Ask any fan for the best season, and Season 4 will dominate. John Lithgow delivers an Emmy-winning performance as Arthur Mitchell, the “Trinity Killer,” a seemingly family man who has killed in cycles for decades. Dexter attempts to learn from him, but the season ends with the most devastating finale in TV history: Dexter comes home to find Rita dead in the bathtub, his son Harrison sitting in a pool of her blood—the exact tableau of Dexter’s own origin story.
Dexter (2006–2013) is not flawless. The middle seasons stumble, and the original finale is infamous. But the run from Season 1 through Season 4 remains some of the most gripping, morally complex television ever produced. The keyword is more than a typo or a tag—it’s a salute to the year a blood-spatter analyst became an icon. dexter 20062006
Unlike most long-running dramas, Dexter ’s identity was forged entirely in 2006. Season 1 introduced: Ask any fan for the best season, and Season 4 will dominate