Crime
The Residence
As much as one might enjoy solving a good mystery, there’s a fair bit of content slop to muck through in Netflix’s The Residence.
Dexter lives by a paradoxical code: He’s a killer … who only kills evil murderers. And once’s he confirmed their guilt, they’re on borrowed time. That code is a compromise with his “Dark Passenger,” the term Dexter uses to describe his insatiable desire to kill. And just as it quells Dexter’s bloodlust, it helps clean up the streets of evil murderers, too.
But Dexter hasn’t always followed the code. Despite his best efforts, there may have been an innocent or two who’ve gotten caught in the fray—whether intentionally or not.
So what does that make Dexter?
In the eyes of his son, Harrison, that makes Dexter an evil murderer. Harrison’s got a similar Dark Passenger issue (though whereas Dexter actively enjoys the kill itself, Harrison views the grotesque act as a way to protect others).
That’s why, in honor of the code, Harrison shot his father (Dexter: New Blood).
And as Dexter lay on a hospital operating table, his life flashes before his eyes.
And he relives the events that led up to his first kill—and the carnage that followed.
When we meet the young Dexter, he’s a week from graduation. His father, Harry, knows that Dexter is a psychopath. But his strange idea of therapy for the boy includes Dexter pursuing a career in the medical field in the hope that tearing open cadavers might be enough to quell his deadly need. But even before Dexter took his first life, one wonders how young Dexter never got caught when his character spends far too many moments hungrily staring at bodies and potential victims like a dog drooling for table scraps.
By the events of Dexter, Dex (can I call him Dex?) is a seasoned serial killer; he’s got the unsavory activity down to a science. But in Original Sin, he’s just starting out … and things might not be as easy for him. Or clean (though that latter descriptor has never really been the case).
One thing Original Sin certainly is? Cutthroat. Literally. (Though if you’re hopping into this third iteration of the character without knowing that, I don’t know what to tell you.) So, it should go without saying that people die, blood spews like it was dumped from that bucket at a Great Wolf Lodge, and Dexter smirks about all of it.
Backside nudity appears onscreen, and frontal nudity is hidden just offscreen or behind objects in the room. And as far as language goes, well, don’t think that a show about murdering people would decide to lighten up there, either: f-words, s-words and misuses of God’s name are frequent.
Dexter: Original Sin is just as grisly as previous installments. And watching Dexter become a slave to his sin isn’t exactly original, either.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Young Dexter warns his father that his psychopathic urges are growing stronger. And when Dexter identifies a murderer in his midst, he recognizes that he may finally be able to act on them.
Dexter brutally stabs a woman to death, and blood sprays on his clothes. He takes her body and feeds it to alligators. A man attempts to rape an unconscious woman, and Dexter severely beats him up. Dexter knocks a woman unconscious with a vase. A nurse intentionally injects her patients with chemicals to kill them. We see someone get shot. A young boy drowns in a pool, and while we don’t see that happen, we do see his father pull the body out. Other bodies bleed on the ground from gunshot wounds, and we hear a reference to a little girl who died in the same attack. Dexter operates on a cadaver, cutting out its ribcage and removing its heart. A man suffers a heart attack.
A woman kisses Dexter, grabs his crotch and places his hands on her chest without his consent. Dexter strips a female victim naked, hiding her breasts and genitals from view under plastic wrap restraints. However, we later see her naked rear. Dexter flips through a porn magazine where he secretly stashes news clippings of famous killers—however, the front cover still displays a woman with breasts mostly exposed. Dexter laments being a virgin. People passionately kiss. A woman is seen in her bra, and a man is seen in his boxers. There’s a reference to masturbation. A man makes suggestive comments at passing women regarding his genitals. A man showers, and he’s arrested in the middle of it, though critical bits are hidden from view. When killing his first victim, Dexter makes a sly sexual reference.
A woman gives birth, prompting Dexter, narrating about his life, to say, “In the beginning, there was blood.”
People get intoxicated drinking shots, and they smoke weed. Someone asks about Ecstasy. Someone smokes a cigarette. Someone vomits.
The f-word is used roughly 25 times, including once with “mother.” The s-word is used four times. We hear a couple of crude terms for the male anatomy. The words “a–,” “b–ch,” “p-ss,” “t-t” and “slut” are all used, too. God’s name is misused 10 times, including two instances immediately followed by “d–n.” Likewise, Jesus’ name is used in vain once.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
As much as one might enjoy solving a good mystery, there’s a fair bit of content slop to muck through in Netflix’s The Residence.
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