The FBI estimates that there are less that 50 serial killers active in the United States today. We don't get together at conventions, share trade secrets, or exchange Christmas cards ... but sometimes I wonder what it's like for the others.
“Circle of Friends” · Season 1, Episode 7
In this episode: Dexter Morgan (7), Rita Bennett (2), Debra Morgan (1)
When'd you first notice it? This darkness inside the guy you fell for?
Well, I always knew it was there. I guess I just didn't think I deserved better – until I met you.
[Long pause]
I have a dark side, too. [Rita laughs] What? I do.
Somehow, I doubt that. You have a good heart, Dexter. You're not like Paul; you don't hurt people.
[another pause] Innocent people. I don't hurt innocent people.
The Ice-Truck Killer drains the blood from his victims, freezes the bodies, and only then severs their limbs. It's clean and efficient, that's his psychological signature. Neil Perry, on the other hand, stuffs roadkill.
Yeah! And turns 'em into fucked up fantasy shit.
But the fantasies are all wrong! The guy we're looking for wouldn't turn dead dirty things into living cartoons, he'd find that pathetic.
How do you know?
[pause] Because it is pathetic.
[voiceover about Neil Perry] Actually, it sounds perfectly awful. For weeks I felt like a student at a master class. Is it really possible that the master's on the run? Or even more tragic, that he lives in a double-wide?
[voiceover about Paul] He might be a crack-addled, wife-abusing yahoo, but he refuses to abandon his kids. I'm not sure that's a good thing.
[about Paul] Fucking bastard!
Only you could make those words cute.
You killed again. I told you, I warned you. Don't kill anyone who doesn't deserve to die. Why did you do it?
JDJeremy Downs
To feel something different.
Different than what? What do you normally feel?
JDJeremy Downs
Nothing. Fucking nothing at all. I hate every fucking goddamn second of it. I can't stand it – living my life in my head.
Does killing make it better?
JDJeremy Downs
No. Worse. Fucking worse than ever.
I'm a lot like you, you know.
JDJeremy Downs
[scoffs] Yeah, right. You're a killer?
[gives him a look] I'm empty. But I found a way to make it feel less ... bottomless.
JDJeremy Downs
How?
Pretend. You pretend the feelings are there, for the world, for the people around you. Who knows? Maybe one day they will be.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's Dexter pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.