (which in a way is his specialty and almost a fetish) is drained from the body. This catches Dexters attention and he takes this crime as a game someone is playing with him and he has to find out whom the killer is. Some rules and conventions for appropriate behavior would be catching the bad guys. However, to Dexter, it is acceptable to kill the bad guys that got away with their crimes and still walk around the city. In a way Dexter is helping out Miami by riding it of the crime that could potentially happen again. Some other types of communication that you find in the show is the casual tone in the crime scene investigators voices when they are explaining to the other cops or scientists what happened at the scene. Dexter also is happy when they come across a scene with a lot of blood because it fascinates him that much. To a normal person, the sight of blood would not surface feelings of excitement or joy and that is a behavior we would find inappropriate. As far as discourse communities go, there are groups of serial killers and then the regular people who do not roam the city committing crimes. There are also the forensic scientists and cops. Actors: Actors are the people or characters that fill roles in their figured world. Dexter Morgan is the main character of the show. However there is something special about him. He fakes most of his human interactions. He is a blood spatter

Observation Assignment Site Location: Dexter

Kuhn 2

pattern analyst and also has a sort of fetish for blood. He is also secretly a serial killer. He targets criminals that have evaded the justice system. He follows a code of ethics his adoptive father. Debra Morgan is Dexters sister and the only person Dexter actually cares about. She is spunky and works as an undercover cop who is trying to become a detective and work with her brother. She has a foul mouth and a big heart. Harry Morgan is Dexters adoptive father and Debs biological father. He is introduced to the viewers through flashbacks because he is not longer alive. He taught Dexter everything he knows. Rita Bennett is Dexters girlfriend. They have a different kind of relationship though. She is quiet and has two kids from a previous marriage ending with her husband going to jail. James Doakes is a detective in the show that shows conflict against Dexter. He suspects something is up with the strange man but he cannot figure it out. Something about Dexter just bothers Doakes.

Artifacts: Artifacts can be objects or ideas that actors use in the figured world they live in. They show some importance in the actors community. Plastic Wrap: In all of Dexters murders he wraps them up in plastic wrap and even covers the walls and floor with it so he leaves no trace of a mess behind. He then puts the bloody wrappings and also the cut up body parts into garbage bags to dispose of. Animal Tranquilizer: Dexter uses animal tranquilizer to sedate the criminals he intends to kill. Glass Slides: Dexter uses glass slides to display a small amount of blood from all of his victims. He keeps these glass slides in a wooden box inside his air conditioning vent. Broken Barbie Pieces: The broken Barbie pieces resemble the serial killers victims and how he cuts them into pieces and drains their blood. Boat: Dexters boat is his escape to make him feel normal.

Discourse Communities: Discourse communities are groups of individuals that all share common ideals or interests found in figured worlds. Dexters victims: The people in this group are all victims of Dexter. In this episode there are too. They also all have something in common and that is that fact that they have cheated the justice system. Detectives: The people in this group are all detectives in the show. They work together to stop crimes. Hookers: This group of individuals is seen on the streets and they end up helping with one of the investigations.

Literary Practices: Literary practices are ways in which the actors communicate to one another. It doesnt just have to be verbal communication; it can involve artifacts or physical ways of communicating.

Observation Assignment Site Location: Dexter

Kuhn 3

Face-to-Face Conversation: This is one of the main ways people in the show communicate. This type of communication is used when serious situations occur or if there is a group of people discussing. Phones: This is also a main way of communication on the show. Phones allow the characters to get ahold of each other quicker if something important has come up.

The Observation: 5 minutes in: Dexter has gotten ahold of his first victim. We do not know what he is about to do to him, yet he tells the victim to drive and do as he says. By this point, Dexter has made it clear that he is not messing around and harm will come to the man he has hostage. In this scene he kills the man. This is the first time we realize how serious Dexters murdering is. 10 minutes in: Dexter comes across the first crime scene and speaks with his sister, Deb about what happened. She is undercover as a hooker to catch the serial killer they have been tracking. Deb also asks Dexter for help to become a detective. The crime scene, to Dexters surprise has no blood. What are left are pieces of dry, dead, body parts. This attracts Dexters inner killer and he begins to obsess over the bloodless body. 15 minutes in: Dexter has brought a box of donuts to the staff at the police to seem like a normal, nice man. He also brings one specifically to a woman who works in the filing room and lets him borrow files with blood spatters that fascinate Dexter. While staring at the empty donut box he says it is just like him, empty inside. 20 minutes in: Another crime scene and Dexter is giving in depth descriptions of how the killer committed the crime. He claims how the killer knew how to use a blade because the splatters were so unique and precise. We also are introduced to Dexters second victim. 25 minutes in: Rita Bennett has now come into the picture. Dexters says how Deb saved her life from a domestic dispute call. Dexter is fond of her children and they enjoy his company. When he is around them he acts like a normal, real man. We learn about Ritas history and how her previous husband repeatedly abused and raped her. She is uninterested in any physical relationship, which is good for Dexter because he has no real feelings. Dexter is called to another crime scene while on his date with Rita and it is the same type of crime scene as the first one with the cut up body parts. 30 minutes in: Dexter does some research on his next victim and finds reason to murder him. A flashback occurs and we find out that Dexter, even as a young teenager, had urges to kill. His adoptive father, Harry, tells young Dexter that what happened to him as a child changed something in him and made him the way he is.

Observation Assignment Site Location: Dexter

Kuhn 4

35 minutes in: Dexter and Deb are out to lunch and are speaking about crime scene, dissecting what the killers ways actually mean. Deb brings up transferring to homicide so she can be more involved in cases. She tells Dexter that the body parts at the crime scene were cold which puts a thought into his head that the killer has some sort of refrigerated truck in which he kills his victims. 40 minutes in: Dexter finds his second victim at an abandoned building and sets up his next murder. Once the victim is strapped down, Dexter does what he does best and kills the guilty man. He is interrupted from cleaning up by a phone call from a distressed Rita. She asks him to stop by later because she needs to see him. 45 minutes in: While waiting in traffic, Dexter spots an ice cream truck and begins to follow it in expectation it could be the murderer from the past bloodless crime scenes. 50 minutes in: Dexter arrives at Ritas house the next morning to apologize for not coming over. Rita says that she does not want to lose Dexter and she cares about him. There is a bit of an awkward moment when Rita tries to seduce Dexter and he tries to slyly avoid it and is saved by the house phone ringing. Once Dexter comes home he notices a dolls head on his refrigerator. He opens his freezer and finds Barbie doll pieces cut up in the same pattern as the bloodless victims.