Even after eight years of rest before its revival, Dexter's Showtime series still has more fans than the books. Jeff Lindsay's novels have achieved relatively less success because of more than just marketing or distribution. The show makes many changes to canon -- from the villains to the deaths of important characters -- and these choices have helped improve the source story. This is a rare occurrence when it comes to adaptations, but fans of both formats can easily spot the differences that make the TV version stand out despite its ups and downs.
Dexter makes for good television because it's both a crime drama and a thriller. Comedy takes a back seat, but is still sprinkled into both versions of Dexter's story. In the books, comic relief is limited to Dexter's thoughts as the entire series is written in first person. That makes a huge difference in terms of how the stories are consumed. While the books do a great job of providing the protagonist's perspective, the show widens the narrative and follows many other characters. This allows the supporting characters to drive the emotional and comical moments -- something desperately needed in a story about a psychopath.
The most consistent character between the books and their adaptations is Dexter himself, but Michael C. Hall brings something unique to the serial killer. He is able to sell his facade as the Miami citizen and family man while letting his mask slip just enough for the audience to see the dead stare underneath. More importantly, his performance inspires more sympathy for the character than the book version. For a traumatized detective who hunts criminals in the night, he's quite charming. In the show, the audience might forget that Dexter is a cold and callous murderer with a growing body count, whereas the books won't let them.
The roles other characters play in Dexter's life also change a lot from the page to the screen. Their deaths make huge differences in the TV show. Maria LaGuerta and Sergeant James Doakes die much earlier in the novels than in the TV show, while others die years later in the books than on the screen. Doakes was actually killed off too soon in the series, while keeping LaGuerta around until Season 7 allowed TV viewers to get much more invested in her character.
Aside from deaths, some of the biggest character deviations from the novels involve children. Dexter has a daughter instead of a son, and his sister Deborah (Debra in the TV series) has her own son. Cody and Astor, Dexter's stepchildren, also seem to be a little different and need Dexter's guidance like he needed Harry's. These are only a few of the alterations that give the show a completely separate, and arguably more complex, dynamic.
Though fans are divisive over whether these changes were personally satisfying, one thing's for sure: The screenwriters know how to create a distinct rhythm of highs and lows to execute on the drama. Balancing excitement and suspense in a certain episodic formula may have been what kept even the slower episodes engaging through all eight seasons. Dexter let his brother get away in the books, but was pushed to kill him on TV. The series consistently swings for a more dramatic take, which makes for some killer episodes and keeps the audience on its toes.
The pacing and the cast make the television series shine, and because of the differences, both the show and the books can be enjoyed without a strong sense of repetition. For fans of Dexter, the books might be worth a read. Or the Showtime series could be the perfect place to head for new viewers -- especially after the recent miniseries Dexter: New Blood. Each installment builds on the original program and proves to be a solid continuation of the cherished franchise.