Julie Benz on Dexter

POSTED BY: Dayve
UPDATED: Sunday, January 7, 2007 05:02
VIEWED: 3014
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DAYVE

Thursday, October 19, 2006 4:27 PM

Sorry if this has been discussed already, (if so I missed it)

If you’ve been able to watch an entire episode of the new Showtime program “Dexter”, I think you’ll agree that this is some pretty twisted stuff. It’s a little un-nerving to see the protagonist of the show in his mild mannered daily routine only to switch to a brutal killer by night. Even if his victims are supposedly bad guys – it’s not easy to watch Dex’s joy at the slice and dice.

And wouldn’t you know it, Dexter has a girlfriend. Rita Bennett, played by none other than our own little Darla – Julie Benz - of BtVS and Angel fame. It seems that, like her role as the ill-fated Darla, Rita’s destiny is linked to a seriously disturbed person in Dex. I just can’t see how her role on this show can do anything but end badly.

I’ve got to say that Benz was one of my favorite recurring characters on the Buff/Angel series. From the moment I saw her swagger into the Bronze, I knew that this was one vamp that the Scooby gang was not going to be able to do in quite so easily. I was sorry to see her go, but that’s Joss Whedon TV drama writing class 101. I was glad she stayed around as long as she did, though.

Now on Dexter she plays….well, here is a bit from the Dexter info page on Showtime’s site.

Julie Benz stars with Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under) who plays a serial killer in Showtime's new crime drama DEXTER.
Rita's everything Dexter's looking for in a girlfriend: broken and sexually disinterested. Surviving a violent ex-husband and harboring the mental scars to prove it, Rita is struggling to raise two kids on her own. Together, Dexter and Rita attempt to create a sense of normalcy in their often-twisted lives.

Anyway, check it out – it’s not like anything on the tube right now, and I have to wonder how long it will last – it’s defiantly not like anything else out there.

MAVOURNEEN

Thursday, October 19, 2006 4:39 PM

God Bless my Tivo's microchip heart...it knows what Husband & I traditionally go for...and I'm sure it meant well...

We had the first 2 episodes tivo'd - watched the first the other night, and I can honestly say I won't be watching the second.

It wasn't just unnerving. Saying it was unnerving is doing a disservice to the unnerving community.

"Dexter" made my skin crawl, and not in a good way.

*However, the one spot I liked was Julie Benz - she was great as the broken girlfriend.

DEEPGIRL187

Thursday, October 19, 2006 5:39 PM

Darla with kids? Serious wiggins...

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"So long and goodnight."

PURPLEBELLY

Thursday, October 19, 2006 5:48 PM

Any show which satirizes the procedural genre is going to walk a very narrow line. I know I understand this show, but there's a world of loonies out there - hell, some of them couldn't see how exploitative The Inside was. It will be interesting to see if this show continues to ask us why people are CSIs and cops - why people watch procedurals, and apparently demand gooey bits in character-based dramas like House MD and Bones.
Julie Benz is terrific, as are all the cast, but be warned, you may never eat breakfast again (and that's just the credits!).

SIMONWHO

Thursday, October 19, 2006 8:31 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by deepgirl187:
Darla with kids? Serious wiggins...

Hey, Darla was great with her own kid, sacrificing herself to save him. And she liked other children too... except for the ones that got stuck in her teeth.

DAYVE

Thursday, October 19, 2006 9:02 PM

i love children..... they're delicious

DAYVE

Thursday, October 19, 2006 9:03 PM

oh i kid the children.......

REGINAROADIE

Sunday, January 7, 2007 5:02 AM

Hey

Was looking around BitTorrents and I found a file that contained the first full season of DEXTER. I had heard about it, and the raves and accolades it got and that it starred Michael C. Hall of SIX FEET UNDER and was even produced by one of the prodicers of that show. At first, I was like "OK, I'll get to that later." So just looking around mininova.org, and found a file that had the full season of DEXTER. Finally downloads after a few days, and I take a peek at the first ep. A minute or so later, my brother walks by and asks what I was watching. I saw "DEXTER. It's this thing about a serial killer who kills serial killers." He says, I'll look at it for a bit. This was two minutes into the show. Few minutes later, he has actually pulled up a chair and is watching this with me on my computer. I am now burning a disc of all the eps on it.

In short, this is some really sweet, twisted shit. I can't believe I didn't watch it in the first place.

And was definitly glad to see Julie Benz in it and as the opposite of her most famous role. I always like it when I hear of genre actors getting work on non-genre and more serious work. As cool as these actors are when it comes to fans and going to conventions and being really grateful for their fanbase, there is a part of you that wants them to be taken a bit more seriously. You want to see them in other stuff doing different things, because the same character over and over again gets boring really quickly. And this show is great for trashing the audiences previous histories with these actors. Especially Michael C. Hall. There is no better character for him to torpedo his image as David Fisher than Dexter.

I can't wait to see the rest of the series. Probably waste whatever free time I have left before classes start watching this.

And on another Julie Benz note, does anyone remember her in AS GOOD AS IT GETS? She was the receptionist that when she asks Jack Nicholson "How do you write women so well?" he says to her "I think of a man. And then I take away reason and accountability." Now, being an integral part of two famous fantasy tv series that has created millions of fans around the world and a towering legacy in pop culture and a fanbase of your own would make anyones career. But I think being insulted by Jack Nicholson in a Jim Brooks film would be an even higher honor. Every actor in the world would be jealous.

"I make half a million dollars and episode and have opened franchise movies over 20 mil."

"Well I got insulted by Jack Nicholson."

(ashamed) "OK."

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"Wait a minute, you're not Santa! You're not even robots!! How dare you lie in front of Jesus!!!"