Why you loved it
Shows like Dexter
Dexter asks you to root for a serial killer, and it works. Its ending is still argued about, maybe because fans never loved the same thing: the code, the voice in his head, or the killers he hunts. Here are three reasons.
The 3 reasons people love Dexter
Read them all. One will sound more like you than the others.
Rooting for a killer with a code
This was your reason if…
- You caught yourself hoping he wouldn't get caught.
- Harry's code made sense to you. A bit too much.
- The plastic sheets of the kill room are the image you remember.
Dexter only kills killers, following the rules his adoptive father taught him. The show makes you his accomplice, then asks whether that's justice. If this is your reason, you want antiheroes who make you question who you're rooting for.
The voice in his head
This was your reason if…
- His narration was the best part.
- You laughed at things you shouldn't have.
- You liked hearing what he really thought while he smiled at people.
His inner voice comments on everyone around him: dry, funny, sometimes chilling. He pretends to be normal, and lets you hear how hard it is. If this is your reason, you want stories told from inside a strange mind.
Cat and mouse with other killers
This was your reason if…
- The Trinity season is your favourite.
- You loved the moments he almost got caught.
- The Ice Truck Killer's game in season one hooked you.
Each season pits him against another killer, and the strongest of them mirror him, like John Lithgow's Trinity in season four. It's a thriller about two predators circling each other. If this is your reason, you want cat-and-mouse stories between killers and the people hunting them.
Picks that share your reasons
Hannibal2013
- Cat & mouse
An FBI profiler and the cannibal psychiatrist who becomes his friend. Beautiful, horrifying, and a long game of cat and mouse.
You2018
- Inner voice
- The code
A bookshop manager narrates his obsession with the women he loves and talks himself into anything. The voice in his head will feel familiar.
Breaking Bad2008
- The code
An ordinary man becomes a criminal, and you keep rooting for him longer than you should.
Death Note2006
- Cat & mouse
- The code
A student who can kill anyone by writing their name, and the detective chasing him. Another killer who thinks he's making the world better.
MINDHUNTER2017
- Cat & mouse
FBI agents interview real serial killers in the 1970s to learn how they think. Chilling conversations, almost no violence on screen.
American Psycho2000
- Inner voice
A banker narrates his perfect life and his murders in the same calm voice. Darkly funny, and a mirror of Dexter's mask.
Barry2018
- The code
A hitman who wants to become an actor. You keep rooting for him as it gets darker every season.
Killing Eve2018
- Cat & mouse
An MI5 officer and a charming assassin become obsessed with each other. Cat and mouse, with jokes.
Se7en1995
- Cat & mouse
Two detectives, a killer who punishes sins, and a city where it never stops raining.
Nightcrawler2014
- Inner voice
A man with no conscience films crime scenes for the morning news. You can't look away from him.
Reasons and picks chosen by the Ipsomap team. This application uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.
That's one show.
Ipsomap does this with everything you watch. Write a few honest lines after each one, and it works out which reasons are yours, then finds picks that share them.
Find your reasons