The first episode of the television show Dexter begins with Dexter cruising the streets of Miami. He soon comes across his prey, and forces him to drive to the future murder site. Dexter forces his victim to look at several young boy’s bodies, the bodies were the work of Dexter’s victim and the reason Dexter will kill him. Before slicing him up, Dexter tells his victim that he understands the urge to kill, but would never kill children, saying he “has standards”.
After sawing through his victim, Dexter returns home and listens to a message from his adopted sister Deb. Obeying her command, he heads out to a crime scene and meets his sister, who was working undercover near the murder. Deb is a police officer in Miami, and Dexter works at the same department as a forensics expert, specializing in blood spatter. Dexter goes to take a look at the body at the scene and discovers it has no blood. All of the blood was drained and the body was cut up into neat little pieces.
The next morning Dexter comes in to work at the station and viewers are first introduced to Sgt. Doakes who Dexter points out is oddly the only one of the cops who Dexter gives the creeps. Their conversation is followed up by a visit to the cold cases to grab a new file which Dexter will use to find his next victim.
He tracks down the suspect of the crime and narrates about how he got off from a faulty search warrant. Then, saying how he doesn’t bother with warrants, Dexter breaks into his house and does his own investigating.
Date night, Dexter introduces viewers to Rita, his girlfriend. He explains how she is perfect for him because she is damaged as well. She was raped and beaten often by her ex and has no interest in sex, which is exactly how Dexter feels.
While out on his date, Dexter sees a fresh crime scene and upon further inspection discovers that it is another bloodless body. He can’t get over the lack of blood and expresses his admiration for the killer’s style, even calling it artistic.
After returning home, Dexter does some more research about the cold case he was working on. He checks out a website he learned about when he searched through the suspect’s house. A rape website where he finds a video of the suspect raping the victim, which gives him the proof he was looking for. A flashback show Dexter’s memory of learning “The Code of Harry”, a code given by his adopted father about when it is okay to kill. His father had discovered that Dexter had these urges to kill and wanted to help Dexter manage it. He didn’t think Dexter would be able to keep himself from killing and tried to give guidelines which would help him only kill those who deserved it.
After some more police work and talking with his sister, Dexter heads out to take his next victim. He sneaks up behind him and injects him, causing almost instant paralysis, then tapes him down to a table in preparation. Dexter forces his victim to confess and then slices him up as he does with all his victims. He collects a small sample of blood on a slide to add to his collection, which he keeps conveniently in the air conditioning unit of his apartment.
As his night comes to a close, Dexter is on his way to Rita’s when he spots a refrigerated truck, the suspected vehicle of the murderer who drains his victims’ blood. He decides to follow it and eventually it turns around, blinds him with the headlights, and tosses the head of the most recent victim onto Dexter’s windshield.
Once he’s done making his statement, he finally makes it over to Rita’s. She lets him know that she is ready to have sex, but before her promise is fulfilled, she gets a call that she has to go pick up her son. Dexter is very concerned about the possible trouble that sex could cause in his relationship.
Back in his home, Dexter discovers a present left anonymously for him: A doll split into neatly wrapped pieces, just as the bloodless bodies were found, in his freezer.
